Bobcat electronic caller working?

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Tanngnjostr
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Bobcat electronic caller working?

Post by Tanngnjostr »

During BCKidd's currently running competition I've tried to lure in bobcats with the electronic caller several times. And I have a feeling it doesn't work the way I expect it to work. Actually the only bobcats that I could convince to come to me were those that I called wit the "regular" predator caller or when I used the scent spray. I assumed the electronic caller would work out to 220 meters, is that correct? Also I assumed that whenever I hear the "meow" of a bobcat (the noise they make that can't be registered on the HM), there is one within 220 meters, correct?

Anyway, even when I got a growl from around 150 meters (so the cat was close and not spooked), instantly put down the electronic caller, got into a nearby tower and waited for 15+ minutes... nada!

So what do I do wrong?
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Re: Bobcat electronic caller working?

Post by Tod1d »

The way I understood it... The caller works out to ~100m (might be less). So it's like any of the other decoys in that they don't get attracted until they are within a shorter distance.

When I hunt from a tower with an electronic caller nearby, when I register a call (yes, you don't always hear them), I go call with the predator caller to lure them into an area where they will then be attracted to the electronic caller. (and not pass too close to the tower, because they are very spooky/skiddish), and then return to the tower.
For the bobcat missions, I just carried it & used it like a regular caller or scent. i.e. find a spot where you can place the caller, activate it, and wait prone 40m away.
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Re: Bobcat electronic caller working?

Post by Tanngnjostr »

Tod1d wrote:The way I understood it... The caller works out to ~100m (might be less). So it's like any of the other decoys in that they don't get attracted until they are within a shorter distance.
Thanks for your reply. I was convinced that the electronic caller works out to 220 meters and the "Jackrabbit" caller only works out to 100 meters for cats. I thought this was what the devs said when bobcats were introduced.

Since we have four different ways of luring bobcats, I don't quite see the advantage of the electronic caller if it doesn't work out to 220 meters to be honest. That would be its only advantage over the other methods in my opinion.
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Re: Bobcat electronic caller working?

Post by Tod1d »

The advantages are, I think, that it stays in one spot & keeps calling perpetually. A caller only has one chance of working when you use it. And scents wear off.
If the bobcat is in the same direction as the e-caller, you can just call from your spot or tower & it should be attracted to the e-caller when it's in range.

Of course, all of them have a "chance" of attracting an animal. They weren't designed to always work. But, I've found a couple times I was able to get a cat that ignored it to come in by turning off the caller, and turning it back on.
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Re: Bobcat electronic caller working?

Post by HooCairs »

Electronic caller works up to 220m and I can confirm it worked on bobcats still last week.

Predator caller up to 100m.

Note that bobcats will stop coming often if a feral hog crossed their path. It helps if you turn it off every now and then, wait a bit and turn it back on.
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Re: Bobcat electronic caller working?

Post by ronMctube »

feral hogs really can put a big impact on the callers perception to work. bobcats will avoid them. often feral hogs are in the same places aswell. i have recorded showing bobcats swearving pigs. also some of the best locations like loggers towers there are swarms of feral hogs there.
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Re: Bobcat electronic caller working?

Post by Tanngnjostr »

Thanks for your replies, guys. I've decided that those electronic callers are useless crap. For me at least! Scent spray and caller do the job better, even though I'm limited to luring the bobcats/lynx from 150 meters then.
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Re: Bobcat electronic caller working?

Post by xOEDragonx »

The feral hog information is great to know. I wasn't aware of this as I can't recall ever seeing a bobcat and feral hog in the same area at the same time. Maybe that's for a good reason...

As for the callers, my experience has been what HooCairs described. The electronic caller works out to 220m, and the predator caller works out to 100m. I'm not sure what the standard distance for scent lures is off the top of my head, as I don't usually use them exclusively but rather to get animals to a certain spot when I know they're already coming in or close. Aside from comps and missions, I exclusively hunt bobcats in the northern area of RB which is populated primarily by cats with the occasional deer or bear. I've played around a good bit with their antics and tricks there since it's easy to focus on just them.

As mentioned, keep in mind there's only a "chance" of any caller working on bobcats. A good thing to note is that bobcats don't call or yowl while they're attracted to a caller. If you hear a growl on the huntermate, place the e-caller, then hear a growl from the same cat moments later, that cat is not coming in. Try turning the e-caller off and waiting a minute before turning it back on to try again. If the first call doesn't work, sometimes the second or third will. Alternatively if the cat goes quiet after the e-caller is turned on, keep your eyes peeled as it could be coming. Bobcats trot in pretty fast when attracted by the predator caller but they make a very slow often pausing walk the entire distance when approaching the e-caller. If the cat is on the edge of your huntermate screen (200+m) when it calls you could very well be waiting almost 10 minutes real time for it to walk all the way in to the e-caller... if it commits on the first go. If you have been waiting a long time and haven't seen sign of the cat when you know it should have at least been in eyesight by now, turn the e-caller off. If the cat was coming in, this will sometimes instantly trigger it to growl again and you can pinpoint it's new location. Hopefully within 100m so you can just use the predator caller for a quick ending. If you turn the e-caller off and hear nothing, the cat probably wasn't ever actually coming. Wait a minute and turn the e-caller back on to try to get him again. Also worth noting, turning the e-caller on/off randomly isn't a good strategy either if you don't know for sure and can't guess what the cat is doing. If a cat is attracted by the e-caller and it gets turned off, it will take several minutes for that cat to be able to be attracted by the e-caller again. The predator caller however will work instantly on a cat that is cooling down from the e-caller attraction.

If you hear a bobcat yowl (the noise the huntermate doesn't pick up), that means you have one nearby. I can't confirm if that means it's definitely within the 220m range needed for the e-caller to work but I can confirm that the quieter the yowl, the farther the cat. You can use the volume of the sound to guess how far it might be and move closer if you think you can.

I have also had a cat fall asleep while it was coming to my e-caller before. This was in the big field around the northern tower on LP so I was watching him when he did it. He was making a beeline for the tower when he quickly curled up on the ground. So on top of all the trouble of trying to attract them, some of those frustrating kittens might just decide to take a nap on you anyway :roll:
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Re: Bobcat electronic caller working?

Post by Tanngnjostr »

A lot of good information, Ashley. Thanks for that. I would upvote your post... if the forum had that functionality. :P

So maybe I'll give that caller another shot in the future. For now I'm just happy I got a 8.9 in the comp and have to concentrate on other species.
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Re: Bobcat electronic caller working?

Post by HooCairs »

Tanngnjostr wrote:Thanks for your replies, guys. I've decided that those electronic callers are useless crap. For me at least! Scent spray and caller do the job better, even though I'm limited to luring the bobcats/lynx from 150 meters then.
I find the e-callers a very good option. You don't have to leave your treestand to go and spray again. And of course their further reach. The only problem is that if you miss the cat, it will spook and run from the caller. Doesn't happen with the other lures.
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