OT- hunting with a cat

[Rusty]

I found this on another forum...


It has been awhile since I last posted here, but between work & hunting I spend more time working. This past Saturday I went to my stand behind the house in a large cut over. Unknown to me at the time, but our cat "Socks". had followed me into the thicket. About 30 minutes later I saw Socks following my trail all the way to my stand. He laid down at the base of the stand, so I went back to watching the area. In a few minutes I felt the stand vibrate & looked down to see Socks climbing up the stand. When he reached the top I placed him in my lap. For the next hour he just looked around & purred. As the sun started to set night birds started moving around in the brush, they had his full attention. Suddenly Socks looked to my left & his tail stiffened & began to twitch. I looked to the left, but didn't see anything at first. Then I saw something white in a holly thicket about 50yds away. Looking through the scope I saw that it was a big doe (120lbs+). As she step out, the 444 roared & she hit the ground DRT (dead right there). To my surprise Socks never moved. I put Socks on my shoulder & climbed down, when I got to the ground he ran over to the deer & acted like he killed it. To be honest if wasn't for Socks, that doe probably could have slipped by me & I would have never seen it. This weekend I going to take him along to see if he does it again. If he does, then I'll know I have a "deer-cat".

[Mokwaw]

Now that is kinda of cool.

[rjohns94]

How about that. Does this mean I have to stop shooting the cats I see running wild in the woods? (oops is that cat lady still reading these posts - sorry mam)

[kimwcook]

The more I watch animals closely, the more I learn from them. They are so much more atuned to what's going on around them then I'am. My horses see and hear things long before I do. If I see my horses take note of something I've learned to look too.

[Tycer]

LOL
Too Purrfect!

[BenT]

My barn cats like to go for a walk in the woods all the time. So during deer season I have to make sure they aren't following me. Unlike you I usually have 3 or 4 along . So I don't think I would have the same outcome .Also I have to keep track of them because I have plenty of fishers and coyotes in the woods that would find them mighty tasty.

[Old Ironsights]

Our Tom lets us know whenever the deer are approaching the feeder before they ever break cover. Does the same thing yours did.

"Suddenly Socks looked to my left & his tail stiffened & began to twitch. "

That's called the "Giant Mouse Alert"...

He desperately wants me to take him hunting. I kill bigger mouses than he does and he wants in on it.

[Aussie Chris]

Now that is very cool. I wish I could hunt from home just like that

[kirkwood]

What a great story! I'm passing this along to some friends.

[20cows]

Sounds like a deal to me!

[claybob86]

Now that's cool! Good kitty!

[El Chivo]

when I got to the ground he ran over to the deer & acted like he killed it.

It was his kill, he just got you to do the work.

[BlueStateSaint]

We had a member of my deer camp that used to bring his German Shepard hunting with him. Big no-no in NY. He lasted one weekend, and we tossed him out the next week. I had an encounter with the Shepard at 0-dark-30 that night when I went out of the camp to "water the scenery," and the only thing I could think of in my sleep-fogged brain was, "Wolf!" I was wide awake in a millisecond.

I'd love to get our cat Oreo out hunting, but she'd be too occupied with killing every red squirrel she could, to warn me about a deer coming. Not that killing red squirrels is a bad thing, mind you . . .

[Borregos]

Neat story, thanks

[piller]

Maybe cats are good for something after all.

[mklwhite]

I use to have a cat who loved to go squirrel hunting with me. He would walk walk me slipping around and when he found a squirrel in a tree he would go up to the tree and place his front paws on it and look at me. I'd shoot the squirrel and we would go on. At the end of the hunt when I was cleaning them he would wait for his "take". We were both happy with the arrangement. Best cat I ever had.

[nemhed]

I'm going to strap two cats to my head next hunting season to be my eyes and ears!

[Hobie]

I've got seven (7) possible "deer cats" at Mom's house just waiting for adoption... That is a good story, thanks for sharing!

[66GTO]

Your cat has trained you well.

[Rod WMG]

Maybe cats are good for something after all.

That was my first thought too!

[GANJIRO]

Not a hunting cat but my best fishing buddy was my cat Russell (my dad named him) that I got as a kitten back in 1971. He would sit with me on the dock in my backyard stream while I fished keeping me company and waiting for his share of fish. He was a naturally skilled fisherman and would sometimes steal fish from the bucket having no fear of water dipping his paw in the water to scoop a fish with his claws then grabbing it in his jaws getting his face totally soaked in the process. He could eat a whole 1 pound fish from head to tail crunching away bones and all. Russell would also jump right into the Dory tied to the dock to assist in a fish landing, and would join me for the boat ride when I'd go for a rowing troll up the stream, he was a real sea cat. He would also go right down to the streams edge and scoop up passing minnows with his paw, he was quite amazing. Russell lived over 21 years and he saw me grow up, get married (he was there at my reception), and got to see both my sons after they were born. Russell was one of those once in a lifetime pets, a dear friend and partner I still miss over 16 years after his passing.

[El Chivo]

my cat Russell (my dad named him)

your Dad must've heard him in the bushes...

[jlchucker]

Just behind my house are two Christmas Tree Farms, a swampy thicket, a beaver area, and a clearcut that's growing back in. Decent grouse and deer country, and I know the property owners. I've never encountered deer in the tree farm that borders me, but tracks and sign indicate that they come and go there. So have my cats. A few years ago, my big orange cat Tuffy went out into the high serengetty of the tree farm. Not thinking about him, Iater that pleasant fall afternoon I grabbed my 16 ga double and went grouse hunting. I never got anything that day, but it was a nice early fall day to be out. On the way home, in the high grass between the small Christmas trees, I jumped a small doe-or maybe big fawn. It bounded away from me as I watched it go. Suddenly, old Tuffy, who must have been doing his own hunting in the high grass, went bounding after her from the high grass like a miniature 15 pound lion! He was in full pursuit, and I don't know what he'd have done if he'd caught up with the deer, which might have been about 50-60 pounds, but he enjoyed a brief moment of action. If you watch your housecat in the wild environment of his backyard--and watch him/her hunt closely, you'll see what's one of God's perfect predators in action--and maybe you'll pick up a few pointers you can use in your own gamestalking efforts. Sometimes, when I'm putting on my gear to go out hunting, the two cats in the house sit there watching me, with a look in their eyes that seems to say "You? Hunting? Don't make me laugh! What do you think you know about hunting anyway? "

[Old Ironsights]

If I didn't live in town I'd be more inclined to let Tom out with me off leash... but it's just not safe.

No matter though. Every time I've taken him for a walk on his leash he still manages to kill a mouse or mole.

[Old Ironsights]

... If you watch your housecat in the wild environment of his backyard--and watch him/her hunt closely, you'll see what's one of God's perfect predators in action--and maybe you'll pick up a few pointers you can use in your own gamestalking efforts. ..."

The classic Bobcat vs deer cuddleback sequence...

http://www.cuddeback.com/pages/pows/week_70.html

[marlinman93]

Hey, if it will help me get deer, I'd take a skunk along hunting!

[Ysabel Kid]

LOL
Too Purrfect!

What amazes me is that the cat didn't freak out after he let loose with the .444! That is one smart feline!!!

[Rick-F]

LOL
Too Purrfect!

What amazes me is that the cat didn't freak out after he let loose with the .444! That is one smart feline!!!

Indeed! Perphaps now with a bit of hearing loss too . . .

[AJMD429]

Suddenly, old Tuffy, who must have been doing his own hunting in the high grass, went bounding after her from the high grass like a miniature 15 pound lion! He was in full pursuit, and I don't know what he'd have done if he'd caught up with the deer, which might have been about 50-60 pounds, but he enjoyed a brief moment of action.

Our stupid boxer dog used to 'chase' the neighbors cropdusting AIRPLANE whenever it flew over...!

He was on a 75 foot overhead cable run because he was too stupid not to chase cars, and when he got to the end of the run chasing that plane, he would always hit the end of the cable so hard he would get jerked off his feet into the air. Kept doing it for several years until one day we felt sorry for him being chained all the time and let him run free. Within 10 minutes a car had hit the dog and killed him.

[KirkD]

I've come to the conclusion that one should never underestimate an animal, including cats. They know more about what's going on than people give them credit for.

[JohndeFresno]

I've come to the conclusion that one should never underestimate an animal, including cats. They know more about what's going on than people give them credit for.

I read somewhere that Egyptians used to hunt with cats.

And there is an old Portuguese saying: "I you don't have a dog to hunt with, bring a cat."

[Old Ironsights]

Almost more than any other critter I'd like a "big" cat... bobcat sized at the least.

When I was a kid the neighbor girl, whose dad was F&G, had a "rescued" bobcat that had been declawed as a kit.

Casper was the coolest animal I have ever been tackled by. (A game he played with us gradeschoolers - tackle, no mouth.)