Do not be fooled by its pussycat appearance.
The bobcat is quite fierce and is equipped to kill animals as large as deer.
Jeremy Woods, 42, of Cool Ridge has taken his share of the tawny creatures during the past few years. He harvested a burly 24-pounder with his 20-gauge shotgun while grouse hunting a few years ago in the area.
“I was really hunting grouse and coyotes,” Woods recalls of the hunt. “But I had my eyes peeled for bobcats too.”
Woods had seen a bobcat on the previous day while driving along the Blue Jay Road near Cool Ridge.
“It was not the same cat,” he says. “It was much smaller. But I had seen some of their tracks in the snow while hunting earlier in the season. I packed some extra shells just in case I ran into any predators while I was grouse hunting.”
Woods spends much of his time in the woods during the winter season. He likes to hunt grouse along old surface mine roads and rugged mountain terrain.
“Sometimes I go out early in the morning and again in the afternoon,” he says of his devotion to the sport. “I am in it for the long haul.”
It was during such a grouse hunt last year that Woods ran across some huge cat tracks near some brushy thickets and rocky terrain near Cool Ridge.
“I was looking for antlers on the ground at the time,”he says, “and that is how I came to see the paw prints. The tracks led right straight up to a rocky cliff. I felt that something was staring at me. I wheeled around just in time to see the bobcat crouching between the rocks about 30 yards away.
“When he saw me, he made off straight up the ridge. In a few bounds he would have been out of sight, but I raised my shotgun and fired at him broadside. He kept on climbing until I got off a second shot. I hit him as he jumped into the air, coming down towards me. When he hit the ground, I had to shoot him again.”
Ironically, Woods was using No. 6 birdshot in his 20-gauge when he met the feline predator. “If I had only been using No. 4 shells, I probably could have brought him down with one shot.”
Woods is having his trophy mounted for his game room. Despite the bobcat’s elusiveness, he says, many people are intrigued by the predator.
“Bobcats are uniquely beautiful animals,” the hunter explains. “Few persons ever see a bobcat in the wild. Spotting one is a tremendous thrill.”
The bobcat—also known as the lynx or wildcat—is the state’s only feline predator, according to the DNR.
The animals are efficient, wary creatures equipped with sharp senses of sight, smell and especially hearing. They have four large canine fangs to pierce deep and hold prey; behind the canines are sharp cutting teeth. Five retractable, hooked claws on each front foot and four on the rear add to the armament.
Even though it is a fierce fighter, a bobcat isn’t a large animal. A mature cat averages 36 inches in length, including a stubby, six-inch tail. This bobbed tail gives the bobcat its name. West Virginia bobcats weigh about 15-20 pounds, with large individuals as heavy as 35 pounds.
While bobcats are mainly nocturnal, sometimes they venture out in the daytime. They have large eyes, well-adapted to seeing in the dark.
Small animals—field mice, squirrels, chipmunks, birds, and rabbits—form the nucleus of the bobcat’s diet.
Occasionally bobcats take sick, weak or crippled deer, but predation by cats has little or no effect on the size of the state’s deer herd, DNR biologists say.
Young bobcats might appear as lovable and harmless as domestic kittens, but because they are wild animals with the ability to inflict injury to humans, it is illegal to keep bobcats as pets.
The bobcat hunting and trapping season opens in November and closes January 31.
Woods, a veteran hunter who has developed calls that imitate several woodland creatures, says he is cautious when he is hunting the elusive predators in the wild.
“When you are hunting bobcats, sometimes they are hunting you,” he says with a laugh. “It is not like hunting deer or turkey. When you are calling them, you must be on top of your game. One mistake and it is over. You must keep your guard up. It puts all your skills to the test.”
Woods also has taken several deer, turkeys, coyotes, foxes, grouse, and squirrels. He recently harvested a nice bull elk with his bow while hunting in Colorado.
“Next, I’m after wild boar,” Woods says, his dark eyes getting narrow under bushy brows. “After that, I might even go after a bear or caribou in Alaska. I would like to take some big game with my bow. I think it would be the greatest thrill of all.”
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Top o’ the morning!
Editor’s note: Despite its pussycat appearance when seen in repose, the bobcat is quite fierce and is equipped to kill animals as large as deer. When living near farms, the feline predators may take lambs, poultry, and even young pigs. The bobcat roams freely at night in all southern counties of the Mountain State and is frequently sighted during the day.