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Author
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Topic: Some Questions on Bob Cats
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Texaslonghorn85
PAKMAN
Member # 486
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posted December 20, 2004 07:22 PM
I was out Coyote hunting this last saturday,and I was sitting behind this stump at the edge of the woods down at the bottom of this clear cut. I was calling with a medium range circe rabit call, and a rodent squeeker, switching back and fourth between the two, after about 20 minutes and no luck I stopped my calling and was sitting quietly deciding on where to go next and call, after about 5 minutes I heard I twig break right on the other side of my stump, out of nowhere less than 10 feet from me a bobcat appeared crawling on its belly through the brush right to where I was sitting, I immediatley sounded of with my AR-15 carbine, shot twice and missed, he was so close my gunshots stunned him he stood starring at me I shot a third time and hit him he flinched and turned around and walked back into the brush, me and my buddy walked through the surrounding woods for an hour but could not find him. I was wondering just how tuff these critters are, and if they really do have nine lives, I was shooting .223 50 grain hollow points. Another question I have is, If I called In one is it possible that there could be more in that generall vesinity. I was hunting on public land, and the area I'am hunting only recieves hunting pressure for deer and elk, and since those seasons are over with, it has quieted down out there. Looking for the bob cat I noticed that this was actually prime bobcat habbitat, there was a creek about 150 yards away and plenty of fallen trees and rotten hollowed out stumps and it was about 1 1/2miles to the nearest logging road. I'am also thinking about taking out a motorized decoy next time and setting it up close to were I will be sitting, do any of you think a decoy might work well. I was also wondering how dangerous these animals are, because this bobcat was deffinatley in kill mode he was heading right for me. Well hopefully next time I can spot him before he gets that close, I probably would have made a more cleaner shot if he wouldn't have scared the living daylights out of me, giving me an asthma attack. Well any advice on how to bag me some bobcats would be appreciated, and now that I have found some bobcat habbitat, I cant wait till I get back from vacation to go hit this spot again.
Posts: 1 | From: Washington | Registered: Dec 2004
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GUTPILE
Knows what it's all about
Member # 448
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posted December 20, 2004 07:49 PM
We killed one with a 22WMR this year. They ain't very big, 20 #s give or take. Where are you from in Washington ?
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Posts: 132 | From: Curlew Wa | Registered: Nov 2004
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Leonard
HMFIC
Member # 2
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posted December 20, 2004 09:16 PM
crawling on his belly, was he? When they get in that kill mode, you were lucky to escape injury.
[ December 20, 2004, 09:23 PM: Message edited by: Leonard ]
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EL BEE Knows It All and Done It All.
Don't piss me off!
Posts: 31498 | From: Upland, CA | Registered: Jan 2003
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Cdog911
"There are some ideas so absurd only an intellectual could believe them."--George Orwell.
Member # 7
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posted December 21, 2004 10:24 AM
One thin g I've learned with 'cats is that you either kill 'em with the first shot, or plan on shooting them 6 more times ![[Smile]](smile.gif) cause once they get pissed, they can run long on adrenalin alone. I hit one last season with a .25-06 down the left flank and through the left hip and we tracked that thing for nearly three hours after giving it an hour to just die. It never did until I caught it three weeks later in a foothold trap missing its entire left hindleg. (Oops)
Bobcats aren't like coyotes. They don't pack or even give a rip about one another or socializing, and are generally solitary critters. If the area you called in looked "catty", it's likely that others are around, especially if the one you saw was small-ish and may still have been hanging with his littermates. But, if it was an adult, it's unlikely that any others are directly affiliated with the one you saw. Hit and miss.
[ December 21, 2004, 10:25 AM: Message edited by: Cdog911 ]
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I am only one. But still, I am one. I cannot do everything, but still, I can do something; and, because I cannot do everything, I will not refuse to do something that I can do.
Posts: 5438 | From: The gun-lovin', gun-friendly wild, wild west | Registered: Jan 2003
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Rich Higgins
unknown comic
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posted December 21, 2004 11:13 AM
Leonard, Leonard, I would like to see what you edited out.
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Leonard
HMFIC
Member # 2
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posted December 21, 2004 11:30 AM
Circle down wind, Higgins. LB
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EL BEE Knows It All and Done It All.
Don't piss me off!
Posts: 31498 | From: Upland, CA | Registered: Jan 2003
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Rich Higgins
unknown comic
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posted December 21, 2004 01:47 PM
I was downwind when I read it. That's why I had to ask.
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Leonard
HMFIC
Member # 2
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posted December 21, 2004 01:58 PM
All that has me curious, at the moment is, how did you do on that tri-club hunt?
Good hunting. LB
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EL BEE Knows It All and Done It All.
Don't piss me off!
Posts: 31498 | From: Upland, CA | Registered: Jan 2003
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Leonard
HMFIC
Member # 2
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posted December 21, 2004 02:04 PM
Welcome to the New Huntmasters, TLH. Glad to have you on board. LB
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EL BEE Knows It All and Done It All.
Don't piss me off!
Posts: 31498 | From: Upland, CA | Registered: Jan 2003
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Curt2u
Knows what it's all about
Member # 74
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posted January 01, 2005 10:18 AM
Leonard and Cdog, question for you. Do you notice that most of the bobcats you shoot spring in the air? Not talking about trapped bobcats. Just curious.
Here is one from the day before Christmas. I was using a Bobcat in Heat sound. He came in from across a canyon like he was on a string.
He came from where the white arrow is....
Tex, I'm no bobcat expert and rarely hunt them. What I've seen and have been told by talking to others is that bobcats are not particularly "tough." When I say tough, I mean compared to a coyote that seems to be able to handle a great deal of injury and keep on going. Bobcats seem to be able to handle much less stress. Wounds that a coyote would simply shrug off seem to often kill a bobcat. There are always exceptions of course. Like Cdogs experience. Is that what you bobcat veterans seem to notice too?
Posts: 236 | From: NW | Registered: Jan 2003
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Alaskan Yoter
Knows what it's all about
Member # 169
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posted January 01, 2005 10:32 AM
Very nice cat Curt!!
Posts: 235 | From: Wasilla, Alaska | Registered: Mar 2003
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Leonard
HMFIC
Member # 2
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posted January 01, 2005 10:45 AM
That's a fair size cat, Curt. Good hunting.
Actually, I have shot, or been holding the light on quite a number of bobcats.
On the other hand, I have seen the videos of the jumping and turning inside out, in slow motion.
However, I have not actually witnessed it, in person? Or, perhaps it happens so fast that it doesn't register? They generally go down like a sack of shit, just like anything else? Maybe that's a phenomena when using one of those sub-calibers?
Nice pics, thanks for sharing.
& Happy New Year!
Good hunting. LB
edit: I know that cats are thought to be a lot more fragile than a coyote, but if you fringe them, they can get away, just like anything else.
[ January 01, 2005, 10:47 AM: Message edited by: Leonard ]
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EL BEE Knows It All and Done It All.
Don't piss me off!
Posts: 31498 | From: Upland, CA | Registered: Jan 2003
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Curt2u
Knows what it's all about
Member # 74
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posted January 01, 2005 12:24 PM
Thanks Todd and Leonard.
Your probably right about caliber. I haven't shot enough called bobcats to say one way or the other. I've seen it mostly in vids too. Probably happens more with less than well placed shots. Most of the bobcats I've shot were trapped and they folded up with just a .22 LR but that was a shot behind the ear or in the head.
Regarding fragility, I have to agree that a fringe hit would allow an escape. Do you think that they are capable of surviving the fringe hit like some coyotes do?
Thanks for letting me pick your brain on bobs.
Take care, Curt
Posts: 236 | From: NW | Registered: Jan 2003
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Leonard
HMFIC
Member # 2
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posted January 01, 2005 01:14 PM
I remember, once, over by Minersville, where we had a cat down, and searched for a couple hours. Didn't give up because it sounded good and he appeared to go down rather smartly.
It just so happened that we traveled through the area the next morning, and had a little time to spare, so we stopped where it all happened, the night before.
It didn't take long to locate the spot, a good size pool of dried blood and a cute little (soft) turd. We were all around that spot, that night. Probably passed within five feet from four different sides?
We followed a trail down into the canyon, and he walked the sandy bottom for about half a mile, until we lost it as he passed through a culvert under the road.
Judging by the blood and the scat, he must have laid there for some time after we gave it up? Now, it has always been my belief that a bobcat will go uphill if he can, and this one didn't, so I figure he was mortally wounded?
Another time, I shot at a cat three separate times, must have trailed him a couple miles? Then, I flushed him and got a standing shot at about fifty yards. This time, I saw that the shot missed him by at least six inches! He jumped, at the shot and then I used a guestimate to nail him.
Apparently, I had bumped the rifle somewhere, somehow? Anyway, come to find out, he was hit on one of the previous shots, in the back leg. It wasn't detectable, I caught sight of him making tracks several times, and he moved normally.
Another time, I shot a real nice Tom, up high, in the snow. I figured he was dead, at the time, but I did have a handgun with me, so when I got there, he was just laying there watching me, not moving a muscle. He was nicked in the side of the neck. I put the .45 practically on his nose and pulled the trigger. Never understood why he stayed put, I'm sure, from inspecting the initial hit, that he could have, not only survived; but got clean away, if he wanted. Scratched my head over that one.
I have heard how easy they are to kill, but they seem reasonably tough, if you get a hit anywhere but the lungs or the head.
Good hunting. LB
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EL BEE Knows It All and Done It All.
Don't piss me off!
Posts: 31498 | From: Upland, CA | Registered: Jan 2003
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Curt2u
Knows what it's all about
Member # 74
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posted January 02, 2005 09:41 AM
Thanks Leonard. That was very informative.
Posts: 236 | From: NW | Registered: Jan 2003
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Leonard
HMFIC
Member # 2
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posted January 02, 2005 10:00 AM
Yeah, right! I forgot to mention how my hand was shaking as to why I had to practically bump his nose, 'cause I was afraid I'd miss, otherwise.
Actually, I did almost the same thing, once. Bobcat, same deal, only I had a rifle. I just pointed it at him, no aiming, from maybe five feet away....and missed him! That was the only time I actually had a cat jump like the videos. Unfortunately, I didn't see much of it, because I jumped higher than he did!
Good hunting. LB
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EL BEE Knows It All and Done It All.
Don't piss me off!
Posts: 31498 | From: Upland, CA | Registered: Jan 2003
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Az-Hunter
Hi, I'm Vic WELCOME TO THE U.S. Free baloney sandwiches here
Member # 17
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posted January 02, 2005 10:18 AM
I killed a fair number of cats thru the years, and a good number of them did the coiled spring, jump and twist too. Of course, Im nortorious for using the "sub-calibers", and maybe this is one of the off shoots when putting little bullets at high velocity thru cats?
Last year while calling, I had a big tom come in off my right side at about 30 feet, as he stood, tail switching staring at the call, I raised my rifle smoothly, he of course snapped his head and stared deliberatly, in typical bobcat fashion.
I was using my 22 hornet, put a bullet thru him right behind the shoulder and low, he sprang four feet in the air, hit the ground on all fours, then briskly walked ten feet closer to the call, stared at it for three of four seconds as the blood leaked out both side like pouring from a bottle, then tipped over.
More times than not, when I hit a cat, they jump,twist and sprint till they loose enough oxgeynated blood to function, and fall over. Now this is primarily on broadside shots, or quartering shots. When shot squarely in the chest on frontal shots, I imagine there is more trauma to the nervous system, and they just slam down, but always with more stretching and quivering than coyotes of fox, odd behavior, anyone else notice that?
Posts: 1634 | From: 5 miles west of Tim | Registered: Jan 2003
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Leonard
HMFIC
Member # 2
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posted January 02, 2005 11:07 AM
Yeah, I freely admit that my experience may be a little different than others, mainly because three quarters of them have been taken at night, and most of the rest at fairly long range.
I remember one, had to thread the needle through tree branches. When there is a large object in the foreground, the animal cannot be seen clearly on the other side, and I didn't have any clues, except the sound of a hit...which could have been a branch I didn't see, who knows?
So, I walked out there and looked everywhere, but no cat. It was almost bare, didn't take much to shine a light and see that there wasn't any animal laying anywhere on the flood plain between washes.
So, I walked back to the truck and we were just about to move out, when my son mentioned that the cat flipped over backwards; something that I didn't see, at all. That changed my mind from contemplating a miss, to thinking about a runner and an extended search.
And, out I went to the spot. Still no blood, but it was red dirt, and blood would be difficult to detect, if you know what I mean? Anyway, I turned around and looked back at the truck, turned 180º and started walking. About a hundred paces, and just a step from the next wash, there he lay, deader than the proverbial door knob.
That reminds me of a few other heart shot cats that took off, looking like a clean miss. It really helps to have complete confidence in your rifle, when that happens; or you are inclined to mumble a few cuss words and give up.
Good hunting. LB
[ January 02, 2005, 11:10 AM: Message edited by: Leonard ]
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EL BEE Knows It All and Done It All.
Don't piss me off!
Posts: 31498 | From: Upland, CA | Registered: Jan 2003
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