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aalf Offline OP
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Originally Posted by widrahthaar
I assume you’re hunting the northern zone and have an area in mind but if you’re hunting the southern send me a pm and I can point you in the direction of an area I see a lot of tracks in the central forest.
Either way good luck, I’ve only ever seen one and I’ve called a lot of coyotes in areas with them. And that was Iowa county turkey hunting.

Yes, I drew the northern zone. I never really researched areas or zones, just figured I wanted to do the classic northern hunt. Never figured I was close to drawing, so I wasn't concerned. I wished I had applied for the southern zone now, so I could hunt from home, and pick & choose the "good" days for calling, and not have to plan a trip with associated expenses.

I live in Iowa county. and I'm sure I could scare one up around here......

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Good news is you can draw one in only a couple years in the southern zone for the early season. I’ve been meaning to try it.

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Here’s two cats killed a couple years ago with the 55g NBT in 223.

Both were shot at close range. Both were front facing shots.




Cat number 1 (top two pics) had what I’d call extensive damage. Bullet appeared to have hit bone and it acted as if a mini grenade went off.

Cat number 2 (bottom two) looked as if it died from fright. Barely a pin prick of blood. It was smaller than cat number 1 and shot maybe 15 yards further.

Neither bullet exited that I remember.

If I were specifically hunting cats and saving fur....I’d go with something else. They aren’t big, and they can’t take much abuse.


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Like other stated

Shotguns work well and so do 22magnums

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22LR hp in the head if legal, never specifically went out hunting them, did hit one way back in the day I later found killed and ate a young turkey, hit him in the shoulders with an old FN custom 300 Win with first gen 165gr ballistic tips, yep, BOMB, my 22 Hornet with 46gr Speer flat noses would do the deed too.


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aalf Offline OP
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Thanks guys.....

Since I didn't have anything that was really fur friendly for bobcat, nor did I want to buy just for this endeavor, I decided my 22-204 was the best candidate.

I knew the current load I use for coyote, a 75 Berger VLD at 3075 would be a bit much, so I decided to pursue a reduced load.

I had plenty of Ballistic Tip on hand, in 40, 50, & 55 grain, and decided to stick with the biggest, hoping they would hold together, & not blow a big hole out the backside.

Powders on hand to try, were IMR 4227, IMR 4198, BLC-2, and some old H-322. Temps were 70*, all shot at 100 yards.

H-322 was up 1st, started at 22.1 @ 2774, went to 23.8, at 3127. Best was 23.8 with a .410" group, but too fast for my liking.

Next, BLC-2. start at 23.3 @2674, went to 26.4 @ 3034. Best was 26.4 with a .470" group. Too fast again.

Next, 4198. Start at 18.9 @ 2678, went to 20.9 @ 2933. Tie at 19.9 & 20.4 with a .375" & .385".

Last up, 4227. Started at 16.3 @2646, went to 18.3 @ 2867. Winner was 17.8 @ 2789 with a .640", backed up with two 5 shot groups, a .530" and .740".

This is the planned load, which is why I asked about the 55's at 27- 2800.


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half...that oughta work just fine! In the pics I posted, the McFlame was a .223AI downloaded with 60 gr NBT to 2700...so its pretty close to same-o same-o


"...the left considers you vermin, and they'll kill you given the chance..." Bristoe
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aalf Offline OP
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If I'da had some 60's, I would have went there as well.

The bonus where I am is that I don't have to adjust the scope for the lighter loads.

It's dead on at 50 yards, 1" high at 100, dead on again at 150, and 3" low at 200.

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aalf Offline OP
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So just for the halibut, I decided to do a water jug test. I'm not sure how the results correlate to meat & fur,
but what the hay.....

I set 5 jugs at 50 yards on a saw horse, and lined things up. I was working with another gun, so the Oehler was already setup:


[Linked Image from i.imgur.com]

[Linked Image from i.imgur.com]

Fired the round, velocity was 2707 fps. Not sure how temp resistance 4227 is, but it was 50* that day, vs 70* during load work.

ES is pretty high with all the loads I shot, so that may some of the velocity loss. This is one time I don't care.

Two jugs got knocked off:


[Linked Image from i.imgur.com]

Impact was dead center, jug was not really blown apart, basically split, with the bullet coming apart, which you can see the exit in the 1st jug.

I taped it somewhat together to get an idea of the damage.

2nd jug caught the bullet base & a couple lead fragments. You can see the entrance in the back jug.


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I have shot a few bobcats with the 55 gr NBT. Side shots and all exited, with a hole a bit smaller than a lemon. More recently I’ve used the 40 gr NBT on coyotes. Not the same, I know, but the 40’s didn’t exit. Looks to me like the 40 gr version, if it’ll stay in the bobcat, would be my next test load. But, the wife loves her bobcats here on our small ranch, and the foxes, so they are now off limits.

First coyote I shot with that 40 gr NBT dropped so fast I thought I had missed. Same with the next one. Acts like some sort of death ray.

Not a great pig bullet though.

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@603

Ain’t that something. I use the 40NBT exclusively in my 221 and have gotten exits on every coyote I’ve shot (175yards on all 3 as they were shot off a bait pile) have also gotten exits on both of my javelina from back in March. , and it does have a pig to its credit. Albeit a head shot.

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Nice dogs, hogs and cats men.


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Was up on the North Ranch this morning, saw a Bobcat walking down the road about 200 yrds in front of me, cat didn't know i was behind it , wind was blowing in my face about 15 mph i had my deer rifle in the Jeep, grabbed it and put cross hairs on it's butt, touch it off, WOP!! cat dropped dead, drove up to it, and it had a big Wood Rat in it's mouth, FYI don't shoot Bobcats with 135 gr. Hornady A-Tips, not much cat left, just 2 large pieces, and a Rat. Rio7

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aalf Offline OP
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Originally Posted by RIO7

Was up on the North Ranch this morning, saw a Bobcat walking down the road about 200 yrds in front of me, cat didn't know i was behind it , wind was blowing in my face about 15 mph i had my deer rifle in the Jeep, grabbed it and put cross hairs on it's butt, touch it off, WOP!! cat dropped dead, drove up to it, and it had a big Wood Rat in it's mouth, FYI don't shoot Bobcats with 135 gr. Hornady A-Tips, not much cat left, just 2 large pieces, and a Rat. Rio7

Maybe make a pair of slippers..... grin

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Don't think I can sew well enough to make slippers with a few scraps of hide, and a rat. Rio7

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Half a lifetime ago I made a large chunck of my living shooting fur.
The 2 "money guns" used for cats that were the best for getting the highest prices for my furs were a 22 LR with 40 grain HV H.P ammo and one that may surprise most of the readers. A 375H&H with 300 grain solids. (No I am not kidding)

For coyotes I found the 222 Remington was about the best over all and it did give exits, but with 50 grain WW power points the exits were usually only the size of a nickel. For cats I wanted NO exit or one even smaller then a got from my 222. So for cats I liked the 22 LR and the 375 because the average then was $600 for a good cat. At $600, I didn't want to do any more damage then absolutely necessary. The 22 LR would not exit most times and when it did the holes were very small. The 375 would exit no matter what........but the holes were quite small. Way smaller then you might guess. So for shots past 150 yards I'd use the big rifle, but the closer shots were the ones I got most, and they were nearly all taken with either a Ruger M77/22 or an old Winchester M62A.

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Just got this rifle, Proof Research, haven't hunted with it much yet , 6.5 Creed, worked up a load with 140 gr. SMKs, then the 135 gr. R- 26 shoots real well on paper.
Have killed 3 management bucks and 2 pigs in the last week with this rifle, and 135 gr. A-tip all were pass thru's all were DRT, didn't think the 135 gr. A-Tip would blow up a Bobcat like a water balloon. Rio7

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I was bowhunting Saturday in my favorite big woods public land spot, sitting in a climbing tree stand about 18' up. See a little movement and here comes a bobcat with a squirrel in his mouth. The season for furbearers doesn't start until November 15 here. The cat was going to pass right beside my tree so I thought I would get some pictures. My phone was in my pack hanging on the off side of the tree. When the cat got to twenty yards I s l o w l y reached for my phone... and got picked off immediately. The cat looked straight at me and froze for several seconds, dropped the squirrel and loped off about thirty yards and paused long enough to give me a go to Hades glare. Later when I got down from the tree I walked over to check out the squirrel the cat dropped. Turned out to be a half squirrel, gone from the back legs up.


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Bobcat and fox load

223
12g of Blue dot
40g speer spire point
3000 fps

Enough energy to kill real good, does not tear up pelts

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My favorite for saving fur was a moderate loaded 52gr Speer HP out of a .223. That bullet rarely if ever exited, that I can remember. The NBT seemed to tear them up. It's been a while since I was saving fur though so there may be something better. The blitz was good out of a slow twist but came apart in flight out of a fast twist. Best for me ever was a 22 Mag.


“You never need fear a man, no matter what his size. When danger threatens, call on me, and I will equalize.”
Samuel Colt.

�Common sense is genius dressed up in work clothes.� - Ralph Waldo Emerson

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