Another way to lose a bird ...

[Sharptail]

On Saturday we went hunting for grouse. Got ruffies, but no sharptail until late in the day when I connected on a left crossing shot about 45 yards out. The bird wasn't where it fell and it took about 15 minutes of searching to find it.

At the end of the day we returned to the cabin and (as I always do) put the game bag on the table on the deck and went in to take off my boots etc.

Went back out onto the deck, the game bag was open and the sharptail was gone. Make no mistake, this was a very dead bird, it did not leave under its own steam. We searched all around the cabin and through the trees, no feathers, no trace.

My buddy thinks it was a cat that took it (there are a number of cats around the cabin). I am not so sure, the sharptail was a big bird, and I don't think a cat would drag it very far before it started dinner. The only other human in the area is my neighbor and I am positive that he didn't take it. It is a wooden deck and anything stomping around on it would be immediately audible.

Would / could a coyote be bold and sneaky enough to snatch a bird off of the table on the deck without being seen or heard? Do you think a cat would drag the bird for any appreciable distance? What else would have taken it?

Sharptail are way too much work to lose like this. Has anyone else lost a bird this way? This is a new one for me.

Sharptail

 

[sjemac]

Is the area around your cabin heavily wooded? Mink or marten? I've had them steal birds from me before. Same with foxes. Weasels used to eat the heads off of the rabbits I snared too.

 

[doubleman]

Sharptail
I had a cat steal a hen phesant out of a wheelbarrow last week and it took it over 50 yards away before it stoped to eat it. The little buggers are stronger than I thought because it ran with it when my lab noticed something stealing his hard earned birds.
P.S. #4's stop them real well

 

[Steyr101]

I'd say you should take a walk around your cabin tommorow and see if you can find apile of feathers... just for your own satisfaction. Who knows... there may be some other clues to find as well.

 

[Sharptail]

Doubleman, thanks for the info. I am amazed that a cat could haul such a load for 50 yards!

The cabin is in a heavily wooded area, but mink, marten and weasels are absent. Coyotes are numerous, and there is the occasional fox. I walked around the area of the cabin, but not much more than 25 yards, thinking that was about as far as a cat would go. I will expand the search.

Sharptail

 

[Longshot]

Sasquatches are known grouse lovers.

 

[PeakXV]

Our cat is in the trunk sniffing the game bag before the bloody door is 1/3 open .... it must smell the gameiness as the vehicle comes up the driveway ..... I think she's too smart to dare grab it - but I wouldn't put it past those sly critters.

 

[Ahsan Ahmed]

Very likely a four legged critter grabbed it ......you aren't the only one with a strong hankering for those birds could it be that the bird may have slipped out of the game bag when you may have stooped down for something or other.....

I've had Leopards kill live goats (tied up as bait), break a strong rope and carry that away half a mile in the dark without us being aware in the slightest regardless of how carefully we had concealed ourselves long hours before the sun went down.

 

[beretta boy]

Often used to hang grouse outside at our camp ... until a fisher grabbed a couple. ( First one ...WTF ? ... second one caught in the act )
Great climbers & very fast !!! Doesn't take them long to clean up the majority of a gut pile either !

 

[gth]

Yeah, a Fisher or a Marten will make short work of any gamebird. I'd be a little surprised to see one hang out near people. Strager things have happened.