CAMPFIRE CHAT
NO BOBCAT PHOTO? YET! READ TO FIND OUT WHY.
In 2009 I began the the necessary preparations to photograph predators. Having never made this attempt before, it became a learning process just like so many of my other photographic adventures. I was successful in photographing a coyote up close and personal..You can read about that adventure in my archives. I had called many times but I had never seen a bobcat in the 2 years since I injected this aspect into some of my trips. This year was going to be different.
Some friends of mine and I leased a 1,100 acre section of land in north central Louisiana for hunting and of course I was going to hunt and photograph as well. I even took up the challenge of bow hunting for the first time in my life. (I refuse to tell how I missed a boar hog with my bow because it would be too embarrising to publish here.) I had been told that the land had cats and was anticipating getting the shot. While sitting in a chair just off the edge of a food plot near a feeder, I encountered my first bobcat. He came to about 8 feet in front of me. It was a young cat but what made it so bad was, I had my bow but not a camera. He stopped there and stared at me for about 2 minutes and then backed up and left me thinking I was too big or too ugly to fool with. I could have kicked myself because bobcats were at the top of my predator list and it was a great opportunity. I tried calling several times in that area later but without result.
This week (January 26-27, 2011) I spent a day and a half calling for several hours but without result. Not one predator came to my call. I had wondered if our beaver trapper had not been taking predators as well but this was not the case. My second afternoon I decided to take my bow and a small camera and go to an area that I had tried without success on a previous trip. It was still bow season and so I decided to both hunt and photograph. I normally make the calls from a remote position at a distance of around 15-20 yards. Just as I did with the coyote, I decided to make some calls directly from my chair. I thought I had every area of possibility covered so that I would not be surprised from behind. At around 3:15 PM I was sitting in my chair when I heard a low disconcerting snarl coming from behind me. I froze for a moment not knowing what to do and not knowing what had been able to get that close without me hearing it. It turned out to be a full-grown bobcat at approximately 9 feet. . In retrospect I should have unholstered my 380 because, as I learned, if that cat had wanted to get me he would have had me before I could get my pistol out. Instead, I turned to face whatever it was behind me. As soon as I turned my head he bolted and ran past me, kicking up leaves, dirt, and knocking down young cane stalks as he left the area. I breathed a sigh of relief and got a healthy respect for the stealth of a cat in the wild. Again, I missed my photograph but I learned some valuable lessons about preparing a blind when calling without remote. Hopefull, one day soon I will put a photograph on this page. Until then it is just another adventure in the life of a wildlife photographer.
