CAT CALLING RESULTS AND THE WIND

I have looked over records going as far back as 2001 at a specific 3 farms we hunt on, and looking over the records I have found a pattern, maybe I am wrong but again maybe in it is a hidden secret on calling cats. Who knows, maybe they prefer windy nights to walk around, apposed to still evenings? But stats normally don’t lie. 99% of cats taken are in the wind!

One farm I went to in 1997, it was a farm that was buzzing with birdlife, sheep, donkeys, poultry and stud stock. The farmer got my name from his neighbour, and I went to see it, we planned our hunt and we went calling. In my first 6 hunts at this farm I called and killed 4 lynx, I then gave it a break and after 2 months again called in another lynx that my partner missed back then. Then every month I made a stand and killed on average a cat every 4^th hunt. After 5-6 months it quietened down, and I called nothing but bakoore.

Then I left it a year and went back, and nearly every time again klapped a Rooikat. It is now 2010, and again my last 3 hunts we have shot a cat all three times we called and my partner missed one.

But looking at my records ( and memory) it seems that nearly every time I call a cat its windy, these past 3 cats all came in severe wind, I was in Namibia and called a cat again in wind, I have just been on a course in Arlington, Bethlehem, we gave a calling course, the third night we called in heavy wind, a jackal came across us at an angle, and at the same time behind me and in front of me two cats came into the call ( this was witnessed by 6 people if you suspect me of talking bull). Again in the wind, I hunted Sutherland for years, I killed many many cats, most again in wind…..- so is this a hidden secret of cats? - to call them only in the wind?

My wife and I went calling recently, after 40 minutes in comes a cat into the wind, and it was windy if you get my meaning!

I went out last week, I called with my hand caller, in comes a lynx, into the wind and looked at us at 21m while we looked at him with night vision – it was howling (wind so bad the roofs of houses got blown off) this was on the TV also (December 12^th / 2009) Western Cape was badly damaged by wind. 

This cat was called in the wind back in 1997; my wife still commented that it was very unpleasant that night. Called with hand caller, even as far back as then the wind was noted on my records as blowing.

This cat was caught on video ( 1999), it was called in severe wind this night, so much wind I needed to keep the camo nets down with sand thrown down with a spade!

So, maybe in this all is a cat secret, they are better called in the wind?

This big cat was also called in the wind, the same farm, this was in 2001 – So, you decide, maybe you also have had good results in the wind? This was a female!

I have called far too many cats to be sure of exact conditions as a long time ago I never kept records, but looking at recent records for say 15 years back I will say YES the wind is a thing that often is apparent when cat calling, if that’s a secret on cat calling I don’t know, who knows maybe it’s just a coincidence, but I don’t think so. Maybe cats feel more at ease walking around and hunting in windy conditions, I don’t know – but I am beginning to believe it.

Cats are elusive and hard to figure out, but this wind thing is something that has always or most times been present at cat kills. I have a load of other times we hunted that we had wind and got cats, it has happened many times.

So, if you have had similar experiences or you also called cats and had wind most times, I am curious to hear from you, send me your story and pictures, if it’s a nice photo I will place it here.