Moving may cause a cougar to think you’re the prey.Ĭonsider a moving decoy. Stay still, especially when using mouth calls.Set up with your back to something like a tall canyon wall that will keep a cougar from creeping up behind you.You’ll have a 360 degree view around you and will be able to take turns calling as loud and long as you can. Call while sitting back-to-back with a buddy.Here are a couple of techniques to stay safe. Cats are quiet and stealthy – you don’t want one creeping up on you while you’re calling. Twenty minutes of calling now and then may work for some predators like coyote, but it’s not the way to call cougar.Ĭall safely. Call longer for cats – 45 minutes of continuous calling or more. Cougars are very territorial and are likely to investigate the sound of another cat in their territory.

Consider both the source of the sounds they are recording and the quality of the digital playback.ĭon’t overlook using cat calls. But be prepared to spend money on a good call. Predator calling is the best option for targeting cougars and being successful. Even better, focus on canyon areas, where cats like to spend time. Set up trail cameras on ridgelines and game trails to see what’s happening when you’re not there. As you begin to collect data, you might start seeing patterns in how a cougar travels in their territory.

Document what you find on a map or GPS.

Locate cougar sign like tracks (be sure you know what a cougar track looks like), kills sites (cougars cover their kill and return to it later) and even scent markers (a scrape of leaves and twigs that cougars use to mark their territories with urine and poo).

Prior to your hunt, spend time in the field scouting for cougar the same way an elk hunter scouts for elk.

Also deer and elk begin to concentrate in lower elevation areas, becoming major attractions to hungry cougars. Damp, snowy ground can make it easier to track cougar.

Winter, after other big game seasons have closed, is a great time to hunt cougar.

Canyon trails westland survival