Bobcat track

[dwalton]

There is a lot of talk about tracks. I am curious how many of you think you can tell the sex or age[ adult or sub adult] of a bobcat by its track? Dewey

[twist]

As for age not me as for adult most of the time yes and can usually tell if its a bigger tom but as for saying it can be done all the time I would say I cant believe it as nothing is for sure. I have made it to a few trees and have sure been suprised. Andy

[mondomuttruner]

As is for bears also, it's all about the toes. Although it's still only a guess.
In snow country, the same cat track can look different in size in different type of snow. I'm sure you lion hunters see this, a 25# cat track turns into a 40# track the next day, usually in wet snow.

[Tim Cook]

I believe you can get a pretty good idea of what a cat is by the size of the track and whether it's going to be easy to catch or not by the way it's walking. When I was guiding lion hunters I would measure the width of the back of the pad and could tell you most of the time what it was before we caught it. I'm sure anything is possible. What I've learned since I switched to straight bobcat hunting is that nothing is impossible and that nothing in the world of bobcat hunting or a dogs or mans ability to do something is set in stone in the way that "this is how it is and there's no other way or no way". If you keep an open mind about it and except the ways that people hunt and don't get stuck in one traditional rut you wont believe the number of cats yours dogs AND YOU can catch. So I would say I bet it could be done.

[al baldwin]

Tim you have my attention. Would you please expand on the easy to catch or not part. I am very open minded & eager to learn on this one. Could sure use some easy to tree cats. Thanks Al

[Tim Cook]

Al, I had an old bobcat hunter tell me about it one time when I was hunting with him. When you find a cat track and there hind track is stepping out side of there front track most of the time they got a full belly, they get'em jumped they better catch'em. I've kept track ever since that geezer told me that and it's been true so far.
Tim Cook

[Unreal_tk]

Interesting response Tim, ill have to take note and see what I find of it. I figured you were going to say lay of the land and how cats generally run in that area. As for the orginal topic, I believe in good fresh snow you should generally tell if its a kitten or smaller female vs a big tom or female. Most of the cats I caught this year I was accurate on but one. Even in the tree I thought it was a tom, but apparently not! That's why I asked a topic awhile back about identifying sex in a tree. I compare my tracks using a lighter I always carry with me in the woods.

[dwalton]

In snow country it is easier to tell a female track , the size of the toes is a big thing but the length of the track before the cat spreads its foot out. Females are longer than there width. Do bobcats leave claw marks in the snow? Tim you should share the story about the walk hunt you did with that old geezer. How you had to wait up for him at the tree. Dewey

[Unreal_tk]

I have seen in real deep snow a cat leave claw marks once this year. But that's my only experience with it.

[mondomuttruner]

Tim, very interesting...I've never really noticed an offset track but maybe cause I never looked for it. Now I hope I remember this for next year, I wish you would have mentioned this in Dec.lol. Another dead give away of a full belly is the rabbit leg drag marks next to the cat track. Which brings up another question...why do cats feel the need to take their kill somewhere else to feed. I've only seen this a couple times.
Maybe unrelated but twice in my cat hunting time I followed cat tracks to an end where there was a running deer track. One of them rode that deer for at least 50 yards the other only a short ways. I guess to make it relevant, they were nice tom tracks.lol

[MThound]

Interesting deer story. I found a very large bobcat track walking down the road a couple years ago. With a couple inches of fresh snow I knew it was going to be a good race. I followed it for a few hundred yards and suddenly the tracks ended. There were two large wing marks on each side of of the tracks and a little hair there. The bird packed it about 30 yards and set it back down in the road where it left some more hair and blood. It was packed off from there. Guessing it was an owl as I had found the track shortly after daylight.

[Tim Cook]

I figured that would get your attention Dewey. I like to think that i use to hunt pretty hard or that I was in pretty good shape until I went hunting with this guy. I think he might have thirty years on me. Any way i went for a walk hunt with him and he made me look bad, not just bad really bad. We got a track going and started following the dogs by the time I got to the tree he was already there not sweaty or tired but well rested and I looked like a new solder at his first day of boot camp. When hunting out of the pickup with this guy I was doing ok until hour 8 of driving roads. I think we hunted around 12 hours the first day got up the next morning and only hunted 10 hours and I had to go home to go to work the next day. These were 10 and 12 hour days of non stop driving looking to get a cat going. I was glad to climb into my bed sunday night. And yes we did run and catch some cats that weekend.

[Warner5]

At times I have a hard time telling a fox track from a small female cat.(cats do leave claw tracks at times, when and why I dont know) Like mentioned above wider more oval cat tracks are easier, most cases these are toms. Cats on the move marking roads leave a longer stride, hunting cats use shorter steps. Toms use the roads more( Marking territory boundaries?) But to try my best at your question Dewey. It's in the toe's. Tim, some of these older generation cat hunters are the real deal. Man among men. Thanks. John. I guess I should read all these before I answered. Dewey you gave it up to soon . But I noticed you put a ? mark after a question about claw marks in a cat track. See it on top of very frozen crusted snow at times. I seem to see it more during breeding season. Also M.T. I would really like to hear more about the owl vs cat. Could it be possible? Thanks again John.

[al baldwin]

Dewey, Tim , JOhn & all others thanks for the wisdom. I can usually tell if the track is a big tom, & have seen cats sometimes leave some claw marks. Most time figure they were running? As stated earlier not a snow hunter. When I hunted with wayne Morgan he often tried to educate me on snow tracks. If the dogs could not work the track, I was only wanting to get in the rig near the heater. Tom Barnett used to amaze, he could spot a track in the logging roads, from the vehicle & continue driving at a good clip untill the critters left the road & this was without snow. He did teach me to spot those tracks sometimes but nothing like him. John you are more observent than I on tracks. Actually in early days of my hunting no seasons, cats worth 4$ bounty & that bought gas to hunt on. And I liked to hunt in the spring & summer best in those old days. Always been guilty of hopeing to find something the dogs can work & listening. Even my dad told me hounds bark too much for the amount of critters they catch. Thanks Al

[MThound]

Also M.T. I would really like to hear more about the owl vs cat. Could it be possible? Thanks again John.[/quote]

It was either an owl or an eagle that took out the bobcat. I believe it was an owl.
It had snowed a couple inches of fresh powder over night and a friend and I took the snowmobiles out looking for tracks. Not much more than an hour after sunrise, I found a large cat track. It was a big tom bobcat that had crossed out of a creek bottom and was now walking the road. It couldn't have been very old for the snow had stopped in the middle of the night and the tracks were clean and crisp. Following the tracks on the sled for a couple hundred yards, they abruptly ended on a straight stretch. The cat was walking straight and looked like it turned right at the incident of the wing prints. There was very little sign of any struggle with just some tufts of bobcat hair, the large wing prints, and an indentation in the snow where the cat was pressed down. The bird packed the cat off about 30 yards up the road where there was about a two foot circle tore up in the snow. It didn't appear to be much of any struggle there either. Just some blood and large tufts and chunks of bobcat hide. A couple pieces were 3 to 4 inches square. The cat was flown off from there and I never located it. We did take a couple pictures. I'll try to find them. I don't think an eagle had time to catch him in that hour of daylight before we showed up, but who knows for sure? I never thought it would be possible before seeing this.