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Do lions come to bait?
Posted: Tue Dec 20, 2011 4:30 pm
by Sierra Madre
We should start running dogs next year.(thanks to the all the friendly folks on this site)
Until then I want to put some pressure on the cats.
I was thinking to shoot some havalinas and hang them along the dry creek bed.
What are a cats habits at night and how can they be hunted?
Thanks,
Re: Do lions come to bait?
Posted: Tue Dec 20, 2011 6:39 pm
by Mike Leonard
You will just draw birds and coyotes with hung bait.
If legal you can use live bait to attract lions. Young kid goats work tjhe best and have a secure pen that the lion can not get into. Put a pair of kids in one secure pen and a couple more out of sight of the others in another and they will call and call each other and it has been proven effective if a lion is close enough in the area where he can hear them. I would recommend using a trail camera at each sight and that way you can get an idea of how effective this will be.
Lions will eat carrion at times but much prefer to kill and eat their own kills so dead game baiting as done in Africa for leopard and lion is not effective on them.
All roaring cats ( Lions, tigers, leopards, and jaguars) can be baited it seems but the pantera( cougars, cheetahs and such) line of felines prefer fresh meat of their own kills.
Re: Do lions come to bait?
Posted: Tue Dec 20, 2011 7:36 pm
by jube baker
I have seen female lions come and eat on road killed deer if they have cubs to feed.
Re: Do lions come to bait?
Posted: Wed Dec 21, 2011 12:38 am
by halfbreed
madre fyi javelinas is considered a game animal in tejas with seasons and limits . wouldn't be tellin no one about killin and baiting with em . good luck
Re: Do lions come to bait?
Posted: Wed Dec 21, 2011 2:50 am
by Machias
For once I will have to disagree with Mr. Leonard.

Now there is a caveat, what I'm about to relay may be unique to this area. In the Blue Mountains of SE WA, baiting lions is very effective. I have a friend who has photographic proof, over and over. What he has done on several occasions is stake a road kill deer or goat out on an open ridge line. He then sets up his trail camera. What generally happens is the magpies and crows show up. Usually within a day or two he will have yotes, bobcats and lions. He has had lions show up in daylight on numerous times. Now will this work in your area? Not sure but it works here. Another very effective way is lion vocalizations. There is a man Steve Tormala, Rainshadow Calls. Steve is light years ahead of lion calling than anyone else I know of. Lions will come into predator calls, just like fox, coyotes, bobcats and bears. However they come in super stealthy, slip in, watch the scene and usually see the caller move and slip out without the caller ever knowing they had a killer nearby. With Steve's calls it is lion whistles, purrs, growls, etcs. These are recorded calls from real lions who are quite vocal. The lions that come in to these calls stroll in like they own the place. They have very little caution because they think they are walking in on other lions.
Re: Do lions come to bait?
Posted: Wed Dec 21, 2011 11:23 am
by Big Horn Posse
A word of advice for the guys reading this post. Always check with your state's regulations first before trying to bait or lure a lion. It maybe illegal and not worth the fines if you get caught.
Re: Do lions come to bait?
Posted: Wed Dec 21, 2011 12:05 pm
by Mike Leonard
Fred that is very interesting and certainly can see where a bait in a postion such as that in an area of heavy lion traffic could work, becasue the avian scavengers send a signal to other scavengers and predators alike.A person might have to set there a week to get a shot, or check and clean out your traps and snares daily. Trail cameras are showing us just how little we really do know about lions and I may be an old dog but I am always up to learn something new. Thanks!
I also agree on calling and have had them slip in on me so close then when looking at the tracks in the snow and my postion two jumps and I would have been had. So in lion country now I make sure I back up to something if I am calling alone. LOL!
Re: Do lions come to bait?
Posted: Wed Dec 21, 2011 1:13 pm
by George Streepy
I know of people who have had luck starting lions from roadkill. A local warden here has had some luck using bait to lure lions into live traps. I am confident it works but wonder how effective it really is. I don't have the patience to sit on a kill for days on end hoping that a lion might come into it. I do believe Fred about the Blue Mts, but I believe there are more lions there than any other place I have ever spent time.
Re: Do lions come to bait?
Posted: Wed Dec 21, 2011 1:14 pm
by super white hunter
what about using a lion scent and setting up a scratch or something, maybe use it for a starting point with dogs like some people do with bobcats.
Re: Do lions come to bait?
Posted: Wed Dec 21, 2011 1:41 pm
by Cowboyvon
Wasn't it Ollie Barney that said he got his dogs started with baiting lions by hanging a Javalina ?
Re: Do lions come to bait?
Posted: Wed Dec 21, 2011 2:31 pm
by Sierra Madre
Clarification:
The ranch is on the south side of the Rio Grand.
Havalina can be permitted and taken their.
Every year we supply the local village with our unwanted meat.
Thanks,
Re: Do lions come to bait?
Posted: Wed Dec 21, 2011 5:09 pm
by Benny G
Big Horn Posse wrote:A word of advice for the guys reading this post. Always check with your state's regulations first before trying to bait or lure a lion. It maybe illegal and not worth the fines if you get caught.
Now, Posse, don't go gettin all hysterical on us. I'm ALMOST positive that all this discussion is stricktly HYPOTHETICAL!
Cowboyvon, I have read that same thing a couple of places. But I wouldn't suggest anyone give it a whirl.

Re: Do lions come to bait?
Posted: Wed Dec 21, 2011 10:24 pm
by coastrangecathunting
have heard of a gov. trapper that uses road kill deer to live trap lion. just what i heard .
jc
Re: Do lions come to bait?
Posted: Wed Dec 21, 2011 10:48 pm
by Big Horn Posse
Benny G wrote:Big Horn Posse wrote:A word of advice for the guys reading this post. Always check with your state's regulations first before trying to bait or lure a lion. It maybe illegal and not worth the fines if you get caught.
Now, Posse, don't go gettin all hysterical on us. I'm ALMOST positive that all this discussion is stricktly HYPOTHETICAL!
Cowboyvon, I have read that same thing a couple of places. But I wouldn't suggest anyone give it a whirl.

Benny, just don't want anyone doing something they may get in trouble doing. Always best to be safe than sorry.

Re: Do lions come to bait?
Posted: Thu Dec 22, 2011 2:17 am
by Machias
Great discussion, I would never sit on a bait until a lion was hitting it. That's the nice thing about the trail cameras, they would be a big aid. Once you had a lion hitting the bait, freshening it up and setting up a ground blind can be effective. Probably not nearly as effective as baiting bears, but better the even money once a bait has been hit by a lion.
Baiting lions is perfectly legal in WA state.