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Post by youp50 on Jan 28, 2009 5:41:59 GMT -5
47 # 42#
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Post by deadeye on Jan 28, 2009 11:23:19 GMT -5
congrats! i would like to hear the about the hunt!
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Post by wilmsmeyer on Jan 28, 2009 18:18:58 GMT -5
I think bobcats are about the coolest predator in the north east. I wish I could see more of them. I think I would pass the shot though....not enough around these parts....hardly any.
Very nice cat. Weight? Male? female? How did you get it? Details please!
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Post by youp50 on Jan 28, 2009 18:29:32 GMT -5
Two different cats, top one 47# the bottom 42#. Some morning when insomnia hits I'll expound.
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Post by youp50 on Jan 30, 2009 5:44:21 GMT -5
These cats were the best year I ever had in terms of harvest. We were allowed 2 per year.
Bobcat and hounds became my favorite sport.
Treeing a coon around here is not that hard. Mediocre hounds can come up here and kill a pile if coons. I think it has to do with the coons not being hunted hard. I am pretty sure nothing eats them and know they need to be thinned regularly for the health of water fowl and game birds and their nesting success. The only consistently difficult thing coons here will do is pick a large pine or hemlock to climb and hug the tree and look up. Lights are getting better and that is less of a problem.
Bear are in a league of their own. Big enough to hurt you and hounds. Too big and smelly to shake the hounds with out a bunch of water. Trouble with bear is they will roam far and wide for a meal in the fall. When the hounds jump them they will go home. I have experienced straight line bear races over 25 miles long. And I would normally run 4 to 6 dogs in a pack. Leading six hounds out of a aspen choked regenerating clear cut is a pleasure that needs to be experienced.
Bobcats are special. No leaving the county, population far lower than raccoon, so a cat race every time out is not guaranteed. I usually used two dogs. At least after the only real cat dog I had passed on. Good cat dogs need to be smart and good bear hounds ...well it helps if they are kind of dumb.
I was stuck hunting two bear hounds. The dogs pictured were Orson and Buck. Orson a very dumb bear hound, twice he crawled into a bear den with the bear. The first time he did it he got the top of his muzzle peeled back fro the upper jaw. Doc Talsma was really proud of the repair. He took a double stitch on one side, put a double over hand reverse knife knot over the remaining canine tooth and terminated on the other upper lip. Buck turned out to be a smart bear hound and took to leaving them alone.
I'll continue this later
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Post by ozark on Feb 2, 2009 19:27:07 GMT -5
From reading and from observation here in the hills Bobcats never get overpopulated because the males kill the young and any others they can so they have the hunting area to themselves. i have never seen two together. When you kill one in an area it isn't long until another takes up residence. I have take a few from dogs while coonhunting but normally they leap from the tree and provide another race when lights approach. If you let the hounds tree for a long period of time before approaching they often remain peched in a tree. I admire them. I have taken several on our property mainly because the pelt brings up to $70.00 and they are murder on turkey and fawns. One encounter is worth sharing. One afternoon my wife and I drove up and parked our PU near a hanging wildllife feeder. We noticed a few squirrel feeding on the ground under the feeder. A fox squirrel hopped away toward a pond bank that contained several pine trees about twenty five in height. Instantly a grown bobcat took off after the fox squirrel. The squirrel ran up the first tree it came to with the cat just behind it. At the top of the tree the cat caught the squirrel and they both fell to the ground. The cat got to its feet with the squirrel in its mouth and simply walked proudly around the pond bank carrying its prize. It all happened so fast that we just watched amazed. A scene few would ever get to witness. Ozark and the Angel
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Post by youp50 on Feb 3, 2009 7:02:08 GMT -5
Bobcats being pursued by hounds have a tendency to pick out the thickest stand of evergreens around and circle in them. It took me some time to figure that eventually the cat would tree. Then it sits up there and watches as the hounds just continue babbling. In a bit the hounds quiet and continue to look on the ground for a cat in the tree. I tried to explain once that bear hounds are not too smart.
The most enduring tendency they have is to crawl in a cave or abandoned beaver lodge. The first time in a cave prompted me to add a set of ear plugs and a 22 pistol to the contents of my day pack. I never had any real wrecks at a hole. Some hounds would manage lead with their face. Of course a big cat can and will do plenty of cosmetic work to a hounds face.
During the pursuit of both of the cats pictured I heard the dogs catch them on the ground. The only cats i have ever heard caught on the ground were big toms. I think they may be experienced with coyotes harassing them. They will pick out a blow down or other object to protect their back and make a stand. As stated before, Orson was capable of leading with his face on a bear, there is no cat he would not pile on. It appeared that as the cat was balled up on him, Buck would pull the cat and then the cat would break and the race would be on again.
I have a general dislike for snowmobiles. It is a condition bought about during my younger days and consisted of repeated break downs in very remote locations. The year these cats were taken was a good year for low snow fall totals and logging operations. If there is a timber sale in areas the bobcats frequent there will be access with a pickup. The low snow fall makes it easier to make sure its a cat track. After a number of years of cruising he roads looking for a cat track you really can tell from the seat of the truck if it is a cat. I do not know which features of a cat track make this identification possible, just know that when I see a cat track I know it is a cat. That does not prevent me from stopping and looking at coyote tracks. Often the track has to be followed to identify it. An animal will show dimples in the snow if there is fresh snow fall. This requires one to lace up the snow shoes and follow the track until it passes under an evergreen tree. Usually under a tree you can find a clear print and identify the species and direction of travel.
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