The last day of cougar kill season my stepson Mike cut a large bobcat track about 3 a.m., I was across the river checking different drainages for a lion we had hoped would cross again. I found a female with two grown kittens and one medium bobcat track. Once daylight came, Mike joined me and we put one dog on the smaller bobcat; after a short time we had it treed. We shot it out and continued searching for a lion until about eleven thirty. I could tell that Mike really wanted to go back and run the bobcat he had found in the middle of the night, so around noon we put two dogs out on it. They were out of hearing quickly, so we drove around to the next drainage. The dogs were already there and were trying to sort out where the big bobcat had fed on an old kill. Soon they lined out and about twenty minutes later we heard them jump him. It didn't take long to put him up. We got to the tree just before dark. At 32 pounds this was the biggest bobcat we caught last year, as you can see Mike was pretty stoked about how well the dogs moved that old track (about 7 miles). Barbara decided to mount Mike's cat for the National Competition. He had worked so hard last fall on the cabin we were building in the Yaak she felt we at least owed him that. Barbara took first place in the professional division and also won the Delia Ackley Award, which is voted on by the competitors among women's entries. The bobcat was picked over two other national champion pieces. Not bad for her first time competing. She gives much credit to Jan VanHoesen “taking her class really taught me a lot”.

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