\u201cGet in here now\u2026he\u2019s HUGE!\u201d hissed across the radio with an urgency that was clear despite the whisper!\u00a0 As the hounds bellowed their approach, we had little time to get into position.\u00a0 Without a word we sprang into a run, dodging the pine boughs aching with heavy fresh snow.\u00a0 As the curtain of falling snow opened, we emerged at the edge of a creek bottom.\u00a0 We paused, struggling to quiet our heavy panting before Mike\u2019s voice broke the silence\u2026\u201cTHERE HE IS!!!\u201d<\/p>\n
Several years ago, I had the opportunity to experience hound hunting for the first time in the mountains of Idaho.\u00a0 I will never forget the hounds man\u2019s yarn in the waning hours of our final hunting day; \u201cCat hunting is hours of mind-numbing boredom followed by moments of pure exhilaration.\u201d \u00a0\u00a0As it did with that hunt, a recent bobcat hunt in Michigan would hold the same lessons taught decades earlier!<\/p>\n
After unsuccessfully drawing for mule deer tags, my close friend, Mike Strope, and I decided we would fill the hunting void with a local Bobcat hunt.\u00a0 Mike had a contact with quality hunting hounds that could accommodate both of us on the same hunt.\u00a0 As our hunt date approached, business travel complicated our schedules, so I encouraged Mike to go as planned and I would hunt later in the season.\u00a0 As I waited to board a flight home, I started receiving text messages documenting Mike\u2019s day\u2026needless to say, I couldn\u2019t get home soon enough.<\/p>\n
Mike met Marcus Garner, Chris Sellers and Kevin Keeler of \u2018Blue Plague Guide Service\u2019 north of Baldwin, Michigan to take advantage of a one-week, special bobcat season in that management unit.\u00a0 Message after message buzzed into my phone recounting his marathon day.\u00a0 In the pre-dawn hours, they found a fresh track crossing a remote National Forrest road.\u00a0 Given the proportions of the track, they decided to wait for light then turn the dogs on the trail.\u00a0 Mike shared the details of biting cold freezing his pants as they crossed swamp after swamp in knee-deep snow, following the hounds\u2019 signal.\u00a0 He described the confusion trying to sort out the cat\u2019s trail as he ran from one section to the next, evading his pursuers.\u00a0 It appeared this mature tom knew the game being played, and used every trick of a cagey old bobcat, nearly losing them on countless occasions.<\/p>\n
Mile after mile they stuck to the cat\u2019s track, doubling back to find him circling and doing his best to confuse the relentless hounds.\u00a0 After several close calls and a full day of chasing, Mike anchored the giant tom with one round from his favorite twelve gauge.\u00a0 Reading carefully, savoring every detail of Mike\u2019s quest, it was the furthest tale from \u2018mind-numbing boredom\u2019 that I could imagine and couldn\u2019t wait for my opportunity.<\/p>\n
Four days later I met Mike and we made the pre-dawn trek west across snowy highways to meet the Blue Plague crew.\u00a0 After sharing his story in person, Mike decided to take a day off work to join in the final day of the Baldwin unit hunt.<\/p>\n
My anticipation soared as we crept up the same remote trail looking for tracks in the falling snow.\u00a0 Should we find one, it would assuredly be fresh!\u00a0 Then just as had happened with Mike, Chris\u2019s rig jerked to a halt!\u00a0 It took only two words from the guide\u2019s mouth to realize we were on another giant tom!\u00a0 This was going to be EPIC!\u00a0 As blackness gave way to varying shades of gray, we turned \u201cJug\u201d and \u201cDaisy\u201d loose on the fresh cat track.\u00a0 Their excited howls pierced the nine degree morning air as they sped through the cattails bordering the trail.\u00a0 Suddenly, Chris hollered, get out here\u2026the dogs are headed this way.\u00a0 I leapt from the truck, scrambling to load my shotgun as the bellowing hounds approached.\u00a0 I stood frozen, waiting for the giant cat to slip onto the trail, but nothing.\u00a0 Seconds felt like minutes…the cold bit at my finger poised to squeeze at any moment until the sound turned abruptly away and faded back into the morning gray.<\/p>\n
We loaded into the truck to circle the section, watching the dogs\u2019 progress on the GPS unit.\u00a0 As the color-coded paths circled one another, it became evident that this cat was up to the challenge.\u00a0 Just as quickly as our hopes had risen, they were suddenly dashed.\u00a0 Hoping to sort out the cat\u2019s direction, Chris trudged off into the fresh snow and cattails.\u00a0 As he broke brush away from our vehicle, another truckload of hunters approached.\u00a0 They had also turned hounds on the track, only a short distance from our position!\u00a0 After several hours of walking, we met Chris on the opposite side of the section.\u00a0 He had found the tom\u2019s escape route from both sets of dogs which was directly onto private property.\u00a0 Kevin and Chris quickly collected their dogs and pulled them from the private ground\u2026we were done!<\/p>\n
Despite being wet and cold, Chris and Kevin quickly formulated a plan.\u00a0 Based on the additional hunting pressure, they circled to the far side of the private property where we searched for the track that could be seeking refuge in a pine thicket with public access to the west.\u00a0 As luck would have it, the track emerged from the east heading directly toward the thick and dark cover of the pines as they had anticipated.\u00a0 In another stroke of luck, Marcus, joined the crew after work and moved ahead to the thicket to search for tracks.\u00a0 Shortly after his arrival he found the track and let loose his best hound, \u201cSock\u201d.\u00a0 In no time, he had the big tom running circles in the relative protection of the pines.\u00a0 Suddenly, we heard Marcus hiss into his radio, \u201cGet in here now\u2026he\u2019s HUGE!\u201d<\/p>\n
Chris immediately plowed directly into the thicket, his broad shoulders and chest knocking the fresh snow from the boughs.\u00a0 Struggling to see through the falling snow, we ducked and dodged heading in the direction of the echoing hound.\u00a0 Suddenly, we hit the edge of the thicket and immediately stopped.\u00a0 As if in slow motion, here came a huge bobcat running down a frozen creek bed right toward us.\u00a0 Mike, in the excitement, pointed urging \u201cTHERE HE IS!!!\u201d\u00a0 As the large cat bound toward us, I shouldered my Benelli and yanked the trigger sending number 4 shot through the brush.\u00a0 He faltered only slightly so I hammered the trigger again dropping him motionless into a bed of fluffy snow.<\/p>\n
For an instant, everything was still and quiet.\u00a0 Then suddenly, the throngs of back-slaps and high fives rang out in unison with the dog\u2019s celebratory howls.\u00a0 We had taken another giant Tom bobcat that surpassed my wildest dreams.\u00a0 And while the congratulations and photo session ensued, I kept flashing back to my old cowboy friend and thinking how much I cherish these \u201cmoments of pure exhilaration\u201d.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
\u201cGet in here now\u2026he\u2019s HUGE!\u201d hissed across the radio with an urgency that was clear despite the whisper!\u00a0 As the hounds bellowed their approach, we had little time to get into position.\u00a0 Without a word we sprang into a run,<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":856,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[7,8,12],"tags":[39,40,41],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n