223wssm Load For Bobcat...

[smitty03]

Even my Nosler Partions prove too explosive on smaller game. Anyone use FMJ's on bobcat? When I was younger, we used .308 FMJ's on coyotes and the pelt damage was very minimal. (But a less-than-perfect shot sometimes led to a lost dog.) I would like to spare as much of the pelt as possible for mounting, so I am going to give these a shot. I seriously doubt a bobcat is going to get very far even if it takes a hit outside the vitals- what do you think?
-smitty

 

[Matt G]

Uh, bobcats are surprisingly tough in proportion to their size, is the word I get from friends who've shot 'em. I know I've often been impressed at the toughness, pound for pound, of house cats, and bobcats are much bigger and tougher. I was just over the ridge when my friend shot one on a deer hunt with a .45 Colt, and it ran off, with the 300 g bullet, never to be seen again!!!

Sierra Bullets includes the 55g FMJBT .223 bullet in their "GameKing" line, for taking furbearers without damaging the pelt. On their home page, they have a picture of a guy with a 60 lb lynx that he shot with a 55g .223:

 

[Art Eatman]

Somewhere in the archives at TFL is a picture of a bobcat I killed. About 25 yards. One shot with Win. HiBrass 7-1/2s. I disremember if it's "Art's Kitty #1" or #2.

He did a somersault and moved no further...

, Art

 

[Matt G]

Heh. I recall that pic. Somebody "corrected" you and tried to tell you that it wasn't a picture of a bobcat.
Art, was that kitty shot with that old super-full-choked M12, though? That tends to make a 25 yard pattern from a HighBrass load plenty dense.

I used to put down big (18+ lb) stray tomcats that were terrorizing my housecats with old #4 birdshot highbrass loads at about 20 yards, and got mixed results (excellent, and pretty good-- never a loss). As they were old goose loads designed to drop birds of just about the same weight, it was hardly surprising that they would work. I was just impressed that ANYTHING could run a few feet (and at least one did) after taking that brutal ounce and a half from 20 yards.

Highbrass #6 loads or even #5 loads with a modified choke are a a mighty convenient "get anything" load. Kitties at moderate distance, quail at any distance, turkey up close (aimed for the head), even dove on the wing. Crows, of course, rabbits, squirrels, waterfowl if nontoxic, coyote up close, etc.

 

[Art Eatman]

Yeah, old "Long Tom".

Explanatory note: The older shotguns chokes were dimensioned for the paper-hull loads and cardboard wads. With the plastic, they shoot much tighter than modern chokes. My full-choke gun actually patterns "Ultra-full" with the modern plastic stuff. It's a help on the longer shots out here for blue quail and whitewings.

Art

 

[Mannlicher]

the last bobcat I shot was back in 2003. I used a 7MM Rem Mag, and the shot was from a tower stand, at 125 yards. The cartridge was a Federal 140 grain. The exit hole was small, not more than a .50 cent piece. The cat sure looks nice in my den.