IL Bobcat season
07-16-2015, 06:39 PM
#1
Nontypical Buck
Thread Starter
Join Date: Aug 2010
Posts: 3,359
IL Bobcat season
Looks like we will have a bobcat season this year.
Any tips or tricks? Seems like its going to be pretty easy at first as they have not been hunted and are pretty careless but I assume that will change?
Any tips or tricks? Seems like its going to be pretty easy at first as they have not been hunted and are pretty careless but I assume that will change?
07-17-2015, 10:17 AM
#2
Nontypical Buck
Join Date: Feb 2015
Location: Illinois
Posts: 3,695
Man I haven't hunted cats in years. They will come in on a lot of the same calls you use for yotes though. Can't count how many cats I've had come in on my yote setups around here. Had one HUGE tom come in and it took everything I had not to squeeze off on that brute. Their vision is better than a yotes though so when you set up make sure you are VERY still. Just because they haven't been hunted doesn't at all mean they wont be wary as hell. It's in their nature.
07-17-2015, 10:19 PM
#3
Nontypical Buck
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Join Date: Aug 2010
Posts: 3,359
Man I haven't hunted cats in years. They will come in on a lot of the same calls you use for yotes though. Can't count how many cats I've had come in on my yote setups around here. Had one HUGE tom come in and it took everything I had not to squeeze off on that brute. Their vision is better than a yotes though so when you set up make sure you are VERY still. Just because they haven't been hunted doesn't at all mean they wont be wary as hell. It's in their nature.
Some of the farms Im hunting they are acting like bulls in china shops. My trapping buddies can't keep them out of their yote traps and outside deer and squirrel Ive had more bobcat under my stand than anything else. Although I have never tried to draw on one. Quite a few I could hear tromping through for a solid minute before they arrived.
Ive yet to see one in Adams county but they have been very abundant and careless in Scott Co and especially Pike Co.
07-18-2015, 06:10 AM
#4
Nontypical Buck
Join Date: Feb 2015
Location: Illinois
Posts: 3,695
I'd say when their numbers drop they will get more wary as does every other wild animal. The ones we have around here are fairly wary as it is. We have a fairly good number of yote hunters around here so the cats have already learned the "boom boom = bad" response.
07-18-2015, 09:59 AM
#5
Giant Nontypical
Join Date: Dec 2007
Location:
Posts: 5,130
As a rule, bobcats take much longer to come into your set-up.
They are easily distracted unless they are in a stalk mode.
Bird in distress (ie:lucky bird) type calls seems to work better, but that maybe just due to the increase in all the new coyote hunters out there calling "rabbit in distress".
Mature Toms spend most of their time traveling the outbounds of their territories when the females are not in season.
I try to only shoot BIG Toms now, and only one per season - they make for beautiful mounts/rugs/wall hangings.
Good luck to you !!!
They are easily distracted unless they are in a stalk mode.
Bird in distress (ie:lucky bird) type calls seems to work better, but that maybe just due to the increase in all the new coyote hunters out there calling "rabbit in distress".
Mature Toms spend most of their time traveling the outbounds of their territories when the females are not in season.
I try to only shoot BIG Toms now, and only one per season - they make for beautiful mounts/rugs/wall hangings.
Good luck to you !!!
Last edited by Sheridan; 07-18-2015 at 10:51 AM.
07-20-2015, 11:42 AM
#6
Nontypical Buck
Thread Starter
Join Date: Aug 2010
Posts: 3,359
As a rule, bobcats take much longer to come into your set-up.
They are easily distracted unless they are in a stalk mode.
Bird in distress (ie:lucky bird) type calls seems to work better, but that maybe just due to the increase in all the new coyote hunters out there calling "rabbit in distress".
Mature Toms spend most of their time traveling the outbounds of their territories when the females are not in season.
I try to only shoot BIG Toms now, and only one per season - they make for beautiful mounts/rugs/wall hangings.
Good luck to you !!!
They are easily distracted unless they are in a stalk mode.
Bird in distress (ie:lucky bird) type calls seems to work better, but that maybe just due to the increase in all the new coyote hunters out there calling "rabbit in distress".
Mature Toms spend most of their time traveling the outbounds of their territories when the females are not in season.
I try to only shoot BIG Toms now, and only one per season - they make for beautiful mounts/rugs/wall hangings.
Good luck to you !!!
Yeah my first one will either be a mount or a rug.
I have noticed the big Toms I have seen move with a purpose. Ive had several go by my stand(easily bow range) at a steady pace and never slow or stop at all. Just a steady pace right on through. Ive never tried to stop one since I couldn't shoot it anyway.
I still don't know if I will be able to shoot one with a bow yet as they have not released the details yet as far as I know.
07-20-2015, 12:30 PM
#7
Nontypical Buck
Join Date: Feb 2015
Location: Illinois
Posts: 3,695
Which rifle you plan on using? If you want to save pelts (without too big of holes) then it makes a difference. Small and fast, you will want a bullet that will dump all into the cat and hopefully not exit. Larger calibers you will want to load up some slow rounds with something of the same nature as the small and fast. Enter not exit.
I use a 220 swift or a .22/250 for yotes. Swifty gets loaded up with 55gr V-Max cooking off right at 3700fps. From 100 yards and in I rarely get an exit. It flat blows up inside. outside of 100 yards it will start exiting (depending on hit location). Doesn't leave TOO nasty of an exit wound. Around 200 to 250 it starts not exiting again.
250 gets the little bugger 40gr V-Max. That's a mean little devil cooking off just over 4000. Never gotten an exit wound from that bugger on body or shoulder but a few from neck and head shots. Lets just say that pelt wasn't to pretty in that spot
Yotes and a big Tom will have similar results I would suspect. Like I said before, it's been years since I have hunted cats but I sure have scoped a few in the past few years. Dang trigger finger was having a fit!
Sheridan nailed it too, I switch from rabbit to bird distress from set to set. I've had Toms come into both but the Birds seems to bring them in more. The yotes around here are kinda smart so we switch up the calls often. They seem to get educated pretty quick around here. I'll switch from e-call to mouth calls, from rabbit to bird to mouse squeeks, to distressed Fawn (really good this time of year). From what I remember about cat hunting, we always used to do it dang near exactly as we did yote hunting. Just remember to brush in well because a cats eyes are even better than a yotes.
I use a 220 swift or a .22/250 for yotes. Swifty gets loaded up with 55gr V-Max cooking off right at 3700fps. From 100 yards and in I rarely get an exit. It flat blows up inside. outside of 100 yards it will start exiting (depending on hit location). Doesn't leave TOO nasty of an exit wound. Around 200 to 250 it starts not exiting again.
250 gets the little bugger 40gr V-Max. That's a mean little devil cooking off just over 4000. Never gotten an exit wound from that bugger on body or shoulder but a few from neck and head shots. Lets just say that pelt wasn't to pretty in that spot
Yotes and a big Tom will have similar results I would suspect. Like I said before, it's been years since I have hunted cats but I sure have scoped a few in the past few years. Dang trigger finger was having a fit! Sheridan nailed it too, I switch from rabbit to bird distress from set to set. I've had Toms come into both but the Birds seems to bring them in more. The yotes around here are kinda smart so we switch up the calls often. They seem to get educated pretty quick around here. I'll switch from e-call to mouth calls, from rabbit to bird to mouse squeeks, to distressed Fawn (really good this time of year). From what I remember about cat hunting, we always used to do it dang near exactly as we did yote hunting. Just remember to brush in well because a cats eyes are even better than a yotes.
07-20-2015, 12:33 PM
#8
Nontypical Buck
Thread Starter
Join Date: Aug 2010
Posts: 3,359
Which rifle you plan on using? If you want to save pelts (without too big of holes) then it makes a difference. Small and fast, you will want a bullet that will dump all into the cat and hopefully not exit. Larger calibers you will want to load up some slow rounds with something of the same nature as the small and fast. Enter not exit.
I use a 220 swift or a .22/250 for yotes. Swifty gets loaded up with 55gr V-Max cooking off right at 3700fps. From 100 yards and in I rarely get an exit. It flat blows up inside. outside of 100 yards it will start exiting (depending on hit location). Doesn't leave TOO nasty of an exit wound. Around 200 to 250 it starts not exiting again.
250 gets the little bugger 40gr V-Max. That's a mean little devil cooking off just over 4000. Never gotten an exit wound from that bugger on body or shoulder but a few from neck and head shots. Lets just say that pelt wasn't to pretty in that spot Yotes and a big Tom will have similar results I would suspect. Like I said before, it's been years since I have hunted cats but I sure have scoped a few in the past few years. Dang trigger finger was having a fit!
Sheridan nailed it too, I switch from rabbit to bird distress from set to set. I've had Toms come into both but the Birds seems to bring them in more. The yotes around here are kinda smart so we switch up the calls often. They seem to get educated pretty quick around here. I'll switch from e-call to mouth calls, from rabbit to bird to mouse squeeks, to distressed Fawn (really good this time of year). From what I remember about cat hunting, we always used to do it dang near exactly as we did yote hunting. Just remember to brush in well because a cats eyes are even better than a yotes.
I use a 220 swift or a .22/250 for yotes. Swifty gets loaded up with 55gr V-Max cooking off right at 3700fps. From 100 yards and in I rarely get an exit. It flat blows up inside. outside of 100 yards it will start exiting (depending on hit location). Doesn't leave TOO nasty of an exit wound. Around 200 to 250 it starts not exiting again.
250 gets the little bugger 40gr V-Max. That's a mean little devil cooking off just over 4000. Never gotten an exit wound from that bugger on body or shoulder but a few from neck and head shots. Lets just say that pelt wasn't to pretty in that spot
Yotes and a big Tom will have similar results I would suspect. Like I said before, it's been years since I have hunted cats but I sure have scoped a few in the past few years. Dang trigger finger was having a fit! Sheridan nailed it too, I switch from rabbit to bird distress from set to set. I've had Toms come into both but the Birds seems to bring them in more. The yotes around here are kinda smart so we switch up the calls often. They seem to get educated pretty quick around here. I'll switch from e-call to mouth calls, from rabbit to bird to mouse squeeks, to distressed Fawn (really good this time of year). From what I remember about cat hunting, we always used to do it dang near exactly as we did yote hunting. Just remember to brush in well because a cats eyes are even better than a yotes.
Maybe 22lr with the cat in a trap depending on the regulations.
07-20-2015, 12:43 PM
#9
Nontypical Buck
Join Date: Feb 2015
Location: Illinois
Posts: 3,695
Ah, you will need to ask NoMercy about that one. I have little to no experience with the .17 calibers. Shoot him a PM, I am sure he would be more than happy and able to supply you with info on what to use out of that .17WSM. Him and RR are both very familiar with it.
07-20-2015, 12:56 PM
#10
Nontypical Buck
Thread Starter
Join Date: Aug 2010
Posts: 3,359
Ah, you will need to ask NoMercy about that one. I have little to no experience with the .17 calibers. Shoot him a PM, I am sure he would be more than happy and able to supply you with info on what to use out of that .17WSM. Him and RR are both very familiar with it.
I really hope I get to do it with my bow if the regulations allow.
I'm hoping they allow one cat and just kind of let me use what ever I want within reason.
I have a buddy that catches around 10 cats a year Yote trapping so might go that route as well.
Last edited by rockport; 07-20-2015 at 12:59 PM.