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On this regard, calling, luring and stalking a cougar have demonstrated to be ineffective, so using such techniques is a waste of time; furthermore, probably you will alert lions as well other cats on the area of your presence and they well leave the area much before you are even close to see them.

Since cougars prefer high positions to bed, they usually are able to have total visual control of a wide area and will see you even when you are moving slowly; on the other hand these animals are very active predators instead of opportunistic so luring or calling won't work properly; perhaps a coyote will show on the area, but not  lion.

So, if you really wish to hunt a cougar the best choice is to use hounds. Properly trained dogs will be able to follow a cougar track left even one day before; but with so much time ahead, there will be a lot of territory to cover, but there's not other choice, you must trust your dogs.

First thing to do is to begin with dogs 14 months old or more. Younger dogs coat is not thick enough to resist icy conditions, thus your dog will be on hypothermia danger and even freezing, so avoid to send young pups to train on the ice because they will be in danger, furthermore, if your dogs don't feel comfortable on the ice from the very beginning because of cold, later they will refuse to retrieve on such conditions, so the timing to begin is crucial.

Once you begin ice retrieving training, do it on well known, controlled environments, this way your dog is more confident and you are sure nothing bad will arise. A good choice is a shallow pond near home where the dog may take first contact with a frozen shore.

Hunt near water sources. During hot weather it will be a lot more easier to find birds near water ponds, creeks and any other water source, so place your hunting ground near water to increase your odds; but don't do it before scouting since it's mandatory to set up your hunting plan on an area with pheasant activity signs.

With the above in mind it's obvious you need to go out before hunting looking for signs of pheasants activities such as roosters crowing or some birds crossing roads very fast, especially at dusk. 

Search near corn. Corn plantations are irresistible for pheasants, so the perfect area to look for them will be a corn plantation near water sources. If you are able to locate an area like it, your chances will increase 100%.

Use a dog. Even when many successful hunters are able to take down many pheasants by themselves, a good bird dog will increase your odds drastically. Many hunters prefer Labs but Pointers also do a great job not only finding pheasant but also helping hunters to ambush them and finally retrieving your catch.

1. Experience

Even when each year many people go out for their first hunting trip, all of them are accompanied by experienced guides and hunters, thus information about safety and safe hunting is always at everyone's reach, this way a sort of "safety culture" is built among hunters season after season, making of safe procedures something normal and natural.

2. Hunting Safety Courses

Training on Hunting Safety is mandatory on most of U.S. states to obtain a hunting license, furthermore, in some instances this training must be updated time to time in order to ensure proper accomplishment.

Then everyone who has a hunting license is obligated not only to go through proper training on safety during hunting but also to fulfill the minimum approval requirements for the course, otherwise a valid hunting license is not issued.

This way proper training and awareness about safety among hunters is guaranteed.

Once you have set up all the paperwork, it's time to lure a big black bear. The following tips will increase your success odds and will facilitate your task:

1. Scouting is vital to choose a proper area to set the bait

As in any other hunting activity, information is the key. You won't win nothing leaving bait on the first place you find, instead preliminary scouting will allow to find areas plenty of bears activity as well feeding areas and trails.

Once you have identified the places with the highest level of bear activity, it's time to proceed with the bait set up.

2. Choose the bait location properly

No matter if you find a place plenty of bear activity signs, if you don't set bait on the proper location all your scouting hard work will be lost.