Beauty and the Beast!

Mason_Jarr

New member
The snow this season has been a killer in the Northwest. Our bobcat season opened in mid-December, but it snowed on opening day and we had a storm almost every other day until this past weekend. I spent Saturday and Sunday putting out a combination coyote and cat line.....and then Monday morning I woke up with 6 inches of snow in the driveway and it snowed more on Tuesday and then turned to rain. I went to run my line today anticipating digging snow and re-setting most of them. But when we got out there I was surprised to see that most of the ground was bare. Either it hadn't snowed that much or it melted faster than it had at home. Just as we pulled into our first stop, the angle iron holding the shackle bolt of the leafsprings on the ATV trailer gave loose and we had a sideways axle. I had a discussion with my friend about his trailer! Luckily we were centrally located to our sets and could run them all on the ATVs. About halfway through the line I see the torn up ground ahead and knew it couldn't be a coyote. Another badger, but this one was really primed up with about 4 inch guard hair. He was a lot bigger than he looks in this picture and I had to put him up on a coyote stretcher.

The Beast!

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Just a half mile further down the line and we got to a nice rocky canyon that we'd put a cat set in on Sunday. As I pulled up I at first saw the trap laying on top of a rock. As I got closer, I could see some toes in the trap and thought I'd had a pullout. A few more feet and up pops a head.

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The first cat of the season and it was a nice one. I got out the camera and took a few pictures. The cat was pretty good sized and I assumed it was a tom. After it was dispatched I was surprised that it was a female. It's the biggest female that I've ever caught and she stretched out as an XL. I didn't measure the total length, but I'm guessing she'll be right at 42 inches from the nose to the base of the tail.

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A nice white belly, too!

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And the back isn't bad either.

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And my friend, Nate Pelkey, who has been helping me on the weekends. He had the day off today. He also needs to fix his ATV trailer!

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Way to go,you had an awesome day. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/bowingsmilie.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grinning-smiley-003.gif
We shot a badger a few weeks ago.It was about the same size as that one but the one you got has better fur on it.
I think I might have put the badger we killed on the stretcher wrong though.Do you put them fur side out first and then flip it over or is it just like a coyote?The pelt looks good still but its kinda greasy feeling so I think I managed to mess up somehow. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smiliesmack.gif
 
Badger is sold fur out. I usually put them on the board for about 4 days, skin out. Wipe them down good with some paper towels and then turn them fur out. I leave them on the board, fur out, for up to 2 weeks. I seems to take a long time for a badger to dry all the way.....at least mine do. I've sold some fur in, so you should still be OK.
 
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Badger is sold fur out. I usually put them on the board for about 4 days, skin out. Wipe them down good with some paper towels and then turn them fur out. I leave them on the board, fur out, for up to 2 weeks. I seems to take a long time for a badger to dry all the way.....at least mine do. I've sold some fur in, so you should still be OK.


Ok Thanks I thought thats how it was done but wasnt shure.I did it right then.I thought badgers were supposed to be fur in but I lucked out it sounds like.
The only thing I didnt do was wipe it down with paper towels which I thought of after the fact.I'll know to do that with the next one I get.I also only kept it on the stretcher for maybe 5 days or so.Just enough for it to get dryed enough to where I could touch the skin and not have my fingers stick to it.I'll know to keep them on longer from now on though.They shure are fat little buggers so I should have known there was gonna be alot of grease on it but I never even thought about it.Oh well I know where a bunch of em' are so I'll do better on the next one.Again thanks for the helpful info. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grinning-smiley-003.gif
 
You're welcome. I just finished boning out this bobcat. I was gonna grind it up for next year's bait, but it's such pretty meat, I might have to fry some of this backstrap. I've heard it's pretty good to eat, but I don't know if I can get past the stigma. Has anyone ever tried it?
 
/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/ooo.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/ooo.gifAWSOME!!! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/ooo.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/ooo.gif
 
yep backstrap odd a cat is good. its just like some other things, its the idea that gets you. dont get me wrong thwere are things i draw the line at but cat meat is good.
 
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You're welcome. I just finished boning out this bobcat. I was gonna grind it up for next year's bait, but it's such pretty meat, I might have to fry some of this backstrap. I've heard it's pretty good to eat, but I don't know if I can get past the stigma. Has anyone ever tried it?


I havent had bobcat but I have had mountain lion. It is like pork. Just make sure you dont overcook it. If it is it is horrible. Let us know if you get brave /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif
 
I chickened out. Not because I was geeked out about eating a bobcat, but because I'd left it on the carcass overnight. Even though it was below freezing, I figure this one is probably not a good one to digest. Next time I'm cutting off at least one of the backstraps as soon as it's skinned and then I'll give it a try.
 
That is a nice looking cat and badger. We don't have too many badgers around here but there are some bobcats.

Mason, what kind of trap is that in the pic with the bobcat? I have been thinking about buying about a 1/2 dozen to maybe do some weekend work now and again. I don't have alot of free time except on the weekends. I leave for work in the dark and get back in the dark.

Your trapping buddy looks a little young, you might give him a little slack on the ATV trailer, at least he has one, I don't and I'm [beeep] near 40. I am sure you razzed him just a little bit right?
 
The trap in the picture is a high lever #3 Victor. Since I used some Montana traps a while back, I've slowly been replacing all my others with them though. I really like those dogless traps.

I took him out with me again today, so I guess he'll work out. He doesn't whine much at least! Ha. But, we took my ATV trailer today.
 
Glad to see you took him back out with you. I have been thinking about ordering a few traps. Those #3 victor are pretty good I guess right? I might just order a 1/2 dozen or so to get started.
 
I modify all my cat and coyote traps with 4 coils, extra base plate with centered D-rings, laminated jaws and a special chain rig with a shock spring. You definitely don't need to do that, but I just prefer it. I think any stock traps would probably get you started, but I do recommend you laminate the jaws.
 
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