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Point me towards some cats by K Falls please!

2K views 14 replies 12 participants last post by  packer 
#1 · (Edited)
Howdy everyone,

I've just moved from the Coos Bay area to Klamath and I really love it here already: the first night I had a muley doe walk within 50 ft of my car at the new townhouse in the NE part of town...and man alive are there quail running all over the place!

I'm trying to get to know the area as well as I can in preparation for hunting, though I plan to just bow hunt for deer in the Rogue unit (need to get to know that area too). I was hoping anyone on here might be willing to tell me where to try to look for mountain lions around this region?

I'm certainly not asking for specific locations, just generalities: should I be looking higher in elevation, in transition areas between timber and upland meadows...obviously I know I should try to find a place relatively close to a population of game animals and set my Fox Pro out and see what I can get to come in.

Do any of you think I would have better chances of running into big cats further north of here, or more west into the mixed timber? Really dumb question: I can hunt in the wilderness areas right? Don't laugh...I'm from the upper Midwest and we only have one wilderness area in MN! Where ever I can go where I can find a nice big kitty begging to get knocked down with some lead and tanned for my wall!

Speaking of which-quick shameless plug-I took my cow elk hide (finally) to Timberline Taxidermy in Coquille before moving: I wish I gone sooner...I could spend hours drooling over all the fine taxidermy! I can't wait to get my hair-on hide back in 5-6 months...totally worth the price (and he had 3 lions in there at the time for me to be jealous of too!). He and his wife are the nicest people and I would sure love to bag a cat to have him make into a rug.

I've seen a lot of mule deer right in town so far, and I've only been here a week: I think its great to see deer, but sad to know they are in town because it is the 'safest' place for them to evade their wild predators-which I would like to take a whack at with my 7mm-08.

I would love to punch my cat tag...so I can immediately head to Bi-mart and get another one, then do it again! Any pointers for cat hunting in the high Cascades are appreciated.

Good luck with the summer scouting everyone-keep the fires down so I can get some scouting in this summer too!

Sara
 
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#10 ·
:applause:

I know it makes me weird but winter is my favorite season...I love to play in snow...at least until I'm sick of it around February like most other people! What I've been hearing about the winters around the Klamath area makes me happy-snow, but dry snow...except when it warms up enough for it to get a little greasy.



Took this pic late Jan or early Feb of 2008 back in Orr--on a weekend when we had got just enough snow that residents at my apartment building had to move vehicles for the little bobcat to come in and plow the lot. I drove the 3 blocks to my forestry office and took a few pics while keeping my poor Ranger's engine running so it wouldn't freeze-subzero temp winds screaming down out of of the Arctic Circle by way of Alaska and Alberta-I don't think the temp or windchill got above zero this day!

Glad to say I've heard K-Falls gets cold, but usually not that cold!
 
#9 ·
I think Beatty is east of K. Falls. Hwy 140 going toward Lakeview. I like her attitude. Wants to go out and shoot one then run to Bi Mart and get another tag! I've spent a lot of time outdoors and have see I think it's three cougar's in my life, I'm 67. One in Montana walked through the yard. One off Hwy 97 in Oregon near Shaniko crossed the hwy in front of me, well after dark. and the last off hwy 97 near Willowdale walking across a sheep pasture in broad daylight! Really need to get dog's back into the game. I hope you use up every tag Bi Mart has, stay optimistic!
 
#6 ·
You'll find cats east of town as well as out west past Keno,the reason you see so many deer in Kfalls is the fact that all those houses you see on the hill above town are mule deer range,wait unti nov-dec,you will see monster bucks in backyards chasing does.
 
#8 ·
There are lions all around K-Town (including within).
If I were to specifically hunt them, I would likely start within spitting distance of the Klamath River Canyon and hunt all along it to the Cali border. This would be a little more productive during the late fall and winter months while the deer are still concentrated there.

You might also try along the N Fork of the Sprague in the Interstate unit north of Bly.

Mind is now blank.... perhaps more later.
 
#11 ·
23 years ago, we moved to Jacksonville, Oregon from Alturas, Califronia, which is just 100 miles south of Klamath. It was in early January, and -31°. It can get a bit brisk in SE Oregon/NE California!
 
#13 ·
Wicked! So long as its not too prolonged that can actually be a little enjoyable...if only for the novelty of saying you've experienced it! I was telling the people I worked with in Coos if they had never stepped out into the air in the morning and had it freeze in their nose they have to go to Alaska or someplace cold and try it...its an amazing feeling.

That's pretty amazing that an area like Medford that can get so hot in the summer can also turn around and get bitterly cold in the winter: I'm digging these higher elevation climates!
 
#12 ·
Thanks for all the feedback on here about thoughts on places to go, as well as all the individuals that took the time to PM ideas or just encouragement! Much appreciation-I think I'm headed E/NE for the long weekend for a little back country camping...with rifle, decoy, and FoxPro in tow!

I love having fairly straight roads to drive again...at least over here if I'm driving 85 miles to hunt its actually going to get me about 85 miles away...not a winding 85 miles to end up barely 30 from where I started! LOL...I was groaning back in Coos when I would look at my trip odometer at the end of an evening of cat/coyote hunting and realize I had just blown a half tank of gas on driving a 160 mile round trip just to get about 40 miles into the woods and back!

Have a safe and happy Independence Day weekend!!!:flag2:
 
#14 · (Edited)
Get up on top of Pelican Butte and glass. A regular truck can make it up there without a problem. Lots of territory in view to plan hunts. Also, there's lots of little hidden water holes all over that area. We saw a cat on the hunt host's game cam up at one water hole. Same camera had lots of bear and elk also as it had about 2 months worth of images on it.

I recall being able to see the location of the waterholes on google maps as the area was in cell range and I was able to navigate the area with that. Lots of little hidden gems in that section of the Cascades to explore. Best of luck to you.

Also, I too am from Coos Bay, and my entire famn damily is from the Klamath Basin. I went to OIT for college, so I can relate to the winters. Being from MN, I expect you'll find them mild. But I do recall a -20 winter my first year there....Brrrrrr. That wind coming off the lake was brutal.

From a pure exploration point of view, the Fremont National Forest is a fun area to explore with relatively mild terrain compared to the Cascades. And it doesn't seem to get as much traffic in my experience. Water is more scarce there also compared to the Cascades, which might improve opportunity to bag a cat.

Three of us hunted yotes around Thanksgiving time one year in the Chiloquin area and didn't have any luck. We had lots of responses to our Foxpro, but nothing would come in. The yote's in that area are pretty smart as the locals keep them on their toes and shoot at them a lot, I'd expect even more wariness out of cougars in that area if there are any in there at all. Having been there, I'd avoid that area in my planning, but that's me and I'm no longer a local to that region.

Again, there are a lot of peaks in the region that you can get up on top of for a great view. I think this method may point you the right direction and fill your notebook up of places to go have a look at.
 
#15 ·
Pay a visit to the ODFW office at miller island and talk to Tom Collom . He is a really good guy and will probably even put some marks on a map for you . If that doesn't work let me know and I can hook you up with some guys that do dogs for predator control for the state KEN
 
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