Buck Hollow Sporting Goods - click or touch to visit their website Midwest Habitat Company

Speaking of bobcats...

Daver

Daver

PMA Member
Seeing a few trail cam pics of bobcats just now got me to thinking...I am going to try and catch a bobcat in a few weeks when the trapping season opens. Is there anyone here that knows any secrets for catching bobs?

I have trapped a variety of critters through the years with fair success, but never a bobcat. I do know that I should have a visual attractant over the trap site, like a feather on a string or something. But I would be curious to learn more in advance of "Bob Quest 2012". :D
 
I had a buddy that just put some foothold traps on the trails and threw some leaves over them. I thought he was crazy! He caught two on opening day so apparently they are not real bright when it comes to traps!!
 
I used to average 25 cats a year in Missouri. Their not a hard critter to catch. When I'm at the computer next I will put some techniques that I use up.
 
nannyslayer said:
I used to average 25 cats a year in Missouri. Their not a hard critter to catch. When I'm at the computer next I will put some techniques that I use up.
Click to expand...


Sweet! I have been getting a big male on cam and may try to go after him in Nov. too. :way:
 
Thanks for the heads up Limb Chicken!

Cats are easy to catch, but its not as easy for me to explain how to catch them.

Bobcats are my favorite animal to trap, bar none...I love catching them!

Daver if you have trapped before i'm sure your familiar with a standard dirthole set? If the ground isn't frozen too hard thats my main go to set....but you change a few things when your going after cats with it.

In a standard coyote dirt hole set for fox or coyote your trying to get the coyote to walk up to the hole, and generally set your trap back from the hole and offset to the side a little. When your after cats I like to put my trap right up to the lip of the hole, and get them to walk by it if that makes sense? In order to make a standard dirthole into whats called a walk through dirt hole you need to block that cat off. You can use limbs, you can dig up tufts of bluestem grass, you can use logs (just make sure they are either too small for the cat to walk on or stack branches on the log otherwise the cat will walk the log a lot of times) Make a flashy dirthole, dig a hole as big around as a pop can and deep as you can get it. Pull that fresh dirt out in front of the hole and make a big mess. I like to make my dirthole with either a clump of grass, or a chunk of burnt wood for a backing.

I put a chunk of bait down in the bottom of the dirthole. I put a squirt of cat or coyote uirne on the backing. I usually use a cat gland lure right inside the lip of the hole, and I will put some type of skunky call lure on my guiding on the backside of the trap. I like to have at least three dfferent smells in different spots to get that cat to shuffle his feet around a little.

I like to use a larger trap like a number 3 Bridger or a number 4 Duke, use about 3 pounds pan tension so that you don't end up with toe catches. If the weather isn't freezing I dig a bed for the trap, use a pan cover and cover the trap with dry dirt. If the weather is freezing I leave the trap exposed use a piece of cut out shingle paper clipped to the pan the exposed trap doesn't bother cats at all. You also want to use some guides for the cat when he walks through your set, you can use sticks, rocks, corncobs, etc...make the pan of your trap the best place for that cat to step when he comes through whether your trap is burried or exposed it doesn't matter, just make the pan area the most inviting spot to place his foot.

The most important thing when you want to trap a bobcat is location, Cedar pastures, brushy creek banks, brush piles, etc. Think two things edges and rabbits, bobcats main source of food is cottontail rabbits, and they like to hunt the edges to catch them.

I make my own bait for bobcats after I skin my cats I bone them out and freeze the meat, the following summer I taint the meat and add other ingredients to it. If you want me to send you a jar of it I can.

There is a guy in Iowa that makes very good bait and lures, his name is Marty Smith and his business is called Keg Creek. If you google that you should be able to find his web site.

If you have any questions don't be afraid to ask, and i'm sorry this reply is so discombobulated i'm at work and I typed it in my spare time.

There is nothing like walking up to a big old Tom bobcat prancing around in a trap, pretty neat!!

Corey
 
picture.php


I'm not sure if this picture will come up or not, but it kind of shows a walk through set that I use. I wish I could draw on it to show you where everything is located. The bobcat is laying against my backside blocking, if you look about halfway down the bobcat's back and go left about a foot that is where my hole is located. You should be able to see i'm trying to get that cat to walk through when he investigates the hole.
 
OK, we're rolling now...thanks Southfork! (Thanks in advance to Nannyslayer too. I am sure he will also add some good info too.)

Is it advisable to prepare my dirt holes now in October, minus the trap of course, and get them established to coming to it? Then drop the 'ol trap in there on opening morning for a little steel surprise for Mr. Kitty? :D

Also, I can picture several areas on my farm that would qualify as good set locations based upon what you suggested. But, how about mowed trails in the CRP? I theorized that a cat would be fairly likely to follow a mowed path for convenience and I was going to locate a trap set or two along one of these paths, and perhaps at an intersection too.

What is your feeling about an overhead visual attractant like a wind blown feather? I was thinking about putting a stake or a stout branch out in the field next week, well ahead of any trapping, so they would be used to it. Then maybe apply some scent to it a time or two in the weeks leading up to the season starting. THEN upping the ante by adding a feather when the trap is there.

"Three different smells..." I like that, would you say that this makes the cat, well, umm, curious? :D

Also, I do not live real close to my farm, so I would likely make a set for only a day or two at a time. How much would that limit me? I will be down for a few days at a time once the rut is kicking more. (Normally I set traps the evening I get to the farm and catch plenty of possums, skunks and coons that night, but I wonder if cats are more wary than those beasts and would require a little longer "soak".)

Anyway, thanks for the good advice, I look forward to learning more about it.
 
I would not dig my dirtholes in advance, dig them and then set the trap on them fresh. Remember curiosity killed the cat.

The mowed trails through CRP would probably be good locations, just dig your hole against the tall grass and use it for a backing.

Look at your regulations, but I doubt you can used a feather (exposed bait) at your set. You can probably get around that using fiberfill that they stuff pillows with, or faux fur. I make what I call danglers with faux fur and glue little teddy bear eyes on them...I like to hang them above my trap and apply a lure on them that will make a cat want to rub on them.

Cats arent very wary, they aren't afraid of human scent, they will step in an exposed trap...so don't worry about that.

If I were you I would go ahead make my sets run them while your down there. When you leave to go home i'd have some squares of plywood cut out, spring your trap and lay the plywood over the whole set with a rock on top. The next time you head back down take the plywood off and reset the trap and freshen up your lure a little.

Do you have any round bales or brushpiles on your farm? Cats love to hunt both those features...pond dams are great for cats too I usually put one set on each end. Cedar windbreaks are really good locations too. Narrow brushy fingers sticking out into fields are great locations, I usually make a couple sets at the end of these draws out in the field. Do you have any creeks with beavers in them on your farm? Cats love to check hang out around beaver colonies.

For me cold weather makes the cats easier to catch, they move more. Late January and the month of February is prime cat time, the toms are really moving then looking for females to breed...but I realize your quota will be filled by then.
 
southfork said:
Do you have any round bales or brushpiles on your farm? Cats love to hunt both those features...pond dams are great for cats too I usually put one set on each end. Cedar windbreaks are really good locations too. Narrow brushy fingers sticking out into fields are great locations, I usually make a couple sets at the end of these draws out in the field. Do you have any creeks with beavers in them on your farm? Cats love to check hang out around beaver colonies.
Click to expand...

No beaver dams on our place and any creek we had disappeared this summer in the drought! :D

I was already thinking about the dam of one of our ponds, so that is interesting. There is also a brushpile right off the end of the dam too. How close to buildings will they be comfortable? We have a cabin there, will they shy away from that?

I also have a cedar thicket that does stick out in the field a bit, so that seems like a good option too.
 
Southfork pretty much covered what I do if I use a dirt hole set, besides I save all the underdown feathers from turkeys and snow geese to use as visual attractants around the dirt hole.

My go to set for bobcats has always been a cubby set. Take some surrounding sticks and make a small cubby at the base of the tree. I would put bait in it, usually a squirrel quarter. Make sure you make the cubby look like a V, with the big opening to the tree. Leave just enough at the back to bed a #2 or #3. Make sure your bait is not exposed to over, as you want it covered into the back of the cubby. I would then hang a very small aluminum pie pan on a fishing line over the cubby so it would blow in the wind. Cats are very curious critters, and I just use that for a visual attactor. Caught many cats a year with that method.

Hard to beat a good dirt hole on a good used trail.
 
They are pretty comfortable around houses and people. I've caught some of my biggest toms in peoples windbreaks and on the fringes of towns.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top Bottom