Bobcat calling tips, tricks, and observations...

I've been predator calling for years, mostly coyote, fox, and occasionally coon. The area of Iowa I live in has a few cats, but the population is pretty low. We've had a Bobcat season since about 2007, and last year was the first year it was on a no quota set up so we had all year to call them. The zone is significantly south of were I live, so a buddy and I have made a few trips down to Southern Iowa over the last few years trying to fill a cat tag. We've called in one cat during that time, and it never offered a shot, and I know we've had more in we've never seen. (blujays going crazy, pheasant flushing out of the grass, all the things that let you know somethings there)

We've had some fun trips and done quite a bit of calling, but do to needing to travel to hunt, we don't get many chances a year to cut our teeth and learn in the field when it comes to cat calling. Not to mention we are always traveling out of our "home" area we are familuar with and hunting new territory to us. The area we are traveling to has a good number of cats, so were in a good spot.

We've got a lot of the basics down, but I'd love to hear from some of the more seasoned bobcat callers on here about how you do things, certain tips you might have, or observations you might have made over you years about cats. Ive sifted through the searcha archives and got some great information from old post!

The areas we are hunting are broken up Ag ground, lots of fields and big timber areas. (big timbers for Iowa anyways) Lots of CRP and the Timbers are full of deep nasty ravines, that I know the cats like. On the calm days we'll work edges calling, and use our rifles, on the windy days we like to bury into the ravines with our shotguns. I usually keep the caller running almost continuously, with 3-4 sound changes over about 45 minutes and we will move on. I've got a decoy on the caller, and I'll go about every other set using it or not using it. We haven't had enough time to tell if its good bad or otherwise. On the sets I don't use it, I'll hang the caller in a tree off the ground. Thats kind of been our system. Sound about right? Some pieces we just hit and leave but on bigger chunks with a lot of good cover, we'll make several sets, moving 200-400yds to the next good piece of cover making sure we call everything that looks good.

Vacation starts at 0700hrs tommorow morning and we'll be driving down south for a week of coyote/bobcat calling! Can't wait!! A whole week of hunting and NO WORK!! Just interested in sitting tonight and seeing what info or advice anyone might have to offer on calling bobcats. Other than just taking the time to get the sets in, is there anything we should really be trying or keying on to get a cat into the caller?

Thanks everyone!
 
All I can tell you is to make long stands and once a cat decides to walk off there's no calling it back. You may not see it come to the call it will just show up blending in to the surroundings so you have to really look hard for an eyeball, ear, head, tail. Grizz
 
A little scouting, and less calling would be my suggestion. You can't call what's not there. Check for tracks in all the sandy trails. Moving 200-400 yards is way too close, 1/2 mile or more would be better. If you are just after bobcats use the decoy every time. Try to get close (stalk) to where you think their home is, before you call, and then stay there a minimum of 45 minutes. Take something soft to sit on, or you will be moving around, instead of being as still as a rock. Most, don't know how important, just sitting perfectly still is. Being slow and quiet going in and out is just as important. Just one last tip, when you think it's over, look around when you slowly stand up, sometimes you can see things that you couldn't see sitting down.
 
Ninehorses, we were down there last year late in January and got lucky and got a fresh snow the one night. We spent most of the next morning driving and walking around checking for tracks. It was very eye opening as far as how many we found and how they seemed to really congregate in certain types of areas like the cedar thickets, and the edges of the timber/crp ground. A couple years ago after our first trip we also whipped ourselves up some low to the ground calling chairs. They have a back and keep us about 4 inches up off the ground...very comforable and you can pop them up anywhere in any kind of cover and sit forever! Almost as good as the recliner at home! (I've fell asleep once or twice on warm afternoons) Guess were on the right track there!

Every trip we take we get a little more familuar with the area and find some good sets and rule out some bad ones for next time. Hopefully this trip is the trip.
 
Originally Posted By: GRIZZLYONEAll I can tell you is to make long stands and once a cat decides to walk off there's no calling it back. You may not see it come to the call it will just show up blending in to the surroundings so you have to really look hard for an eyeball, ear, head, tail. Grizz

It's a very very rare occasion that I disagree with GRIZZLYONE, but in this instance I do. I have found cats to be as dumb as a sack of axe handles and can VERY easily be called back in. If you see a cat retreating, get up and circle in front of him and start calling, very very often they will come in to the call again. I have used this tactic more times than I can count and it just plain works.


Chupa
 
Enjoying the posts everyone. Unpacking our stuff and we'll be making our first sets soon! As always lots of good ideas to kick around and tweak our approach with!
 
Foxes and coyotes are what happen while I am calling bobcats. I rarely go out just for foxes or coyotes. I am normally going out specifically for bobcats. Foxes also tend to live in similar areas so they have a tendency to show up. I hunt coyotes during the off season, when bobcats are off limits, mainly to stay in practice.

I don't know Iowa, but I know cats. Look for brush. If you have fields that border tree/brushlines, that is where I would call. Give them cover to travel in and make them feel secure. I find that bobcats tend to like higher pitched calls and lower volumes. I leave my big caller at home unless I am calling in high winds. I don't tend to get too many cats with the big caller. Bobcats also like bird calls, so throw some woodpecker calls at them.

The biggest thing is location, location, location. Thick brush, ravines, treelines, rocks all will hold bobcats. If you are not calling towards those features you are going to have a low success rate.
 
I think we're on location. We're hitting the thicker nastier areas of the places we are hunting. Had a lot of wind today, gust over 35 mph at times. Made the calling tough. Tomorrow's supposed to be a bit more mellow, hopefully we can get on one! A lot of the state ground were calling has plenty of thick cover. Too thick toget in and call, you can't see 10 yards in a lot of it. We're working the edges trying to get them to poke out where we can get a look. Thanks for the post guys, getting some good ideas and some confirmation we're on the right track!
 
Good Luck down there!!! Hope to hear of success! You've gotten some good advise here from the guys. If you get an overnight rain this week check for some fresh tracks for part of a morning. Might help you get onto one's travel patterns. If you're sitting for 45 minutes maybe try some stands with few more sounds than just the 3 or 4 and maybe not quite as continuos as you are? The changes grab a cat's attention which can sometimes waiver. Just something to think about. I like to vary the volume on the caller up and down from time to time and keep your gun pointed at the caller. In those areas over there look for some out of the way smaller pockets of cedar thickets to call. Especially if they have water. That way you're maybe not hunting for as much of a needle in a haystack as with calling the big blocks of thick stuff.

Main thing I can think of is to just do your thing and don't sweat it too much. I've seen Iowa cats come to one or two sporadic series of calls and also come to almost continuos sound running and everything in between. Either way, cats are easy to call when in proximity, and even easier to kill than coyotes most of the time once they come in. It's just getting onto them and getting close that is the harder part in Iowa. You'll get-r-done I have no doubt!!! Good luck!!!!
 
Definantly no sweating going on Hawkeye! It's vacation and life is good! Thought I'd see what the guys on PM had to say. We're heading over to the thousand acre unit of Stephens for a bit this morning, then we have a couple smaller areas to hit. Spent the day yesterday around lake Miami. We'll see what the day brings! You been out much since opening day?

Looks like a little less wind today and tomorrow. Yesterday was ridiculous!
 
Originally Posted By: ChupathingyOriginally Posted By: GRIZZLYONEAll I can tell you is to make long stands and once a cat decides to walk off there's no calling it back. You may not see it come to the call it will just show up blending in to the surroundings so you have to really look hard for an eyeball, ear, head, tail. Grizz

It's a very very rare occasion that I disagree with GRIZZLYONE, but in this instance I do. I have found cats to be as dumb as a sack of axe handles and can VERY easily be called back in. If you see a cat retreating, get up and circle in front of him and start calling, very very often they will come in to the call again. I have used this tactic more times than I can count and it just plain works.


Chupa Cats are dumb as a day old @*g%$r. See there I learn something new every day. I'll have to try Chupa's trick. Sounds logical. I just never called one back to my fixed stand location. Grizz
 
Originally Posted By: GRIZZLYONEOriginally Posted By: ChupathingyOriginally Posted By: GRIZZLYONEAll I can tell you is to make long stands and once a cat decides to walk off there's no calling it back. You may not see it come to the call it will just show up blending in to the surroundings so you have to really look hard for an eyeball, ear, head, tail. Grizz

It's a very very rare occasion that I disagree with GRIZZLYONE, but in this instance I do. I have found cats to be as dumb as a sack of axe handles and can VERY easily be called back in. If you see a cat retreating, get up and circle in front of him and start calling, very very often they will come in to the call again. I have used this tactic more times than I can count and it just plain works.


Chupa Cats are dumb as a day old @*g%$r. See there I learn something new every day. I'll have to try Chupa's trick. Sounds logical. I just never called one back to my fixed stand location. Grizz

Yep, try it. You'll. Be shocked how often they come back in. I've called them in, shot and missed, circled in front of them and called them back in and killed them. They apparently didn't learn a thing from being shot at not 5 minutes earlier.


Chupa
 
Originally Posted By: ChupathingyOriginally Posted By: GRIZZLYONEOriginally Posted By: ChupathingyOriginally Posted By: GRIZZLYONEAll I can tell you is to make long stands and once a cat decides to walk off there's no calling it back. You may not see it come to the call it will just show up blending in to the surroundings so you have to really look hard for an eyeball, ear, head, tail. Grizz

It's a very very rare occasion that I disagree with GRIZZLYONE, but in this instance I do. I have found cats to be as dumb as a sack of axe handles and can VERY easily be called back in. If you see a cat retreating, get up and circle in front of him and start calling, very very often they will come in to the call again. I have used this tactic more times than I can count and it just plain works.


Chupa Cats are dumb as a day old @*g%$r. See there I learn something new every day. I'll have to try Chupa's trick. Sounds logical. I just never called one back to my fixed stand location. Grizz

Yep, try it. You'll. Be shocked how often they come back in. I've called them in, shot and missed, circled in front of them and called them back in and killed them. They apparently didn't learn a thing from being shot at not 5 minutes earlier.


Chupa

I am with Chupa on this. Many people seem to attribute intelligence to bobcats due to their stalking of prey or their tendency to sit and "observe." If you spend any time watching them and their behavior you will realize that they really are not at all that "wise." Coyotes are far smarter. If I call a cat in and miss, I log it into my book and will come back for them at a later time if I can't get them to come in on that same stand. Try that with coyotes and see what happens. A whole lotta nada is what happens. Coyotes will get used to hearing the same calls and stop responding, if they hear metallic noises, forget it. If you get smart coyotes you have to change up tactics, like changing call sequences or throwing out sounds that they haven't heard to trigger them.

I have found that cats like higher pitched sounds at lower volumes. Higher pitched jackrabbit or cottontail calls and bird calls are productive. Just lower the volume. Leave the big speaker at home, unless you are bucking the wind. Coyotes don't seem to mind the higher volumes, but foxes and cats do.
 
Bobcats dont require long stand either, they are dumb as a box of rocks, All the cats I have killed in the last few years Ive killed within 8 minutes 10 minutes tops. I have had cats come in and sit down on several stands and actually had to get up and move to get a shot all the while the cat sat there and watched me move over and reset up on my sticks for the shot. Coyotes would never tolerate anythng like this they would be a vapor trail long before that.
 
Originally Posted By: SteveB22250Bobcats dont require long stand either, they are dumb as a box of rocks, All the cats I have killed in the last few years Ive killed within 8 minutes 10 minutes tops. I have had cats come in and sit down on several stands and actually had to get up and move to get a shot all the while the cat sat there and watched me move over and reset up on my sticks for the shot. Coyotes would never tolerate anythng like this they would be a vapor trail long before that.
Alright... I've called in and killed between 90 to 100 bobcats in my time and this is me personally pulling the trigger and this does not include bobcats my hunting partners who I was on stand with have killed. More often then not bobcats work in real slow usually showing up after 20 minutes or longer. The cats that showed up quicker than that was probably due to the fact that the stand was set up right on top of them. At times when I or we had a cat coming in but could not get shot off for what ever reason and it leaves, we have never been able to get one to turn around and return and I've tried like he11 over the years. That's not to say that after a cat splitz from being called in there's no reason I guess why you could not get up circle in front of the cat and call the same cat to your new location. Grizz
 
Thought I'd give a quick update. Spent four days down in southern Iowa calling. Made some great sets on some great ground, but didn't manage to get a cat. Called up a few coyotes and a coon. Had one cat poke his head up a couple of times in an unpicked bean field and head our way, but he disappeared and never made it to the caller. Here's a few pics of our sets. We worked the edges of the brushy stuff and in the mornings and evenings and spent the mid days burrowed into the thick stuff with our shotguns. The winds were horrible most of the trip, we had 20 mph winds most days with gust over 30 mph. I'm going to make another trip back later this month and one again in January when there's some snow to try to get a cat on the ground! Here's a few pics of the ground we called!







We found lots of cat sign in the areas we were hunting. Plenty of tracks and the cover looked good. We also took an afternoon and scouted some new ground. The sets we made seemed good, I can't wait to get back down for another trip.

Thanks for the post guys. Always plenty of good info on here!
 
If you're hunting at night with a spotlight, and a cat hangs up and won't move closer... I "heard" that sometimes you can get up and walk directly towards them as long as you keep the light on them. I did it last year on a cat that was just out of shotgun range and he let me close the distance for the shot.
 
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