Me, Leonard, and the bobcat fight!

[Jerry Lester]

This happened when I was about 19 years old, which would've made Leonard around 15 at the time.

First off, let me say that I don't (and haven't for a long time) engage in these activities anymore.

At the time it was very common for teenage boys in this area to drink. It was also common for us to ride around, and drink, while looking for fur to support our drinking, and gas money, as the low paying work we could find, just couldn't support our fun. We'd burn up the back roads looking for coons, possums, foxes, or what ever else had a pelt worth some money. As furs then actually brought something, we could ride, and drink all night on just a couple coons, or maybe a few possums. We never bothered anybody, and the law (after stern warnings) would always let us go as long as we were on the back roads miles from the nearest town. They knew we were hunting fur.

I had just bought a lazer sight. This was one of the first models out, and it cost me a whopping $380, which amounted to about 4 weeks pay at my job. Me, and Leonard mounted it on top of our "road rifle", which was a single shot 22 rifle. This combo loaded with 22 shorts was perfect, and made us the envy of all the other boys around here at the time. We were literally "high tech rednecks"!

We shot lots of fur with this set up, and always strived for a good head shot. One night we were about half lit, when we saw a little deer jump across the road out in front of us. we didn't have any intentions of killing a deer, but we stopped for a look anyhow.

I grabbed the 6 volt flashlight, and flipped it out my window (drivers side). The "deer" turned out to be a bobcat that looked to weigh around 35-40 lbs! He was just sitting there in the brush on his butt looking at us at about 30 yards! At the time, bobcat hides were bringing BIG bucks, so naturally we both went a little crazy grabbing for the rifle.

I managed to get the rifle up, and out the window, and put that red dot right between his eyes. I, being sorta lit at the time, forgot that the bullet would hit slightly high at that range. When I pulled the trigger, the cat turned a flip, and never even kicked. We were thrilled to say the least, and good old hound dog Leonard bailed out to collect our prize from the brush.

He was all tore up, and exited when he came around to my window for the flashlight. In the exitement, he dropped the light, and it flew apart in the road. He fumbled around a couple minutes picking up the pieces, putting it back together, and getting it burning again. This turned out to be a critical blunder! He jumped the ditch beside the road, and waded up through the brush to get our cat. He reached down, grabbed it by a hind leg, and started making his way back to the truck.

What he didn't know was that that little 22 short had only creased the top of that bobcats skull, and knocked it out for a few minutes. I guess the time we wasted messing with the light gave that cat time to come back to his senses a little bit. The last thing I remember before the cat went crazy was the big grin on Leonards face, as he made it to the ditch beside the road.

Just as he started to make the little jump over in the road, I saw a streak coming up, and over his back. That cat bit down in his shoulder, locked his front claws in his shoulders, and went to digging with the one free back leg he had! For what ever reason, Leonard wouldn't let go of the leg he had ahold of. They hit the ground, and you've never seen such a fight in your whole life! I don't know who was screaming the loudest, Leonard, or the bobcat! They scuffled around for a good 30 seconds or more, and tore that bank all to pieces!

The cat finally hurt Leonard enough so that he let go of his leg, and it took off like a bullet up the hill, and out of sight. Leonard just layed there for a minute on his back. I was worried that he might not be breathing as I bailed out of the truck, and ran over to him. He was tore up, but still in pretty good shape thanks to the thick leather jacket he was wearing at the time. That jacket looked like you'd ran it through a tree shredder! Leonard had some pretty deep gashes, and scratches in various places from head to toe, but I'm reasonably sure he'd have been hurt seriously bad if it hadn't been for the leather jacket.

I asked him why in the %&## didn't you let go of the thing!
? He said there wasn't no way he was gonna let go of that much money! I guess that's just another testimony to his borderline stupidity!

[Coyote Hunter]

Jerry -

That's a great story, the moral of which is "Make sure they are DEAD!"

My brother lives in Florida and a few years back he found a rather large but dead rattler, which he threw into the back of his minivan.  When he got home to show it to his boys, the snake was nowhere to be found!  I guess "hunting" for the snake and removing it without getting bitten was quite an adventure, one I was happy not to be a part of!

[BamBams]

I'd love to meet Leonard!  He sounds an awful lot like me.  This was a great story. Thank you for sharing. *smiles*

[SingleShotShorty]

I had a Game Warden Buddy of mine tell me a story simular to yours except it was a deer. He said that a couple of guy's road hunting shot a nice buck grabbed it up and put into the extended cab portion of their truck and after driving off the buck came back to life and after the guy's bailed out of the truck the buck completely demolished the inside of a new Z71 Chevy truck. The thing he thought was so funny was he had seen them shoot the deer and load it but did not think he would be able to get back to his truck quick enough to catch them. But to his surprise he drove a mile or so down the road in the direction that they gone and came up on the whole thing. He told me he could not get them for shooting the deer but got them for shooting out of a truck. fortunately for the deer he was not hurt but just knocked out for a short period of time. He told me he almost felt sorry for these guy's when he gave them their tickets because the inside of the truck was an absolute wreck.

[MATLOCK12C]

One time me and my older cousin L.C. were walking down a log road, when we seen a bobcat with half a ear in the ditch about 20yds, away. :eek:  He had a flashlight and a Ruger 22. pistol. I had a British 303.
He shined the cat and it ran into the culvert. We ran up to it and I noticed the other end was closed up. We were happy cause the pelts were bringing good money that year. :wink:  
He got down on his knees and shined the light into the hole, and said. "he's tryin to dig out the other side!" With that he opened fire in the culvert.  :blaster:
As I stod there on top lookin at him he cooked off all 10 rounds and all the sudden he was hit with such force it knocked him over backwards! The cat shot out of there like a cannonball! hit him dead center in the chest and went right over the top of him!  :shock:
The cat was rollin hot! right into the woods, screaming all the way!  I jumped down to check on L.C. and he was OK, but he had four claw marks over his right eye that cut to the skull!
We got back to camp and my granny fixed him up. but he still bares the mark of ol BULLETPROFF BOB to this day!  :evil:
L.C. said it was the only time he ever seen a cat run upsidedown and stright ahead at the same time.  :shock:  
We both seen and shot at BULLETPROOF BOB over the corse of a few years but he was imortal.  :twisted:
About three years later we were running a trapline and there in my coon set was BOB!  He was mad as all get out!  He filled that livetrap up! and wasn't happy with the accomidations at all. :evil:
I asked L.C. what he wanted to do with OL BOB, and we took him back to camp with us hissing and spiting all the way.
After talkin bout it we decided it just wasnt fair to kill him that easy, so we decided to let him make a run for it.
We rigged a rope to open the door as we both waited guns ready...... WE BOTH MISSED!  :x  :x  :x  
That was 17years ago and I guess OL BULLETPROOF BOB  is long gone by now. But he still lives in my memorys and in the mark on L.C. Chapmans face.