8 replies to this topic

[Cranky Farmer]

How soon before I can use this bobcat in heat sound effectively? They should be coming in season soon, hadn't they?

[Bill D.]

Bobcat kittens have been found every month of the year which translates into a female may come into heat any month of the year. The majority of breeding is done in early spring with kittens born in April and May. Bobcats are extremely territorial and females go to great lengths to protect their kittens from male bobcats. Adults only tolerate each other for a very short period of time during breeding. In my opinion, a cat in heat sound will scare off an adult female and may or may not attract a male. I think you would be much better off using high pitch cottontail and birds sounds. I have the bobcat in heat sound on my FoxPro and the next time I call in a cat with the woodpecker, I am going to switch to the "heat" sound just to observe the cat's reaction.

[Cranky Farmer]

Thanks, Bill. That sounds like good solid advice to me. I am anxious to hear how your little test turns out. What's your preferred bobcat sound? Any other bobcat advice? Thanks!

[Stiff Neck]

Steve, I saw my first one last week. It was sitting there watching me from 106 yards. I had it in my crosshairs and my finger on the trigger for about a full minute just watching it. But I was waiting for it to come closer because I had my 17HMR in hand. It dissappeared into the thick brush and I never saw it after that. Boy are they sneaky in thick cover, I don't know how I picked up that slow movement. Sure was pretty! I was using my Foxpro with the woodpecker distress and no decoy, it showed up after about 20 min. Oh, and I was wearing shorts and a t-shirt too, no camo!

[Stiff Neck]

I know, I should have pulled the trigger... I didn't have camo or my shooting sticks because this was a spur of the moment drive-by hunt while we the wife and I were exploring. I just had my 17HMR in case I saw some squirrels, but this area looked too good to pass without trying ONE stand. I guess I know where to go back for more! Oh well. How big? Average size I suppose. This is the first one I've ever seen in person so I don't have much to judge it by. It was just sitting there on it's haunches looking at my Foxpro.

[Bill D.]

SBF - for every cat I have called and killed in the day time, I have probably killed 10 or more night calling. It is my opinion, that cats that respond in the day time are fairly close to your setup as I have noticed that most day cats showed up relatively quick (less than 10 minutes). I have had lots of cats show up after 20 or 30 minutes while night calling......I think the darkness gives them the security to travel further at night. An average bobcat population is about one per square mile in good habitat. A high population like south Texas or the CA Coastal mountains is 2 to 3 per square mile. In many areas of North America where bobcats are found, there may only be one for every 5 to 10 square miles so getting close enough to one sometimes takes a lot of luck. When speaking about population density, one has to look at the average for huge blocks of land like over 100,000 acres of similar habitat. My number one choice for bobcat calling is the woodpecker followed closely by the cottontail. I have called them with the jackrabbit distress as well. My kill rate on bobcats really started climbing in the 80's when I built my own remote cassette caller. Most cats come in very sneaky and try to keep cover between themselves and the distress sound.....I am sure they are watching out for danger from coyotes. With the use of remote callers, I started seeing more cats because they were exposing themselves to me better while sneaking up on the caller. With night calling, I keep the caller right next to myself, pretty hard for a kitty to hide those bright eyes. Only one experience with a cat and decoy and the decoy worked very well as the cat charged right up to it and froze with the Jack-in-the-Box bunny practically slapping his face.Bobcats are more sensitive to loud calling probably more than any other critter......always best to start out low as they have incredible hearing. I think a lot of people get busted when walking to a setup because even when they are being pretty quiet, a cat can probably hear their foot steps 300 yards away under still conditions. You can only imagine how far they can hear a vehicle or quad and if it is in an area where they are not used to vehicles, you may be busted before you ever get started.Even though bobcats can be pretty sneaky, they are also pretty dumb compared to a coyote. When I see a cat coming, it is almost a sure thing it is going to die unless I really screw up. If they hang up in brush, usually a little lip squeaking will bring them out and closer. Human scent doesn't seem to bother them but an unnatural noise like a twig snapping puts them on full alert and their radar with eyes and ears are relentless in the direction of the noise but they will usually hold their ground waiting to see movement or listening for danger. Many times when cats detected my presence, they held their ground while I moved in super slow motion to get the crosshairs on em. Try to move with a coyote looking at you! I have even had cats allow me a second shot at close range when adrenalin caused me to miss the first shot.I would like to add that every now and then, a bobcat will come in hard and fast jumping over logs and brush beating a path to the caller. When you see this happening, don't panic and try to bark em to a stop like a coyote. Just be patient, because they will go right up to the caller and stop offering a perfect shot. Usually a cat that does this is a big male and not too afraid of anything in its' territory. As I said earlier, cats rarely pay any attention to human scent in the air or around the caller. In over 40 years of calling, I have only witnessed a couple instances where a cat actually bolted like a coyote when detecting human scent. Hope this helps.

[Stiff Neck]

Good info Bill. Thanks!

[Cranky Farmer]

Excellent info. Thanks!

[Thumper Dunker]

great info