There’s nothing that matches the thrill of close-encounter predator calling, especially when they have the ability kill whatever they’re after. (Photo submitted by the author)
February 12, 2025
By Scott Haugen
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I was about to call it quits when I heard a chipmunk scurry across a log behind me. It started barking alarm sounds. Jays then chattered, incessantly. That’s when I put the release on my bowstring. Scat and tracks of multiple bears were thick along the forest edge. Hoping to draw a black bear out of the dense forest, I’d been hitting it hard with a reed call for nearly 30 minutes. Then the popping of teeth, grunts, growls and the shredding of a log left no doubt what was happening.
My calling intensified in volume and pace. The woods went silent when the breeze swirled. I figured the bear winded me. Seconds later, tall grass and ferns parted and I could see the back of a bear coming right at me. Its steps were slow and deliberate.
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The bear kept coming, then paused at the edge of a tiny opening directly downwind. Rather than turn, the bruin stood on its hind legs, nostrils pumping the air, and kept coming. After a few yards it dropped to all fours; that’s when I reached full draw. At 12 yards the bear stopped and looked me in the eye. The arrow hit the mark. Few big-game animals die faster than a double-lung hit bear . This was no exception.
If you want to take your predator hunting game to the next level, calling bears, cougars and wolves is where it’s at. While bait, hounds, tracking in snow, and spot-and-stalk approaches are ways to fill a tag, there’s no greater challenge or thrill than calling in a predator that has the potential to kill you.
Hot & Cold Black Bears Author Scott Haugen has called in a number of black bears, including some that have come into bow range. (Photo submitted by the author) Bears are the easiest of the big three to call in, simply based on numbers and their lack of fear. There are more bears in more areas than there are cougars and wolves, and their concentrations are higher. Bears are fearless and less wary than cats and canines.
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The bear I arrowed had my scent the whole way. It’s been my experience when calling bears that they rarely care about human odor. I’ve even had them climb up the same tree I was calling from and approach from downwind multiple times. They’re atop the food chain and they know it.
Cold calling, the act of calling a bear without first seeing it, isn’t my first choice when trying to bring in a bear, but when the cover is thick and the sign fresh and abundant, there is no other option.
When cold calling, set up as close to the freshest sign you can find. Be ready to call for at least an hour, nonstop. This is where electronic calls come in handy. Blow on a handheld call that long and you’ll feel lightheaded, fast. I like mixing e-callers and mouth calls to offer variety.
There’s no greater thrill than calling in a big predator that has the ability to kill you. Scott Haugen called in this bear in southeast Alaska. (Photo submitted by the author) Bears aren’t picky when it comes to predator sounds, but they can quickly lose focus. For this reason, I prefer locating a bear before calling so I can watch how it reacts. Often, as soon as they hear your calls, a bear will lift its head, lay the ears back and start coming in. Then they’ll pause, eat grass and start walking the other way. That’s when I change up sounds and go louder.
Sometimes a bear will look your way then go back to what it was doing. Then again, it might hear you and sprint the opposite direction. They’re temperamental and unpredictable, which is what makes trying to call them in so challenging.
If a bear first reacts to a fawn distress call then loses interest, I’ll switch to a squirrel or rabbit sound. If they lose interest in that, I’ll switch to something else. Species sounds don’t often matter, you just want the sounds to keep rolling to keep the bruin’s attention. If a bear hangs up, a bird distress call can be the ticket to pulling it closer. Sometimes there’s nothing you can do and the bear walks away like it never heard you.
As with calling any big game, catching a bear in the right frame of mind is key to bringing it in close. If it doesn’t want to come in, there’s nothing you can do but keep trying.
I’ve called in multiple bears in multiple states, and there are no rules. You might hit twenty sets with no action, then have three bears come to one setup. Yes, that happened and it’s a thrill.
What’s addicting about calling bears is their sheer power once they commit. There’s nothing more hair-raising, more intimidating, than when you see a bear’s eyes and it’s coming in for the kill. They’re big, strong, and can go from 0 to 35 mph in five seconds, so be ready.
Cat Fever Cougar numbers continue to rise throughout the West, but calling one in amidst dense cover is one of predator calling’s greatest challenges. (Photo submitted by the author) I’ve called in four cougars and never killed one. One came in silent when I was calling coyotes in the high desert. I didn’t know it was there until I left and saw where it had laid down in the snow behind me, its big tail wagging side-to-side 25 yards away.
Another time I was turkey hunting and had a cat stalk to within 15 yards, but the state I was hunting in had no cougar season. A couple winters ago I cut fresh tracks in the snow high in the Cascade Range, started calling, then thick clouds rolled in. Forty-five minutes later, the fog lifted and I commenced calling. That’s when I saw the tracks of the cat going right to my e-caller, 75 yards away from where I sat. It came in when the clouds were so thick I couldn’t see it.
I have a lot to learn when it comes to calling cats, especially since most of my calling takes place in the dense rainforests of the Pacific Northwest. Often the habitat is so thick I’m toting a shotgun, not a rifle.
“It’s all about timing,” said Tyler Tiller, a hunter in my area who’s killed over a dozen cougars. “I run trail cameras year-round but have never seen a cat on a cellular cam, got on it, and called it in,” he continues. “When you keep cameras out all year and document cat movement, you see they run the same trails at the same time every year. My best calling success has come by knowing where cats will be, when they’ll be there, and calling when they’re hungry, not following a kill.”
Nothing reveals how many predators are out there, and where, like a fresh snowfall. (Photo submitted by the author) While cougars can breed year-round, February through June seems to be the height of it in our area. “I like using cougar in heat sounds when there’s a lot of cat traffic on my trail cameras, but I’ve called in the most cougars using squirrel, rabbit and rodent distress sounds and have called in a number of cougars using cat distress sounds,” Tiller shares.
Interestingly, Tiller has never called in a cougar using deer distress sounds. “I’ve tried it a lot and know hunters who have success with it in mule deer country, but in the thick cover I’m hunting, I think it’s too much. I’ve had better success with softer sounds.”
Tiller enters his calling area very quietly. He uses an electronic call and lets subtle sounds run for five minutes, then sits quietly for two minutes. He calls a bit louder on the next series, again for five minutes. After two minutes of silence, if nothing comes in, he’s blasting the e-caller on round three. Because the cover is so dense, Tiller gives an area 20 minutes then moves. “If a cat’s close, it usually comes in quick,” he said.
The Big Dogs Calling in a wolf is one of the most challenging hunts in North America, and once you do it, you’ll understand why. (Photo submitted by the author) When I lived in Alaska’s high Arctic for most of the 1990s, I ran a 200-mile long wolf trapline with one the residents from the village we lived in. I’ve trapped a number of wolves. I’ve never called one in. I’ve tried. They’re easier to trap than call for the simple reason their range is so vast, be it in Alaska or the Lower 48.
I rank these as the toughest predator in North America to call in, even over brown and grizzly bears. Wolves are unbelievably smart, yet ruthless. I once watched a pack of seven wolves run down, kill and devour an entire caribou in under 30 minutes. About 25% of the wolves I trapped were totally consumed by the pack that turned on it.
“If you’re serious about calling in a wolf, get experience hunting other big game first,” said Tom Schneider, one of the West’s most accomplished wolf hunters. “Wolves are one of the most intelligent animals out there.” In other words, they’re not like calling in a coyote.
“My biggest advantage is being in shape and covering ground,” said Schneider. “Simply finding a pack is the most challenging part of hunting wolves, and with a range of 250-400 square miles, you have to cover ground.”
Renowned wolf hunting guru Tom Schneider called in an entire wolf pack and shot four from it, all at very close range. (Photo submitted by the author) Schneider tries capitalizing on the wolf’s weakness to locate and call them in. “A big downfall is their family dynamics,” said Schneider. “Wolves are very close, with an alpha male and female and up to three generations in a pack. And the bigger the pack, the slower they move. They’ll often split up to hunt, so if I can cover ground and cut tracks, then try getting back on the big pack when they reassemble, chances are good for calling some in. In addition to a social order, they have places where they bed midday and places they routinely hunt, meaning they can be patterned just like a whitetail.”
With so many mouths to feed in the pack, Schneider focuses on areas where deer and elk numbers are high. He also tries to find the pack’s home base, or rendezvous point. “This is a place of order where there’s a purpose to how they hunt, travel, and regather after a hunt,” said Schneider. “You know you’ve found a rendezvous point when the scene is littered in bones, skulls, heavy trails and droppings. It’s like a big boneyard that will blanket an entire acre or more and have many skulls and other body parts. It’s where the adults bring the parts they tear off prey when the pups are small. We’ve found multiple moose, deer and elk skulls and countless bones in these areas; it’s an eerie experience you have to see to believe.”
Schneider used to think howling was the only way to call in a wolf, but after years of concentrated effort, his approach has changed. “I’m finding crippled rabbit sounds work well, as do moose and elk distress calls,” he said. “Electronic calls work, but wolves wise-up to them fast, so I use a lot of reed calls. Deer and calf elk distress calls are good, but a dying rabbit can be tough to beat. If they’re hungry, wolves will come in fast and be right on top of you before you know it, so be ready to pull the trigger before making a sound.” Many of the wolves Schneider has shot have been inside 10 yards.
(Photo submitted by the author) Once he locates a pack, Schneider closes the gap before calling. “Most of the wolves I’ve killed have come in within 30 seconds. Sometimes they come in slow and I don’t want them to figure me out so I stick with the same calls, not switching sounds like you might with other predators. Base the calling on what prey is in the area otherwise you’re just educating the pack.”
Howling, barking and whimpering sounds also work to bring in wolves, Schneider has discovered. “If I spook them, I’ll go to these sounds to stop ‘em for a shot or turn them my way.”
Schneider has also discovered the value of a suppressor in wolf hunting. “The week after I got my suppressor I called in a pack, started shooting at 10 yards and dropped four of them,” he said. “They had no idea what was going on. Another buddy shot six from one pack.”
When calling the big three predators, there’s no substitute for hard work, covering ground and hunting on their terms. It’s never convenient, rarely easy, and days, months, even years can pass before finding success. But once you get it, you’ll become part of a fraternity that thrives on the thrill and challenges of what could be North America’s most challenging hunts.
