BigGameHoundsmen.com

I have a question for you guys. When I was about 14 years old I shot a mule deer buck on a big mesa. We were along ways from the truck so we gutted him out and decided to come back the next morning. The next mornin we got to him and he was covered with sticks and sage. When I uncovered him one shoulder and one side of the loin were already eaten. It was really rocky so finding a track was imposible. I fugured it had to be a lion because they were the only animal I knew of that stashed their kill like that. So I decided to set a big trap on the kill. The next morning I got there and I had trapped a really big fat tom bobcat. So my question I guess is do you think he ate all that meat or do you think a lion did claim my kill and this poor bobcat just came along at the wrong time. I was just thinkin about the old days and thought I would ask you guys since I have always heard that bobcats and lions like to kill there own food and often times won't eat it unless they killed it and the bobcat I caught was definately not starving.

I bet Mr. Mike Leonard will have a good answer!

I am thinking I know the answer but will differ to the NM Lion and Bobcat experts experts.

I do know tht Bobcat take many more Mature Whitetail Deer here than any DNR Biologist will admit to.

CJC

I will leave it to the lion hunters too, BUT:

Yes deer have absolutely positively been killed by bobcat.

No, bobcat do not always kill everything they eat. They can be baited in the winter with road kill deer. They are very responsive to this. Many bobcats are trapped every year using beaver meat for bait.

No, I have never myself witnessed a brush pile put up by a bobcat to cover it's own kill.

The rest is up to you and the lion hunters.

I also have never wittnessed a bobcat cover its kill with brush. I would have to believe lion had done this and yes I have seen lion eat deer that have not been killed by them several times. Just this last winter had a road killed deer just below my place it had been there a good 2 weeks when a fresh snow came and lion tracks every where it was a female and her sub adult lion that had been making it their meal. Both these lion were in very good condition. later, Andy

as i am not a experts expert i'll hazard a guess it was the lion covered and ate it and the bobcat was a uninvited guest. they're pretty curious creatures and will sneak up and snack on dead game. I enjoy those times when you can read the tracks well enough to get a real good look at what the cats were doing. bobcats will saunter along until something catches their attention then take hours watching it and moveing in closer. andother times just ghost right in to it quick. I wish either i was better at tracking or they'd leave more tracks here. but seeing a clear cat track here is a treat. sometimes i wonder if they spend as much time under the brush as i believe or if it's just a perception i have because of the ability to see the scuffs and leftovers in the loose dirt under the brush. I find my self staring at cat tracks in the dirt tanks like a idiot for ever. I guess the rarer a event the more important it is.

Thanks for all the input everyone. It is funny now to look back to being a youngster and all the wrong impressions I had about everything. I used to live in the mountains at a cow camp 2 or 3 months a year and then I would rome the mesas all winter long. I used to think lions were extremely rare where I lived just because I never saw them I guess. I laugh now to think about all those huge bobcat tracks I used to see every winter!lol I'm sure I will look back in another 10 or 20 years and laugh about how much I don't know now!lol

I have seen, where bobcats cover road killed deer, many times, right in the ditch by the highway. Also, have jumped cats off deer that they killed, and deer that were lost ,covered with grass, leaves, dirt,hair. Just like a lion. Sometimes I move it to a more hidden location and the cat will continue to feed on it and cover it each time. Have also had cats kill another cat in a trap, eat on it, and cover it, several times. Almost a sure catch, next day, it will be a big Tom. kirk

A friend of mine has pics of a Bobcat covering and uncovering a deer that it killed. Also a fisher will bury and animal too.

I have seen bobcats scavenge. This one is not only a scavanger but she is also a cannibal!
She ate and buried a male bobcat that I had skined and left just outside the orchard fence as bait.