Coast To Coast Bobcat Calling

When I saw large bobcat tracks cross-ing the road at the lower end of Gore Canyon below Kremmling, Colorado, I pulled the truck off to the side, parked in 6 inches of fresh snow, grabbed my .220 Swift, binoculars, and a couple of predator calls.

- Judd Cooney

Then I started trailing the cat through the brush choked canyons. If nothing else, I figured I’d learn a bit about bobcat hunting habits.

Three hours later, when I heard raucous raven calling in the timber ahead, I switched to a slower stalking mode. Birds scavenge behind the bigger land predators, and I had taken many a coyote by paying attention to ravens, magpies and crows. I figured there was a good chance this time I might find a fresh bobcat kill.

I snuck up to the edge of a deep oakbrush field canyon and slipped in under an overhanging juniper. The ravens were still raising hob on the far side of the canyon, 200 yards below my vantage point.

When I saw a magpie hopping from branch to branch in the top of an oakbrush, I got plum excited. Since the birds were still in the trees, there was a good chance the cat was close by if not actually on the kill.

Noticing little things like that can make all the difference.

After patiently glassing the area for a half-hour or so, I decided to coax some mouse squeals from a favorite Circe call. But as I was bringing the call to my lips, I caught movement in a small opening. Then the mottled form of a large tom bobcat materialized as if out of nowhere. Didn’t take but a couple of seconds to lower the call, shoulder the rifle, and center the cross hairs on a shoulder. I squeezed the trigger, and the big cat literally dropped in its tracks.

I worked my way down to the cat and found a freshly killed yearling mule deer. From the sign in the snow, it looked like the cat had jumped the deer up the canyon and then ridden 50 yards on its back before delivering a fatal or paralyzing bite to the back of the neck.