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Bobcat sightings?

Thinkin Rut

Thinkin Rut

PMA Member
Anybody see any of these cats? Thought I may have heard one but who's to say it wasn't a couple of coon fighting.

I have seen 2 badgers...the latest just north of Chariton.
 
I hunt Keokuk county and have never seen a bobcat.Did see what i can only describe as a black panther 1 time while shotgun hunting some 20 years ago.It walked slowly by at 40 yards,thought it was a over grown tom cat at first but the more a watched it the more i realized it wasnt.Next thing i know he was gone.
My brother had seen him 2 years before that and i thought he was pullen my leg.
Been a few other people see em too but in different areas.
 
Last april while turkey hunting, me and a friend heard a bob cat in washington county! It was pretty cool.
A bob cat has been spotted about 8 miles south east of there along the iowa river. The old boys who've seen it have seen it twice now in the past couple years.

Jason V
 
There was actually one caught in Adair county last winter in a snare.I saw him at my local fur trader.Then I was having a bass mounted at St.Charles and the taxidermist had one in his freezer that had been hit on the highway near there.
 
Just west of albia......Where at? I live SW of town. I thought i saw one the other day, but wasnt sure.
 
Had one walk under my stand in November while hunting west of Centerville. There have always been some around the Chariton river bottom but I had never gotten a good look at one in all the years I have hunted around there. It was a beautiful creature.
 
I had my first encounter with a bocat last fall while I was bowhunting. A bobcat came right down the logging rode and stood broad side five yards in front of my stand. I sure wish there was a season on those things because I know they probably put a hurt on the turkey and pheasant population.
 
The father of a good friend of mine has seen 5 bobcats this past fall. One actually walked under his bow stand. He saw 2 young ones together at the base of some bluffs, and the others were adults. He said they were really awesome to see in the wild. I have hunted the same areas late season deer and for the past 3 spring turkey seasons but havn't seen any....but man are their tracks everywhere out in the Loess Hills!
Maybe I'll see one this year while turkey hunting....
There are so many reports of bobcats all around the state, that it is probably safe to say they are really coming back in numbers. There was a really good article in the DSM register last week about them. Good luck and good hunting!

-GunnerJon
 
I haven't personally seen any bobcats in Iowa. We have a farm in SE Iowa and I see their tracks once in awhile, Dad saw 2 last fall deer hunting. From what I hear people are starting to see them more often. One was even hit on the highway a few weeks ago. It was taken to the vet, recovered and turned loose
 
I was lucky enough to witness a few bobcats on a few different occasions this past bow season. While sitting one morning in the timber behind my house, I heard something rustling in the crick bottom about 50 yards infront of me. I wasn't quite sure what was making the noise, I assumed it was a pair of playful squirrels getting there morning excercise. I had almost forgot about the noise, when I cat appeared about 100 yards away. At a first glance I thought it was a stray tomcat, but as it got closer I realized it was definetly no tomcat. The first bobcat conitued to chase the resident squirrels down the crick bottom, when another cat appeared. The first was a very beautiful cat, but the second had a more rugged appearance. I did my best to imitate a squirrel chattering and to my suprize, one of them started briskly walking in my direction. I was well hidden in a cedar, and the cat eventually walked under the same tree I was sitting in. He was only about 3 yards away! Another night, I was hunting the same timber but in my stand this time, and a bobcat passed right in front of my stand at 20 yards. I feel very lucky to have seen such amazing animals.

I know DNR has released bobcats in my area(SW Iowa) to help control the rising turkey population, and there have been many sightings and many cats have been hit on the highway (hwy 275) near my home.
 
I'm not sure where Renegade Archer got his information but to my knowledge the DNR has not released (stocked) bobcats in SW Iowa (or any where else in the state), especially to control the turkey population.

There is most definitely an increase in sightings of bobcats across the state. And yes, we have had an increase in both the number of bobcats killed on roads and caught in traps (snares). This past fall I had a small female turned into me by a trapper that was killed in one of his traps and I helped release another one from a snare.

Doug Clayton

State Conservation Officer
 
Blind sow,does the dnr agree that there are black panthers out there or are they still saying they are fishers?
Is been 20 years since i saw that one but have had people tell me they are still seen ever so often.
What i saw was no fisher,it was about 2 feet tall,the body was 3 feet long with dropping tail that was almost as long as the body,with a curl on the end.Almost a round head with small ears.And the cat was black.
And before anyone ask,i havnt seen a bigfoot or any little green men or ....even a bobcat.
 
My hunting partner in Van Buren Co saw one late season this year. Where I used to live in Central Missouri while I attended college, I had the opportunity to harvest two of these critters with a Muzzleloader. By far the most elusive animals I had ever seen in the deer woods. If you see one in action, you will realize just how stealthlike they can be and what makes them the ultimate predator. Here in southern Iowa, there are more reported sightings every year. Truly a beautiful animal
 
Have any of you guys ever set out to see one and photograph it? I've been thinking how fun it would be to get permission to be in the big timber I hunt for a few days just to track a cat, if it's still hanging around there.
But aren't they nocternal?

And some one please tell me that there are cougers (mountian lions) reterning to portions of Iowa? Because I thought I read something about that on here, and I told a friend of mine that, and he doesn't believe me. And is it ture the DNR let a few of these cats go? Could some one please clarify this for me?

Thanks and good hunting

Jason V
 
We had a cat (cougar) hit by a car out by Harlan but the DNR had nothing to do with putting out there, they have just wandered in from other states.
 
There have been stories for some time about the DNR "stocking" bobcats in the Loess Hills. I'd like to think they have better things to do. Let's see, introduce turkeys and improve pheasant cover, then stock a predator...I'm not believing that one. Coons, coyotes and feral housecats are more of a threat as predators. I have not personally seen a bobcat, but It does sound like their numbers have grown and who knows what we'll see this turkey season.
 
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Let's see if this works!

We have quite a few cats here in the south.
 
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