For me the reason they came and sat behind me was that I was using too much volume and not using it directionally. Once I toned it down and learned to make it directional the cats came from the front most of the time. I also learned where to set up for them and the cover that they liked to lay up in.
Winter Bobcats
- Thread starter 6fatrat
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How long did you notice it takes for them to come in, from what i read they say you should wait for up to an hour. I have been running the call about 30-45 minutes before moving locations. Also keeping the volume lower...Its been frustrating because there was a family of 4 i was seeing almost every time i archery hunted this fall and it seems like they moved out of the area.
gotcha, that would make sense as when I'm calling for bruins I'm on the call super hard!
It seems like they are really slow to respond most of the time and if they are out 400 yards it might take them an hour to close to 100 yards. They might just sneak in to 100 or closer and just set and watch you with only their tails twitching. How big was the family size wise? Cats don't cycle only in the spring of the year, if you were seeing four larger cats it may have been 3 males and a female in heat. I jumped a female with four toms one time in January when she was in heat, they ran about 200 yards then all sat down and just looked at me from the edge of some sagebrush, they didn't even go into the brush. If it was a mom and kittens, they may be at a new location with thicker cover and more rabbits and mice. Here a female with kittens might have a range of twenty miles or more and stay in another area of it with good cover and prey base before moving around with mom going out to mark her area and leaving the kittens in another area.
I saw a bigger male by himself, the female had 2 kittens about 3/4 the size of her. I saw them several times over a 2 week period. I watched 1 catch a mouse and eat it about 20 yards from me. That was beginning to mid November, once rifle deer season started the club was overun with activity and pushed them out. I only have 2 or 3 pictures of them since then. Theres a bunch of big swamps in the area and ive been setting up along the edges and calling. Tried 5 hours yesterday, only saw a couple owls....
I skipped tonight . I was fishing till dark tonight .
I'm going to try in the am ! It's a ten min.walk from the house . I have stayed out of there untill we got some White stuff!
As stated above if its mating season should we try a different type call ?
I think I have the Love sick call on my caller ..need to check forsure.
Maybe I will get lucky and one will pop out !
Rum Man
I'm going to try in the am ! It's a ten min.walk from the house . I have stayed out of there untill we got some White stuff!
As stated above if its mating season should we try a different type call ?
I think I have the Love sick call on my caller ..need to check forsure.
Maybe I will get lucky and one will pop out !
Rum Man
I like to use higher pitched sounds, like young cotton tail rabbits some of the bird sounds and mice or rodent squeaks, even during breeding season. You can do the cat sounds and see what happens it's just a matter of timing and being where they are and seeing them move or noticing their face staring at you with their tail moving side to side, they are a lot like a house cat and don't seem to keep their tail from moving. If you have any birds of prey crows, magpies, or scavenger birds, ect. showing up and making a fuss when you are calling you are doing what they want to hear, and they will eventually show themselves. Years ago, Johnny Stewart had a yellow flicker that he used for grey fox that was killer on cats here as well as red fox. I have noticed that the sounds used for the fox seemed to do better for cats. I have noticed that often the birds will tell you where the cat is setting and watching you even the songbirds tattle on them. When I notice a gathering of birds, I start observing that area if I get a coyote that is cautious and looking a certain direction it might be looking at a cat or another coyote, they tell on each other. With cats it's often very subtle hints that give their presence away. I would nearly place money on that you have called them in and just not seen them yet, it's a blast when you figure out that they are coming to your efforts, and you just haven't seen them yet. Call for up to an hour, wait for maybe 15 minutes then just walk a circle around your stand, out maybe 50 yards if you have any snow. You may find a story out there waiting to tell you about some things for the next stand.
