International Bobcat Contest

[ridgerunners]

Most of my bigger cats are 25 to 30 and I think that's about the average here that's a nice cat. But I have ran across some bigger size tracks that I thought might be a whopper .I got one we call DOUBLE D's and he is a stud !! He kills deer and he lives in a hound dog hell. ROCK pile deluxe!!! I ran him six times and he embarrassed me and the hounds every time . He is my Version of the ghost coon on Where the Red Fern Grows. This love-hate relationship is sure a lot of fun and I hope I get to weigh him in this season.

[dhostetler]

Duane

Bobcat and lions are predators and hunt to eat and harvesting one with 4" of fat doesn't seem like the man was telling the truth? I think about the athleticism of all cat species required for survival? [/quote]

Mike,
The fact that my trapper friend always seems to find these big lion tom lion tracks that turn out to be 120 pounders, makes me wonder the credibility about the 4" of fat. I don't remember all the details but he gave a reason why he thought it had so much fat, it was on a kill, bait pile, or highway department deer disposal site I don't remember which one it was.

The biggest one I shot 34 lb. had a lot of belly fat if I remember right it was like 1.5 inch and it stretched out to 46" on the stretcher. My biggest one last year weighed 29.5 lb. and 43" on the stretcher. All 4 of my last years cats had very little fat less than ones I shot other years. I mentioned it to the biologist about the lack of fat and he hadn't heard of anybody else bring up that issue when they checked them in.

In my country a bobcat over 30 lb. is pretty big. If I would find a track of a 40 lb. + I might not even turn on it thinking its a small lion track.

[mike martell]

could these cats possibly be this big because possibly crossed with lynx?

justahunter

I would say no! Lynx are lanky and very deceiving. They are very fine boned and fluffy fur balls, you can easily break a back leg by grabbing one and tossing it over your shoulder to pack them out of the woods, it takes a big lynx to weigh or top thirty pounds. You see them crossing a road or standing you think, that cat is fifty pounds. I suspect not!

Mike you might thing about having a 4th place for the combined weight for the three months. It is fairly easy to bump into a big tom over three months but to catch a big one every month means you are just hunting toms. Just a thought Dewey

Dewey

Great idea! This competition needs to be fair as well as fun. We are fortunate to have some strong supporters in the hound supply world and everyone needs new gear! I will see them about donating some more prizes. Entries have been lean and like Duane eluded too, he just doesn't think he has a bobcat that can win....I would like to see participation with the effort that is required to put on this event....I don't have time on my side and just went with our club vote and David's suggestion for conducting this hunt because I thought it would be interesting to have at least one bobcat hunt of this nature.

On a side note for anyone interested, I been over on the east side the last few days and the snow was flying on top last night and should have lots of that country blanketed with good training season snow.....for those who like hunting snow.

Mike

[dhostetler]

Mike, You should post this on JC's Facebook site. I just sent my check in yesterday I figure most people are like me they will wait till the last minute to send there entry.

[ridgerunners]

Well it's opening day of bobcat season here in Colorado.I turn loose on a very nice size bobcat track this morning and I did not catch him. The hounds did wonderful they put pressure but they did not catch. I've been finding numerous bobcats in my hunting area the population looks pretty decent this year. I was going to hunt and turn loose on another cat that I found earlier but my wife called and said she didn't have any water at the house so now I'm headed back to thaw the water or I will be living with the hound dogs. Always something going on with life but I sure had a good time this morning. Hopefully tomorrow I will be looking for scale! For all you other guys that are running cats today good luck. Timothy Morgan

[mike martell]

Timothy

I received your check in the mail.

This event like so many of our hound stuff didn't go over very well. I received three entries counting yours. I will return your un cashed check to you via snail mail.

If we did this contest and paid out on a percentage, you would be better off putting your money in gas....Sorry about your pipes!

How about we keep this thread going and see who could have won some money had they only entered? Lots of internet talk and interest but few takers, guess I'll know better for next time. Every one scale your bobcats and submit a photo here and I will find something with one of our hound supply guys to donate something. Free is a mighty good deal! It might just be dog collar but at least no one is out nothing! Any takers?

Our FRTHC club bobcat hunt is still on! Good luck to all those who are paid up and hunting. The east side has a fresh blanket of good snow that even a guy like me could possibly tree a bobcat with my sorry hounds!
Bobcat from my last trip out. Left up the tree!
Mike

[david]

Mike, I hate to see you pull the plug, unless it is too time consuming for you.

They say any new business operates at a loss for an average of three years.

I meant to send in an entry for the three months even though I might not even bobcat hunt. But I want to support it just because it would be fun for me to read about and see pictures and read stories.

I think "winner of the international bobcat contest" would be fun to give one of the three who entered. (With some kind of certificate given). Give him some space on here, and see if the thing grows a little.

Today I will send in my $40 for January and February, and if no one else does, just use it for those who entered for December.

If you can extend the deadline by a couple days, I will send in for December also.

[mike martell]

Mike, I hate to see you pull the plug, unless it is too time consuming for you.

They say any new business operates at a loss for an average of three years.

I think "winner of the international bobcat contest" would be fun to give one of the three who entered. (With some kind of certificate given). Give him some space on here, and see if the thing grows a little.
If you can extend the deadline by a couple days, I will send in for December also.

David

Under the circumstances, go ahead and send December as well! I don't think anyone would object given it's you that loses a day or two against the competition. I agree with you and why I wanted everyone to post weights and bobcat pictures to have a little fun over the next three months.

It's not a matter of my time because I don't place a value on time (I'm a houndsmen remember) I have been in the hound business over forty years and still losing money every day by pouring it down the hound drain. Lol!

I just feel bad for a guy like Timothy who spends his hard earned dollars and should the man catch the largest bobcat? I want him to make quite a lot more money than he used to enter as an incentive...If that make sense?

Lets stay in the game guys and compete and I'll suck it up!

Mike

[ridgerunners]

Hey Mike, I am excited about being a part of something like the bobcat competition. I live and breathe Hounds And spend a lot of money feeding the little bastards. I really thought that you would have a lot of other Houndsman too . But it would be really neat to see everybody's cats and weights ! So definitely keep this post open and hopefully everybody will post some pictures with some cats and be proud of the hard work it takes to enjoy a wonderful sport. Timothy Morgan

[david]

Ok Mike. $60 in the mail. If no one enters for January and February, you can use it toward the prize/club for December.

Keep us posted Guys. Can't wait to see how you do.

I might have to figure out a way to go cat hunting now.

[dhostetler]

Yesterday the idea was to have a quick lion race to get my dogs warmed up and it turned into an all day ordeal of rolling my sled and a 2 mile brutal hike to the tree. Found a nice tom track this morning they got it jumped shortly and it put on a good run, I thought wow what a race for a tom. They treed it in a big fir, had to use my binocs to find it. Imagine my disappointment when a 11.5 lb female fell out. Apparently they bumped it when cold trailing the tom.

I to am disappointed that not more people put in. A friend of mine got a 26 pounder if he would've joined he would probably be currently in the lead! Our quota closes usually before Christmas, so I am out of luck for anything in Jan & March

[david]

Duane, you better enter that female. Ray Mears pretty much forced me to enter a small Tom in a contest back in the eighties. I didn't want to because it was small. But it won. Haha.

Get her in. Would be extra entertainment for everyone if an 11 pound female is the international bobcat champion. Also, it might encourage people from areas of smaller cats to participate next time.

[mike martell]

Yesterday the idea was to have a quick lion race to get my dogs warmed up and it turned into an all day ordeal of rolling my sled and a 2 mile brutal hike to the tree. Found a nice tom track this morning they got it jumped shortly and it put on a good run, I thought wow what a race for a tom. They treed it in a big fir, had to use my binocs to find it. Imagine my disappointment when a 11.5 lb female fell out. Apparently they bumped it when cold trailing the tom.

I to am disappointed that not more people put in. A friend of mine got a 26 pounder if he would've joined he would probably be currently in the lead! Our quota closes usually before Christmas, so I am out of luck for anything in Jan & March

Dean, you better enter that female. Ray Mears pretty much forced me to enter a small Tom in a contest back in the eighties. I didn't want to because it was small. But it won. Haha.

Get her in. Would be extra entertainment for everyone if an 11 pound female is the international bobcat champion. Also, it might encourage people from areas of smaller cats to participate next time.

Duane

I received a call yesterday from a guy in your area, said he harvested a tom and his entry was postmarked, sounded like the same guy and bobcat....Lets keep this going. Like David indicated, you never know.

I will be off here next week for about a week total bobcat hunting four purple heart veterans with our Fern Ridge Tree Hound Club / Wounded Warriors in Action Foundation. We will post some weights and pictures of some bobcats at the end of this hunt! Mainly just cool hunting pictures.

This competition and hunting in general is compliments of those who have sacrificed so much for our freedoms, we often times take little things like our hunting for granted and this is our way of thanking these American heroes for all they do....Take time out while you are on the mountain to reflect and think about this sacrifice!

Mike

[dhostetler]

David I usually get my limit of 4, that is the smallest cat I ever shot so odds are pretty high I will exceed it. Plus it's to late I already skinned it with out getting a certified weight. We don't have any snow yet in our best cat country I am hunting higher country in the Lynx/ bobcat transition zone. Our first major snow storm is predicted tonight so everything will improve after this weekend

[david]

You better move to Minnesota so you can get five.