South Carolina Bobcat

by J. Higginbotham
(Simpsonville, SC)

Laurens County, SC. December 31, 2008.

It was the end of deer season so I decided to hunt a new spot on the main dirt road leading into our hunt club. Tall, thick pines on both sides of the road. I was anticipating deer to cross to my left near the bend in the road. Just before the sun went down I heard something coming towards the dirt road I was sitting on. Only it was straight in front of me, on a crash course with me. To my shock, it was not a deer. It was a bobcat. I already had my .270 on my shoulder in hopes it was a deer. I have never seen a bobcat in the wild, let alone within 5 steps of me. The 26 pound cat did not notice me as I was playing statue. I was afraid if he did see me, that it would startle him and perhaps cause him to strike out in fear. He turned to his right, and I let him have it. He died instantly. With my shooting him at such close range, he was not in very good shape. But my taxidermist did a great job in covering up his wounds. In the past year we have had several bobcat sightings at our club, including a solid black bobcat.