Cougar Wanted!

O'Leary · 11-06-2005, 03:06 PM

I have never cougar hunted or seen a cougar in the wild. Can you guys give some tips and areas with high concentrations of these cats. Thanks Capt. O-Dog

The Bad Fish · 11-06-2005, 03:27 PM

Go to the wenaha wilderness (troy oregon) or blue mountains ( walla walla- pomeroy washington) in the spring, when the elk are calving. My cousin works for the USFS there, since the bunny huggers in seattle outlawed cat hunting with dogs the population has exploded.

Hunt'nFish · 11-06-2005, 03:30 PM

I've seen two in the wild, both back in the 80's. I've not seen one since, and believe you me, I've been looking.
Cougar hunting w/o dogs is nearly impossible.
I say nearly because their are a very few # of hunters who have used snow to find the core of a cougars home. Very hard work and not the method for most.
As far as where? Just about anyplace their are cougars but the more remote the better. A call to your local ODFW office should connect you to the biologist in charge of your region. They are usually a wealth of info on specific areas to concentrate on.
Good luck, I'm still looking myself.
Hunt'nFish

traks44 · 11-06-2005, 05:47 PM

arguably the best way to find a cat is to stumble across a kill and sit there until it comes back!

Any of the east side units have plenty of animals.

gottafish · 11-06-2005, 06:08 PM

Hit the snow line and look for tracks , stop get out and follow until they freshen up. set up and call with a fawn distress call. good luck P.S. be ready for a 3000.00 taxadermy bill. I should be getting mine back soon

sliverpicker · 11-06-2005, 06:23 PM

Here's a photo of a friend of mine with a 100# female he killed a couple years ago on a deer winter range. He found a freshly killed spike buck the day before and came back downwind to the killsite at daylite the following morning and caught the lion having breakfast.

I think he's killed 4 in the last 5 years by finding fresh kills and sitting on them. He's retired, so he spends nearly every day out looking for tracks and fresh kills. January and February are probably the best months for hunting winter ranges.

O'Leary · 11-06-2005, 06:29 PM

Congrats, gottafish. question for ya. was this a easy kill method. Do you need white camo, scent blocker? What gun did you use?

gottafish · 11-06-2005, 06:39 PM

I shot mine in the early season I just was elk hunting. But I could have killed one in the snow like i mentioned but I missed. I suck with a rifle. The one I killed I shot with a bow. I am pretty sure I couldn't hit the inside of a barn if I was standing in it with a rifle. Missed a nice buck a few years ago to. I just gave up on rifle's

traks44 · 11-06-2005, 07:21 PM

Besides the ones we shoot harassing our livestock, the only other way we get them is by sitting a kill site. The tactics for calling are highly specific(it aint like callin coyotes) and usually recommended to sit back to back with a partner for obvious reasons. The favorite calibers include the small end as 22-250 up to a 25-06, ya just dont need much more gun.

O'Leary · 11-08-2005, 04:20 PM

Conclusion: Find coyotes, shoot one, come back in the morning to find a Cougar.

RiverRogue · 11-09-2005, 06:09 AM

A very good option is the White River Game Management Boundary fence line just out of Wamic. As the deer go lower for food, they encounter the fence line they cannot cross. Concentrated along that fence, they are easy pickens for cougars. There have been a number of them shot along that fence. Do as another suggested, walk the fence, find a frsh kill and wait. That was exactly as the wildlife bio for that area explained it to me yesterday.