Bobcat Stalks and Lunges at Wisconsin Turkey Hunter

A bobcat stalked, lunged at, and grabbed a 19-year-old Wisconsin turkey hunter, who caught it all on camera. (Photo by Griffin Gillespie)

It’s not all that uncommon for a hunter to lure a bobcat or coyote into a turkey hunting setup. Turkey calls and decoys can trick them just like they can a gobbler. But, there’s nothing usual about what happened to one Wisconsin teen during his recent turkey hunt.

According to jsonline.com, Carson Bender, 19, of Wisconsin Rapids, was turkey hunting on private land near Nekoosa when he was stalked and grabbed by a bobcat.

Bender was set up against a tree at the edge of a small wooded area. He’d placed a jake and hen decoy about 24 yards into the field in front of him. As daylight approached, he yelped with his mouth call.

"I had gobbling from a couple directions," Bender said. "And before long, birds were in the field, working their way toward me."

He said six jakes moved toward him. Then three mature toms strutted across the field behind eight hens.

At 7:45 a.m., he was beginning to line up a shot on a gobbler that was close to the decoys.

"I kid you not, it was the most eventful morning I ever had," Bend said.

Suddenly, he heard squawking in the woods behind him that was followed by silence and a soft crinkling in leaves behind him.

Instead of turning and risking spooking the turkeys, he slowly raised his phone and turned on the reverse camera in video mode.

Don’t Miss: Realtree’s Will Brantley to Launch Hunting and Fishing Book May 5

Through his phone, he could see that a bobcat was standing just three yards behind him.

"I pan over with the phone and the bobcat is just staring at me," Bender said. "I was like, oh-oh. But I was still locked on to the toms in the field, too."

The video shows the bobcat standing still and then slowly, stealthily advancing toward Bender.

"I knew where the bobcat was and I didn't know what it would do, but I was actually just about to take a shot at the gobbler," Bender said.

Before he could shoot, the bobcat lunged at Bender, grasping his left arm with its paws. Bender shook off the bobcat, which ran away.

You can watch the video on Bender’s Facebook page.

Surprisingly, the mature tom remained in the area, and a few minutes later, Bender was able to get off a shot, but he missed.

"I think I was a little amped up from the bobcat encounter," said Bender, who was a trophy-winning trap shooter on his high school team.

He hunted until noon, but didn’t get any other opportunities at a bird.