fur friendly bullet choice for bobcats

DHOLT

DHOLT

Member
One of my buddies lives in Illinois and finally got drawn for a bobcat tag. If he gets one he wants to get it mounted. Question is, without buying another firearm what would the best fur friendly bullet choice be for a 223? I was thinking of solid copper.
 
The best one I've ever used is a Hornady 52gr BTHP. I've shot quite a few with that bullet in a few different .223's and never had one that was blown up afterwards and only one ran a short ways before collapsing. Every other one died where it stood.
 
I've had good luck with the Hornady 50 gr SX. Shot raccoon, red fox,coyote and ditch cougar with it don't recall any that would have been a problem for taxidermy. 223 rem.
 
36 gr Barnes Varmint Grenades. They blow apart on the inside and do massive damage internally. I use them out of a 22-250, so they are screaming fast but I have used them with 223 very successfully.
 
Most of the bobcats we have called in over the years walked right in to easy shotgun range. Shotgun pellets don't do much damage at all to bobcats.
 
Yep, them Vmaxes can sure rupture the hides! 87gr delivered via 243.
1792552497784.png
 
My sample size is only 1, and it wasn't with a .223, but mine with a .204 32gr vmax I couldn't find an entrance or an exit. It stoned the cat on impact, never took another step.
 
I'm thinking of five I've killed with 55 grain Vmaxes from a .223. One looked completely unhurt, like he died of a heart attack. (Come to think of it, I may have killed that cat with a 53-grainer.) Two were slightly damaged - fixable by a good taxidermist. The other two? Very unlikely they could be fixed by anything short of a miracle. So, in my admittedly limited experience, you have a 40% chance of ruining your cat with Vmaxes. :)
 
Fur friendly sometimes means they get up and leave. Shoot something that will put them down. Most standard 223 rem varmint bullets should be fine as long as you avoid shoulders.
 
As a part-time taxidermist I can tell you that "most" exits have all the skin and hair there. Problems do arise with glancing blows. That being said, winter fur allows for a lot of "ugly" to be hidden and the chosen pose/form can hide questionable areas also. Tell him 'good luck' on connecting.
 
Back
Top