Local hunters make big showing in Texas bobcat contest
By Lynsi Musselman
Four Albany locals won second place out of 812 teams in the statewide February 2025 West Texas Big Bobcat Contest, held in San Angelo this past weekend. Ryder Wilkins, Laithe Leech, Will LeMay, and Jack Nail came home big winners after their 28.5-pound male bobcat earned them one of the top two spots with prize money of $32,380, with an additional $500 paid to Nail for the highest placing youth hunter.
Wilkins who shot the second place bobcat, explained they all four hunted together on his family’s land near Alpine due to the fact that it does not get a lot of pressure from people. “We called it in and I shot the cat on our second stand, only about an hour into the contest,” according to Wilkins.
The WTBBC is a 23-hour contest with all hunting required within the state of Texas. The official start time was Saturday at noon with an 11:00 a.m. weigh-in on Sunday in San Angelo. “We got to San Angelo and weighed in at 10:30 a.m., and then had to wait while everyone else brought their animals in,” said Wilkins. He added that the team knew they had a chance to place but thought they would be in fourth or fifth and were surprised to see them place second right off the bat.
The Big Bobcat leader board showed the team was just four ounces above third place. Leech, who was part of the four-person team, said they waited for awhile and watched as the teams came in after their weigh-in. “Watching as each team came in was too nerve racking so we decided to wait in the pickup until it was over,” stated Leech.
The contest rules for the WTBBC require a polygraph test to be taken to ensure state laws and contest regulations are followed accurately. Once the weigh-in ended and places were official, team member Nail was randomly picked to do the polygraph. “The polygraph made me nervous; officials asked if we weighed down the cat or if anyone brought us an animal,” reported Nail. He added it was the most fun hunt he has been on though, and he enjoyed getting to travel to Alpine area.
In total, the February contest placed 57 qualified bobcats, and paid out $186,760 in prize money. In addition to the top five bobcat places, the contest also paid out prizes for the most foxes, coyotes, and the heaviest grey fox. This particular contest held an event in January and plans to have another go around on March 22, 2025. The purpose of the WTBBC is to help ranchers control predators that damage their livestock, and help researchers to learn more about these animals.
Wilkins has hunted in the WTBBC the last few years but this is his first time entering it with Leech, Nail, and LeMay. He explained that they did not have low expectations going in but were not sure what to expect, definitely not second place.
“It’s always fun to get to spend the weekend with friends and hunt but this is one we will never forget,” said team member LeMay.
While Wilkins is a 2021 graduate from Albany Junior Senior High School, Leech and LeMay are high school seniors and Nail is a sophomore at AJSH. All four have said they plan to save the money they receive from the contest.
