Lynx Hunt (pics)

[todbartell]

went out this morning at daybreak to do a bit of calling for Lynx

Hiked in a couple hundred yards off the road, set up the Foxpro and decoy in a small clearing bordering a swamp. Turned the caller on with Wacky Woodpecker (#b03) and settled in. Plan was to call steady and sit tight for an hour. Well only four minutes in I noticed something out of place to my right in the trees. I grabbed my rangefinder and spotted a Lynx sitting there watching the direction of the caller, 130 yards out..

A few minutes went by and it wasn't budging. I switched to rabbit distress but it wasn't committing. I lined up with the 223 and the crosshairs settled on its chest as it sat there facing me. I squeezed the trigger and let a 55gr Nosler Varmageddon fly. The cat went straight down, a few seconds later it sprung straight up and ran off out of sight.

I decided to give it a half hour before following the trail. A minute or so went by and I caught a glimpse of something coming across the swamp , going left to right. Kinda looked like a Lynx but only had a second to see. A few more minutes went by and I caught more movement across the far side of the swamp, this time I thought it was a coyote trotting in. I reloaded and waited to see what played out. At the 14 minute mark of my sit (have a timer on the remote) I caught movement in the exact spot the first Lynx appeared. I raised the scope and it was a 2nd Lynx! I've only ever seen 2 of these suckers in my life and here I have just called in two. It sniffed around a bit and turned and headed back into the thicker bush and out of sight. I sat for a while longer and finally packed up and went to follow up my cat.

A 30 yard S shaped blood trail resulted in my first ever Lynx! Was pretty exciting stuff, looking forward to targeting them more and more in the coming years. 20.5 lb female, going to get a full body mount and skull bleached

https://scontent-b.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xpa1/v/t1.0-9/1509234_10151899480617992_907382702_n.jpg?oh=388d7 3c935edcca1baff664ef0199ef8&oe=55337DE6

[Everett]

That's a hell of nice looking pussy cat

[rageous]

Sweet cat!

[twanger]

Very Cool TB :mrgreen:.......

[Steeleco]

4 min, if only it was that easy for all of us once in a while. Congrats

[Sako 75]

Nice cat!!!! A least the grouse and hare will sleep better to-night!!!

[Brew]

That's awesome. Great cat. How did the varmageddon perform. No exit? Wish I lived somewhere that had better opportunities for hunting. Thanks for sharing

[Steelpulse]

Epic, still in lowermainland for holiday can't wait for this coming weekend back in 3-19 will be looking for cats all winter, calling and tracking, nice cat

[coach]

Awesome cat. Gotta love it when you can get before and after pics. Congratulations.

[gerrygoat]

Nice work Mark, she's a beauty.

I would be interested to hear how the Varmageddon worked they seem to have a pretty good reputation and are reasonably priced.

[Hammerhead]

They are really neat looking cats. Have gotten quite a few over the last couple of years on the trap line with Trapman and plan on having one of them mounted. Thought that a sitting position with a grouse or rabbit under its paw may look kind of cool. Congrats
HH

[todbartell]

4 min, if only it was that easy for all of us once in a while. Congrats

dude I've had such rotten luck with predators in the last few years I have a hard time going out now :( But so far this year I have called in a cross fox and 2 Lynx in 4 sets. I definitely have proven you won't shoot any from the couch!


That's awesome. Great cat. How did the varmageddon perform. No exit? Wish I lived somewhere that had better opportunities for hunting. Thanks for sharing

Not a fur friendly bullet, but the taxi says it's fixable. Probably a jap orange sized hole. Kinda winged it, not a perfect shot by any means, I blame Savage for making inaccurate rifles and Vortex for making cheap chinese scopes - certainly wasn't me.... :mrgreen: - I had intentions on sighting in with TrailBoss 40gr Vmax loads (8grs powder, 2200 fps) but never got around to it over the holidays. I have a 17 Hornet ordered, probably will be a great cartridge for fur hunting in the future

Sure is nice to be able to do a hunt like this close enough to home that you have to chug your coffee before leaving the truck

[yamadirt 426]

Sooo cool. congrats !!! You look happy happy happy.

We just got a wacky wagler. I hope it works as well as yours. Cheers

[todbartell]

Nice work Mark, she's a beauty.

I would be interested to hear how the Varmageddon worked they seem to have a pretty good reputation and are reasonably priced.

I love the bullets for accuracy and price, bought a thousand of them last year. This load shoots in the .6's for 5 shots average (lots and lots of groups to prove themselves), and that's with 10 year old milsurp WC845 powder (H335'ish burn) and Norinco brass. Probably a great load for wrecking mangy coyotes but I wouldn't point it at a Lynx again!


They are really neat looking cats. Have gotten quite a few over the last couple of years on the trap line with Trapman and plan on having one of them mounted. Thought that a sitting position with a grouse or rabbit under its paw may look kind of cool. Congrats
HH

that does sound interesting. I was thinking about it laying on a log or maybe crouched down?

[BlacktailStalker]

That's cool, played out well.

[bc_buckshot]

Good job bud. Goes to show dont need hounds and a little bit of calling and time pays off.

[Ovis17]

Nice work, congrats!

[hunter1947]

That's a very nice trophy you got would look nice on a log up on your wall ,congrats ..

[Gateholio]

Once again you've demonstrated why you are a premier member of the Intraweb! :)

[GoatGuy]

Congrats on the cat.

I see you like starfish.

[BearStump]

nice kitty Mark. nice to have quick success on a 4 minute set I bet. Almost makes up for all the days spent with nothing moving but you.

[#1fishslayer]

Sweet. Great job on the lynx. But....... you just admitted shooting a lynx and making no recovery effort. ...then shooting another one. Hmmmm guess now is when the back paddling or two bullet holes in one cat story changes. Geezzzz

[Ozone]

Sweet. Great job on the lynx. But....... you just admitted shooting a lynx and making no recovery effort. ...then shooting another one. Hmmmm guess now is when the back paddling or two bullet holes in one cat story changes. Geezzzz

You may want to reread the story.

Nice cat, Ive only ever seen one and it was moving very fast and I was trying to not hit it with the bike. Looking forward to the mounted pics.

[gerrygoat]

Sweet. Great job on the lynx. But....... you just admitted shooting a lynx and making no recovery effort. ...then shooting another one. Hmmmm guess now is when the back paddling or two bullet holes in one cat story changes. Geezzzz

Read the story again only one shot, give your head a shake. I could say a lot more things about guys like you but won't.

[#1fishslayer]

Well forgive me for that......

[#1fishslayer]

Re read bud. Again sorry nice cat

[Salty]

Nice! I've only seen two maybe 3 of these stealthy buggers and it was in head lights in the middle of the night in the middle of no where, none in day light. 'nuther vote for some props to the mount. a log or a rock and a perch they're crazy handsome animals. maybe with its paw on a fox pro caller. lol

[dana]

Nice cat! You'll want to research the taxidermist you use. Some guys can do wonderful deer but fail miserably on cats. Look at the cat work of a lot of taxidermists before you take the plunge. A lynx lifesize ain't cheap and you don't want to spend that kind of money to have a cat that looks like a cartoon character.

[325]

That looked like a fun hunt, congratulations!

[REMINGTON JIM]

Congrats on the Nice PUSSIE there mark ! :wink: RJ

[two-feet]

You eat the meat?

[Cpl_Punishment]

Nice job! I'm just getting into doing some predator hunting this year, would love to get a cat!

[~T-BONE~]

Beauty love the big mitts! I'd just get it tanned for now. U might get a bigger one yet this year that you'd rather do a life size on..

[frenchbar]

Good going bartel..thats awesome !

[Grumpa Joe]

Way to go Mark! Nice when it comes together, especially so quickly. Looking forward to seeing the mount.

[todbartell]

You eat the meat?

no, dropped it all off at the Taxidermist


Beauty love the big mitts! I'd just get it tanned for now. U might get a bigger one yet this year that you'd rather do a life size on..

Only allowed one per season in BC, so will have to wait for 2014/15!

[~T-BONE~]

Oh shit! I assumed bag limits would be the same as bobcats down here.. Thanks for correcting me. :oops:

[markomoose]

Nice job tb.last fall my son & i watched 2 lynx cat fighting in the middle of a fsr.they carried on for 2 minutes & sounded like house cats.they were 25 feet from our truck.

[Stone Sheep Steve]

dude I've had such rotten luck with predators in the last few years I have a hard time going out now :( But so far this year I have called in a cross fox and 2 Lynx in 4 sets. I definitely have proven you won't shoot any from the couch!

k

That's what you get for killing a wolf on your first ever set after getting the Foxpro! LOL!!

Nice cat!! Lynx are my favorite cat! Don't forget to cook it up!

Just picked up a FP Wildfire and will get out in the morning to chase some yotes. Hopefully, the muzzle blasts don't hurt my head in the am

[HarryToolips]

Nice cat man congrats..

[BearStump]

Those are cool looking cats. we had a bunch of them all around our camp in 2012. One that was crouched right on the side of the road almost to say Hi, every morning when we left to go out and every eve when we got back to camp. we left camp on the 14th of Nov and the cats didn't open till the 15th though.

[d6dan]

Nice cat Mark. :-D Its going to be a long wait for next one.

[Jetboat]

Good story and pics Mark, congrats on your first kitty. Now that some of the winter roads are in around here, we are able to access some pretty remote areas and it's not unusual to see several cats a day along the trails. They generally go about 20ft off the trail, sit down in cover and watch you pass (easy pickings with a .22RF) The last cat I took was with the .243 truck gun I pack at work for wolves. The 20 yard neck shot with the 80grPSP left a pretty good sized hole and my trapper friend's wife had some fancy sewing to do. I'll stick with a .22LR or .22Mag for close shots on lynx as they are pretty thin skinned critters.

[trigger]

Awesome mark. Way to go. That's one critter I miss hunting. I got a life size mount of one I killed in Houston. They make an awesome mount.
Congrats bud.

[chinookkiller]

nice job！in winter this is the best。