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Just wanting opinions on average which do you think is harder to catch the female or the tom cats?

I will give you my answer in a PM mike.

Mr. Mike,

Depends on the Cat!

A little Sow can run our Hounds to death in a Biar Patch or Wet SMZ. Ducking and Dodging, Squatting and pulling other Bobcat tricks!

An old Tom, if found away from home will take you on quite tour of the country as he heads home before settling down to run in familiar territory!

Both can pull a special stunt out of their Bag of Tricks and make a Hounds life difficult!

Reviewing our log from the past two years and asking Dad his recollections, it is a "Toss up" with the number of Females exceeding Males caught or treed by one in the last 26 months!

C. John Clay
Dads Dogboy

I would have to agree with Dad dogboy on this one just depends on the day and location. I do believe the younger (yearling) cats are a little harder to tree once jumped they are always looking for anything but a tree for safety. Andy

Mike, of the few cats that we caught last year, it was a 50/50 split. But thinking back....The female chases were considerably longer than the male chases. One female in peticular I remember consumed the bulk of one entire day and one male I remember took about 10-12 minutes. This is just from my limited experience.

This is all on snow with perty good conditions and fairly fresh tracks.

Scott

I always had the most trouble with 10-12 pound females. Seem to be able to pull more crap to stay in front longer. too me they are the hardest to catch.

Mike, I have heard of a bobcat dog registry that was kept somewhere in the Northeast at one time. They required that the dog be able to catch a female bobcat. That might imply something, not sure what. In know that in my experience, small cats are too easy to catch and kill by dogs that normally would just bay a big tom. The small ones are female well more than 50% of the time. That is why I will not put on a small cat track if my dogs are opperating smooth and I am in an area that I like to hunt a lot.

One thing snow has taught me: males will pee themselves when they start bounding sometimes. I have never seen a female do this. I would have guessed it would be the other way around. It is not. I was going to say males pee themselves right befor getting caught, but it might be that the peeing causes the getting caught. They do seem to go together though.

Also, You WILL NOT be able to track a lactating female. You can see her, the dogs might be able to follow by sight. When she is out of sight it is all over forget it. You cant beat God on this one so dont even try. I take that back. Try it. God and the female will laugh, and you will be wiser.

This is why laws protecting the females' raising of kittens or cubs are moot. God protects them, that is the highest law, they need no other law. A predator can not run them. Yes, they have scent. You and I can smell them. No, a predator (dog) can not find them with his nose.

David,
Are them statments scientific evidence or no? If we can smell it why can't a hound? As far as saying the dogs can't run a track of a lactating female I don't know what the difference is. Scent is scent. maybe you can elaborat more for me and everyone else. I know if it was legal I would like to try to run a lactating sow bear and see if the dogs can and will do it.

Science?

How many times has science been wrong?

I am far from being A Bobcat hunter.But we have lots of them here.My trashy dogs have caught several.Every cat that I have seen caught by dogs has been a boar.

I'm going to go with neither. Only under optimal conditions would I consider catching cats "easy". If it was, I'd be able to pitch my lab in on a track and have one caught in 5 minutes.

All things equal, Here I think my odds (which still aren't good) are better to catch a female cat over a tom. Toms can be right close or they can be traveling fools. Especially later in the season.

TNT wrote:David,
Are them statments scientific evidence or no? If we can smell it why can't a hound? As far as saying the dogs can't run a track of a lactating female I don't know what the difference is. Scent is scent. maybe you can elaborat more for me and everyone else. I know if it was legal I would like to try to run a lactating sow bear and see if the dogs can and will do it.

All I can say is: There are many people who have hunted bobcats year round in areas and times when laws allowed or allow it. Some have done it nearly all their lives. These are some of the best hunters with some of the best bobcat dogs that ever lived. If you can find me one single time when they ever caught a lactating female bobcat by trailing it and running it jumped, I will take it back. If your question is "IS it science?" the answer is yes it is and it could be proven scientifically. If your question is "has a scientist proven this?" the answer is no. So if you want to be a hero, become a scientist and make a "new discovery never befor known to man". Then give your scientific work to the fish and wildlife departments so people dont have to kill their dogs in the heat of summer running bear. They should be run in the spring When the hides are beautiful and the cubs and sows can not be bothered by predators. By the time they let dogs in the woods, the sows are dried up and they and their cubs get harrassed and hurt.

If you do tree a lactating bear or nursing cubs, there will be no track because they saw them and ran them up. It will be the same thing for sow coon this time of year. No track, no track, hard hard tree, because they saw her. You can not even run a lactating deer except by sight.

Scent is scent, yes I know. if you stand over a new born fawn, you will be able to smell it. A predator can not find it by scent. We are talking about the miracles of God's creation. If it makes you want to worship Him, you and me have a strong common bond. This is not my discovery. It has been known for centuries by folks who have paid attention. Here's a hint: they are not scientists. The one who taught me to watch this was an amazing hunter.

Dan Edwards wrote:Science?

How many times has science been wrong?

Exactly. Science has contradicted itself so many times in my own lifetime it makes you wonder if they really know ANYTHING for sure

WestTexasCurs wrote:I am far from being A Bobcat hunter.But we have lots of them here.My trashy dogs have caught several.Every cat that I have seen caught by dogs has been a boar.

West Texas Curs, Please tell me EXACTLY what these trashy dogs of yours are and how they are bred. Tell me the name of their momma and their daddy, and all their littermates. I hear some trashy dogs can be bought for a song.

Nolte wrote:
All things equal, Here I think my odds (which still aren't good) are better to catch a female cat over a tom. Toms can be right close or they can be traveling fools. Especially later in the season.

That is my feeling too Nolte. The females just dont have the leg that can keep them out front with that effortless cat trot those leggy males up here have. The females get tired. The males really dont. They can keep up that trot all day. If the dogs get a little two close to be fun, they just shift one gear and move away from them smooth as silk until they feel comfortable. Then it is back to the 48 hour trot. I just get nervous everytime I know the dogs are on one of them little gals. If they would just climb trees around here it would be tons of fun. They dont. In my opionion, just go look for a bigger track unless pup training and you know they aren't gonna catch her.