Three Cats in Three Days

[JohnP]

This little tale happened about five years ago and to this day I still have a hard time believing it.  If a stranger was telling me this I would be more than a little skeptical of the story.  I had been out calling for bobcats along a river bank with plenty of undergrowth and plenty of prey species, cottontail, beaver, packrats, quail, etc.  I set the caller on the bank of a bend in the river then waded across the river and sat under a big cottonwood tree. I had a good view of both north and south for about 100 yards in each direction.  If any of you are familiar with the rivers in SE AZ you know that when I said I waded across the river that I barely got the soles of my boots wet.  Hit my squeaker a few times, waited a minute or so and turn on the FoxPro with Lucky Bird going .  About five minutes into the call I saw a cat coming in from the south.  He made no attempt to conceal himself and just kept coming at a steady pace, never once slowing down.  When he got about 10 yards from the caller he stopped and I shot him.  He jumped about 4 feet in the air and when he landed he was dead.  I got up to go fetch him and as I did a bobcat ran out mere feet from where I was sitting and back into the  undergrowth.  I continued to call but he never returned, after a few minutes I retrieved the dead cat and went home, skinned him and put him in the freezer.  Next morning found me on the same bend in the river but on the opposite bank.  Almost the same story except this cat appeared almost out of nowhere and was looking at the caller from mere inches, if I had a shotgun I would not have shot for fear of ruining the caller.   Threw him in the truck and went home and skinned him out, both males which seemed odd that I would find two males in the same area.   Guess where the next morning found me?  Sitting under the same cottonwood as day one.  As soon as I hit the squeaker I had some movement behind the caller but couldn't see anything and after a while I thought I had imagined it.  Turned on the caller, Lucky Bird, and immediately a cat stood up behind the caller, facing me but looking at the caller.  I placed a shot right under her chin and she fell over.  Three cats in three days, even I couldn't believe it.  The first two were fairly good sized males, the third one was an average size female.  My theory is that she was either coming in season or on her way out, although she was not swollen or bleeding.  I took all three to the local taxidermist and when I found out how much it was going to cost to have all three worked up I damn near had a coronary.  We finally worked out a deal, over a few beers, that he would make a rug for me from the big male and I would give him the other two. 



He is the biggest one I ever killed - 25 pounds. 

[HaMeR]

   Holy cat rugs John!! I've only ever seen a few Bobcats before but none of them were nearly that big. That's a nice looking cat you got there. Congratulations on all 3 & Thanks for sharing. 

[Frogman]

WTG, JohnP!!

Jim

[Carolina Coyote]

I really don't find that story hard to believe as I  have killed two in one morning off the same stand, and my friend killed three one morning off of 4 setups, we have a lot of cats in our area and apparently you do also, I only started predator hunting about 4 or 5 years ago and  I think Cats are much easier to call in than Dogs. cc

[KySongDog]

Great story, JohnP.      Looks like that "don't over call an area" advice I've been hearing might might not be the best advice.   

[Okanagan]

Great story, JohnP.     Looks like that "don't over call an area" advice I've been hearing might might not be the best advice.  

I don't think cats react to repeat calls in their area the way coyotes do.  I.e in my limited understanding it is easy to overcall a coyote area, but that doesn't apply to cats.  

Anyhow, Great story!

[centerfire_223]

Awesome story!!

You know hunting cats is a funny thing, for me anyway. I have been calling for about 10 years now and had only called in 1 cat until last season. Then last season, I made 14 stands total and called in 3 cats. Didn't do a thing different than I always do.

[KySongDog]

Great story, JohnP.      Looks like that "don't over call an area" advice I've been hearing might might not be the best advice.   

I don't think cats react to repeat calls in their area the way coyotes do.  I.e in my limited understanding it is easy to overcall a coyote area, but that doesn't apply to cats. 

Anyhow, Great story!

OK, thanks for clarifying that.  But then that means if I go in to an area that has cats AND coyotes and call for cats, I might be over calling the coyotes.  I think I'm starting to get dizzy.    

[JohnP]

I was never to concerned about over calling an area for cats.  Have also called the same general area for coyotes within a week to ten days after I took one out. 

.223 said: 
"You know hunting cats is a funny thing, for me anyway. I have been calling for about 10 years now and had only called in 1 cat until last season."

I'd be willing to bet that you called in plenty of cats during that time frame just didn't see them.

[FinsnFur]

Them are the kinda stories I like. Were gonna give you a nick name. John (CatHog) P

It not too often you get things to come together like that, very nice!

If any of you are familiar with the rivers in SE AZ you know that when I said I waded across the river that I barely got the soles of my boots wet. 

That line cracked me up.     The few trips I have made to Arizona, I do recall seeing more dry creek and river beds then anywhere in my life. In fact at first I wondered what most of them even were.

[possumal]

That's a great story, John P, and as usual, we all enjoy your posts.  A true story like that is better than one somebody might make up. Kudos to you.  That foot surgery will heal faster now with you wanting to hunt so bad.  Cooler weather will have you jived up to a fever point.  Me too, as I can't stand the heat.