I took the old Mossberg back to the woods.....

coyote101 · January 25, 2022, 01:30:09 PM

.....and look what I found this time:

This is only the second time I have called a bobcat during the open season.

Pat

nastygunz · January 25, 2022, 02:57:44 PM

Dang, you caught him napping too!

coyote101 · January 25, 2022, 03:53:32 PM

Quote from: nastygunz on January 25, 2022, 02:57:44 PM
Dang, you caught him napping too!

Dirt nap.

Pat

Hawks Feather · January 25, 2022, 06:11:40 PM

How talented can one man be? I guess pretty darned talented.

pitw · January 25, 2022, 06:16:43 PM

Another good job done.

Do ya skin and sell the hide? Eat it?

FinsnFur · January 25, 2022, 06:50:22 PM

Very nice. They are some very stealthy and patient creatures.

Sent from my SM-G781U using Tapatalk

coyote101 · January 25, 2022, 07:00:37 PM

Quote from: pitw on January 25, 2022, 06:16:43 PM
Another good job done.
Do ya skin and sell the hide? Eat it?

It's still in the back of my truck. Fortunately, it's cold out, so it should be okay overnight. I am reluctant to skin it myself, I'm afraid I would mess up the paws, so I have reached out to a local trapper to help me out. After that, I may get it tanned, or give it to him for showing me how to do it.

I'm not going to eat it, but I would try it if I was able to get it skinned shortly after it was killed.

Pat

nastygunz · January 25, 2022, 08:32:42 PM

Heâ€™s a hunting machine for sure! I always heard mountain lion was really good eating, not sure about bobcat.

Quote from: Hawks Feather on January 25, 2022, 06:11:40 PM
How talented can one man be? I guess pretty darned talented.

nastygunz · January 25, 2022, 08:34:59 PM

Bobcat meat is very similar to that of pork. It holds many of the same textures and flavors that pork holds. It's mild, lean and tender when cooked correctly. It takes on any flavor you introduce to it, this is why slow cooking it, really is the best way.Feb 16, 2017

Bobcat Barbacoa - From Field To Platehttp://fromfield

KySongDog · January 26, 2022, 08:18:29 PM

Great job, Pat! You are on a roll!

Okanagan · January 26, 2022, 10:27:03 PM

Suweeet!

Looks like a fair sized one. I can skin feet OK with claws on the hide, and split lips, but never have mastered turning the ears. Get a pro to do feet, ears and split lips if you plan to tan the hide.

FWIW the center of bobcat mating season is Feb. and RIGHT NOW is the best time of year to call one. More bobcats will be seen in daylight within the next four weeks than will be seen the rest of the year.

Pat, how long did it take for the cat to arrive (or be seen) and what sound did he come to? I'd bet you have called more bobcats than you realize, but didn't see them. Seeing a called one enough to shoot it is a prized experience!

We have eaten a few bobcats and the meat is like cougar, a pale color that cooks white, very good and as said, takes flavors well. We had pulled bobcat in a BBQ sauce last year's antler party.

WTG!

coyote101 · January 26, 2022, 11:21:36 PM

Quote from: Okanagan on January 26, 2022, 10:27:03 PM

Pat, how long did it take for the cat to arrive (or be seen) and what sound did he come to? I'd bet you have called more bobcats than you realize, but didn't see them. Seeing a called one enough to shoot it is a prized experience!

He came in to bird distress sounds right about ten minutes. Where I was sitting, there was a tree about eight feet in front of me, partially obscuring my field of view. Of course, that's direction he came from, so I didn't see him until he was pretty close to the caller and decoy. All of the cats that I have called, and seen, have come to in to bird or small prey distress sounds. Woodpecker seems to be a favorite.

I'm sure I have called more, but I have only seen eight or nine over the years while calling. This is only the second one that I have seen during the open bobcat season. Fortunately, I managed to get them both. The first one was a female, and much more nicely spotted.

This was my first one, taken eleven years ago:

Pat

Okanagan · January 27, 2022, 02:07:21 PM

Thanks for the details. Like you, I've called more with woodpecker than any other sound, though have had bobcats come to several different sounds including fawn distress and rattling antlers. That one you got several years ago sure is a pretty one. I've never killed one with good spots on the back though I have seen a few. I haven't shot very many myself.

The one you got this year looks like a PNW coastal bobcat, just like most around here: brownish with almost no spotting beyond the belly. The pic of cat, leaves, and ferns could have been taken in the woods behind our house!

Sure tickled for you!

coyote101 · January 27, 2022, 07:43:07 PM

Quote from: Okanagan on January 26, 2022, 10:27:03 PM
I can skin feet OK with claws on the hide, and split lips, but never have mastered turning the ears. Get a pro to do feet, ears and split lips if you plan to tan the hide.

I have only skinned one coyote, and that was several years ago. I had watched a guy do one a few days earlier, at the LBL hunt, so it was fresh in my mind. It came out okay, but I don't want to take a chance on messing up the cat, especially, the paws. I'm going to take it to a trapper tomorrow, who's going to help me out. Maybe I'll learn a new skill.

Pat

Okanagan · January 28, 2022, 11:35:03 AM

I don't know how much use I will ever make of learning things like how to skin a cat foot and keep the claws on the hide, but I enjoy learning and knowing how to do such things. The video below is still on YouTube and it is the one that helped me the most in skinning cat feet. I use a Phillips screwdriver and an X-acto knife and it is surprisingly quick and easy once you see what you are trying to do on the real thing.

Don't know if a trapper would split the lips or not, but if you are going to tan it that has to be done or the lips will deteriorate and fall off because the tanning solution cannot get all the way into lips unless they are split. Easy to show, hard for me to describe.

Another trick that helps me when skinning the head on a critter, especially one that is to be mounted, is to cut around the inside of the mouth first on the gums near the teeth, before starting the rest of the skinning. That way, when you get near the end with the hide pulled down over the head and are doing the finishing cuts to detach the hide from the head, the final cuts are already in place and much easier than doing them by guess and by feel to get right. And those if those cuts are a bit off they really show as major errors on the critter's face. Again, easier to show.

I skinned quite a few coyotes when I was selling fur, though never got as good as the real pros. For selling the hides, we just cut off the feet rather than skin them out. I hated fleshing hides, got good at it but was slow. Warm ones are easier to skin than cold ones, and it is easiest within the first five minutes compared to even a half hour later. The skin adheres to the body more as time passes. We got so we would skin coyotes on the spot where shot if we had time.

Best of luck in processing this cat. They sure are pretty. The only fur my wife likes is bobcat.

FinsnFur · February 02, 2022, 07:56:25 PM

I didnt watch the video but yes your right, always cut around the gum line first from the inside of the mouth. So much easier. Sometimes I would do the whole snout from the inside of the mouth. It's a lot easier to be accurate when you can see what your cutting around instead of feeling for it.
As for the feet. Always leave one full knuckle on each digit. Snip it and leave it in. Any closeer and you'll lose the claw.