How To Hunt Mountain Lions Without Dogs? (Full Guide)

Here is all the information and methods about How To Hunt Mountain Lions Without Dogs? The mountain lion is renowned for being one of the most mysterious mammals in North America. Many hunters might never see a dog in their lifetime if they didn’t utilize dogs.

Dogs have so played a crucial role in management and research. Mountain lion hunting methods such as baiting or spot and stalk are useless. The only way to hunt selectively is with dogs, which also gives a chance to release the animal if it is not a target to remove from that particular region. The usage of dogs is responsible for much of our current knowledge, which will make us better lion hunters.

How To Hunt Mountain Lions Without Dogs?

The only valid options for hunting a mountain lion are tracing, setting up an ambush, and using dogs. Lions are wary, swift, and constantly moving creatures who prefer to stay in the densest, most impenetrable environment possible. Due to this, methods like stand hunting, spotting, and stalking are all but impossible. So it would help if you focused on what works to catch a lion.

Hound hunting is unquestionably the most effective method out of the three. Using this method, you send out a pack of hounds to find the lion and chase it up a tree, where you can quickly kill it. The drawback of this approach is that you must pay a guide or outfitter to accompany you on your hunt unless you have your squad of properly trained Plott Hounds. However, there is no better way to raise your chances of success, so investing is unquestionably worthwhile.

Tracking is yet another excellent hunting technique. Most of the time, it has to be done in the snow, and it’s a hunting technique that demands a lot of woodsmanship because, Along with being able to read and follow traces, you must be able to move rapidly and softly.

It would help if you had recent tracks to begin a mountain lion search. Red hot with new snow eroding into the edges there is no use in tracking any mountain lion track older than a few hours since mountain lions traverse so much ground quickly. It’s crucial to avoid keeping your head up and turning while pursuing a lion. Before the lion spots you, or at the very least before it runs away, you want to be able to locate it;

Ambush hunting is a sensitive topic, so before engaging in it, be sure it’s permitted in your state. It entails locating a recent lion kill, moving away from the scene, setting up an ambush, and then waiting for the lion to return to the kill your top concern while planning a surprise in disguise. Lions are cautious creatures, especially when they are near a kill.

Therefore, you must remain fully disguised while setting up. Because lions can appear from anywhere, it is essential to dress in a good camouflage pattern and position yourself in dense cover with at least a 180-degree view of all potential approaches.

Put on a good cover scent, and then position yourself downwind of the kill. The slightest movement can cause a lion to run for the hills, so hold tight and remain completely motionless. If you want to succeed, be a stone, a sniper, and a patient.

Eating Mountain Lion

The flesh from a mountain lion is quite delectable. Similar to a beautiful lean pork chop. It is strange and makes no sense, given how bad most other predators taste. Maybe it’s because mountain lions eat only fresh meat. Perhaps the hunting gods rewarded the effort because they were so difficult to hunt. In either case, go out and hunt lions for the heart and the hide and pride.

Mountain lions can be prepared in the same way as pork. It may be grilled, roasted, fried, or smoked. Since having it for the first time, I’ve tried everything from crispy lion nuggets to Chinese lion spare ribs to fried tom chops and gravy to maple lion morning sausage. It is a type of meat that should be experimented with and used creatively rather than wasted and left in the woods without a head or pelt. It is shameful to use such a trophy.

Methods

The most frequent way to find lion tracks is to drive along roads after a fresh snowfall. You may do this with a pickup, an ATV, or a snowmobile. It enables you to travel far without wearing yourself or your dogs out. Fresh enough for the dogs to pursue if a track has been formed in the snow.

You can walk them on the way till they can smell it if they can’t. Hunters frequently travel roads in places without snow in search of footprints in the mud or sand in arid regions. Where this cat-headed if is there isn’t enough scent on the trail for the dogs? Where the dogs can sniff the track, you can frequently re-intercept it. Hunting routes have the drawback that you may have to wait a very long time before a lion decides to cross one.

Many places have no roads, so getting around on the land is very challenging. Many hunters follow their dogs on horseback or mules in the desert or backwoods. This enables the hunter to reach the lions’ habitat. Hunters might search for indications that a lion has been in the area while riding. You can identify footprints, scats, kills, and occasionally scratches with a trained eye.

Lions utilize scrapes or scratches to mark their territory. This is something I’ve noticed around killings or mating season. They accomplish this by using their front feet to drag the ground’s visible debris. The result is a hump between their back legs and a bare patch on the floor. On the mound designating it, they would urinate and perhaps defecate. These are typically laid down to delineate a lion’s territory.

Hiking is most likely the least effective and last way of lion hunting. Sometimes it is advantageous to hike through specific places and let the dogs run free when hunting if there is no other way to cover the territory. I often walk hot spots in search of recent kills and signs. The hunter and the dogs may experience physical strain, but it can also be immensely satisfying.

Lion Love

Even though it can be difficult, lion hunting is wonderfully satisfying. They are the world’s top predators and among their most magnificent creatures. They are tough to summon, disappear entirely into the forest, and have the power to hunt you back; hunting them is an honor.

Every time you follow them, you have the distinct impression that you’re reawakening a primitive part of yourself that is unique to the hunting world. A hunt where the distinction between prey and predator is the fantastic benefit of mountain lion hunting.

Final Verdict

Here is a key point of How To Hunt Mountain Lions Without Dogs? Even in ideal circumstances, shooting mountain lions may be pretty challenging. Winter and the early spring are when most hounds are in season. Snow isn’t constantly present, but it makes finding lion tracks simpler. Snow is pretty prevalent in the northern states and provinces.

However, it might not be possible in the south and southwest. To avoid contact with a cat, you must be aware of specific details. We need to locate hot places that will increase our chances of intercepting a track because we know that a lion’s range might be extensive.

If you go hunting in the winter, keep an eye out for herds of elk and deer hibernating. These groups frequently forage on hills that face west or south. These groupings will concentrate more and more when the winter snow falls. In locations without snow, elevation might be significant.

The game will typically be at a specific height, and lions frequently go through this area when hunting. If you’re tracking in the foothills close to a city, search for isolated areas with no people around. While lions may hunt at night, they are solitary animals and prefer to spend the night in secluded places like thickets.

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