This past deer season I was sitting in a ground blind in the NWR that borders our property and I saw the LARGEST bobcat in existence (had to be!). When I first caught the movement and turned my full attention to the critter, I thought it was a yearling deer, but its locomotion was different. "Bobcat" was not registering in my mind because it was just too darned big. But cat it certainly was, as it trotted past me at no more than 17 yards. I was quite nervous coming out of the woods after dark that evening because this kitty could have done some damage had it had the desire.
Could it have been what you saw was a lynx? They’re much bigger than bobcats.