SPRINGFIELD, Mo. — A Missouri hunter is recovering from a wound to the back of his head after being attacked by a bobcat.
The Springfield News-Leader reports that the hunter, from Clever, Missouri, was turkey hunting on Monday, the first day of the turkey season. According to a Missouri Department of Conservation report obtained by the newspaper, the hunter was using a turkey call to lure birds in.
Instead, the noise got the attention of a large male bobcat, which pounced on the hunter, forcing him to kill the bobcat.
Conservation agent Jeff Harris wrote in his report that the hunter "felt a crash on his shoulder and head as if he was being attacked." The hunter fought it off, then shot the bobcat.
The hunter declined to be interviewed, telling the News-Leader he had received backlash on social media for killing the bobcat and posting photos on his Facebook page. The post has since been removed.
Conservation spokesman Francis Skalicky said the hunter acted correctly by immediately calling the department and reporting that he had killed the bobcat.
"The bobcat thought the hunter was a turkey. Whatever sound he was making was good enough that it fooled the bobcat," Skalicky said.
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