Bobcat Hunting in Michigan
Michigan bobcat hunting isn’t for the faint of heart. Some are fortunate enough to take a bobcat in their first year or even on their initial trip. On the other hand, for someone like me, it took several trips over the course of seven years. Countless hours of research, scouting, and learning their habitat finally paid off on January 6th, 2024.
Josh Ferris and I decided to make a trip north and spend the weekend looking for the elusive feline. Josh is a local farmer and a coyote hunting enthusiast. He and I spent a considerable amount of time during the 2023 season searching for local bobcats. We made it up in time for a quick set on Friday afternoon before meeting up with my buddy Andy Arnold, who graciously opened his cabin for us to use for the weekend. After a restless night’s sleep, we were ready for the day’s hunt. I would say we had high hopes of a bobcat running in, but I'd be lying if I said I wasn't super optimistic. If you're a Michigan cat hunter, you know what I’m talking about.
As we weaved our way down miles of state land two-track, we found areas where sign was previously found or where I had close encounters, aka misses, in the past. Here, the edge of the wood line met cattail swamps with tall grass. There were also sparse groves of hemlock pines we could use for calling. In these stretches of untamed wilderness, slow hikes can quickly turn into brutal battles with the thick terrain. However, experienced hunters should expect struggles like this if they venture far enough from civilization.
Only 600 yards, as the crow flies from our previous stand, we settled in the middle of a hemlock pine island. This was the same location where, three years ago to the day, I had missed my first bobcat. The sequence I ran throughout the day was a combination of rabbit and woodpecker distress calls on my ICOtec Outlaw. While the distress sounds were playing, I continually changed the caller’s volume. The reasoning behind this constant change between the sounds and the volume is that cats get bored quickly. These changes keep them interested enough to keep them coming. At the 12-minute mark, I transitioned to woodpecker distress. Within a minute, I saw a flash out of the corner of my eye. Slowly, I peeked around the tree, and there she was. A sleek 21-pound bobcat, eyes alert and ears twitching, ready to pounce on the screaming machine she thought to be dinner. At just 25 yards, she was close enough to smell me if I wasn’t careful. I had to make my shot quick. I sat back, leveled my rifle, and waited for her to work into an opening. She stalked behind a clump of trees and sat there for close to a minute, only 12 yards from the caller and decoy. I made the split-second decision to kill the audio on the caller and let the decoy do the work. Right or wrong, I felt I had to do something because she was hanging up and not providing a clear shot. Within seconds of shutting down the caller, she took two more steps towards the whirling decoy. She almost made it through the opening too quickly, but a little lip squeak stopped her and even caused her to take a half-step back. She quickly zeroed in on my location; however, that half-second was all I needed to settle my crosshairs and squeeze.
The 55 gr Nosler Varmageddon from the .243 Winchester met its mark anchoring this bobcat on the spot. These quick few seconds were all captured through the Pulsar Thermion 2 LRF XP50 Pro. I looked at the clock on the remote, and the entire stand was just over 14 minutes. Talk about an adrenaline dump. Years of frustration and stupid mistakes were finally banished from my mind. What is also super exciting about all of this is that I finally got to have my good buddy and world-renowned predator taxidermist Mike Doyle mount a bobcat for me. At 21 lbs., she wasn’t the largest cat in the woods, but by far the most rewarding.
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