Crossing my fingers (bobcat season)

[AtTheMurph]

I had one hanging around in my neighborhood in Brownsburg a couple years ago. My dog jumped in in our bushes one night and that thing shot 20 feet up a tree at incredible speed. Never seen anything like it. Ran inside to grab a camera and in the 20 seconds it took me to get back out it was gone.

Heard it a few times after that but not since.

 

[JimH]

My source is personal observation from 10's of thousands of trail cam photos over 15 years showing a steady decline in the number of fawns and poults surviving until fall while bobcat photos grew tremendously and coyote observation were rare.

You must have a tremendous concentration if you are getting lots of bobcat photos,their home range is generally 3000+acres.I can generally count on a picture every 3-4 weeks.I would say the biggest factor in fawn survival is the fact that so many does are killed in the summer on depredation tags.With momma dead the fawns run around bleating-like a dinner bell to all.Any photo's in those tens of thousands of any predator with a fawn or poult?

 

[yetti462]

^^^found a deer kill this October. Broke neck, 4 puncture wounds and covered with leaves. Put a camera out and had a big Tom bobcat revisit the site every 3 hours and eat. One weekend the deer was gone. There was no sign of a struggle at kill site. That cat killed the doe instantly.

 

[Magneto]

I saw that one was killed in Clark County about a month ago. Found in a front yard on HWY 60 after being hit by a vehicle. I know they are around but the reports I hear are sporadic.

 

[JimH]

^^^found a deer kill this October. Broke neck, 4 puncture wounds and covered with leaves. Put a camera out and had a big Tom bobcat revisit the site every 3 hours and eat. One weekend the deer was gone. There was no sign of a struggle at kill site. That cat killed the doe instantly.

Wired all of the left overs from butchering 3 deer to a tree this last winter.Had a bobcat several times,along with red fox,coyote,coons,possums and skunks,plus crows,hawks and owls.

 

[patience0830]

Source?

My thoughts as well. Sounds like unsupported opinion without some cited studies.

 

[jimb1069]

What is the reason that people want them around? Not trying to start anything I just don't see any benefits other than something else to hunt or trap. Just doesn't seem beneficial for the average sportsman. Just my opinion. I feel the same about coyotes and birds of prey. I see them as competition.

 

[yetti462]

^^ I hate competition too.

 

[Tom Threetoes]

What is the reason that people want them around? Not trying to start anything I just don't see any benefits other than something else to hunt or trap. Just doesn't seem beneficial for the average sportsman. Just my opinion. I feel the same about coyotes and birds of prey. I see them as competition.

A giant screw up by the DNR as far as I'm concerned. We don't need another predator depleting our already shrinking game populations!

 

[jimb1069]

A giant screw up by the DNR as far as I'm concerned. We don't need another predator depleting our already shrinking game populations!

I couldnt agree more!

 

[Hkindiana]

Our game populations are affected WAY MORE by the HABITAT LOSS that WE cause than by bobcats & other predators. If you want more game, improve their habitat rather than putting the blame for their decline on other predators

 

[yetti462]

A giant screw up by the DNR as far as I'm concerned. We don't need another predator depleting our already shrinking game populations!

The DNR didn't reintroduce the bobcat. There was a small population that had a boom due to habitat creation. The river otter however was introduced and already has a season. That's what aggravates me about the bobcat still being protected, he was not helped out in any way from the taxpayers dollar.

 

[possumpacker]

we havnt had any gray fox in this part of the state for 20yrs, still have a season on them. never see or hear quail anymore but still have a season. lots of bobcat and no season. i dont get it. if deer numbers were as low as quail or gray fox DNR would close the season. as for the bobcat theyve been here longer than we have and are part of natures plan also just need managment like the rest.

 

[Hkindiana]

we havnt had any gray fox in this part of the state for 20yrs, still have a season on them. never see or hear quail anymore but still have a season. lots of bobcat and no season. i dont get it. if deer numbers were as low as quail or gray fox DNR would close the season. as for the bobcat theyve been here longer than we have and are part of natures plan also just need managment like the rest.

Maybe you don't have them in your area, but we have grey foxes, and TONS of quail in my area. It really boils down to HABITAT.

 

[two70]

You must have a tremendous concentration if you are getting lots of bobcat photos,their home range is generally 3000+acres.I can generally count on a picture every 3-4 weeks.I would say the biggest factor in fawn survival is the fact that so many does are killed in the summer on depredation tags.With momma dead the fawns run around bleating-like a dinner bell to all.Any photo's in those tens of thousands of any predator with a fawn or poult?

One camera location averages 3 cats a week throughout the fall and 1 during the summer. The really telling thing though is that bobcat photos used to be rare, as in once or twice every couple of years, then became multiple times per year, then monthly on one camera and then weekly. Now camera locations that hadn't previously produced bobcat photos as of 5 years ago are doing so monthly. All the while the bobcat photos were steadily increasing coyote photos were rarely seen and fawn sightings dwindled. Also it would be kind of hard for depredation permits to have an effect on the fawn population when there are none issued in the immediate area and obviously mature does are common but most are without fawns.

 

[two70]

Our game populations are affected WAY MORE by the HABITAT LOSS that WE cause than by bobcats & other predators. If you want more game, improve their habitat rather than putting the blame for their decline on other predators

If you are talking about quail you have a point about habitat but the idea that habitat loss has a greater effect on deer than predators is just plain silly, especially in the southern part of the state. The quality of the habitat is the very reason we have an abundance of bobcats in the first place. The idea that predators don't need to be managed is silly as well. What do you think happens to overgrown predator populations when their prey population collapses? In the long run, such boom and bust cycles lead to far more predators dying than if they were properly managed.

 

[ChrisK1977]

We have the habitat for both the fox and quail. Farmers have set aside lot of acres for them. We just have to many predators that are left unchecked. I am with "possumpacker". I know his area because I live right by it.