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Art Eatman · January 21, 2012, 01:19 PM

Sitting over bait. A buddy of mine and I set out a bunch of leftover meat scraps, a jackrabbit, and a handful of catnip. This was about 3PM. Toward sundown, with a nearly-full moon rising, we went to our lookout spot above the bait.

Big putty-tat showed up. Sorta Siamese-cat markings.

My buddy had an AR with some sort of 3X scope on the carry-handle. He missed, three shots. (Later, back in Austin, in telling the story he got so excited he missed three more shots.) I had screwed up, trying out a new-to-me rifle with a stiffer trigger than "Ol Pet". I pulled low, missing the chest by maybe an inch. Aggravating.

I guarantee you that a cougar is highly competent at instantly being elsewhere.

So look for tracks in an area. In general, predators go to work on chow a bit earlier and hunt a bit later when there's a lot of moon. Prey animals can see better, then, and are a bit harder to catch.

And, yeah, I have found that bacon grease on a piece of rag is an attractant. I've done this at my south fence, and it's common to see cat tracks the next morning.

January 21, 2012, 01:19 PM	#3
Art Eatman Staff in Memoriam Join Date: November 13, 1998 Location: Terlingua, TX; Thomasville, GA Posts: 24,798	Sitting over bait. A buddy of mine and I set out a bunch of leftover meat scraps, a jackrabbit, and a handful of catnip. This was about 3PM. Toward sundown, with a nearly-full moon rising, we went to our lookout spot above the bait. Big putty-tat showed up. Sorta Siamese-cat markings. My buddy had an AR with some sort of 3X scope on the carry-handle. He missed, three shots. (Later, back in Austin, in telling the story he got so excited he missed three more shots.) I had screwed up, trying out a new-to-me rifle with a stiffer trigger than "Ol Pet". I pulled low, missing the chest by maybe an inch. Aggravating. I guarantee you that a cougar is highly competent at instantly being elsewhere. So look for tracks in an area. In general, predators go to work on chow a bit earlier and hunt a bit later when there's a lot of moon. Prey animals can see better, then, and are a bit harder to catch. And, yeah, I have found that bacon grease on a piece of rag is an attractant. I've done this at my south fence, and it's common to see cat tracks the next morning.