Nice Cat

[a1huntingsupply]

This guy walked past my trail cam a little over an hour before I made it to my stand.


Here is a smaller cat that walked by at night.

[FourBee]

  a1; that is a nice looking cat.   I just got through looking at a big beautiful Tom Bobcat that the deer hunters brought out off my place.   We weighed him in at 27 pounds.   He looked as big as some of the coyotes around here.   His feet were the size of a medium sized dog.  Excellent cat.   

When they drove up and told me what they got, I thought of a small 10 to 15 pounder, but when I saw it I knew that was a trophy .    The hunter is going to have him fully mounted.   Said that was better than getting a deer, with which I agreed.

Only problem is he shot it with a .270 in the upper left shoulder, and exited out the mid right shoulder.   Not to bad an entrance, but the exit hole was about 1 1/2 inches in diameter.

My wife is now having second thoughts about going out for her daily walks after seeing that fella.

[a1huntingsupply]

I might try to call him in and shoot him. If I can I will do a full body mount as well. He is big, I never expected to see one that size strolling around in the daylight.

[Glanceblamm]

Our Bobcat numbers here in IL are up quite a bit. I have not personally seen one since 1975 but will be especially watchful while calling Fox & Coyote this year.
I figure that one day I will call in a Bobcat or a Cougar. I don't know which will be first though. The Bobcat is protected while the Cougar is not listed (read scoffed at even)
I got to see some trail cam pictures of a cougar just last week. This was south of Effingham IL

[FourBee]

     I've heard more about Bobcats around here in the last few years than ever.    This one story was told me, and the victim was really tore up, so, I can't say it didn't happen.

    Early one morning before daylight, this fella on a Turkey hunt was in a scrub oak tree using a call and supposedly a Bobcat jumped him  and worked him over pretty good as they fell out of the tree.

[Glanceblamm]

I knew of a case where a hunter ignored a called in bobcat because an (at that time) $50.00 black Coyote showed up just shortly after. The hunter went on to say that he gave that cat an exciting 10sec ride on his shoulders!
I guess that both the cat & the Coyote got away after this spectacle.

In yet another case, the caller was not injured but had a considerable scratch on one lens of his eyeglasses!

When calling in RedFox, it is recommended that you box yourself in to the sides & the back because of cases where the Fox would jump in the blind, bite you, and then quickly escape after realizing what you were. I believe that this is the recommended way to call cats also.
Always be sure to check your regulations. Around here calling from tree-stands is Illegal for predators.

[FourBee]

a1; that is a nice looking cat.   I just got through looking at a big beautiful Tom Bobcat that the deer hunters brought out off my place.   We weighed him in at 27 pounds.   He looked as big as some of the coyotes around here.   His feet were the size of a medium sized dog.  Excellent cat.   

When they drove up and told me what they got, I thought of a small 10 to 15 pounder, but when I saw it I knew that was a trophy .    The hunter is going to have him fully mounted.   Said that was better than getting a deer, with which I agreed.

Only problem is he shot it with a .270 in the upper left shoulder, and exited out the mid right shoulder.   Not to bad an entrance, but the exit hole was about 1 1/2 inches in diameter.

My wife is now having second thoughts about going out for her daily walks after seeing that fella.

11-01-08:  Finally got a pic of this cat today, and supposed to get one of it mounted in a couple of days.

[hillbill]

nice cats guys! im leaveing them alone dureing deer season here cuz i dont think fur is totally prime yet but ill start trapping for the first time in a few years bout the first of dec.maybe i git lucky?

[mr.theman]

Very nice lookin cat!  Cat season starts here Dec 1 but there fur is usually not fully primed up until after Christmas.  can't wait.

[FourBee]

Well; the deer hunters came out of the woods here yesterday with another large male cat.   Only this one was very old.   He is the color of the one in the first photo.   This old cat was healthy dispite his upper front teeth being worn down to just above the gums.  We didn't weigh him, but he was pushing 30 pounds.   It's said that Bobcats are solitary, but evidently they don't waste time replacing a vacated area.   Still waiting on that pic of the stuffed cat.  

[BirdHunter94]

wow that must be very cool. where are you located that you can hunt them. and i am looking in to a trail cam. any tips or suggestions?

[FourBee]

wow that must be very cool. where are you located that you can hunt them. and i am looking in to a trail cam. any tips or suggestions?

Well; I don't have any tips, as these men were just deer hunting and these cats came up on them.    
I live in Southeastern Oklahoma near the Arkansas River Bottoms, where the prairie ends and the foothills of the Ozark mountains begin.
   The deer take refuge on my place from the open bottom land along a large creek that feeds the Arkansas River.   The territory is rough with lots of blackberry briars, hardwood timber, wild pecan and persimmon trees, cliffs and bluffs, heavily populated with raccoon, squirrel, rats, and rabbits.   Not to mention all the polecat, oppossum, and armadillo.    Perfect for predators I assume.
   Use to have lots of coyotes, but they're not very bad in this area anymore.    Now the cats have moved in.     The deer moved in here 10 years or so ago, and they're bigger than the mountain deer.  Guess cause they get all the alfalfa, soybeans, spinach, and corn they want from the rich farmland in the nearby bottoms.

[FourBee]

Finally!    

Here's the 1st Tom that was taken off the ranch in 2007.   He's the one lying on the brick wall.   Looks a little different what with the lighting, but you can tell he's a BIG Cat.
    

[jdwolf]

Finally!    

Here's the 1st Tom that was taken off the ranch in 2007.   He's the one lying on the brick wall.   Looks a little different what with the lighting, but you can tell he's a BIG Cat.
    

He looks like he's smiling.  In fact,  he looks a little bit like Tony The Tiger. 

[sniper2u00]

glanceblamm
 I normally hunt North Western ILL. But I was ask to do some calling in Pike Co. last week.This was my first time hunting in west central ILL. and on our first set of the morning we were set up on a small creek bottom about 10 min. into the set and to my left (up wind) I looked over and there was a Bobcat at about 10-15yd. from me just sitting watching! We looked at each other for about 10 min. before I called a end to the set and stood up.Didn't take him long to exit    That made the whole trip worth it! 

[Skunk]

Nice dead cats indeed. It's even nicer seeing them stuffed and not wondering around being cats.

[petemi]

Thank you for having it mounted in a normal pose, not snarling.  A friend of mine had his mounted with a snowshoe hare in his mouth which I thought was wonderfully natural.

Pete