Yes, had one at approx 12 yards, came in behind me and was sitting twiching his tail. Mad ethe hair on the back my neck standup.

I hunt in some heavily lion populated country and have seen some cats but have not had one come to a cow call that I saw.  It did happen to a hunting partner in the Gila about 4 years ago and had him pretty rattled for the rest of the season!

I'm glad Dave posted something about this encounter.  I was the one who said "stop calling" and I can tell you guys, up until that time I "thought" that I had never called in a cat.  Now, I'm almost certain that I have before.  This big tom came in so quiet and so smooth, it was amazing...Like Dave said, he never saw him- but after the cat left we went over to the tracks and he was actually much closer to Dave than he was me.  At first I just saw his back and thought it might be a elk calf, it was just surreal to see that huge cat at full stealth coming in on your buddy who's calling for you.  I didn't have a tag either but he was a perfect 25 yards broadside and was so intent on the caller (Dave) that he never saw me until I called out.  I've been treed by bears and charged by water buffalo but I have never been any more rattled than seeing that cat hunting at close range.

This one was not called but one day I was glassing a herd of elk and I saw this cat come up out of the canyon and walk right up to the elk.
They never saw him and he sat down and just watched them form about 30 yards. finally a young cow worked her way over to where the cat was and I thought I was going to see something few people ever see , a lion kill an elk. She got within five yards of that lion and he just sat there and watched her. She walked on off and he got up and walked back down into the canyon. Just keeping track of his dinner I guess. It was a pretty awsome experience. I have seen more than 20 lions in the wild which is phenomonal , but the ones I have called get me really spooked.

I know what they are after and I am it. I got a Springfield XDM .40 I now carry for this very reason. I was tracked all the way back to my truck last year. I felt all the way out that something was following me. I got back to my truck, dropped my pack,  put and arrow on the string and walked back down the path and there were large couger tracks on my tracks in the dust. That gave me some second thoughts about going without a pistol.

God bless you all, Steve

No cat stories but I have called in a few bears with a cow call,one came in on a dead run to 10yrds before it saw my wife and I.Freaked her out pretty bad!

I live in Pennsylvania where the eastern cougar has been allegedly extinct since the 1800's. About four years ago my local elementary school's recess was cut short when 6 teachers spotted one felis concolor stalking the children. I personally have found tracks, only once, and I have 3 buddys that claim to have seen them. There was also a sighting by nearly 20 people,if my memory serves me, of a mother and cub in Wildwood N.J. a few years ago.

Saw an interview on the net today with a teenager in Illinois (!) who claimed to have been jumped on his way out of the woods, after seeing the cat from his ladder stand. He wasn't hurt more than scratches, but his coat was ripped up, and he said he got his knife out and swiped at the cat, all the while holding its throat to keep it off his face. The whole story seemed a bit odd to me...