Which is the greater hunting feat, shooting an elephant or

[spectr17]

Winter is a good time to answer the call of the wild.

By Tim Renken, St. Louis Post-Dispatch Outdoors Columnist

01/31/2002

Which is the greater hunting feat, shooting an elephant or calling up a bobcat?

My vote goes to calling up a bobcat. Shooting an elephant requires mostly time and money. Calling up a bobcat requires skill, patience and luck. Fooling and seeing a bobcat is probably the No. 1 thrill in the sport of predator calling because bobcats are so beautiful, wary and rare. Calling in a coyote or fox ranks high, too. They are more common but just as cagey. And it's no mean feat to draw in a hawk or an owl.

Winter is the best time, by far, for this sport. The woods are open and visibility is good. Plus, predators are more active now, often hunting all day to find food.

You don't need a gun because you aren't going to shoot anything ... except pictures if you take a camera and are successful in your call. Here's what you need to get started:

* A predator call, which imitates the squeal of a distressed rabbit. Or you can use a portable tape player and loudspeaker. A turkey call will sometimes bring in predators, too.

* Warm, camouflage-colored clothing. It must be warm because you'll be sitting most of the time. It must be camouflage or dark colored because you'll be trying to avoid detection by the best eyes in the world. If there's snow, you must wear white, such as milkman's coveralls.

[Dakota]

I have only managed to call two cats up while coyote hunting. ###Managed to get both of them in rifle range unfortunately I was shooting a shotgun and I didn't have tags. ###They are awful cautious.

(Edited by Dakota at 7:30 am on Feb. 1, 2002)