Bobcat this morning

[coyote101]

I went out this morning with a friend trying again for that first coyote. We got kind of a late start with the first setup about 8:30.  I tried the Prey Master that I got at LBL (thanks again Muss and CCP).  I used a house-cat distress and flicker series that CCP said had worked well for him. We had no luck after fifteen or twenty minutes, so we moved to the next spot.   

This was a permanent deer blind overlooking a large field.  I set the speaker outside as far as the cord would reach and started with the house-cat distress again.  After running the house-cat twice I switched to a gobbler distress.  On the second run of the gobbler we spotted a bobcat just outside of the wood line about 140 yards across the field. Bobcat season is closed in Kentucky, but this is the first critter I've seen respond to my calls and I was pretty stoked. After the gobbler call finished, I lowered the volume and switched to the flicker call.  The wind was a crosswind from left to right.  To get downwind of the call he would have had to move to the right and cross a couple hundred yards of open field.  Instead he moved to the left, into the wind, to the narrowest part of the field.  From there he came pretty much directly to the call, a distance of about 75 yards across the open.  Once he started towards us, I switched to a little mouth blown squeaker that is on a squirrel bark call that I have.  I blew it five or six times and then just let him come.  He came within 15 feet of where we were in the blind and passed within just a few feet of the speaker.  At about that point he got downwind of us and his demeanor changed.  He had been walking slowly, fully erect.  As he passed the call and got downwind, he dropped into that low cat slinking mode and picked up the pace.  He never broke into a run but he kept going at a pretty good clip into the wood line to our right rear.   We waited a few more minutes to see if anything else would come along, but nothing did.

I had a camera with me to get some of those after the kill shots.  Unfortunately, it was in my pack when the cat showed so I missed an opportunity for some great pictures.

After taking a couple pictures of where we were when the bobcat showed, we moved to another location to try again.  This was an elevated deer blind that was too high to leave the speaker on the ground.  Since I wasn't sure how a coyote would respond to a dying rabbit 20 feet off the ground, I played some crow calls. Within a minute or so, a hawk came to the call.  He passed low overhead and the landed in a tree about 100 yards behind us.  I ran the crow distress call and the hawk came to the tree right beside us. He stayed there for a couple of minutes so I took his picture. We didn't see anything else and I had someplace I had to be this afternoon, so we called it a day.

I didn't kill anything today, so I'm still batting .000 for the season. But I had a great time, and it was sure exciting to have the bobcat and hawk come to the call. And to get some reassurance that the calling is working.


The bobcat was at the red dot when we first spotted him.  He moved to the left along the red line to to the blue dot by the downed tree. The he came across the field along the blue line.   The wind was left to right in this picture.


This is looking back from the way the cat came.  We were in the blind and he passed within 15 feet to the left of it and went into the woodline to the left rear.


The hawk that came to the crow distress on the Prey Master.


Pat

[Hawks Feather]

That would be pretty neat to call in a Bobcat and I am sure that you were pleased.  Pretty hard around here - we don't have them.   

Jerry

[CCP]

Sounds like you guys had fun I liked the pic's and story. Looks like a good spot for a coyote to come from behind you down the wood line also.

[FinsnFur]

Nice Job ~101
Bobcats dont normally play the wind. I cant say whether or not it's because their too dumb or just not as keen with their nose as a coyote would be. But if you calling cats be prepared for them to come from any direction. They'll come up wind, down wind, cross wind.etc.

[Buckrun]

COOL I wish we had huntable numbers of bobcats here in Ohio.

Steve

[HaMeR]

Purdy cool!! Thanks!!


  How'd ya get him to follow those lines tho??   


:roflmao: :roflmao:

[coyote101]

How'd ya get him to follow those lines tho??   

HaMeR,

Actually I didn't have any control over that.  That's just the track the bobcat chose. 

To be honest with you, if that cat had been using camouflage paint to mark his trail instead of that red and blue stuff, I might not even have seen him.  And the pictures wouldn't have been as good either. 

Thanks for the question.

Oh...and Glen...be sure to check out tomorrows Quote of the Day; I think you'll like it!  

Pat

[HaMeR]

 :roflmao: :roflmao:  Inquiring minds you know!!    I only asked so I would know how to get them to do that for me this week. 

I read that quote. So whatcha sayin?? 


dammit I did it again!!  :roflmao: :roflmao:

[KySongDog]

I saw that line and thought maybe ya had dropped some purina cat chow on the way to your stand.     

That theory works as good as some others I've read.    :roflmao:

[coyote101]

I'm new to this predator hunting thing, and until this bobcat came in, I hadn't seen a thing all year.    I've tried following all the advice on this and other forums with no success.  I went to the LBL hunt to see if I could pickup any tips. Still no luck. 

I've scouted for bedding areas and I've scouted for feeding areas.  I've hunted in the field facing the field and in the field facing the woods.  I've hunted in the woods facing the woods and in the woods facing the field. Top of the ridge and bottom of the draw. Wind in my face and wind at my back.  All to no avail. 

So, from now on I'm going with the only thing that has worked for me. From here on I'm scouting for red and blue lines on the ground, and when I find 'em I'm calling from there. 

It would have been nice if one of you EXPERTS  had told me that before now. 

Pat

[KySongDog]

Frustratin', ain't it Pat?

If ya spend ENOUGH time in the field calling places where the coyotes can HEAR ya, eventually, one of those rascals will come trottin in to see what's on the menu.   

Ya see now?  I've killed a total of one coyote and now I am an expert.  (that's ONE more than Bopeye's killed at the LBL   :roflmao: )   

Hang in there.   


Semp

[coyote101]

Semp,

I'm hoping to develope some degree of skill at calling predators, but at this point I'll settle for some pure dumb luck!

My dad used to say,"Even a blind pig finds an acorn once in a while."

This coyote hunting thing's got me feelin like that blind pig stumblin around in the woods hoping to find an acorn.   

Pat

[keekee]

Stay after them Pat! It will all come togeather soon!


Brent

[coyote101]

That does it!

I'm pulling out all the stops.

Brent, I just ordered Hunting in the East. If that doesn't help me, I fear all hope is lost! 

Pat

[yotefever]

I sure don't feel like I can give any advise. Last year here on public land just north of Milwaukee I managed to call in and get 3 coyotes, and one more 'up north'. It is very difficult with all the people, hunters and hikers, I run into all the time. Last year if I found fresh tracks I called one in but this year I find tracks and nothing.
Worked got canceled yesterday and I went out for the morning. At least I was the only one out there, -9* with calm winds from the NW. And still nothing
I ran into another yote hunter at Cabela's and he has been hunting his buddies 200 acre farm and they have been seeing at least 3 each time out. This year nothing, so I guess it's not just the public land.
I will start checking for some red and blue lines and see if that works 

Mike