Calling in lions.

[thegunsmith2506]

8 hours ago, Physch said:

I’m curious...this is a 2018 topic but did either of you have success at calling one in?

I think lions are fairly easy to call in. There is a huge learning curve at the beginning but after a couple of lions it gets very cookie cutter. 

I would never mouth call. They come in fast and there is always the chance of calling in a bear which I’m not fond of. 

Personally I think you have to understand travel routes, bedding and sunning areas to be okay at glassing them up. Most people I know that have found them using glass were looking for deer, elk, etc. Not saying impossible but not easy. 

If it's that simple, how many have you called and killed? Any pics?

[Physch]

I’ve called in quite a few. My issue has been finding them after the shot. They have a tendency of running and hiding after being shot since they’re not treed. Their color blends in with everything and can make for a hard recovery. I have another thread on this forum where I asked opinions on shot placement that I had on a cat. You should be able to find it pretty easily. I shot two within a few months. One took me 4 days to find after the shot. Tracking dogs within a couple of hours couldn’t find it. Worse feeling of my life was losing them. So now I chase them with dogs. Cats are my passion. I think it’s easier to call cats in than it is to use dogs. Here’s the cat skull I recovered: (don’t mind the bear. That was spot and stalk.)

[nateNAU]

On 12/24/2018 at 11:58 AM, kidso said:

I have been blessed to call in over a dozen lions in 20 years of bear calling.  I was obviously targeting bears and used hand calls.  I call incessantly, with lots of emotion, and only stop to catch my breath with nothing longer than a 30 second break.  I typically call fir 40-60 minutes depending on the feelings I get...Lions appear out of nowhere! Quiet and s eaky, they have scared the heck out of me!!  Good luck!

Spot on advice! Almost my exact experiences with a lot of bobcats and 2 lions. I typically run my stands 2 hours for cats though. Have had a number of bobcats not appear till almost the 2 hour mark. A couple of times I was trying for bear with non stop sound at the top of my lungs. Just loud as possible, continuous, and all of a sudden there was a cat 20 feet away.

[recurveman]

I've killed one lion.   I've had 5 other "encounters".   One came into the call because I could see the tracks as I left the stand.   He came in down wind about 20 yards from where I was sitting.    That cat should have died that day.  That day I learned that you need to be looking down wind!!!!!!  If not you won't be seeing the cat.     

Another time I called in an area and heard some really, really weird noises.    Never heard them before and haven't heard them since.   That afternoon (maybe 4 hours later) I have a pic of 4 cats sitting at the tank drinking for the better part of 15 minutes.   Close but no cigar on that one.

Next encounter I called again and nothing came into the call.   I made a call on Saturday evening and it was about 300 yards from a tank where I had a camera.   I stopped calling around 7;30PM and I had pics of the cat at the tank at 7:51 when I came back and checked out the camera.   Well that cat for sure came into the call and I just didn't see it.   Close again but no cigar.  

Called in another Lion that I thought might eat me.   It was pissed and making noises that scared the crap out of me.   Made the noises "roar" for the better part of 10 minutes but it was super, super thick and I couldn't get close enough to kill it.   Probably a female that was protecting its young. 

Lion I did kill came flying into the call at about 10 minutes.  I was flanking the call instead of being down wind (will never sit down wind again).   When it came in I remember telling myself to enjoy the moment because it only happens every so often.   Now shoot the lion.    Shot it at 100 yards.   It was on a very brisk walk and I hit it right behind the shoulder with my .243.   Cat went about 100 yards and died with no blood trail.  I was lucky that it rained the day before and the ground was super soft and mostly dirt.    I tracked it by its track and nothing else.    After skinning the animal I've decided that I will be using a bigger gun.    They are super strong critters.    They aren't built like deer and elk.   Their legs and bodies are solid muscle and are killing machines.   I will be putting more energy into the next lion I shoot.   

Lions are probably easier to call in than people think.    I believe you kind of need to target lions if you want to kill lions.   They are different that dogs for sure.   

    

[25-06]

What kind of call did you use?

[CatfishKev]

3 hours ago, recurveman said:

I've killed one lion.   I've had 5 other "encounters".   One came into the call because I could see the tracks as I left the stand.   He came in down wind about 20 yards from where I was sitting.    That cat should have died that day.  That day I learned that you need to be looking down wind!!!!!!  If not you won't be seeing the cat.     

Another time I called in an area and heard some really, really weird noises.    Never heard them before and haven't heard them since.   That afternoon (maybe 4 hours later) I have a pic of 4 cats sitting at the tank drinking for the better part of 15 minutes.   Close but no cigar on that one.

Next encounter I called again and nothing came into the call.   I made a call on Saturday evening and it was about 300 yards from a tank where I had a camera.   I stopped calling around 7;30PM and I had pics of the cat at the tank at 7:51 when I came back and checked out the camera.   Well that cat for sure came into the call and I just didn't see it.   Close again but no cigar.  

Called in another Lion that I thought might eat me.   It was pissed and making noises that scared the crap out of me.   Made the noises "roar" for the better part of 10 minutes but it was super, super thick and I couldn't get close enough to kill it.   Probably a female that was protecting its young. 

Lion I did kill came flying into the call at about 10 minutes.  I was flanking the call instead of being down wind (will never sit down wind again).   When it came in I remember telling myself to enjoy the moment because it only happens every so often.   Now shoot the lion.    Shot it at 100 yards.   It was on a very brisk walk and I hit it right behind the shoulder with my .243.   Cat went about 100 yards and died with no blood trail.  I was lucky that it rained the day before and the ground was super soft and mostly dirt.    I tracked it by its track and nothing else.    After skinning the animal I've decided that I will be using a bigger gun.    They are super strong critters.    They aren't built like deer and elk.   Their legs and bodies are solid muscle and are killing machines.   I will be putting more energy into the next lion I shoot.   

Lions are probably easier to call in than people think.    I believe you kind of need to target lions if you want to kill lions.   They are different that dogs for sure.   

    

How would you target a lion? 

[recurveman]

14 hours ago, CatfishKev said:

How would you target a lion? 

Honestly the key to calling in a lion is being where they are at.   I wouldn't expect to call in a lion unless there was one in the area.   It's like every other type of hunting.   Looking for sign, tracks, cam pics, ect.   The lion I did kill I told my buddy that I was going to kill that lion in a few hours (he thought I was nuts) but I knew it was in the area very recently.   I would spend some time finding an area that normally holds lions and then figure them out.  I've got an area that I really, really like for lions.  I'm sure that there are other places that have more lions too.   I'm not a lion expert but I think a call to the game and fish would help you figure out where the lions are the most populated.   I would focus on those areas.   The area I like has lions year after year.   I will go and set my call in about the same place because I know that there are lions in the area for sure.   Sometimes there are many lions in a area.   

I use a boss dog calling machine and a fluffy tail thingy.   Nothing special.   Normally I use a jack rabbit distress call.   I've used others depending on what I'm seeing.   If I don't see Jack rabbits but I'm seeing a bunch of cottontails then I mix it up.   If it is calving season for the elk or the deer are dropping fawns I will mix it up and use those sounds.   I bet a lion isn't expecting to see a hunter when they hear a fawn in distress!!!!!!

   

[roninflag]

some of the lions near tucson eat humans.

[Roosevelt Mark]

Back in 2018...

[CatfishKev]

There's an article out right now that a predator is eating goats in Sierra Vista. The range was like Ramsey canyon to ash canyon. Basically half of the entire length of the range.

[JFP]

On 3/5/2022 at 10:52 AM, CatfishKev said:

There's an article out right now that a predator is eating goats in Sierra Vista. The range was like Ramsey canyon to ash canyon. Basically half of the entire length of the range.

Kevin, not that I disagree with you but how did you come about this information?  Our daughter lives in the area you described. She raises goats and has free-range chickens and never lost any to predators with the exception of losing a few chicks to hawks, nor are her goats in a closed barn at night. Her property borders the forest.

[CatfishKev]

2 hours ago, JFP said:

Kevin, not that I disagree with you but how did you come about this information?  Our daughter lives in the area you described. She raises goats and has free-range chickens and never lost any to predators with the exception of losing a few chicks to hawks, nor are her goats in a closed barn at night. Her property borders the forest.

Here is the article I was referring to

https://news.google.com/articles/CBMiSWh0dHA6Ly93d3cua29sZC5jb20vMjAyMi8wMy8wNS9laWdodC1nb2F0cy1raWxsZWQtYnktYW5pbWFsLXNpZXJyYS12aXN0YS_SAQA?hl=en-US&gl=US&ceid=US%3Aen

[JFP]

Thank you Kevin, I'll pass that on to my daughter.

[Non-Typical Solutions]

I found the lion thread and read through it again after all these years.

Always fun to go back and read from some of our previous members that we don't hear from anymore.

[Mog]

Question, do you let other critters go without being shot if waiting for a lion (coyotes, fox, bobcats, etc...), assuming yes. That would be hard for me to do