2018 Bobcat!

[wisconsinteacher]

After 8 years of applying for a bobcat tag here in WI I finally got one. We get just over a month to fill it either by trapping, calling, or running hounds. I have some friends with a great pack of hounds but I still set traps to up my odds. The weather here has been very cold and the snow is like sugar so finding tracks and running them has been hard but the other day it warmed up and snowed. The next morning we found 3 fresh tracks. The one I found was smaller but fresh as I saw the cat crossing the road. We had a 12 year old girl with a tag so she came over and we put a dog down. 40 minutes later it treed and she got her cat. It was small but we were all happy for her and she was very proud. We ran a bigger track into private land and had to catch the dog and stop the chase. From there we went to the 3rd track and put a dog down. 25 minutes later, he treed 1/2 mile off the road. I got into the tree as fast as possible and found a nice cat in the crotch of a tree 30' up and the dog barking treed. After some talking I decided to take the cat but we needed to wait for others to come in and see it. I stood ready with my shotgun just incase. As the others were walking it the cat got nervous and started to prepare to jump out of the tree, but I was ready for him. After the shot he hit the gound and fought with the dog until we separated them. The cat looked a lot smaller in the tree and was a very nice cat and had great spots for a WI cat. Most of our cats are brown and spotless. He weighed 36 pounds and completes my "WI furbearer slam".

Before the season started, I said I was going to tan it for a wall hang but now that I have a beautiful cat, I don't know what to do with him. I am nervous doing a full body mount because cats are so difficult to mount. I plan on getting him skinned and tanned so I can think about what I want to do with him.

Now to wait 8 more years to do it again.

 

[Bruce Mc]

I had one fixed up like a bear skin rug, it looks great and hangs easily on the wall. Nicely marked and colored feline.

 

[stew]

Beautiful looking cat I have always thought life size but now think just tanning is better and if you decide later you can rug or even life size except for life size a wet tan is better.

 

[DrMike]

Indeed, beautiful animals. Congratulations on your hunt.

 

[lefty315]

Beautiful cat! We can shoot them on a small game license but I've only ever taken one. Keep us posted on what you decide to do.

 

[NYDAN]

Congratulations on a fine trophy. It is beautiful and larger than I would have expected.

Dan

 

[Cleveland48]

Congrats on a great cat! They are a beautiful animal.


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[salmonchaser]

That's a great looking cat. In 50 years of hunting I've only taken two. Nothing as nice as that.


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[TackDriver284]

This is my little cat friend, he normally comes out when I walk to my deer blind. I am not a fan of shooting them except coyotes. South Texas bobcat.

 

[Polaris]

Beautiful markings on that bobcat! Some of the nicest contrast I've ever seen. As for what to do with it, USA Foxx in Duluth will do a felt backed trophy skin mount. They are a commercial garment furrier and do darn fine work with even better service. They also have a skinning, fleshing and tanning service for a nominal cost. Bring them the whole critter, they will do it all in-house. You won't find this information on their website, but I know they do this, you'll have to call. Great folks to work with. Pick up a little something special for the wife while you're up there! Just don't bring her with to their showroom, it will get expensive!

Here in MN we are able to take them without a special drawing. I've passed on one 2 deer seasons in a row as I didn't want to put a big hole in them with a 145gr Grand Slam. Hoping for work and weather to cooperate one of these years, I'd love to add a Fisher, Marten and Bobcat pelt mount to my trophy room.

 

[BretN]

That's outstanding WT!! Congrats on your bobcat.

 

[6mm Remington]

Very cool and good for you. They sure are beautiful. We had a bobcat stroll across the two track we were driving up the mountain elk hunting this fall. He crossed and then just stopped about 2 feet off to the side. I stopped and my buddy rolled down his window and got some pictures with his cell phone. He was only about 8' from where my friend was sitting. Not nearly as large as yours. I doubt he went much more than 10 pounds. My guess is the one we saw was a fresh one from this spring!

David

 

[ethmoid1999]

The bobcats in my part of Texas seldom run as large as yours. I shot one with a 1911 years ago and have let the others alone. I mainly just shoot hogs. We have lots of hogs. Shot over thirty last year. Back in the oil patch so only a few shots of whiskey in 2017.

You got a good one!

 

[Polaris]

Curious what guns and loads you used, and what sort of pelt damage you got?

The only one's I've ever shot were with .22 subsonic while they were attached to a #2 Bridger or Sleepy Creek.

 

[cloverleaf]

Pretty animal, and bigger than I expected...! CL

 

[tecumseh]

Nice! They’ve been protected here in Ohio for as long as I can remember, we had one living around where I hunt at for a really long time, we never saw em but would find tracks in the snow for a couple years in a row.

 

[JD338]

Very nice cat, congratulations.

JD338

 

[1100 Remington Man]

Very Nice Cat Congratulations.

 

[longrangehunter]

Must have been fun...... Nice Bob Cat!

 

[truck driver]

Nice looking cat congrats.
Since I no longer have a dog there has been at least one or two that has claimed the fields and woods around the house as their territory and I hear them squalling in the late evening and sometimes at night but haven't seen one yet.