Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Predators and Varmints Rifle for Bobcats

Wanting to start hunting and calling bobcat. I have a .22 hornet but worry about pelt damage, was thinking about a .22 WMR. What say you?

If you are considering buying a 22WMR, take a hard look at the 17 Hornet.

22 hornet would be fine just load a bullet that does not blow up easy ? Barnes copper ,Nosler Partition, Hornady

If you use the 22WMR within its limitations it will work wonderfully. I’d keep it under 100y and 75 would be better

A 22 hornet would be a better choice, but if you need an excuse to buy a new gun.....well. Here’s a pic of a cat that wound up on the wrong end of a CritRCall and a 22WMR

Fieldgrade, you listening?

Every cat I've killed has either been with the 223, or 22-250, mostly with the 223. I've always used a 50 grain Vmax in the 223, and 50 grain VMax in the 22-250, and have never had any fur damage. The only time I ever did was with a 223 and a 55 grain SP. Cat's aren't hard to kill, but they're mostly targets of opportunity for me when I'm hunting coyotes. So, I'm not going to handicap myself by using a rimfire, when a 223 will be a lot better choice. At least, it is for me.

At least where I have shot Bobcats I have used a 222 or 223 with 40gr to 50gr bullets, like JamesJr mostly while hunting coyotes. would never use a 22 WMR for hunting either one. OP did not say where he lives so perhaps the cats are smaller there. Last Bobcat I shot in Utah was the same size as the coyotes, quite a bit larger than the one in Ky221's picture.

That’s a bad angle to show the cats size, idc how big they get in Utah. The largest I’ve killed weighed 32# and it was shot with a 22-250 that left an ungodly exit.

The 22wmr gets bad press and while there are better guns suited for calling and anchoring fur, there are absolutely no flies on a good 22WMR shooting good bullets on game less than 50# , by someone who is willing to take their time and thread the needle.

Here’s another shot. He weighed 27# which I feel is a pretty decent average for Bob.

Good advice all, thanks

good question...I agree with the comments above. Cats are not that hard to kill. But they are hard to see and come by. a rimfire will kill a cat certainly, but with limitations.
Every cat I've killed, and I've killed a few here in TX, has been either called up or a shot of opportunity. They are shy creatures and I know a lot of long time hunters who have never taken one. My fear was always that I would see one 200 - 300 yards out, or wound one and have him jump in that thick south TX brush, and I never find him.
Predator hunting has always been my passion, and back in the 80's I made good money on pelts, so i was always worried about fur damage (hate sewing fur) Unfortunately i also learned the hard way that sometimes a marginal hit is just that, marginal, and the critter and my date money escaped! Dont get me wrong, not saying you need a 30-06 for them lol! But I always tried to limit my shots to the limits of the gun I had, and sometimes that meant letting them walk away and come back another day. Rimfires will work, but I always seemed to have more certain results with the 17 Rem or 204
17HMR/22 mag was great on grey fox in thick stuff and close, but not what i wanted when that cat wandered out into the sendero at 200 yards away. You or a good taxidermist can always sew up a bullet hole, but not when the customer with the hole runs off lol!
Good luck and good hunting!

I kill around 60 to 70 Bobcats, a year about 1/2 trapped 1/2 called I use a 243 A.I. and 105 gr. Scenar , rarely have to sew up big holes. Rio7

42# biggest I have called in. Rio7

once in awhile I hit bone. Rio7

You are concerned about pelt damage so I guess your selling hides. With that many kills is there enough money to be worth the effort ?

Webster, I don't skin cats I put them in a plastic bag and then the freezer, 3 or 4 times each winter a friend comes by and picks them up and he does all the work, and sends me a check, for 1/2 of what he gets for them. I kill cats and coyotes for predator control not for profit,but they do buy me some powder and bullets. Rio7

I've only shot one bobcat, and that was with my bow, I'd use my 22 Hornet with the 46gr flat nosed Speer's in a heartbeat, don't think they'd exit leaving at 2900 fps.

Slow that velocity down, or harden that bullet up. Those pelts will be fine.
Your .22 Hornet is honestly, ideal. If you're still not sure, try the 45 TSX in it.

The .17 Rem and 25 grain Horn Hollow Point has been pretty fur friendly for me, though I did blow one leg off a fox with it.

All of what he said. If you know it will be a cat coming in the 20 grain Vmax in a 17 Rem works great

Otherwise Ive shot them with a .223, a .223AI, and .222 all with 'hard" ( not frangible ) bullets. Yes, they exit, but they only leave about a .30 cal hole...


The 17 Rem ( at least on the one I shot) didnt exit.


This was a .223AI loaded to about 2650 fps with a Speer 55 gr. Gold dot.







All that said..the .17 Rem. is for sure my favorite on fur.

That's about what I figured. We had a covey of woods quail(bob whites) at the deer lease and often found a pile of feathers where a bobcat had got one. I took to shooting every bobcat I saw to no avail. They cleaned out the quail.

The .22 MAG and Remington 597 is my favorite cat calling combination.

I have to pass on some cats, as they can hang up beyond what I consider effective .22 MAG range, but I kill my share of cats by calling them in thick cover.where a long shot is 50 yards and a close shot can be less than 5 yards.

Because bob cat hide is so valuable I always used a 22 WMR or a standard 22 LR with HP ammo. I probably have killed about 50% of my cats with each round.
A perfect hide brings between $550 and $700. I won't blow them up. I did OK with 50 grain Hornady SX bullets in my 222 Remington with no hide damage, but I decided to not even risk that anymore, so I went back to the 22 LR. Just 38 grain HP ammo and I shoot them in the chest. So far I have not found any need for something faster yet, and I have been killing them since about 1963.

But------ if I had a hornet I might think it was made just for cats. I have never owned a hornet, but I know men in Nevada and Idaho that do, and they swear buy them for hide hunting. You should go kill some then then post your results and tell us all.

22 Hornet loaded with the 40g Speer spire point(high velocity bullet) does not wreck cat or fox hides. Also, this bullet by it's design, can be seated to touch the lands in most hornets I have had. I used AA1680 powder which produces excellent accuracy, but not the fastest velocity.

You can also reload the 40g speer spire point with Blue Dot in a 223, and at 2600 fps seems to be the magic number for saving hides with a max velocity of blue dot in my rifle being around 3200 fps which did tear up hides a little.

Today, if looking for a good cat rifle, I would go with a Rem SPS stainless, load the Blue Dot load with the 40g Speer spire point, call it done...lots of plus' to going down this road. The Rem sps Stainless is a very accurate rifle and the 12 twist will help the bullet NOT Blow up, unlike an 8 or 9T is more prone to do.

I have shot a lot of cats and foxes with a 22 WRM using 40g Winchester HP, and a hit behind the diaphram may mean a lost animal as they can still breathe. My shots varied from 10 feet to 150 yards as a rule of thumb. Cats love bird sounds.

Odd you mention that cause thats what Ive found. Any conventional non-frangible bullet in any cartridge works well at that level. Ive used a number of 22 centerfires loaded like that on fur. Yes, they often exit, but its a .22 cal hole...

I used a standard .22 Hornet for several years and found it perfectly adequate for both coyotes and cats from 150 and in. I used mostly the sierra 45 gr soft point for Hornets and also on a few occasions used the 40 gr. Soft point also for Hornets. Both normally exit but it's small. Never blew a coyote, fox or cat up. It's a very good fur gun. I would just use it. Maybe work a few loads with the barnes bullet and the sierra and see which works best. I'm positive you will be able to find a load that meets your needs.

Just stumbled onto this thread and noted that there was some discussion on bobcat size. A buddy of mine shot a bobcat in Utah 5 years ago. When he check the cat in with the Utah Div of Wildlife Services, they weighed the cat at 46 lbs. A pig of a cat! He used his 50 year old Sako Forester .243 loaded with the 85 gr Barnes TSX. A bit of overkill, but Greg has used this same bullet on dozens of cats, numerous coyotes, a few deer, and a 6 pt bull elk! Never underestimate a man who shoots one gun!

If this is a trick question:

Rifle for bobcats? .257 Bob, of course!

Good advice has been given.

My advice is to use what you got or buy what you want to use.
Good hunting.

The first Bobcat I shot was laying in green grass outside of Alpine Texas. This cat was seemingly solid orange sleeping out in the grass. I unlimbered my early 788 223 and drilled him at 175 yards with a Remington 55 gr. factory load. All went well enough that I sold him to a taxidermist for $100. which back in 1973 seemed like a fortune. Still wish I had gone back to look at the mounted specimen. I would guess it weighed just a bit over 30 pounds.