HUGE BOBCAT

markTNhunter · April 02, 2013, 10:03:11 PM

I've had these pictures for a couple months waiting to see if it was floating around the Internet .A buddy of myne who is a taxidermist was sent this picture from a man who was want a price to mount this cat.Has anyone else seen this?

It's supposed to have been trapped in Harlan County,KY

cityslicker · April 03, 2013, 06:14:32 AM

It was trapped in Rowan County, 30 lbs. I would post a link to the site where the guy who trapped it posts, but I don't know if that's allowed here.

JohnP · April 03, 2013, 01:57:36 PM

I think HUGE is an understatement! I think he needs to have his scale checked. I have killed and seen cats in the upper 20 range and they are no where close to this size. Do you think it could be photo shopped?

markTNhunter · April 03, 2013, 02:02:14 PM

Yep I looks we'll over 30 pounds

FinsnFur · April 03, 2013, 04:32:15 PM

Holy crap! Now thats a pu....cat!

cityslicker, you can post it. Those rules are from the other board that is afraid all the members will leave if they are shown any links.

Were an open public forum with no hostages or blackmail.

cityslicker · April 03, 2013, 05:08:25 PM

Quote from: FinsnFur on April 03, 2013, 04:32:15 PM
Holy crap! Now thats a pu....cat!

cityslicker, you can post it. Those rules are from the other board that is afraid all the members will leave if they are shown any links.
Were an open public forum with no hostages or blackmail.

Got ya.

http://www.kentuckyhunting.net/forums/showthread.php?128034-Anybody-hear-truth-on-this&p=2037317036#post2037317036

Okanagan · April 03, 2013, 06:12:19 PM

Dandy bobcat! The first photo of the bobcat being held out by the hunter makes the cat look larger than a "normal" view. It is distorted perspective, foreshortening, not photoshopped IMO. Pushing the cat closer to the camera makes it look MUCH larger than it would if held as far from the camera as the man. (Hold fish out toward the camera if you want to make them look BIG.

) The photo of the cat in a trap looks like a really big bobcat that is exceptionally fat. I'd could believe 30 lbs. or even several pounds more.

Here is a photo of my biggest bobcat. I got distracted while weighing him and jotting down numbers but am 95% or more sure that he weighed 34 lbs. He was as fat as a fall black bear, and one of the fattest animals of any kind that I have handled. The tannery raved about how big he was, and they handle a lot of furs.

I have seen tracks of two bobcats in my life that had slightly larger feet than this one (just above). We called in and I saw the bigger one of those. My partner was the shooter and he could not see the cat from his position and we did not get him. That's one of the few calling stands where I have regret in my memory, to find out how really big he was.

Wikepedia lists 49 lbs. as the largest verified bobcat weight. Anything over 25 lbs. is a pretty big bobcat IME.

JohnP · April 03, 2013, 07:00:41 PM

Nice bobcat Okanagan. If I ever killed a 34 pound bobcat I would probably have a heart attack. Our desert cats just don't get big, a 25 pounder is a big cat out here. I would venture most of my cats went from 19 to 22 pounds.

Do you have lynxs in your neck of the woods?

Bullydog · April 03, 2013, 08:51:53 PM

Good looking cats. One day I have the time to hunt them here in pa

Okanagan · April 03, 2013, 10:09:24 PM

John, I think the bobcats are bigger on average here in BC than the ones I recall in California. It is a colder climate and generally body sizes get bigger on the same species with higher latitude and colder climates. I haven't called all that many bobcats but have three right close to 30 lbs. or more, including the one above. The color and fur quality on these coastal ones is usually not the best.

We live too close to the coast to have lynx right here. Their range comes within 40-50 miles of here. I've called several in the dry cold interior of BC and up close to the Yukon. Never shot one myself: either my partner did the shooting or a couple of times lynx season was closed when I called one in. One big one came inside of ten feet to a voice sound I made kind of as an experiment. It called back to me all the way in while another lynx stayed out of sight and called at me. It really set them off and they were still vocalizing out in the timber when I had walked a quarter mile back to my rig.

A hunt I want to do is to drive north to the Yukon during the winter on the Alaska Highway and loop back down the Stewart Cassiar, and do nothing but call for lynx and wolves for a week or two. That's waaaay more expensive now due to gas prices than it was 3 or 4 years ago. And the cold could get downright dangerous, though I'd hope to hit an even mild spell. I'd likely camp for 2-4 days at a time and try to hit a motel once in awhile. I may never manage to do it but that would be a fun safari!