Originally Posted By: btech29Originally Posted By: OKRattlerOriginally Posted By: btech29I am very surprised you are not having any luck on bobcats in NW Arkansas. I have killed many here.
30 minute cat stands is an old wives tale. That myth comes from the old hand calling days. Cats loose interest quickly, if you cant blow your call no stop it will take a while. E Calls are a different story.
Bobcats are not smart, or hard to call. Find one, play rabbit, and get ready to shoot. They are not everywhere like coyotes. Even if you seen one yesterday, or see tracks etc does not mean they are there the day you try them. Instead of wasting time on a 45 minute stand, I would instead make 3 different 15 minute stands. Just keep trying, you will be in the right place at the right time eventually.
I've had bobcats come in closer to an hour using hand calls and electronic both. I've also had them come in,in 15 minutes or less using both. In areas I know for a fact a bobcat has been I'll stay longer. If I'm blind calling I'm not as likely to stay that long unless it looks really catty. Staying on stand longer has for sure bagged me a few more cats than I'd have killed had I quit 15 minutes in. That's not to say they weren't there sooner than I saw them but if I can't see them I can't shoot them. They may get comfortable and watch and listen for a while. If it takes 10 extra minutes on stand to get one shook loose I'm definitely gonna stay longer. I got more time than I got money so it don't bother me sitting 30+ minutes in a spot that I've seen a bobcat in.
I sure wouldnt argue with you. Whatever method you have confidence in and what works for you is what I would do.
That being said, what if you had made 4 stands in that same hour you sit there? Could you have possibly killed more cats? I guess there is no way of knowing. I personally aint sitting an hour for a cat. Even when I do make a "cat stand" Im secretly hoping a coyote comes in.
One more thought. That cat you called after sitting there for an hour: You think there is a chance he wasnt within ear shot when you first started calling? A cat can go a long ways in an hour. Maybe he just happened to come by 45 minutes after you started calling??
Our bobcat population isn't near what our coyote population is so I may only know where 4 or 5 are by the time season rolls around. And that's if I'm lucky. And even those aren't a sure thing because they move around all the time. On stands where I'm going in blind most times I do call shorter stands. But in areas where I know a cat has been I'll stay longer because otherwise I'm just basically guessing where a cat may be. I don't like those odds as much.
It's very possible they're passing through within ear shot of the call. I've shot a few coyotes on cat stands that I know had to of been passing by and heard the call. Two I can think of were over 40 minutes into the stand.
As for the bobcats that have taken so long I really can't say. The longest I've seen one take was right at 49 minutes. Several over 30 minutes. I had called that same cat in,in that same spot a week before so I knew it had to be hanging around there somewhere. The first time it took him about 10-15 minutes to show up.There was an old barn and other things out there it could stay in so I don't think it could have been too far away. But then again I don't know how far bobcats will travel to come to a call during the day. If I can I try to set up fairly close to where I think they are. From what I've seen bobcats are pretty lazy during the day and I've always been under the impression that they won't travel nearly as far as a coyote will to come to a call so that's the reason behind that.
30 minute cat stands is an old wives tale. That myth comes from the old hand calling days. Cats loose interest quickly, if you cant blow your call no stop it will take a while. E Calls are a different story.
Bobcats are not smart, or hard to call. Find one, play rabbit, and get ready to shoot. They are not everywhere like coyotes. Even if you seen one yesterday, or see tracks etc does not mean they are there the day you try them. Instead of wasting time on a 45 minute stand, I would instead make 3 different 15 minute stands. Just keep trying, you will be in the right place at the right time eventually.
I've had bobcats come in closer to an hour using hand calls and electronic both. I've also had them come in,in 15 minutes or less using both. In areas I know for a fact a bobcat has been I'll stay longer. If I'm blind calling I'm not as likely to stay that long unless it looks really catty. Staying on stand longer has for sure bagged me a few more cats than I'd have killed had I quit 15 minutes in. That's not to say they weren't there sooner than I saw them but if I can't see them I can't shoot them. They may get comfortable and watch and listen for a while. If it takes 10 extra minutes on stand to get one shook loose I'm definitely gonna stay longer. I got more time than I got money so it don't bother me sitting 30+ minutes in a spot that I've seen a bobcat in.
I sure wouldnt argue with you. Whatever method you have confidence in and what works for you is what I would do.
That being said, what if you had made 4 stands in that same hour you sit there? Could you have possibly killed more cats? I guess there is no way of knowing. I personally aint sitting an hour for a cat. Even when I do make a "cat stand" Im secretly hoping a coyote comes in.
One more thought. That cat you called after sitting there for an hour: You think there is a chance he wasnt within ear shot when you first started calling? A cat can go a long ways in an hour. Maybe he just happened to come by 45 minutes after you started calling??
Our bobcat population isn't near what our coyote population is so I may only know where 4 or 5 are by the time season rolls around. And that's if I'm lucky. And even those aren't a sure thing because they move around all the time. On stands where I'm going in blind most times I do call shorter stands. But in areas where I know a cat has been I'll stay longer because otherwise I'm just basically guessing where a cat may be. I don't like those odds as much.
It's very possible they're passing through within ear shot of the call. I've shot a few coyotes on cat stands that I know had to of been passing by and heard the call. Two I can think of were over 40 minutes into the stand.
As for the bobcats that have taken so long I really can't say. The longest I've seen one take was right at 49 minutes. Several over 30 minutes. I had called that same cat in,in that same spot a week before so I knew it had to be hanging around there somewhere. The first time it took him about 10-15 minutes to show up.There was an old barn and other things out there it could stay in so I don't think it could have been too far away. But then again I don't know how far bobcats will travel to come to a call during the day. If I can I try to set up fairly close to where I think they are. From what I've seen bobcats are pretty lazy during the day and I've always been under the impression that they won't travel nearly as far as a coyote will to come to a call so that's the reason behind that.