Last February my father and I were coyote hunting in a very big, reclaimed coal operation in SE Ohio. So we set up about 100yds from each other in this field about 200yds from a smallish area of woods.
It's hard to explain this area. It used to be a very big active coal mining area, but they reclaimed it, i.e. planted pine trees everywhere, with small patches of forest that didn't get blown up during mining. Now it's mostly big fields, with huge ponds, and clusters of small wooded areas, all bordered by huge forests.
Anyway, the coyotes are dense in this area. I can only imagine there must be a huge field mouse population hence the huge coyote population.
But we set up and I turned on my new caller, that I just made, and set it about 50yds in front of me.
So about 5 minutes later I catch something go behind one of the little pines that are strewn all over these fields. I knew what I saw was the rear end of a small animal, but I wasn't sure what kind of small animal.
About 15 minutes go by and I catch some movement out of the corner of my left eye. It's a bobcat! 20yds and broadside, sneaking. I turn my head to get a closer look and it spots me. It looks at me for a split second then takes off! Man those things can move! It ran right in front of my dad about 10yds away from him. It looked pretty small up close, but when that thing took off on a full bore run, I'd bet it stretched out to 5 feet long. When dad got up to me he said "What was that?". I said, with a big grin on my face, "A bobcat.".
This was only the second bobcat I've seen in my life. The other was about 10 years ago, about 15 miles from the spot I just mentioned. And this was the first time my dad has ever saw a bobcat and he has been hunting in Ohio for about 40 years!
Anyway, what is bobcat hunting like in other states? Are they prevelant? Is it a rare occurance to see one?
I sure hope the bobcat will thrive in Ohio before I die so they will open a season for them. My dad is a taxidermist and I sure would love to have one of these beautiful animals on my wall.
Of course, if it took me 10 years to see 2 bobcats, maybe them thriving in my lifetime isn't going to be possible. Maybe my son will be able to hunt them.
