Will a gut shot bobcat climb a tree?

[bullets13]

My uncle called me to come out and hunt a goat killing bobcat at his sister’s place, and I took a .270 and an AR with night vision. The plan was to call during the daylight and set up on the carcass after dark. The cat came out within 3 minutes of me firing up the call, and since it was daylight still I shot him with the .270. I hit him back to try and not blow him up too bad, and we saw him trailing guts as he ran into the woods. Had a little blood, and then found two chunks of intestines probably about 3 ft long total not far into the track, then nothing else. I know he’s dead, so the mission is accomplished, but I’d like to find the cat and skin him out. So all that being said, has anyone ever shot a bobcat and found him in a tree? I can’t imagine him going that far missing several feet of his guts, but we looked for about an hour and didn’t find anything else, although it got dark on us pretty quick.


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[bullets13]

Here’s a pic of the cat from a few days ago.


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[sideways]

He didn’t go far look in the thick stuff on the ground.


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[SmTx]

gut shot bobcat ain't climbing a tree unless he's still actively trying to escape danger

[Drycreek3189]

You must have missed the gut shot hog thread of a few days ago.

[bullets13]

You must have missed the gut shot hog thread of a few days ago.

Nah, I read it, but I kinda thought a cat would drop with a .270 round to the guts

[Preacher Man]

Wounded bobcats can be pretty shifty. I shot one with a 30-06 in about the same spot you are describing. Maybe just a hair more forward towards the vitals. That dude doubled back on his trail.

I don’t think it’s likely that your cat got up a tree, but it’s not impossible. A hole in the ground or a stump is possible too.

[speck1]

They don’t usually go very far. He probably circled back on you.

[sierracharlie338]

Shot one with my bow a few years ago and he stepped forward as I broke my shot. Got his spine and his guys were hanging out. Straight to the darkest wooded area he could get to ASAP on the ground.


Sierracharlie out…

[okrattler]

Brush piles,thickets and any log or hole he could crawl in would be more likely but it's possible. If you have any brush piles around nearby that's the first place I'd look.

[Bayouboy]

Cat was probably still on life 1-8. Need to wait until he hits #9.

[Wayspr]

I doubt he'll climb if he's that hurt. As others said, probably in the thickest stuff he can find.

[deerwatcher51]

I don’t think he will climb, most likely in the thick brush on the ground. My son shot one a number of years ago right at dark. We waited until the next morning to track him and found him alive in thick brush about 100 yds from where he shot him.

[bullets13]

Thanks for the input. We might go look around for him in a bit

[AntlerCollector]

A dog should easily find him if you really want the cat recovered. My guess is it’s on the ground, and you walked right passed it hidden in the brush. I’ve seen them turn back on their own trails then jump off it to either hide or wait to ambush whatever attacked it. I’ve found a couple of them dead facing the blood trail, but 6’ or more off the trail. Look side to side as you retrace your steps. Good luck.