1894 as a varmit rifle

[sangdigger]

Works for me!

[Jerry Lester]

Great job!

Now fill us in on the details such as the hunt, the caliber, you know, all the nitty gritty!

[sangdigger]

OK, 1894 44 mag 270 grian GD flat nose. I called it in with a criter call mouth call on the last day of bobcat season here in TN. I was sitting at the junction of some logging roads, and had done a series of short calls, call for about a minute, wait for 5. I guess I had been there 15 minutes or so. I've always heard that cats come in slow, this one came running down a logging road, when I moved my rifle, it saw me and froze, and thats about it. I've just moved back to my home ground after retiring out of the military, and am getting reaquainted with my old stomping grounds.

[Jerry Lester]

Sounds like a it was a fun hunt.

I use a 1894C 357 magnum for most of my daytime calling. I use a mild 125g SP load which works wonders within normal calling ranges.

Your cat acted like about half of them I've called in in similar terrain. It seems like when I'm hunting open mountains, creek bottoms or field edges most cats are slow, and really hard to see coming in. At least half(probably more) that I've called in hunting an over grown clear cut have come bouncing in like a daggone grey fox usually right down the middle of the logging trails. I guess they feel more secure in the briar patches?

[Weissen]

Nice work.

How common are cats like that in North America? We see nothing like that down here. We only get feral moggies in the bush that can get pretty big but nothing like that.

I use my 1895 45/70 guide gun for rabbits all the time, it's great.
A 300gr cast slug over a light load of pistol powder works a treat, it just reams them out for .458 with no expansion.

[Skunk]

Way to go Sangdigger.

[KENTDEP]

Nice Cat there Sangdigger. I really like your choice in a varmint rifle. I have an 1894 Cowboy that I originally bought for hunting but my wife and I have taken up Cowboy Action Shooting and that gun is now set up for that so I have been looking for one like yours. I did find one locally that is a pre saftey gun that I am going to try to buy here soon.

Jay

[Lloyd Smale]

you dont know how much of a trophy sanddiggers cat is. We have them up here to but there about the toughest animal to hunt in the woods. They are very smart and very causious. Alot of people go there whole lives without seeing one in the wild. Ive seen two while bow hunting myself and tried to draw on one but it spotted me the minute i tried to raise my bow. My brother inlaw has trapped quite a few of them but to actually hunt them makes coyote hunting seem like childs play and to get close enough to use a lever gun to do it is something to be really proud of!

[KENTDEP]

Lloyd,

There are some guys who live in Cannonsburg (suburb of Grand Rapids) that go hunting UP your way for Bobcats. I guess they do pretty good. They guide for them. They do hunt them with dogs though. I would imagine that takes some of the challenge out of it.

Jay

[Redhawk1]

sangdigger, great looking cat there. 

[sangdigger]

Hey there everybody, thanks for the compliments. Now I got a question for everyone, how much do you think that one wieghed?

[Jerry Lester]

Hey there everybody, thanks for the compliments. Now I got a question for everyone, how much do you think that one wieghed?

From using you, and the surrounding objects for size reference, I'm figuring that one to be in the 20 lb range, maybe just a tad heavier.

[Camel 23]

I'm guessing 26 1/2.  My house cat weighs 18 1/2 and that looks 8 lbs heavier.  Although when I hold my cat like that he gets pissed. 

[Warhawk]

Not an 1894, but I used my 1895 on this one ...

[Camel 23]

nice!

[35Rem]

Hey there everybody, thanks for the compliments. Now I got a question for everyone, how much do you think that one wieghed?

Somewhere around 30#.

[Ranger J]

While I haven’t shot anything but paper with it yet a Hornady XTP in 180 gr. with a heavy load of H110 is very accurate in my .44 1894 and really makes it crack and jump when you touch it off.  It has to be doing over 2000 fps and I do believe it will be just the thing for a groundhog or armadillo.    Probably blow too big a hole in the fur for a bobcat though.
RJ