BigGameHoundsmen.com

To flcathunter:

AMEN!

To David and his twin Sister Hanah:

Well said! We too have enjoyed this thread.

CJC

Tim Pittman wrote:There are only a few men even here in the Northwest who only run bobcat-whether it's snow,bareground,eastern,western,rainy,desert-conditions and terrian vary but the quarry is still the same species with it's own habits and physical characteristics,and those few guys who are the most successful men I know of in this part of the world,would hesitate or turn down[even before the dogs told them right/wrong or indifferent]tracks that didn't walk and talk BOBCAT.These guys I'm refering to[not myself]don't tell people they catch 80-100 cat a year, they show them. -----WE WOULDN'T CALL THAT A CAT TRACK DUE TO THE BEHAVIOR OR THE PAD FORMATION OR SOME OF THE OTHER THINGS THAT MAKE YOU GO HYMMM??

Tim,

I don't know this for a fact, but I'd bet you could count on one hand the number of guys that have been in on 80 to 100 cat harvests in a decade here. You might be able to find some guys who ran all winter and have just caught/treed that many for training, but it would take probably 5 years. We just don't have the cats, the seasons, or the decent snow conditions. I don't even know anyone who targets cats without snow, cause it would be a tough deal.

With that said, I'd never pass up this track. If I find one like it, the truck goes in park and out come the dogs. I might check around the piece to see if it came out, but I better make it quick or someone else is throwin down on it. My odds of finding a bigger track that day are pretty slim and it might take a week or two to find one that matches it. It's just the way it is here. Cats always throw a guy a curve ball. We've cut tracks this year in spots that we have NEVER seen one in 5 years of looking after every snow storm. While in other spots you are almost guaranteed to cut a track withing a 5 yard crossing.

I'm no expert cat chaser, just a dude who loads up some average hounds after a snow to try to harass some cats. Everybody on this thread has probably caught more cats than I have. Still I say that's a cat track.

Nolte,I sent you a pm.
To everybody else,If I offended anyone-I'M SORRY.Sometimes I get carried away on my opinions and I need to remember another thing a mentor and a close friend has told me numerous times,SOMETIMES WE DON'T KNOW ALL THAT WE REALLY DON'T KNOW.Good luck everyone,and good hunting.Thanks David,proud to be called your friend.
Tim pittman

Thanks David,

the cat tracks in the snow i see look like you used a cookie cutter. thanks for the enjoyment ..

jc

I don't mean this to be sarcastic in any way,and I don't claim to know any more than anyone else,but I think if some of you guy's would take a second look at some large tracks with drag marks you might be surprised to see some large cat tracks.Never mind the pattern or wether they are dragging thier feet or not,look at the individaul tracks.JMO

ok i will say that b-n-trees picture is a bob and that the second is a lion. but i would like to see the back of those pads.

jc

I sure appreciate everyone's involvement on this post. I had no idea we needed to have this talk. But its probably a good thing we're not all in the same room together... imagine that.

Anyhow some of ya'll have got some real good input. BlazeNBrat thanks for putting up those pics. Think those bobcats are from the same side of town? I agree it would be interesting to see what some of these other tracks ya'll are seeing look like. Originally being from east Texas I am especially interested in what an armodillo track looks like in snow

david wrote:[
But some of you guys are coming off a little arrogant for my taste.
.

I had to come back on here and appologize for my last post. I kept thinking about the good folks I may have insulted by it as I drove to Grand Forks last night. It was arrogant of me, because how can you possibly tell someone else they sound a little arrogant, without engaging in some arrogance. How do you tell someone else they are judgmental without judging them. And I made some judgements that were not based on knowledge, but emotion; not usually a good idea. That is when I usually make myself into a fool. So just wanted to say thanks for each and every post because without the tension you cant have a good story, and what we have here is a really good story.

B-N-Trees wrote:I sure appreciate everyone's involvement on this post.

. BlazeNBrat thanks for putting up those pics.
:

Amen on both counts. Excelent quality photo Blaze.

B-N-Trees, you are a good man. Glad we got to see the man behind the original post. It's been great.

In all seriousness, I'd like to see more posts like this, keeps our brains working and it's cool to see what other guys see while out hunting. As I said, I saw these tracks with B-N Trees but I'd like to see more of what y'all see daily....

This is just my opionion on this guys, being a disscussion board that it is and not a cage fight.......
I just dont think (and its been my observation that) not all cats are created equal, therefore, there tracks (Pattern) will not be. Some are old, some maybe semi crippled or injured from a fight or an ambush that went bad on'em, or there just plain lazy and tired, or they walk splay footed for what ever reason and on and on and on...THEY VERY SOME, they are wild creatures!
It sure as heck can be tough SOMETIMES sorting out bobcat tracks in deeper snow thru coyote, fisher ect when you cant see a print, takes a bit more analizing doent it?. But man if I see a clear CAT paw print in the snow I'm not going to care to much what the rest of the track looks like bar none JMO.

I had a freind of mine call me a while ago and say Beau you gotta come look at this cat we just caught - he's a weird one. Sure enough this cat was odd, he was old, pot belly, long a$$ body, sort legs, Wide hips, narrow sholders and only had 2 toes on a hind foot (must of got caught in a trap or some thing). Sure an old battle ax he looked - Just think what his track looked like? (not right)
That picture of the bobcat track I posted turned out to be a large tom, in good shape and healthy. Why did he drag his feet? Who knows, I think he was just being lazy, struttin' around comfortable in his on zone because he could, he might change his stride once he goes to kill something or is on the stalk. If you got a house cat watch that thing close - they dont always have one gear and the same additude all the time right?

What I would GUESS B N Trees has there is indeed a large tom with "something else going on with him" to not make a text book track. So IMO do tracks dicribe the animal - DAM RIGHT!!

Anyway guys I'm not trying to convince anyone of anything, just a little food for thought, again this is just one mans opinion. Happy hunting!

Well said David as always. You know we have really achieved something when we've got you thinking about this post throughout the day. Sure glad you have enjoyed it I certainly have enjoyed your comments. Thanks, James

I am going hunting tomorrow and you can bet I will be looking for those armadillo tracks to start my dogs on... wonder how you'd line out an armadillo track anyway?

I have to admit I hunt the snow very little compared to bareground.And if I'm wrong I stand corrected,I still stand by what I stated whether it applies to this case or not.But I'm struggling with people telling me all abiyt bobcat behavior,and to study tracks better and all in one breath and imply they only catch 1-20 of these a year.It's hard to roll over and worship and throw all my experiences out the window,when we are blessed enough to see that many cats in the tree or on the ground in a month.Forgive me I'm a little frustrated by some of the pm's I've recieved,I don't mean to lash out,but it's hard to take some of this from some people who MAY only be able to catch one of these critters if the snow is just right and all the stars align from the night before and that day as well.I never said there are no exceptions to the game,but unless them dogs are straight BOBCAT dogs I'd be selective.Heck I'm still selective and bobs are all these dogs see[but maybe that's why]I guess I'll just have to miss a few tracks due to caution..
Tim 541-912-6464

I so a track like that this winter and tried to run it with a perty good cat dog, I put her down and she looked at me like ( what do you want me to do?) Talked to a buddy of mine latter and he told me it was a Badger. Dont I feel stipid,

BlazeNBrat, thanks for sharing your thoughts. Your comments takes us back to the original question when I asked what ya'll thought of a bobcat that made shuffle marks in shallow snow. As I was trailing this cat with my hounds (they are honest dogs) I couldn't help but think what that bobcat was going to look like when I had it treed. There in front of me was what I thought was a pretty descriptive track and I wondered how much this track described the animal I was trailing. Was it a pregnant female, an old tired male or just a regular lazy bobber. I have been behind a few large tom lions that behaved very similar to this cat. It made one wonder how much is really similar between species. My hounds and I ran the track for a few miles but had to pull off to meet a friend who had gone out of his way to come pull my truck out of a big snow drift. With this hunt being cut short I was interested in what others had to say on this subject. And to our entertainment we all have heard some good response from which I hope we all take in good humor and learn from some of the good truths being shared here.

I would really like to hear your stories and see some of the non typical tracks that your seeing in the woods be it cat or yetti or even bobcat tracks that need to be re-identified.

-James

james, here is the one I sent you today. I was out roading my 2 and we came across this. They bumped it and kinda smelled it but that was it...dunno exactly how old it was...