Possible bobcat sighting

[buck460XVR]

The advent of trail cams has opened many folk's eyes to the fact that there are a lot more of them little wildcats around than we once thunk. While helping with Elk monitoring just north of where I live, the biggest thing that struck me was the amount of those little cats in the area. Got more of them on cam than the elk I was supposed to be monitoring. The second biggest eye opener I had, was the amount of big bucks still alive after the 9 day gun deer season on heavily hunted public land.........

 

[351 WINCHESTER]

I shot one in ne fl about 15 years ago while deer hunting. It was a huge male after a yearling. Took it to the taxidermist & he just shook his head & weighed it on 2 scales. 42 lbs. & 47 lbs..

 

[lastofthebreed]

I watched two adolescent bobcats try to two time a rabbit from my deer stand this past weekend. The rabbit got away. I was happy as I was cheering for him. I do hope the young bobcats found some moles or road kill to lunch on. I killed a big male bobcat many years ago while deer hunting and have not taken one since. I just enjoy watching one of natures premier predators at work.

 

[Loyalist Dave]

Ya, I spotted one the other day when out hunting, and they haven't been seen in my area for decades. I thought it was a feral cat, which often are seen, but when I got a good look as it moved off...., yep young bobcat, and I went the other way. Not sure if it was young and alone, and I didn't want to find out it was still with "mom".... as they tend to be annoyed if they think a youngster is threatened. Kinda late in the year for a youngster to be with a parent BUT since other than knowing what they look like, I know nothing about them...discretion was the best idea at the time.

LD

 

[dh1633pm]

Never seen one in the wild. Have numerous times seen their prints. I guess they are not as common in this part of the country.

 

[G'dale Mike]

My camera had a tad too much delay, he’s a muscled up rascal

 

[Flintknapper]

I would not worry about the weight estimate too much. The weight estimate may or may not be off, but even at 30 lbs, that is large but is not outrageous for a bobcat. http://www.ohiohistorycentral.org/w/Bobcat In fact, bobcats can get much larger than 30 lbs. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bobcat

Even down in Texas where you might think bobcats would be smaller (Bergmann's Rule), I have killed multiple that were in their upper 20s (weight on scale) and have seen one weighed in at 34 lbs.

Maybe his estimate is off. Or maybe he saw a very healthy and large bobcat.

Agree that 30 lbs. would be a pretty healthy bobcat, but not at all out of the realm of possibilities. I've taken some that I know were well in the upper 20's if not 30-ish. That's my AR (.458 SOCOM) leaning against the tree for scale.

 

[Axis II]

Well I’m not crazy after all! My buddy who is a sheriff was on patrol last night and says the bobcat crossed the road infront of him. He spotlight it and it stood in the brush staring at him, turned and took off across the field! Says he’s 110% sure it’s a bobcat! Stubby tail, round face. Kind of bothering cause We aren’t in a very rural area.

 

[Double Naught Spy]

We aren’t in a very rural area.

As seen above, not all bobcats live in rural areas.

Bobcat and coyote along biking trail in Arlington, TX, smack down between Dallas and Ft. Worth.


Bobcat on bike trail around White Rock Lake in Dallas.


It doesn't take much habitat in which for them to live.

 

[WestKentucky]

As a teenager I had a great deer hunting place. My dads coworker was a farmer and his place was covered up with deer. Turkeys got reintroduced nearby and they took up residence at about the same time as the hog market dropped to nothing. A few of the hog farmers in the area turned out The worthless hogs which produced a healthy supply of piglets. Coyote, bobcat, hawk, eagle, and the occasional stray dog thrived on the turkey poults and piglets. One morning during youth rifle deer season I watched a big sow at about 200 yards lazily chewing through the field with a litter of about 6 in tow. I intended to drop the hog, but she was in the only no-shoot lane as a house was just beyond the woods. Sitting there watching I noticed movement. Through the 9 power scope I watched the bobcat sneak into a ditch, close the distance on the hogs, and nail a piglet so hard and fast that it never even squealed. I saw that cat a few more times that year, she must have figured out we were not a threat. Last time I saw her she had 3 kittens and was having a feast over the returned deer carcass after we cleaned off the usable meat. We sat it out to shoot coyote, but watching those little balls of ferocious fur was great. It’s one of my favorite hunting stories, but it took a whole season of hunting to make that story what it is.