BiG Boar
01-06-2011, 03:55 PM
Hey fellas,
just when things were starting to look like the hunting season was over, things started coming together again. I must however give all the thanks to a member on here for this hunt.
It started a while ago when a certain gentleman PM'd me and offered to take me out for a few days of cat hunting with his dogs. Well, as these offers don't come along too often, I didn't wait a minute to respond! He was very clear that he was not to take anything in exchange for this hunt. He wouldn't even let me pay my part of the gas bill! Houndsmen get many offers I would imagine, but are not allowed to take any compensation/benefit for that would be deemed illegal guiding.
I was stoked from the minute I received the PM. Could this be real? Was the guy joking? All I knew was that I was very excited! We would head out once the snow was right.
The first and second days of hunting were much the same. Cruising logging roads slowly in the truck with the dogs in the back in a dog box. We had no new snow, but we did find tracks and release dogs. However, the dogs always came back telling us the tracks were not fresh enough. We did have to chain up to get up some of the mountains. At one point we were close to slipping off an edge, but in the end, we made it out alive.
The third day was perfect for cat hunting. 1.5 inches of fresh snow. We got out to a late start and soon came across tracks. A large bobcat crossed, probably less than 2 hours before us.
We got out to see the track and found it to be a good sized track and a cat with a big stride. Probably a tomcat. Hopefully the dogs would find it.
We let the cat footed dogs go. Instantly they struck the scent and these dogs were fully open. I was not putting my hopes too high though.
5 minutes later we heard the chop. The short bark of a dog keeping an animal up a tree. "Its on! Let's go look at this cat!"
I'm thinking, no way, is this for real? Is this really going to happen? We GPS'd the truck and headed out towards the roaring dogs! We made some quick time with it getting louder and louder as we got closer.
The dogs were lit up like kids at Christmas under the tree. Knowing what gift was up there for them! Then we looked up, way up! It wasn't nearly as easy to spot as I had imagined. In fact you could barley see it with binoculars. I had no idea they would climb so high! When I spotted it though it was absolutely breath taking. I had never seen a wild cat and this thing looked amazing. Even though I could only make out the tail end of the cat. So colorful and spots that were just gorgeous. It looked to be a male to! And a big one at that!
I had told my hunting partner with the dogs that if there was any cat he wanted he could still shoot it. Just to be on the hunt was cool enough for me. He said if its a bobcat, its all yours.
So after some quick pictures of the hounds we got lined up for a shot. The gun of choice was a sako 22 bolt action, purchased from a member on this site. I was confident that the bullet would kill a thin skinned cat easily, especially with a well placed shot.
We tied the dogs up, and lined up the shot trying to avoid the many branches in the way. 40 yard shot and about a 6 inch window to shoot through. Bang! The cat jumped as I cycled the action to reload. Then...flop, flip, flop, flop, flip, turn, snap, snap, flop the cat went through the branches. The cat hit the ground and was dying but still twitching. Another quick follow up shot in the vitals, and we walked up to it and finished it off with one in the spine. Was this real? I didn't know what to think. Did I just get my first cat? A huge smile filled my face!
Soon the dogs were released from their posts and came running to see the animal they had pursued. Tags were cut and I went to have my first look at it. All I can say is the animal is incredible. I have never seen a more beautiful animal! Spots, and lines, and patches, and colors! And tufts of beard on each side of his face. As I had never seen one, I was then informed it was a big one! I had always imagined them not much bigger than a large house cat, but this thing was as big as a coyote! Weighed in at 27 pounds! The skull green scored 9 inches. To give you some reference, the SCI book minimum is 7 inches.
I was totally impressed to say the least! Skinned him out for a full mount and the meat is going to be put to use also, I'll try anything once, and the meat didnt smell weird at all.
It took me a full day to wipe the permagrin off my face! One of my coolest hunting experiences to date. Totally unique and totally awesome hunt! Thanks to the friend who took me out. If you want to say who you are, say away, and if you don't then keep it a secret. But he is a regular on here, and he's a helluva good guy. Some may recognize him from the pictures.
http://i300.photobucket.com/albums/nn5/bigbore14/DSC03409.jpg
http://i300.photobucket.com/albums/nn5/bigbore14/DSC03420.jpg
http://i300.photobucket.com/albums/nn5/bigbore14/DSC03419.jpg
http://i300.photobucket.com/albums/nn5/bigbore14/DSC03426.jpg
http://i300.photobucket.com/albums/nn5/bigbore14/DSC03433.jpg
just when things were starting to look like the hunting season was over, things started coming together again. I must however give all the thanks to a member on here for this hunt.
It started a while ago when a certain gentleman PM'd me and offered to take me out for a few days of cat hunting with his dogs. Well, as these offers don't come along too often, I didn't wait a minute to respond! He was very clear that he was not to take anything in exchange for this hunt. He wouldn't even let me pay my part of the gas bill! Houndsmen get many offers I would imagine, but are not allowed to take any compensation/benefit for that would be deemed illegal guiding.
I was stoked from the minute I received the PM. Could this be real? Was the guy joking? All I knew was that I was very excited! We would head out once the snow was right.
The first and second days of hunting were much the same. Cruising logging roads slowly in the truck with the dogs in the back in a dog box. We had no new snow, but we did find tracks and release dogs. However, the dogs always came back telling us the tracks were not fresh enough. We did have to chain up to get up some of the mountains. At one point we were close to slipping off an edge, but in the end, we made it out alive.
The third day was perfect for cat hunting. 1.5 inches of fresh snow. We got out to a late start and soon came across tracks. A large bobcat crossed, probably less than 2 hours before us.
We got out to see the track and found it to be a good sized track and a cat with a big stride. Probably a tomcat. Hopefully the dogs would find it.
We let the cat footed dogs go. Instantly they struck the scent and these dogs were fully open. I was not putting my hopes too high though.
5 minutes later we heard the chop. The short bark of a dog keeping an animal up a tree. "Its on! Let's go look at this cat!"
I'm thinking, no way, is this for real? Is this really going to happen? We GPS'd the truck and headed out towards the roaring dogs! We made some quick time with it getting louder and louder as we got closer.
The dogs were lit up like kids at Christmas under the tree. Knowing what gift was up there for them! Then we looked up, way up! It wasn't nearly as easy to spot as I had imagined. In fact you could barley see it with binoculars. I had no idea they would climb so high! When I spotted it though it was absolutely breath taking. I had never seen a wild cat and this thing looked amazing. Even though I could only make out the tail end of the cat. So colorful and spots that were just gorgeous. It looked to be a male to! And a big one at that!
I had told my hunting partner with the dogs that if there was any cat he wanted he could still shoot it. Just to be on the hunt was cool enough for me. He said if its a bobcat, its all yours.
So after some quick pictures of the hounds we got lined up for a shot. The gun of choice was a sako 22 bolt action, purchased from a member on this site. I was confident that the bullet would kill a thin skinned cat easily, especially with a well placed shot.
We tied the dogs up, and lined up the shot trying to avoid the many branches in the way. 40 yard shot and about a 6 inch window to shoot through. Bang! The cat jumped as I cycled the action to reload. Then...flop, flip, flop, flop, flip, turn, snap, snap, flop the cat went through the branches. The cat hit the ground and was dying but still twitching. Another quick follow up shot in the vitals, and we walked up to it and finished it off with one in the spine. Was this real? I didn't know what to think. Did I just get my first cat? A huge smile filled my face!
Soon the dogs were released from their posts and came running to see the animal they had pursued. Tags were cut and I went to have my first look at it. All I can say is the animal is incredible. I have never seen a more beautiful animal! Spots, and lines, and patches, and colors! And tufts of beard on each side of his face. As I had never seen one, I was then informed it was a big one! I had always imagined them not much bigger than a large house cat, but this thing was as big as a coyote! Weighed in at 27 pounds! The skull green scored 9 inches. To give you some reference, the SCI book minimum is 7 inches.
I was totally impressed to say the least! Skinned him out for a full mount and the meat is going to be put to use also, I'll try anything once, and the meat didnt smell weird at all.
It took me a full day to wipe the permagrin off my face! One of my coolest hunting experiences to date. Totally unique and totally awesome hunt! Thanks to the friend who took me out. If you want to say who you are, say away, and if you don't then keep it a secret. But he is a regular on here, and he's a helluva good guy. Some may recognize him from the pictures.
http://i300.photobucket.com/albums/nn5/bigbore14/DSC03409.jpg
http://i300.photobucket.com/albums/nn5/bigbore14/DSC03420.jpg
http://i300.photobucket.com/albums/nn5/bigbore14/DSC03419.jpg
http://i300.photobucket.com/albums/nn5/bigbore14/DSC03426.jpg
http://i300.photobucket.com/albums/nn5/bigbore14/DSC03433.jpg