Bobcat season opened in TN this past Saturday. I can't wait till the weather turns miserable cold to try out my FoxPro call. I usually don't mess with them until about the second week in January.
I generally use a cz 452 in the .17 rimfire. This season I'm gonna be totein a s&w 617 .22 lr wheel gun along with me too.
In some ways its more fun than big game hunting to me.

I understand that. We are in the middle of deer season here. Can't wait to have the woods to myself again. My Black Mouth Cur and I, and sometimes even horseback after squirrels, coon, even the occasional coyote run! I take mt Encore pistol in .410 and my Ruger Single Six in .32 H&R mag. Occasionally take the caller instead of the dog and see what comes in.

Good luck this season, pics are always nice!

Carefull what you ask for.

Our season opens Dec. 14th.
I use a 22mag and a Cur dog when I can find a fresh track to run. (The GSP goes along for moral support. LOL)




For calling I like my 17FB but I don't call very many.
And forget the electronic crap. Hand calls only for me but to each his own.


But the easiest way to bag the buggers is trapping. Especially when you get my age.
It's fun too. Every morning's like Christmas.


Here's a few of the better ones I've taken over the years.
Some treed, some called, but most were trapped.




[img]http://i121.photobucket.com/albums/o222/CharlieB401/S7300984.jpg[/img]

[img]http://i121.photobucket.com/albums/o222/CharlieB401/005-1_zps5024775c.jpg[/img]

[img]http://i121.photobucket.com/al...ping%20Stuff/008-1_zps2c62121a.jpg[/img]

[img]http://i121.photobucket.com/albums/o222/CharlieB401/Trapping%20Stuff/010_zps59f62f0d.jpg[/img]

Last year's catch and my best year ever.
There may be some truth to that old saying "you're not getting older, you're getting better".
More likely chit house luck though.

what do you get for a raw hide?

As much as the fur buyer will give me.

Cat's have been on a tear the last few years but they're predicting a correction for the market this year.
I got 2,200.00 (350.00 average) for the six last year.
And 425.00 average for these four the year before.


Got Six hundred apiece for these two three years ago but the market was high and they were exceptional cats for this area.
The smaller one had an excellent belly and the bigger one was a monster. 37# and stretched 43".

damn out of my range...guess im just gonna have to spring for the trapping license and hope i run across one someday

I'm not gonna put it on the internet but if you're ever traveling down Hwy 12 in ID stop by and I'll show you how to make a sure fire set.
Cats are dumb as long as you set where they live.

didnt mean actual trapping, in MT you have to buy a trapping license to shoot bobcats and wolverine....coyotes and fox are listed as predators and no license required for residents....so if i want to shoot a bobcat that comes in when im calling yotes i have to have a trapping license, plus there is a quota where there isnt for yotes and fox....

Gottcha,,,,

I have never seen a wild cat in the wild... someday maybe.
Is that gas station at Wallace?
I always gas up there on hunting trips.

Orofino

Wonderful Pics Fieldgrade!
I run a mountain cur for squirrels and coons. They are great dogs.
How do you get your dog started on cats? seems like a lot of fun.
I call in a few in the winter months but the dogs seem like a blast.

Find fresh tracks in the snow and walk em up on a lead for a ways. Then turn em loose. Once they tree one they're hooked.

I also train on trapped Coon so she'll run a Coon too if left to her own devices but I don't mind just so long as she don't run Deer. A little electricity cures that though.

Getting her bark on with my buddy's GWP. Believe it or not, that stupid pointer trees Coon better than most hounds. LOL



She jumped this one while we were running my trap line a couple years ago. I had a Coon in a trap while she had one in a tree about 50 yrds away. It was a pretty exciting morning. Thought I was going to have to go back to the house and get more ammo. LOL

thanks for the tip on the cats. I will try to put my cur on some this winter.

We are about to go back on the squrrels by day and coons by night now that our deer season is over. The cur I have now is just a year old and I have been starting him by himself. He is squirrel and coon crazy with a possum thrown in now and then which I don't really mind. Deer were a problem til he went through the school of tri tronics.

Great Pics again! hope you have a good season

GWP's and GSP's were meant to be a do everything dog, its us Americans that try and shoehorn them into just an upland bird dog. if you look up on the European sub-forum some of those guys use them for upland birds, blood trailing deer and even for hunting rabbits....like usual we have tried to phug up a damn good dog breed turning them into something else.....

Some great cat pics , we are allowed 1 cat a year here, I saw a dandy bow hunting this year so going to try to call one in or a yote, not tried but a time or two!, do cats say in a set area? Might try to trap, been along time since I traped but still have a few.

Don't need to look it up. I'm well aware of how versatile all of those German dogs are if you just let em hunt. Hell, not only does my female GSP help with the Cats but my old Pete dog (GSP) trees Squirrel as a hobby when he's not Bird hunting.

Matter of fact, there used to be a guy over in Orofino who ran and caught allot of Bear with a pack of Draht's before he died in a MC wreck.
One of the coolest things I ever saw though was a guy who used a GSP in conjunction with a Falcon for upland game. He put on a demonstration for our Gun Dog club and we were all blown away.
I have some old 35mm pix I should digitalize and post.

Yes,,,, Cats have a territory but the big Tom's will stray during breeding season which generally starts in early Dec.

that would be sweet to see, never gotten to watch a falconer ply their trade in person....unfortunately didnt get to push my GSP much but he definitely just wanted to hunt....his preference was birds if they were around but he tried to help with rabbits and gophers

Those are some impressive cats rattler FieldGrade. I always like lookin at the pics you post for sure. I'd think every cat in the country you hunt in hates to see your truck come rollin down the road! laffin

In Tn we can't chase bobcats with dogs where I hunt. We are allowed to kill one a day while using calls. Our season is almost four months long here. Several cats are killed by deer and bear hunters, which is allowed, still just one per day.

Trapping there is no limit. But un fortunately I live about two hours away from any viable population so running trap lines isn't in the picture for me.

Just curious what you do with the skulls? I'd think there would be a market for them too.

Heres a scratching post I found last year while doing some hand calling. It sets on a rock out crop that's about 2 ft deep. The front of the rock face is about 5 ft strait up off the ground and the back side is about 30 ft.
It's the first one I ever noticed. I don't know if it's something they will use year after year or not.

You said Rattler but I think you're talking to me. I'm going to reply even if you weren't .
I save the skulls from the big Toms. They make great gifts and/or trading fodder.
Matter of fact, I've given quite a few to members around here. They love them.

They also make great props for knife pix.



ETA,,,, that scratching post is interesting. I've never seen one but I know Lions make them so it stands to reason Bobcats would too. A cat's a cat, right?

Yea I was! I reckon I was havein one of those moments!!

I'm gonna check that tree out when I head back in there later this season. It was clawed all the way around it like that, it's not all the way through the bark.
How it is located on the narrow outcropping and the height of it, a cat was the only thing I could think of that might do it.

That's what I figured. I have "those" moments on a daily basis so it was easy for me to spot.

Stands to reason that Bobcat(s) made that scratch. Only other thing I can think of being in TN would be Bear but you'd think it would be higher up if that were the case.
Like I said earlier, "Lion's definitely do it so why not Bobcats"?

We have a lot of bears in the area. They seem to generally pick on trees that they can bite about half into when they are marking their ground. As you stated, the sign is a lot higher off the ground. And around here they hit smaller white pines or hemlocks more often than not.
I know deer will often make and use a sign post that numerous bucks leave scent on year after year. I was thinking that this could fall into the same category as that. But then it may just be a one time itch that a cat was scratching.

I recently sold a bobcat skull for $20. M.Lion for $40.
Tx. bobs prolly small compared to Field Grade.

Well done FieldGrade... Great pics.