Called another cougar with no shot

[Okanagan]

During the last few days of cougar season, I called in a lion and even got a glimpse of it without getting a shot. I am jinxed.     

Seven minutes after I started calling squirrels told me it was coming and where it was.  The wind shifted and instead of coming in front of me the cat swung around and used the clump of brush I was hiding in as cover to approach the electronic call. Hate that! 

I had a thick screen of brush behind me with tiny peekaboo holes.  Squirrels told me the cat was behind me and when I tried to twist around I got a glimpse of large animal movement 30 or 40 feet away through the screen of brush.  That was 23 minutes into the call.

Then squirrels escorted the lion back the same route it had used on approach till it was out of earshot at about 35 minutes. 

Good day and I didn't get my hands dirty skinning. 

[FinsnFur]

Well that was a successful hunt then anyway. Thanks for taking us along.
I'm glad that your able to still take these local safari's and report back to us.

[Okanagan]

Thanks for the kind words.  Telling each other about a hunt is part of the experience that I learned from my Dad.

The cougar made a couple of soft sounds as it approached, like a man trying to clear his throat quietly in church.  One grunt was at 13 minutes, one at 24. It was probably responding to the young cougar whistles I was alternating with fawn distress.

On reviewing what happened, I made a tactical error that spooked the cat.  I moved.

When the cat sneaked up behind me, if I had not moved a muscle and kept sitting with my back to it, it might have sneaked on past me.  The electronic caller was hidden between two logs 60 feet straight in front of me and could not be seen till the cat got within 15 feet of it. Assuming the cat would skirt close beside the brush pile I was in, it would have sneaked past me 6-8 feet to my right.  It might have worked.  Wish I had tried it.

When I twisted to try to see it behind me I spooked it.   

[Hawks Feather]

Calling in one is more than I have ever done. Several years back we did have one lope across a parking area in the backend of Rocky Mountain National Park. Impressive animals.

[Okanagan]

Calling in one is more than I have ever done. Several years back we did have one lope across a parking area in the backend of Rocky Mountain National Park. Impressive animals.

If you saw a cougar you are way ahead of most people!  Most outdoors men even in the far west have never seen one, other than those treed by hounds. I am lucky enough to live where we have quite a few cougars.  My grandson sees them fairly often on his trail cameras but I don't think he has ever seen one live in the wild.

I am aggravated with myself on this cat because even before my movement that spooked it, I made a classic rookie caller mistake when I set up the ambush.  I picked my place to sit because it was such a perfect hide. Wind, light, terrain and vegetation are all more important.

FWIW I think this cougar is number 21 that I have called though my count memory is getting fuzzy.  They provide the most fun for me, super challenging and long season and nothing else open so I have the woods to myself.  Only downside is my age and agility.  I have lost most of the past four years to pneumonia, open heart surgery and the slow decline and loss of my wife. 

My son prodded me into getting out a few times near the end of this recent season.  Good man!

[nastygunz]

When I saw that title, I thought you'd been out hell raisin and barhopping