Bobcat Hunting

[spitfire]

It's cool that you return the Left-overs :winking: !

 

[spitfire]

He could just as easily be Ms.BOBBY-laden with KITTS!Hard to tell from the photo. :shocked2:

 

[Mad Professor]

He could just as easily be Ms.BOBBY-laden with KITTS!Hard to tell from the photo. :shocked2:

Could be, but cats are dimorphic, that is the males get much larger than the females. This is true from house cats to lions so a truely large "cat" is usually the male. A large male bobcat's tracks overlap sizes of small mt. lion tracks and male feral housecat's tracks can be mistaken for a small bobcat.

Concerning weather the pic is bobcat or lynx. A bobcat's tails is striped with black tip and white underside. A lynx's tail is not striped and tip completely black. Thus Felis rufus not Felis Canadensis, e.g. bobcat


Other animals are dimorphic too. For examples fishers. The large males (see pic above) can get to be 15 lbs but the females much smaller, the size of a male pine marten, which are also dimorphic, the females not much bigger than a male mink, which are also dimorphic...........Anyway tracking the weasel family has it's challenges unless you see the animal.

 

[spitfire]

Thanks for the advice Walks Alone.And here for the readers benefit is a Hangup-

 

[spitfire]

A close up of hangup-

 

[spitfire]

I was joking about the misses..hopefully.Dependent upon taxonomist the Bobcat genus is Felis or Lynx the species name is allway RUFUS.Sorry for the confusion.Your BOB is awesome.I can't wait til you post more pictures.Here's some Track info-

these dimensions are average.I am curious what about MR.BOB'S SIZE!

 

[Homesteader]

Got so many of 'em around my place that they've decimated the cottontails and severely hurt the turkey populations. Small dogs must be kept close, or they'll vanish. I guess the unbelievable growth of human population around here has made the poor critters hard put and desperate, but I don't know that I care all that much. Care about my dogs more than them, and might wanna hunt me some turkey or rabbits. That means I may just hunt bobcat for the first time in my life. I figure a .715 ball oughta do the trick, and the Bess will give 'em a sporting chance. (Then again, the side by side 12 gauge may give ME a more sporting chance!)

What do ya do with 'em once you've got 'em? The hide might be nice to tan, I guess. Can you eat 'em?

 

[Rebel]

Well first off you better see if you need tags for them where you live, you do here. They can be tanned or the hides sold to furbuyers. Cooked some once. Wife, granddaughter not i cared for it.

 

[Joel Lehman]

I've seen many bobcat on my hunting lease in south Texas. They are fun to watch. My brother saw one playing with a rat like a kitten plays with a toy mouse. He was throwing it up in the air, pouncing on it and just having a great time. We have also seen families with young kittens.

This past deer season I watch an adult bobcat low crawl about 100 yards down a road to try to catch a cottentail rabbit. The rabbit finally saw the bobcat and ran away. I would never shoot a bobcat, as I don't shoot anything I won't eat as a general rule.

 

[spitfire]

I have freerange chickens and neighbor has Boer Goats.I hunt bobcat & coyote as a response to predation of livestock by them.As a rule I try to only kill the individual offender.My state allows for trapping & hunting of bobcat & coyote.Trapping is usually effective after a kill.I also have a wild Black Bear(sow)that lives in my area who annually has a cub.She is never a problem(wisely avoids the garbage,etc).I like haveing predator's around it's only when they move into the catagory of varmint-pest that I address the problem. :winking:

 

[spitfire]

I also use the furs.The claws are good for jewelry (renactors-lik'em and great items at tribal pow-wows).The meat I barter for homegrown veggies with my oriental neighbhors. :winking:

 

[Wehrmacht]

Way back when I was in forestry/wildlife mgt.school,one of my minor jobs as a student employee was trapping bobcats.As cautious as these cats are about exposure,etc,trapping them is simple.All it takes is a double spring jump trap even sloppily set in a sandy spot along a creek and some bobcat urine sprayed just above the trap on a bush or small tree.

Every year we students would have a beerbust bar-be-cue party and cook up whatever was at hand including bobcat which most considered pretty good tablefare. We always had a "Mystery Meat" contest,and whoever won got a six-pak of cheap storebought beer.(Few of us had enough money to buy beer-we made it,or stole grain alcohol from the research lab :winking. The mystery meat could be anything.Weasel,skunk,j-bird,cotton rat,you name it! One year our wildlife professor supplied the "Mystery Meat" and no one guessed correctly. Turns out that it was a surplus German Sheppard dog from the vet school which was next to the forestry school.

The near-by big city newspapers got wind of our bar-be-cue "Mystery Meat" contest and came investigating :shake: BIG STORY in the paper-University Students Eating Dogs- :shocked2: Before it was all over the Univ.President got involved,our Prof was severely censured along with his buddy researcher at the vet school who supplied fido,the Forestry School Dean almost went on probation,and we never again had a "Mystery Meat" contest .

 

[KyFlintlock]

Thanks for the pics all. I liked that "hung up" pic too.

Never seen one in the wild, we don't have them around here close.... here is one a scratched out recently, since I don't have any photos of em' slinking around:

Good luck if you get out
Wess

 

[spitfire]

My question is how did you procure the BobTom urine?Is there a commercial source available? :hmm:

 

[spitfire]

Nice sketch :thumbsup: !

 

[Wehrmacht]

The wildlife dept.at school had several caged cats,and urine was collected by a pan put under the cages. Another method with cats is to place a towel folded on a piece of plywood then urinate around the towel BUT NOT ON IT. Cats will urinate all over the towel and surrounding plywood in an effort to mask the odor of human urine.

Yes,there is a commercial source and it's cheap! Get a copy of FUR-FISH-GAME magazine and you'll see a number of sources listed in the[url] advertizements.In[/url] fact you'll see scents available for many fur bearers. You'll catch a lot of coons with cat urine,also,as well as feral house cats. While I've never heard of a Jag being caught in a steel trap,I bet cat urine would work on them,too.

I always had fun trapping,and I've still got a few steel traps and snares laying around.But,sadly, the Florida Legislature caved in to the radical bunny huging PETA bunch,and it is now illegal to use leg hold traps in Florida. :nono:

 

[spitfire]

Thanks for the Info on Bobtom urine.Sorry to hear about FL. trapping regulations.Probable the same factions that banned Bear hunting in FL.

 

[Mad Professor]

My question is how did you procure the BobTom urine?Is there a commercial source available? :hmm:

January 06 Fur Fish Game has articles on both traping and hunting bobcats. The former describes how to get urine from recently dispatched cat. As mentioned above can also purchase cat pee from advertizers in FFG

 

[smokeblower]

Here in Tennessee, just build a chicken coup. If you build it, they will come.