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I was just wondering if anyone ever kept track of what they tree this time of year in relation to the amount of toms versus females. I know what I tend to see and what I feel the reason is, but I was wondering what everybody else thought. Am really interested in Bobcat counts, from guys that put up some good numbers where there can be a pattern established. My experience has predominantly been with coons in high numbers. The short tails have always been trash to me untill recently, and was curious if the percentages ran at about the same with the short tails. Take care, Willy

Willy,
Of the last four I caught here recently, 3 toms to 1 sow (not being suckled). Always this time of year the ratio is higher to the tom side, down here anyway.

I believe there are two reasons for this. First, the sows that got bred in January and February has their little ones now so their sticking pretty close to the place where the kittens are hid out, with not much activity in their movement. So the less activity, the harder it is to strike one while hunting.

Second, this time of year here it's starting to get awful hot and dry so trailing conditions have gone to pot. Dogs can smell an old stinking tom cat easier than a little old sow cat. Thus...you might trot right over the sow cat this time of year and the dogs never know it but they might smell the tom because he is giving off a little more scent and easier to trail.

There might be a third reason, I believe this although a lot on here will disagree with me. About 15 years ago I went to Freer, Tx. to hunt with a noted dog man and cat hunter in this neck of the woods by the name of Pool Butler. Pool hunted cats nearly all his life and had a lot of cat savy. He told about a friend of his that lived in the country not to far from Freer. His friend had been seeing a cat on a regular basis at one certain location there on the ranch, so he would call Pool to bring the dogs out and catch it. It was this time of the year when this happen. Pool said the first time his friend called, he was out with the dogs within 30 minutes of the cat being seen. He said never got a wiggle from the dogs. Second time, same thing. The third time he went out, as he pulled up to the spot he saw the cat run away from there his self. He said he dropped the dogs out, they wiggled around a little, opened a few times, but didn't trail over a 100 yards and it was over. As he was walking back to the truck, he walked over where he had seen the cat run away from there (real thick brush), got to looking around and he saw an old outhouse. He walked over to it, pried the door open and there was a litter of kittens. He said that's why the dogs couldn't trail the sow. I said what do you mean. He said when a sow is suckling young, it is just mother natures way of protecting the mother and young, by not giving off much scent.

Now...when he told me that. It really rang a bell, that very few times thru the years I caught a sow while she was suckling young. I'm not saying they don't give off any scent, but a lot less than normal because I have caught a few wet (suckling young) sows when trailing conditions were at it's best this time of year. So...it is my thinking that mother nature does play a role this time of year.

So, as I said at the beginning. The tom ratio is higher than the sows at this time of the year. At least here anyway. Just my thoughts on the subject. Robbie

Well put Mr. Robbie!

I/We would strongly agree with most every thing posted above! Would add that I went and looked up the percentages of Toms and Sows caught since 2004….May-July 90+% Toms/Males(half of the females were either being suckled or had been); Aug-Dec 50%-50%; Jan – April 65% Male-35% Female.

This time of the year Males are traveling trying to find that Female who missed getting Bred, Lost her Kittens, or trying to find Kittens to Kill.

Now as to Sows not giving off much scent when lactating…..several years ago we had this discussion here on BGH. David posted a long Post about this, backed up with testimonials from other Good Hunters. But just like you have, we catch one or two Lactating Sows each year….hate it, but it happens.

Now Poole Butler was possibly the only man to catch more Bobcat than Mr. Joe Rufus Lynes (my money is still on Mr. Joe) for the most ever caught (well over 10,000), so no doubt he knew Bobcats, but I am betting the SCENTING Conditions down your way during the time Sow’s are having little ones is more of a factor than Her “holding” or having little Scent when lactating.

Kittens though, like much young Wildlife have little Scent, and it must smell different from a mature Bobcat, I base this on the behavior of the Hounds when smelling Kittens up to about 6 months of age.

JMT&O

Robbie, ha ha Ha CJ was probably sending his the same time I sent mine. And mine must have went to that black hole in the Internet world. So I will try and send it again. You won't hear me giving you any flak about your answer. I expected to hear similar answers from those that have a few miles on them. I just didn't want to take it for granted with the short tails. I believe that females and their young from all species don't leave much if any sent. I can remember seeing a set of eyes in an alfalfa field while hunting a pup that would run the hair off of anything that left tracks. The set of eyes was a spotted and probably wobbly leged white tail. I rode the mule with that pup within 10 feet of that baby and the pup never knew it was on earth. I also believe that a man that trees a baged up female is packin a pretty damn good dog. And also believe that if you scare the living devil out of the critter you are chasing you will find a pretty good hole in the track that the hounds can't do much with. I know that this has been pretty much beat to death. But I am not ashamed to be in the crazy group. Having to type this twice I may have left some out, but I think you get my drift. Take care, Willy

My thoughts are the same as South Texan and CJC.When Robbie and Carey post in front of you they don't leave much information out!

The only thing that I could add is that their is abundant amount of easy meals to catch for all Predators during the birthing time of the year. These easy meals cause a lot less movement. Anyone that knows cats know they are lazy and spend most of their time laying around in a safe spot. In my area it's normally the rock cliffs with a good observation on the ground below them. Cats will sit motionless for hours just waiting to see some type of movement below them that sparks their curiosity enough for them to get up on their feet. Toms will still prowl around some just checking out his established territory markers, toilets, & scenting posts. A mature Tom will always keep a close inventory on his sows. This causes him to move a lot more than a sow. A cat will change their diet some during this time of the year. A sow with kittens will fed on a lot more insects (like grasshoppers) to stay close to her young. One other thing is that cats don't fed every day during the warm time of the year. This also slows down the movement. They aren't burning near the calories to maintain their body heat and keep their body weight up.

The most vulnerable time for a juvenile cat is during the time of dispersal. This makes them enter unknown country and without the sharpest hunting and fighting skills. In my opinion Toms have it a lot harder than the sows during the dispersal time. I don't think their is a Tom in the woods that's not going to allow a young sow to enter his established territory. But a young Tom don't stand a chance of invading another Tom's territory for vary long. A juvenile Tom lacks in size, hunting experience, and the ability to greatly defend themselves from a larger, older, wiser, mature male. They are also more vulnerable to highways, Coyotes, Lions, and Raptors while they remain transient.

Hunted wit Hooty S. this weekend in OK. caught two toms and started a third but could not run it, Hooty said it's a sow cat with little ones . Your right about Robbie. ED