1trkyhntr
Well-known member
Tonight the fog messed up the first couple of stands. We had coyotes howling but too far away and we couldn't have seen them anyway in the fog. I decided to head back home but we stopped at a field that I have not hunted this year. The fog was not as bad there so we set up and started calling.
At about 6-7 minutes my buddy saw a target coming in. He said that it was a bobcat. He has never killed one.
Al that I could see was the general body and the eye shine through my PVS14/illuminator. I had the laser on it but I was waiting for him to shoot first. It stopped about 45 yards out and he took the shot. The rifle smoke completely blocked my view, I could not see it at all after that.
He said that he hit it but it ran into the woods and he heard it crash through the brush. We walked to the edge and looked in. The undergrowth was so thick that a snake would have had a hard time getting in there. Then we heard it death squall. Then it death squalled again, maybe 30 yards in.
Ok, here we go. The running briars were supported by bamboo briars, which were supported by the undergrowth. I have never seen a thicker place. We had to bull and roll our way in. I hoped that it would get better but it did not. It was so thick that we could not see 10 feet in front of us.
My bad, I found blood. A lot of blood. We started following the blood, under, through, over the briars. Inches at a time. We finally hit a solid wall of briars and I decided I would try to go around. That was when we discovered that we were probably lost. We had zero visibility and no reference. It was so thick that we could not see the stars. So I had the idea that I would use the remote to turn the call back on and we could follow the sound back out to the field. It did not work. Crap, we're lost.
I called the farmer and he agreed to drive over to us and blow his horn. While we were waiting, and still trying to get out on our own, I tried the remote again and luckily it reached the call. We were only maybe 100 yards away and we followed the sound out.
I'm getting too old for this. I'm going back tomorrow morning and look again. I know that cat is dead but I don't know if I can find it in that thick mess.
At about 6-7 minutes my buddy saw a target coming in. He said that it was a bobcat. He has never killed one.
Al that I could see was the general body and the eye shine through my PVS14/illuminator. I had the laser on it but I was waiting for him to shoot first. It stopped about 45 yards out and he took the shot. The rifle smoke completely blocked my view, I could not see it at all after that.
He said that he hit it but it ran into the woods and he heard it crash through the brush. We walked to the edge and looked in. The undergrowth was so thick that a snake would have had a hard time getting in there. Then we heard it death squall. Then it death squalled again, maybe 30 yards in.
Ok, here we go. The running briars were supported by bamboo briars, which were supported by the undergrowth. I have never seen a thicker place. We had to bull and roll our way in. I hoped that it would get better but it did not. It was so thick that we could not see 10 feet in front of us.
My bad, I found blood. A lot of blood. We started following the blood, under, through, over the briars. Inches at a time. We finally hit a solid wall of briars and I decided I would try to go around. That was when we discovered that we were probably lost. We had zero visibility and no reference. It was so thick that we could not see the stars. So I had the idea that I would use the remote to turn the call back on and we could follow the sound back out to the field. It did not work. Crap, we're lost.
I called the farmer and he agreed to drive over to us and blow his horn. While we were waiting, and still trying to get out on our own, I tried the remote again and luckily it reached the call. We were only maybe 100 yards away and we followed the sound out.
I'm getting too old for this. I'm going back tomorrow morning and look again. I know that cat is dead but I don't know if I can find it in that thick mess.
