Cats are Sneaky – Don’t Leave Your Optics in the Truck
Posted August 18, 2009
By Marc Reindell
Binoculars are foundational equipment for cougar and bobcat calling – have them on every stand.
While mountain lion calling in Sedona, Arizona about three years ago I noticed a tan “rock” that seemed out of place. The rock I was looking at was about 165 yards away and the more I stared at it, the more I thought it looked like a mountain lion’s head. It was perfectly round and motionless, and after a while I convinced myself that my eyes were playing tricks on me and that I ought to be focused elsewhere. After several minutes of broadcasting lion vocalizations from my electronic game caller and watching some gray fox running circles around the speaker, I scanned back across the tan rock and noticed it had moved. Having left my binoculars on the dashboard of the pickup, I whispered to my calling buddy to use his and scan the area. Sure enough, the tan rock was a cougar and it had moved to our right and was peeking out between two large boulders.
Convinced that I could get the lion closer to us or out in the open, I continued calling and told my buddy to hold off on trying to get a shot at it. This proved to be the second of two major mistakes. First, there is no reason to leave your binoculars behind when you go to a calling stand. Modern binoculars are very light and compact. When calling predators as stealthy as a cougar you must have the ability to scan every bush, tree, and rocky outcropping for any sign of a mountain lion. I have told this story to a number of hunters who said that they use the scope on their rifle to check objects that seem suspicious or out of place. First and foremost, this is DANGEROUS and should never be done. I have called curious hikers on more than one predator stand, and pointing a scoped rifle at other people is a huge no-no. Secondly, the movement of the rifle could easily ruin a stand by tipping off an approaching lion to your location.
The second major mistake was telling my buddy that I could get the lion closer and not letting him get set up to take the shot. When a mountain lion presents itself in the open at less than 300 yards, and your intent is to harvest that lion, do it. If you have practiced with your rifle and can comfortably shoot the distance, shoot the lion. Every mountain lion that we’ve called and have seen stop and hang up at any distance never resumed their approach. Once a lion can see the location of the caller, they seem very satisfied to sit and watch.
Binoculars absolutely would have made the difference on this stand. Had I seen the lion in the much more open location I first detected him in, I most likely would have opted to shoot it where it was. As it turned out, there was too much talking on the stand, too much movement on the stand, and too much hesitation to close the deal after the lion had moved to a more concealed location.
Lesson learned…
Best regards,
Mark Healy
Email: mark@wildlifecallers.com
