wolverines
Well-known member
First got into calling for cats in 2021 after a buddy of mine was showing me pics of bobcats he was getting on his trail cams during deer season. We gave it a try for several years but with schedules not matching up and short seasons, we’d only get to make a couple stands a year. Last year he lost his permission across the road and his dad was hunting too, so I essentially lost my spot too. Fortunately another buddy of mine had a hunting lease and started telling me about all the cat sightings he’d had while deer hunting. He gave me free rein of his lease for cat season. I think I made it up there 3 or 4 times last year, but still no call ins. This year I decided I needed a different approach. I wanted to set up in the corner of the field out of the woods to see if I could at least draw one out to the edge. So Saturday morning I did just that. I got there plenty early and set up in the dark. As it got light I started the call on fairly low volume. After about 15-20 minutes I noticed I really couldn’t see very well to where I thought a cat would come. Now I’m just sitting there with the call muted debating on bagging it and trying it again next weekend, or moving. It’s 65 miles one way, and I could see a blow down to the east about 15 yards behind my call on a high spot. I decided to grab my gun/tripod and chair and made the quick move about 50 yards east of the corner I was in. The call was closer than I’d typically place it, but I didn’t want to spend the extra time to put in a different spot since I’d already been running the call. I could see down into the woods where I imagined a cat would come from, it was perfect. Didn’t take me long before I was running the call again. I was playing a full stand sound consisting of different bird sounds a little above half volume with the decoy running, and about 10 minutes in I spotted one. He was sitting maybe 10 feet from the edge of the field next to a big tree just focused on the call/decoy. I got the crosshairs on his chest, and my 5 year quest for a cat was history!
The .204 stoned him right there. I’m still on cloud 9 this morning. Bucket lister for me. Definitely a dream come true!
29lb tom in Michigan
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