Bobcat Chasing Mature Buck

[bigbendmarine]

Thought some forum members might enjoy this recent trail camera capture of a bobcat chasing a mature whitetail buck in North Florida, with decent audio of the buck sharing two warning calls.

As for the bobcat, loved tracking its changes in the angle of attack depending on the direction the deer faced and moved. Watch the slow-motion replay and you can see the bobcat adjusting his initial chase path to the right of the buck based on the direction the deer is facing when paused instead of actually running directly to the spot where the buck is standing... then the bobcat makes lots of small shifts in direction to almost instantly match the fleeing buck.

Confident the buck survived the encounter, but pretty solid proof a bobcat will give chase to a full-size deer when the opportunity presents itself.

 

[bigbendmarine]

On a different forum had someone share that the belief the cat looked more like a domestic housecat than bobcat. Not saying impossible, but in 10 years of living at my place never seen a housecat in a single video capture, and guessing the thick population of coyotes and bobcats wouldn't get along with them too well. No neighbors within sight and border 4,000+ acre uninhabited plantation land.

Here's some daytime captures of bobcats from the same exact plot shared in the original video. Will say it's interesting how much variation bobcats can have in size/muscularity/coat appearance.

Got multiple ones using the front edge of my pond dock as a latrine and quite a few videos of them caught in the act of dropping deuces. That's a video for another day... just have to think of the perfect song to pair with the footage!

 

[Native Hunter]

Good video and pictures.
I recently saw a doe trying to stomp a house cat; however, a day or two later I saw a bobcat come near a doe and fawn, and they took off running for their lives. I think they know the difference in danger between a bobcat and house cat. I suspect that a doe might try to fight a bobcat if she was protecting a newborn fawn (like they will take on a coyote under those circumstances) but it isn't a fight they would want unless absolutely necessary.

 

[bigbendmarine]

I suspect that a doe might try to fight a bobcat if she was protecting a newborn fawn (like they will take on a coyote under those circumstances) but it isn't a fight they would want unless absolutely necessary.

Native Hunter, it's funny to me how interactions can vary from encounter to encounter... though we're not in the African savanna, still think our animals are much like predators and prey there where they live and die trying to read and expend energy on perceived intentions (such as a doe protecting a fawn).

Share the above as I have lots of coyotes at my place and have videos of them flat-out high-speed chasing deer, and even pack hunting/harassing an adult buck... but the above shared, also have videos with deer feeding in fields yards from coyotes just keeping eyes on them and even have at least two videos of bucks charging lone coyotes to run them off. If I can ever find time, going to try to put together a compilation video showing just how much variation I've captured.

 

[Apple Junkie]

As a side note, the bobcat in pic 4 appears to have a tracking collar attached to its neck. I wonder if the local game folks could tell you more about its range and activities. I had no idea a bobcat would chase a mature buck. You learn something new every day, thanks for posting it.

 

[Native Hunter]

Native Hunter, it's funny to me how interactions can vary from encounter to encounter... though we're not in the African savanna, still think our animals are much like predators and prey there where they live and die trying to read and expend energy on perceived intentions (such as a doe protecting a fawn).

Share the above as I have lots of coyotes at my place and have videos of them flat-out high-speed chasing deer, and even pack hunting/harassing an adult buck... but the above shared, also have videos with deer feeding in fields yards from coyotes just keeping eyes on them and even have at least two videos of bucks charging lone coyotes to run them off. If I can ever find time, going to try to put together a compilation video showing just how much variation I've captured.

I hope you do that video. It would be interesting to watch.

 

[Howboutthemdawgs]

How to post a video is way beyond me, but earlier this fall I filmed a doe chasing a coyote about 500 yards across a field. She was not happy

 

[cbw]

Just got this coyote chasing a monster buck. Look at the timestamps.

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[roymunson]

Just got this coyote chasing a monster buck. Look at the timestamps.

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why would you not be in the tree right now and every time until he's dead. that's a giant

 

[Howboutthemdawgs]

Just got this coyote chasing a monster buck. Look at the timestamps.

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Dude…you just casually throw in a booner and manage to stay on topic of the thread!

 

[roymunson]

Dude…you just casually throw in a booner and manage to stay on topic of the thread!

That's the kinda flex I wanna have someday when I've got it all together.

 

[cbw]

why would you not be in the tree right now and every time until he's dead. that's a giant

Ha! He just showed up on camera yesterday for the first time this year. Same time as last year. Guessing Iowa gun pressure sends him this way. Gun season started Sat and goes through next Sunday.

And believe it or not, the one that I’ve been chasing is bigger. 3 years history on him and this is my first year hunting him. Got him on camera 44 times this year, only 23% of the time in daylight. I’ve hunted 41 times and haven’t had an encounter. Frustrating! I’ll show pics when he’s down or the season is over. :-)

Hope they both make it through gun season.


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[cbw]

That's the kinda flex I wanna have someday when I've got it all together.

I just want to be like [mention]Baker [/mention] when I grow up. lol!


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