Never had the chance to hunt bobcat until this past Monday morning when I was in a blind at 5:30AM overlooking bait 30yds away.. This was in the forest of Aurora, Maine about two hours northeast of Bangor and the first of two day`s hunting. It was not until 1:30 in the afternoon that my first cat just appeared near the bait. He was licking his side and I waited and then he looked straight at me. Placed the crosshair where the front leg meet the body and squeezed the trigger. Cat disappeared... Expected to find him in the trees but nothing...no blood.. nothing except a tuft of hair. What the hell??? Go back to the bait and find my bullet hit and broke a short piece of fence wire. What I did not know was that the bullet deflected but a large part of it angled through the front of the chest, came out, and went back in for a perfect gut shot. The guide came back with his dog and he found him 50yds from impact....God bless that dog.
Tuesday morning I was hunting from a high box blind about 9 miles from camp. Bait was 59.5yds away...2:45 in the afternoon I see movement at the bait and here was my 2nd cat pulling on a large chunk of deer. He snuck in a small gulley and his body was hidden. Set the Burris scope on 5X and waited until he exposed his shoulder. One shot dropped him there....Bobcat are one of God`s most beautiful predators.... If you can see the colors of his coat you will know why. It is VERY cold in Maine in January with Monday morning registering 9 degrees.... Longjohns are a must....PS- when I came across this pre-war S&W advertisement I just had to make the picture...please don`t mind me cause I love this stuff.....

Fantastic, James! Bobcat is high on my list of trophies to take with a handgun! You've done well -- twice over!

Nice kitties there James. What caliber did you take them with ?

Cold James. Naaah. That is heat wave.

Congratulations James! You took two beautiful bobcats!

Congrats James, well done!

Thank you gentlemen....AK, that`s a Freedom Arms model 83 in 41mag
Used a John Taffin handload with a big charge of AA#9 under a 210gr XTP ignited by a Fed.155M in RP case... Five rounds averaged 1745FPS.......I know about your temps up there...Friend of mine had home waste line freeze....THAT`S COLD

Very cool, JFJ! Cats were actually your intended quarry? Awesome!

BT, Yes.....I went up to Maine with the intention of hunting fox, bobcat and coyote.....

That is just awesome. The bobcat is one of my favorite predators
To hun and ive never taken one. You got a two'fer. Just awesome!!!

Beautiful cats.

Nice!!

I had one cross in front of me at about 40 yards last Saturday morning. He was on the move and never gave a shot.

a work buddy called and killed one a few miles from my house on his property. Makes about 6 or 7 hes taken from his less than 100 acre property. Either by calling and shooting or baiting/trapping. Im amazed at the numbers over just a few yr period in one small area!

Congrats! They are an amazing/interesting/beautiful animal. plus they play pretty good basketball. 😂

I was wondering and thank for telling me James. I was looking at the tube and thought it was just a tad small for a 44. Nice all the way around my friend. Nice kitties and nice handgun.
Yes it is cold up here. My local it is to get -7 over night.
I'm lucky. I'm on the coast....

Congrats James. My Dad ran a trap line in the 80's. You're right, they are beautiful critters.

Well done James. Have spent a lot of years in the woods and never seen one.

Congrats -- Most Excellent!

Good Job James!

Would love to hunt Bobcats. Did you hunt on your own or go with outfitter? Did you hunt with a call or just wait the bait pyle? Would love to hear details of hunt.

Thanks,

Don

My uncle said they've been getting a lot of them on trail cams

Congrats, James! Glad you finally got to get your first bobcat; and second.
The last time I was in Maine hunting bear, I had a Canadian Lynx come within three yards of me; I videoed him with my phone. I had no idea how big those Lynx were compared to a bobcat. I estimated this cat to be at least 60 lbs! It's feet were bigger that a coffee cup saucer! I practiced proper sight alignment on him, but with a $10,000 fine for killing, I made sure my thumb came nowhere near the hammer. The whole time I was watching him come in and go by, I never heard a sound. That encounter made my hunt worth while and I didn't even see a bear.

Well done! Those are two beautiful and elusive handgun trophies. To do it with a revolver and without dogs is an enviable feat that I am sure puts you in rare company.

Now, you're the Cat Man as well as the Pig Man. Way to go. Nice cats!

Awesome trophies James!

Awesome trophies James. What a great hunt!

Congratulations, James!!

We can't use bait anymore, even for trapping here in Idaho so I gave it up years ago. That would be exciting James! They are just about impossible to run with hounds here also because they won't tree, we have lots of lava reefs & they just go down in the rocks, lions are much easier. What you did is pretty darn impressive, great story!

Dick

vary nice cats. hope you enjoyed your time here in vacation land. just wondering what year this was? this Jan. (2017) has been almost tropical during the day, though you do need a jacket at night. " Vary Cold?"

Some good shootin' there, James.

Awesome Dude!

I believe James just got back from Maine.

Congrats James! This hunt falls right in line with a mountain lion, one that I hope to do one day.

PH

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I believe James just got back from Maine. [/quote]

Ya i was just ribbing him for the vary cold comment. this Jan. has been great. OF COURSE I OPENED MY BIG MOUTH AND NOW WE GET 2 DAYS OF FREEZING RAIN. some people never learn when to shut ta h..... up.

My man James! Congratulations!

Another notch or two in the grips of the 41 - congratulations again on a goal recognized

Congratulations James! Those bobcats are beauties. The only bobcat I've seen in the wild was when I was coyote hunting in northen Maine. We had an electronic call going and a mojo spinning in a clearing. I had a rifle and was watching and waiting. I slowly turned my head and could see a bobcat sitting and watching the mojo only about 20 yards from me. It turned and disappeared into the grass without a sound and without any movement of the grass he was slipping through. It was an awesome moment. The season was closed at the time, but I was not thinking of that. I was just awed to see that ghost!

That's awesome! Congrats. Sorry for the late reply to this thread.

Nice bobcat. 👍🏻