Dan Tone and Arizona's First Nighttime Lion Since 2011 Rule Changes

Just 2.5 weeks after we reported the new Arizona nighttime hunting regulations for mountain lions on THIS POST, Dave Martens of Wildlife Callers and Dan Tone (who’s been featured on the WC Blog before) set out in one of the nighttime lion hunting areas and connected with a mature 7-9 year old female cougar – the actual age will be determined by the AZ Game & Fish.  The lion took about 30-32 minutes to arrive on the stand and came to a mixed bag of sounds.  Here are some of the details:

Arizona Mountain Lion and Deuce the Lion Calling Jack Russel

Locations:  When you think of nighttime lion hunting think of bighorn sheep.  Heavy lion predation has long been a issue for bighorn herd growth and sustainability around AZ.  Accordingly the locations in AZ for hunting lions at night have been chosen by the AZ Game & Fish biologists to provide the most relief to the Desert and Rocky Mountain Bighorn populations.  There isn’t a hunt unit listed in the Arizona Game and Fish lion hunting regulations that we haven’t scouted or hunted, and not found lion sign in.  Actually, we’ve called lions in many of the special units, so to answer the obvious question “where is the best place to go find lions” — all of the special bag units have lions — actually the whole state has lions.

Sounds:  Dave’s calling style is typically mix-it-up and throw out an active multi-critter sound scene for the predator to get interested in.  We’ve said it here before – you can’t confuse a lion by playing sounds that typically don’t go together – they’re not that smart.  Thus, when you create a completely unbelievable sound scene by playing ten minutes of mixed rabbit & small bird distress, followed by several minutes of deer fights and deer distress, followed by javelina sounds and distress, the lion never says ‘hey…I know that would NEVER happen in nature.”  It’s just sound stimulus – nothing more – there are no bad sounds. Mix it up.

Dan Tone, Deuce, and an AZ Mountain Lion

The Caller:  As is always the case, Dave was using his Wildlife Technologies Mighty Atom 21.  If you haven’t heard one, do yourself a favor and give us a call — truly amazing.

The Hunt:  Dave & Dan chose the calling location based on past experience in the area.  Dave has called near the area before and seen plenty of sign along the long ridge lines and hardpan wash bottoms the area is known for.  They kept the caller less than 20 yards away from them when they set up along the side of a dry wash.  The moon was nearly full and visibility was pretty good.  The plan was to, if possible, leave their spotlights & high intensity flashlights off until a lion was spotted or something was heard nearby that needed lighted investigation.

Dave had been playing his varied & lengthy list of sounds for about 30 minutes when the form of a solitary lion was spotted walking toward the speaker.  The lion arrived on Dan’s side of the caller and was closing toward the speaker in a deliberate and unhurried fashion.  Dan raised his 12 gauge and waited patiently while the lion continued to close on the speaker.  The lone lion eventually cut the distance to the speaker down to just 6-yards and came to a stop.  Dan activated the high-intensity light mounted on his shotgun and looked at the lion for a few seconds.  He immediately confirmed what he already knew, the lion was a large, mature cougar.  Boom! Dan shot the lion with a load of #4 buckshot and at just 19-20 yards away it was killed immediately.

Good View of the Large Shoulders and Head on the Lion

Night Calling Logistics:  Dan said that hunting lions at night should continue to be more and more productive as they learn more about doing it and better ways to set up.  But, he cautioned, the logistics of calling after the sun goes down are more complex than in daylight.  He said that something as small as a poorly designed spotlight or a flashlight that’s not bright enough can ruin a stand.  Stand selection takes longer.  Walking to the stand takes longer.  Tripping hazards with guns, callers, and extra gear makes things interesting.  And oftentimes once you’ve set up and think you’re in a good spot, you turn on the light only to find you really have almost zero visibility and have to move.

Takeaways:  Scouting and field experience cannot be underestimated.  Dave has spent many hours in this area scouting for lion sign, using trail cameras to confirm hunches, and calling during the daytime when it wasn’t legal to call at night.  His expertise and knowledge really paid off.

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Mark Healy- Wildlife Callers

A Pair of Cougars Just After Dark

Shotguns Shooting Shot: It’s now legal in AZ to use a shotgun shooting shot (slugs are still okay too) to kill a mountain lion. I called the AZ G&F and asked if there were any restrictions on shot size and was told no. The intent behind the law revision was to allow the predator callers who call lions while armed only with a shotgun to legally take the lion. Mr. Day said that most predator hunters were going to be hunting with shells that would be appropriate for killing coyotes (T-shot & larger) and that those same loads should be sufficient for killing lions.

Centerfire Rifles After Dark: It’s legal to use a rifle for hunting lions after dark. Don’t confuse the AZ nighttime coyote regulations with the new lion regulations – the AZ G&F doesn’t restrict the weapon for lion hunting, they actually added one (shotguns shooting shot). The safety concerns with shooting a rifle across an antelope flat in the dark were greatly reduced in the hilly/mountainous terrain most lion hunts would be conducted in, so centerfire rifles were kept as a legal after-hours method of take.

Hunting After Dark / Artificial Light: Mountain lion regulation note 27 provides for using battery powered lights. Your light can be handheld or mounted on your gun (or a combo of both). It CANNOT be affixed to or plugged into a motor vehicle in any way.

Hunting After Dark / Locations: Night hunting for lions was designed to give relief to bighorn populations, thus the units/areas where hunting lions at night is allowed are limited. At this time the areas are: Units 6A South, 13B, 15B (west of Temple Bar Rd) 15C, 15D, 16A South, 18B South, 22 (south of Hwy 87 and FR 143 and west of Hwy 188), 31, 32, 37B (north of the Gila River), 40A, 42 (south of the Buckeye-Aguila Rd and west of 335th Ave), and 44A (east of Cunningham Wash). Click this link for more details: Amended/Updated AZGF Regs

Hunting After Dark / Seasons:  Hunting in the units/locations listed in the Daylong section is year round – July 1, 2011 to June 30, 2011. Lots of opportunities here – especially during the hot Arizona summer.

Arizona Mountain Lions Travelling Together

Hunting After Dark / Multiple Bag Limits: This rule is exactly the same night/day. If you are fortunate enough to have already bagged a lion and want to keep hunting in one of the multiple bag units, it is your responsibility to make sure the unit hasn’t closed and reverted back to one-per-calendar-year. Refer to the AZGF regs for details.

VERY IMPORTANT!  The Game & Fish asked we recognize that nighttime hunting is designed to help meet certain predation objectives. Taking bobcats and fox during the nighttime hours is always prohibited and the department will seek hunting privilege revocation for folks caught taking them after legal shooting hours. Mr. Day said calling bobcat and fox in the daylight is sufficiently easy to accomplish and they should be given a break in the dark.

As always, if you need a Wildlife Tech Mighty Atom E-caller with cougar sounds on it to chase these big cats, just visit us online or call us toll-free at 1-877-734-1010 and we’ll help you out.

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All the best,

Mark Healy – Wildlife Callers

mark@wildlifecallers.com

Good Morning Calling - Dave Martens with a Bobcat and Coyote in Central Arizona

With just a single day to hunt and gas prices climbing, Dave heads to a location not too far from his East Valley home for a day of mixed-bag calling.  Dave’s mission was simple–get an “AZ Predator Slam” (gray fox, coyote, and bobcat) in one day–if he called and bagged a cougar too and made it a Predator Grand Slam, that would be big icing on the cake.  The weather had prevented a multi-day hunt and he met sloppy & frozen road conditions almost immediately as he headed north.

Snow Covered Roads and AZ DPS Officers Dealing with Wrecks

Dave figured once he got to where he was headed he’d be able to get a gray fox right away and then work some other areas to find a coyote and bobcat.  As it turns out, he started his first stand with about a minute of Adult Cottontail Distress, a minute of Ravens Fighting, and then back to about 20 seconds of Adult Cottontail Distress and a medium-sized female coyote ran in and stopped just a couple yards from his Wildlife Technologies Mighty Atom 21 and about 12 steps from his 12ga.  Bang!  Dave’s got a coyote on the quad.

His next two stands–both of which are rock-solid gray fox locations–immediately draw blanks.  Dave was undeterred and headed a little higher up the hill to a location he’s seen fox and bobcat sign in previously.  Dave got into a promising looking location and within a minute or two had located a set of bobcat tracks that had a light dusting of snow covering them.  Figuring they’re as fresh as he was going to find, he dropped into the canyon the ‘cat track headed into and set his Mighty Atom near a bush and sat down about 15 yards away under a juniper tree.  Just as he was sitting down a hard snow flurry starts blowing and Dave can’t see more than just a few yards.

Dave considers waiting until the snow stops blowing or possibly just leaving, but goes ahead with stand number 4 anyway.  Dave said the snow continued for about 3-minutes while he was calling and then stopped all at once, just as quickly as it had began.  About 30 seconds later a nice AZ tom bobcat walked to less than 24 inches from his Mighty Atom E-caller.  A single shot from his 12ga dropped the bobcat right next to the speaker.  Dave’s Wildlife Tech sound combo was exactly the same as his first stand–Adult Cottontail Distress/Ravens Fighting/Adult Cottontail Distress/Bang!

Nice Bobcat Dropped Right Next to Dave's Wildlife Tech Mighty Atom 21

Dave Martens and a Late February Bobcat in Central Arizona

It’s now mid-morning and Dave is feeling confident that a Predator Slam is darn good possibility–he’s got a bobcat and coyote strapped to his quad and several more hours to hunt for a gray fox to add to his predator collection.  Dave’s thinking that he might even be able to put a fox in the bag early and ride down into some of his better mountain lion setups and try to achieve a Predator Grand Slam.  But, in the end, as often happens with our sport, his hunting luck turned around and he called 7 or 8 additional stands (into outstanding gray fox habitat) and came up empty.

After a long ride on his quad in the dark back to his truck, Dave took inventory of his day out and couldn’t complain.  Any day you take the time to load up all your gear, make the trip out to the field in miserable weather, and call in/take a bobcat and a coyote is a great day.

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Thank you again for reading — and good calling,

Mark Healy

480-882-1210

info@wildlifecallers.com

CLICK HERE for a map to the Glendale Arena

The ISE show in Glendale is Arizona’s once-a-year chance to celebrate the outdoors with family and friends, capture show-priced bargains, and meet face-to-face with guides and lodge owners from nearby and around the world.

CLICK HERE to view the ISE website, get more details, and purchase tickets.

Predator calling & hunting has seen tremendous growth in popularity in Arizona and across the United States .  Recognizing that trend, Wildlife Callers and the ISE will be providing three FREE seminars over the four day Glendale, AZ ISE expo.  Seminar types, times and dates are as follows:

Seminar One: Predator Hunting Basics – The 101 Class

Topics: How to get started in predator hunting.  The quarry–a brief discussion of the target animals–coyote, fox, bobcat, and cougars.  The equipment.  A discussion of predator calls, guns and gear for every budget.  Where to hunt.  A discussion on where to find the animals you’re looking for, stand selection, scent control & wind direction considerations, shooting lane visibility, and more.  When to hunt.  There are seasons for predators in Arizona–we’ll discuss that briefly.  Audience Q&A session will be provided.

Presenter: Mark Healy of Wildlife Callers

Day/Time: Thursday Feb 24 from 12:30 to 1:30

Location:The ISE’s RMEF Adventure Theater

Seminar Two: Predator Calls–Electronic Calls vs. Hand Calling

Topics: Choosing your first predator call or your next call.  A discussion and demonstration of modern electronic calls and a variety of hand calling equipment–stand selection and proper setups for each will also be discussed.  Audience Q&A session will be included.

Presenters: Mark Healy of Wildlife Callers and Rich Higgins of the Phoenix and AZ Predator Callers clubs.

Day/Time: Friday Feb 25th from 12:30 to 1:30

Location: The ISE’s RMEF Adventure Theater

Seminar Three:  Calling Mountain Lions with Electronic Calls

Topics: Techniques for locating and successfully calling cougars with electronic calls and digitally recorded mountain lion vocalizations.  Terrain & Sign: Where in Arizona are lions found?  What is a caller looking for when choosing a calling location?  Sounds: A discussion of lion vocalizations and how to make them part of your “sound picture” you’ll create with an electronic caller.  Set-Ups & Time On Stand: Call ‘em in tight cover, or across canyons–a discussion of two stand types.  Optics: Best practices with binos.  Audience Q&A session included.

Presenter: Mark Healy of Wildlife Callers

Day/Time: Sunday Feb 27th at 10:30am

Location: The ISE’s RMEF Adventure Theater

We had a great time at the ISE show last year and look forward to meeting new and old friends at the Glendale Arena.  While you’re walking the floor, don’t forget to look us up and stop by the booth.

The Wildlife Callers' Team - Marc R, Dave M, & Mark H

Good hunting to everyone–we’ll see you in Glendale,

Mark Healy

info@wildlifecallers.com

It wasn’t a run-and-gun weekend Dave told me.  He said he and Dan were taking it easy, looking for prime areas, and calling into spots that had the terrain, vegetation, and sign they thought would be the most productive.  Their approach paid off.  Early Saturday morning this big tom came to the call in less than 5 minutes and Dave dropped it with a single shot from his 12ga.  

Dave Martens and Deuce pose with a Big Northern AZ Bobcat

Dave’s calling technique was pretty simple.  Get in tight to the best available cat cover and introduce the sound low and easy.  A mix of mice and cottontail rabbit distress  from his WT Mighty Atom 21 brought this bobcat into shotgun range.  Dave said he would have gotten louder and more aggressive and utilized bobcat vocalizations and/or bobcats & foxes fighting as the stand progressed but never needed to. 

Later in the day Dan spotted another pocket of tight brushy cover several miles from where Dave took his bobcat.  After surveying the sign, terrain and the most probable foot access routes predators would take into the heavy cover Dan and Dave set up covering as much open ground as possible.  Using the same calling technique of low & easy Dave mixed up a combo of bird distress and cottontail rabbit distress to bring this big bobcat into Dan’s shooting lane in about 4 minutes.  Dan fired one shot from his 12ga to close the deal.  

Dan Tone and Deuce the Jack Russell with a Big AZ Tom Bobcat

With two cats in the truck Dan and Dave took a few minutes and skinned them.  A little closer inspection showed one had been eating jackrabbit and the other was full of Merriam’s turkey meat & feathers.  The fact that the cats were both operating on full stomachs didn’t slow them down.  It seems that curiosity (or a little greed) does kill cats.

Wildlife Technologies Mighty Atom 21 and N. Arizona Tom Bobcat

The remaining few stands on Saturday and Sunday morning were unproductive so Dave & Dan headed for lower elevations and into an area both of them have hunted and scouted for years.  They set up a stand with bobcats and mountain lions in mind and Dave started the Mighty Atom playing with a mix of mice, birds and cottontail distress.  Dave got no early takers and began to get more aggressive, turning up the volume and introducing gray fox & bobcat vocalizations into the mix.  After 30 minutes there was still nothing moving in and Dave started dropping in some young cougar vocalizations (whistle sound) in the mix of calls.  About 10 minutes later Dan gave Dave the signal that they had an approaching predator.  

Hoping to get whatever Dan was seeing closer to the speaker, Dave dropped the volume and kept playing various young cougar/fox/bobcat/prey distress sounds and heard nothing more from Dan.  A few minutes later Dave decided to turn up the heat on the stand even more and introduced adult female cougar communicative vocalizations into the sound picture.  There was an immediate reaction from Dan that something was now leaving.  Night was now approaching and Dave wrapped up the stand.  He discovered from Dan that a rather small lion had worked it’s way up a cattle/deer path and veered off the trail into some heavier cover and held up about 60 yards from the caller.  The lion was hesitant to cover the final distance down to the area where Dave had the caller hidden.  Once Dave introduced the adult lion vocals, the small lion turned back and left quickly on the same trail it had come in on.  Due to the size of the lion Dan never fired a shot.  

This was Dave’s second trip back into the field since rolling his quad and tearing his Achilles tendon last year in March.  It seems he still has the Midas touch.  He told me it was all about the basics of good predator calling–let the terrain, sign, cover, and a working knowledge of your intended target’s behaviors be your guide.  I say congrats on a memorable weekend–nice work Dave and Dan.  

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