This is a thread that I hope will turn out to be "all things 'cats!"
I see some post on here from time to time asking a few 'cat questions, about traps or best sets, but never really full detail into what it takes to really take good numbers of 'cats in all types of weather and geographic locations.
There are some really top notch 'cat trappers on here, occasinally I will see some post with some pictured, so I know they are out there and so is the fine detailed information.
The things I hope to dicuss with other trappers on here are:

Location within locations.
Lures, baits, call lures.
Urine usage.
Droppings, worth the trouble?
Flagging and/or sight attactors.
The No# 1 scent for attacting cats?
Targeting Toms only during breeding season.
Dealing with dumb coyotes that doesn't know what a 'cat set is.
Best traps for 'cats.( Should be a good topic.)
Drags vs staked sets vs cable tie offs.
'Cat migration, ( yes, it does happen when weather patterns (ie: deep snow) or a food sourse changes.)
The use of squeekers.
Cubbies-Kill traps vs footholds.
Snares.
Kill trap usage.
Calling ( anyone doing that on here?)
'Cat reaction to changing weather patterns.
Cage trap use.
Felines, fur & feathers.
Wind chimes, bells and whistles.
Exposed pan set, Who uses it?
Dispatch.
Sets
...and of course, a whole lot more.

I hope enough trappers will add to this thread to make it a wealth of knowledge for others who will be able to use the imformation on their trapline.

LT




I'll start with just a simple walk-through in a dry wash using natural material for blocking and guides.
Set can use one or two traps.
My preference in this type of enviroment, is two #4 modified ( step-in) Montomerys on a High Plains Plow w/ 8 ft of heavy chain.
Notice the 'suttle' blocking to the right...

wow got alota ground to cover here heh

first thing locations within locations .......in cat country where sighn is abudant i like to look at the landmarks in this country salt cedars deep washes gulleys etc ive found most toilets in these especialy on salt cedars as well as scratches......to me the best way to skin a cat is right on the pot the biggest thing taught to me and proven right 100% of the time is to set on sighn and not look for a place tht would make a good set theres no point makeing a set well out of any animals way the path of least resistance proves true i make a set in a location like toiles etc and the rocky cliffs ad bluffs, i set on the trails leading down to them as well and find locations where travel ways intersect
most of my sets are constructed sort of wide giveing room to turn around in but not to much i heavly guide cats on both sides useing rocks twigts stickts etc i like to use a flat rock for a rubbing post i smear a gland lure on the rock an a good amount of a gland lure last year i used dobbins Purrrfect and alot of wayne dericks lures.pecos valley cat call ,tombstone and a lure that a mentor of mine make but it do nt have much of a name......on te backig i wet it all down with cat urine and use quite a big i try to wet it all. when you want a cat to work a set you got two basic ideas.hunger and curiosity.....curiosity will always get theyre attention think about it if he just ate hes ganna walk right bye a cat has the attention spand of a two year old but a good gland lure that is a lil loud will get his attention..i also fill a pill bottle full of urine and stick cotton balls in it and add a lil catnip and leave it at the set as well as a desert works well for me.....flagging schrismas thistle and the fuzzy bals hanging from a branch do wonders as well as a lil hsheeps wool stuffed under the rock in a peep hole when i put bait down in the hole.......sardine can lids last year i used alot of the small utility flags but i tied a small peice of white ribbon to them if it s interesting enufff it can do wonders..............traps i used a modified #2 or #3 bridger even #2 montys most times..i like the dogless traps alnd always have use quite a few monty dogless ..last yea i started useing the kb.5.5s an i just loved em not one miss or a bad catch always hign on the foot.........in most the country i trap its perty rocky so i use a older and wide drag like the goverment guys used a t of heavy rebar with cotton pickers welded on each side ....and tie offs when im near a heavy backing...like mesquite salt cedar and small trees i tie righ toff to them i think the shiny cable adds more of an attractant to cats ........the drags i buary in the bedor throw them off in the brush ........cable stakes when i can i use dershires 15 inch cables and they work excellent...............cats and weather pattersns and time ....i give a singe cat 3 days to work his territory and t o come back and the rest sometimes for 2or 3 days straight ive had hits somedays it was 3 before any ...........high pressure systems i think we can all agree in cloud cover or befoe a storm they all move searching for grub etc before a storm hits or just enjoying the cloud cover as it seems to give a warming effect on the surface and a break from the cold wind i beleive these are good times t wend up with a cat mabe the best........all in all said i perty much find the sighn and set on it ..........the trail intersectins or singletrails leadig down to the draws washes or sany bottoms are deadly themselves for greys cats and even a few coons like last year personaly the toilets themselves.......set on sighn is the key in my opinion

Wow great post farrier. Any pics of some of your sets? Again great post guys

most of these pics everyone has seen im not good with cameras so i use my cell phone.......plus i dont have a camera heh the cat above was taken on a trail leading to a small pring salt cedars growing heavily around it. and heres some cat pics from last year note the toe catch was a 1.5 monty was a fox set and happend to get him...was a lucky catch lol cat set below








and here is a cat set.......note theres no trap was just kinda messin around with a new lure but heres an idea of how i do things .....each sitchation is different thew of course

Here are two seperate cats taken one day apart in the same 1 1/2 Mongomery set for coon in a dry wash nest to a dirt road.





Both were caught on a chunk of carp, using a dirt hole set. Releasing them was a lot of fun since I did not have my cat equipment with me...now I carry a notched board all the time.

Here is the catch and remake...A scratch up set. Using a home made concoction that works for me. The only other commercial stuff I use now is Asa Lennons Bobcat Super All-Call.











Here is the cat taken two days after the remake.

wow...very nice posts!

Down here where I get to do my cat trapping its all planted pine plantations stuff and from the looks of the pics posted so far it a good bit thicker anyway I like to go down the fire lanes and Ill try and find a place with a limb hanging out approximately half way across the lane and 5 r 6 feet off the ground then Ill hang a large piece of flagging(about 4 ft long) from the limb and then make a flashy dirt hole under the flaggin. we can use feathers and animal parts for lure and eye appeal down here so I use then also. As for lure I usually hang a cotton ball with something skunky on it high up then some type of castor bait and gland lure down the dirt hole

2 days later


i always set the high bank and the low trail along a creek if i pick up cat tracks...

Here is my favorite cat set with cages, A trail through deep brush preferably along a fence line. as you can see the trail bends slightly to the right allowing the cat to see in the cage for 20-30 feet straight line. this is baited only with lure on a piece of fur with googly eyes glued to it (Yancys biggest contibution to cage trappers)

I do alot of the same and my best year was 16 cats. All but one were caught in footholds and by hanging squirrels about 4 feet from the ground,Asa's lure in the hole and cat pee on the backing.All traps were staked with 15 inch cable stakes. Set on sign is the biggest part of the puzzle as cats are easy to catch. I think the reason so many trappers are discouraged is becasue they find a likely looking spot and set on it but come up empty handed. Find the turds or the tracks and the rest is easy.As far as using 220's and buckets, I have found you will miss alot more cats with this method but it does work. Cats seem funny at times as some years a person can catch 15 or so in coni's and then the next year only caught a hand full. Bobcats and house cats are very similar in their ways. They hug the edges of their surrounding,are curious critters,etc. I have walked in on a property 2 different times and had bobcats jumping out of trees. Once was a tree hanging over a creek where there are beaver and the other was a family of cats that were high in a tree over the creek. Set high for cats or low? I set up high in and around cedars,large brush piles,etc. Bob Wendt sets in Kansas around packrat houses and says you will find the cats there. I have not noticed this to any extent here in eastern Kansas. More likely where there are beaver and muskrat, there will be cats.I give a cat 5 days to come back around instead of 3 days. Once you find an area with cats,it is likely that it will produce in the years to come. Here is a big secret that I have that I will share,which maybe some know and some don't. Sand bars! If you trap river systems or wide creeks, if there is a large sand bar,you are likely to find cats here. Everything runs the sand bars. I could talk cats for hours but it is getting lete for this trapper. More to come.

I drew a bobcat tag for here in PA and know pretty much nothing about cats, so what is the smallest traps you guys would go with for cats? I really don't feel like spending $150 for equipment and traps that I'm only going to use one time.

A 1.75 with offset jaws and 4 coiled will work well is that is what I caught all my cats in with a perfect pad catch resulting in no damage.I can block in around the trap and it makes a nice sized target for them to place their foot. With all of the heavy guiding, I seldom have to worry about a coyote messing with it but have and taken those coyotes also. If tageting coyotes, I step up to a bigger trap.

I use 1.75 offsets when I canine trap but the spring pins have been cut off so I can't add any more coils. Do I need the 4 coils? Would offset laminated 1.75 be better or worse?

I used 1.75 Victors but can't offer any help or advice on your question as I never used 2 coiled traps because of our freezing,wet,damp conditions at the time.

Another question to be answered is no pan tension versus light pan tension for cats. Cats are light steppers as they don't leave alot of heavy tracks for sign.

tbn,
i used to nightlatch all my 1.75s for cats... i now run 3 montanas and monties... i don't mess with these pans at all....

i shortlatch all of mine......kinda hairy trigger was the way i learned and it works for me ive perty much gone to the kbs now days thew

Yeh, all mine are night latched also. I am now a Bridger and MB 550 man. I just know there is a difference in opinion on pan tension.I know a guy that runs zero pan tension for cats but I prefer slight tension to get a higher pad catch versus zero with toe catches. If they are committed to stepping where you want,over the top of the guiding and straight down on the pan, they are already committed to putting their foot down on the pan so I don't feel slight pan tension is going to cost you a miss.

K miller, you run 220's at all for cats? Try rubbing some good lure on the trigger for them to come up and rub on. Set off the ground at eye level.

no tbn,
i do not set 220s on land....

snares and footholds only... what about 160s????

I caught a kitten once in a 160 that was set for coon.I understand your views with 220's, I think. I am very wise where I set 220's and they are far away from any houses.

yeah... i have just never done it...i really don't like the 160's on land either..but they are so good in coon boxes late season..

if i move west like i am planning, then i may try some out there.. east kansas is just too populated never know who is gonna walk their dog where

K. Miller, I think I read a post were you said something about cedar trees....... Is this with cage traps or?

Moving in on Wendt's land are you?? LOL

cdr,
we have huge cedar thickets here in eastern kansas. these are prime locations for cat sets...

i use cedar branches to make wire cubbies and to cover my cages

if you find a large cedar, go right at the base of the trunk on the south side and dig down a couple inches you will find dry dirt and needles... this is an excellent bedding for late season.. the needles allow the moisture to run down through them and they are not as likely to freeze...

tbn,
no.... i don't do enough trapping that anyone like bob wendt would even notice my presence...hehe

Thanks K. Miller! Good info....

Yes, cedar duff makes good trap bedding/cover. Always dry in the dead of winter.Those cedars make natural places to set footholds because you can keep them working in heavy snow by getting up under a large tree sheltering the set from the elements. Our cats always smell like cedars. I imagine it is from where they live,hunt and or rub to mask themselves.Don't overlook high,rocky banks. Where in Oklahoma do you reside? Once fishing a tournament at Skiatook Lake outside of Tulsa, we watched a nice bobcat walk down to the water and walked along the bank working its' way up into the timber/thickets going up a fairly steep hillside.The thing could care less that we were 50 yds. away.

Well, it looks like I'm going to buy som Duke #2's, because they are really the only thing I can afford. Will these need to be 4-coiled?

another good place is mountain saddles ...deep draws and even the wide washes and gullys with islands ....path of least resistance

i se ey aupdated a lil lt id like to mention i dispatch just like most withh a .22 revolver.....but because of the rabies i lung shoot my cats less of a risk than a head shot with exposed brains etc

No choke down????,
I 'd think you'd want to save the skulls or no blood on the fur...
'Cats are easy to choke down with a good pole. They go pretty quickly....about 30-60 seconds of Rodeo though....

wasn't sure i was supposed to post that lt.....

my son did his first last winter.. a 30+lb tommy.... it was for sure a rodeo

.......i dont choke them down seems easyer and quicker to me to whip out the pistol ...only time i use my pole is to release them ......last year released a few females .........nope just a quick shot...i can wash blood out ..just my prefrence......had a few rodeos last year one releasing a few

i can bet youre spending more time washing out blood than i am cinchin'

thats fine i didnt intend to spark an argument i was asked a question, and i answerd it. you do your thing ill do mine
have a good season and best of luck to you

AHHH farrier, he's not arguing with ya.

tbn,
Western Okla.

i used to shoot my cats... not anymore

no harm no foul farrier..

same here think i jumped the gun on that one....my apologys......you and lt make a fine point i think ill try it this year

could you guys post a few pics of the coni setup? i would like to see it ..........i dont use connis but would like to try a few ........this year isnt ganna be as buisy....i moved and looks like ill have way less time so im just ganna make a dozen or more sets

Whats your opinon on making a atrifial cat toilet? I know someone who raise bobcats and I could get dropings by the bucket ful. I was thinking on puting a few of these out a month before our season, any input from anybody?

can't see how it would not work well...

they are cats... the rule is... there are no rules.... five of them may walk right past it.. three of them may roll in it.... one might take a dump on it and go on...

anything goes on cats!

Thanks, I plan on makining these in proven cat area and was going to try to get them out early enough to get them to use it.

let us know how it goes

Absolutely use them!!! ......and get me a bucket, while you're at it!

ive done this last year.....i dont have pics of this one but it worked very well for me produce several cats

Heres a little cat that i got in a coyote set this morning. it was caught by the back foot with a nubmer 3 vic fourcoil. nice little cat. let go, not season here yet. still would have let go though due to the size.

[img:center][/img]

dang... too bad season ain't open...

once it does....

EMD

too small to keep for me. i would like something in the 30 pound range or better. have to see what i can find during season. im going to give it a good run in the first five days.

I ain't looking for a itty one but would be happy with a good sized first ever. hope to get my first one this season.

What about the litter box set? Anybody save their pet cats' litter? Save the turds,add a little urine until it becomes a paste and use? Cats are cats are cats!

i got two smaller ones, this one included. both before season. i had seen some nice ones in the same area on the trail cam. ill take one in the mid twenties for my first i suppose. depends where its caught at.

good luck to everyone chasing the kitties around. i have never used any house cat poop. i know this one life a nice present next to the set for me lol

I am sorry, but can someone explain to me or show a pic of a notched board and what it does

It helps release the cat.

...and keeps you safe from getting clawed or bitten. Trappers have used a plastic garbage can the same way.

Natural walk through...



Close up. A call lure is smeared on the rock face (inside), trap where the smoothed out, step down is...



A view from the other side and a better picture of the "step down trail set."
Note the droppings, which with or without urine are optional!

Natural blocking using rocks on the above set, can be duplicated!

We have a lot of those natural walk through areas. I have not started this year yet, but will get some pictures for sure.

how do you stake in such terrain?

Mel Hershberger's (sp) book, he always used drags...but if you wanted to stake, is it possible?

I learned much from Mel and yes a drag works well but a steel hook is not the total answer in every terrain.
Trappers seem to forget that limbs and flat rocks can be wired onto chain to slow animals down or used as the drag themselves!

You have to be careful what you use for a drag because cats will head straight up a tree the first chance they get. I had to cut down two separate trees this year to recover two bobcats that managed to shinny up the poles of pine trees. Once they hit the canopy, they tangled the chains around limbs, but each of the cats was at least 15' up in the air, maybe more. It pays to use a stout limb that has some weight to it so that the cat can't climb easily.

some fo my cat traps have two drags attatched. 1 at 6feet and another at 8 feet. I dont like retreaving cats from tree tops

Yep. The desert doen't have many trees that are climbable but in the hardwoods or pine forest... yes, that is real good advice.

These rocky outcrops wil hold a lot of wildlife.
Ground squirrels, cottontails, packrats, Gambels Quail, just to name a few.
'Cats will hunt these as ambush sites.
You will note the holes and crevis in these rock formations.
Those are will your traps will have the best success.



Here is a close up of a packrat den in the rocks. These sites are littered with rat droppings and are 'cat magnets as well as grey fox and coyotes
Trap goes where the smoothed out area is. You can use a few sticks as guides, I wouldn't here, but you could.
Also you'd want a heavier pan tention so you're not removing half eaten rats out of your traps every morning.

LT, where is that? Definitly doesn't look like Ohio. Is that a den that goes into the rocks?

Really, that doesn't look like Ohio?





Nothin' gets past these guys....

Here is some information that you may or may not use to your advantage...your choice!

Urine usage:
Goverment studies have shown that, except for breeding season, bobcats were as much (and at times more) attracted to coyote urine than urine of their own kind.

With 'cat urine prices considerably higher, it's something to think about when making your purchases this season!

Your just given out all the secretes.

no kidding... and fox pee is even cheaper!

One of the things that will help you choose locations to trap 'cats is find the rabbits!
'Cats do feed on other food sourses but overall rabbits will in many areas be the stable food sourse.
Broken rocky outcrops, brushy draws, overgrown creek banks, cut banks in dry washes, all these will have a good many places for rabbits, chipmunks and other small rodents to hide in.
Many of these places will also be where you will set your traps.

Slim Pedersen said it best, when he said,
"To trap 'cats, think 'cats!"
You start looking at areas as if you were a 'cat yourself and you will see things in a whole different light!

I always like to use whatever is natural in the area to make your set. The desert areas always have a lot of brush and old dead cati that make excellent blocking material and backings for 'cat sets.
Even rocks can be used as natural trap guides.



Im areas such as these, keep your traps away from the trails, unless you are behind locked gates.
Sure 'cats will travel them, but so does everything else from bands of havalinas to human traffic. Your best choice is the rocky outcrops with suttle flagging and plenty of skunky call lure. The 'cats will find them because that's where their prey will be.

nice info Lt, thank you!

Flags

I haven't read too much on here about "flagging", so I'll throw a few thoughts out there on the subject.

Two rules on flags that I tend to stick with.
The first is a gawdy flag that one can see for a country mile.
The other is a more suttle approch with a much lower profile.

Each of course will have it's place in cat trapping, both for obvious reasons.

Clint Locklear recently came up with his "ghost" ,(a 2 liter bottle wrapped up inside a white plastic bag. Hung from the top, the eccess bag not surrounding the bottle is cut in strips and waves in the wind, which can be spotted from a great distance.)

Unfortunetly, you'll want to be around some honest competition, because it will draw some unwanted attention.

Flags of course can be made from most anything.
Strips of tanned, even faux fur, work real well.
My favorite is tanned skunk or black fake fur with white paint added, for contract.
Chrismas tinsel as other shinney objects will often work.
Feathers are also a favorite, mine being turkey wing feathers attached to a fishing swivel.
This allow for greater movement with less effort.

Strips of rabbit fur are also good but don't hold up well in wet weather.
Even cotton strips or sheep wool stuck up high will work well.
I even knew a trapper who hung a Pepsi can from a string with a trap underneath.
Unconventional, but it worked.
Milar flagging strips could also be used but can also catch the eye of every passing huuman, as the sun will reflect off of it and can be seen at great distance.
Charlie Dobbins once spoke of using old casette tape, which was hung from limbs nearby the set.
Unusual once again, but also effective.

These are things one uses when natural animal parts are illegal to use.

I have had the best luck with cutting an aluminum pie tin into pie slice pieces and hanging it with very light wire. It catches the sun well and will bring them in from a long distance. But of course it draws the attention of humans too. It also rattles on the wire to get their attention.

thin strips of wal mart sacks work great...

Paper or plastic?

how bout woody terrain for bobcats...how bout some info on that?

plastic...lol

good one LT.

You should never pass up a place like this on your 'cat line!
'Cats will hunt these and also use them during spells of bad weather. Find these and the 'cats will find you!




A close up walk though using rocks as a natural guide. This is a two trap walk through with a step over rock between the traps.

Traps are in the sifted sandy areas....but you knew that, right?

This is a great thread, please keep the info coming and thanks to everyone contributing.

Down in the southern part of Mississippi, I trap mainly two types of ground. Pine plantations or Swamps, I have as good as luck catching cats in Pine plantation as I do in the Swamps. I have found that our cats do not follow the same pattern as that I read about and hear about people in other parts of the country talking about. Do not get me wrong I catch a lot of cats in heavy cover areas such as Brier Patches, Privet Hedge thickets, and such type areas. But I catch a good many in big pine plantations that are burned yearly and have very little to no ground cover. I catch nearly as many cats in these type of areas as I do in what most people would call prime bobcat locations.

I honestly do not make sets that are only intended for cats (I just make sets) unless I just come upon a location that is loaded with cat sign. Most of my sets are intended to catch whatever walks by be a fox a coyote or a bobcat, 99% of my sets are Dirthole sets, I look for spots that just look like a natural type cubby, I catch a few yotes and fox in these type but that is another Topic. My lures/bait are consistent when I set, I only use RK Predator Plus, on lures I use dobbins RDFX/Purrfect and have used Grey Buzzard a little this year caught a few reds and a cat on it this week.

This probably will not help anyone but I felt like typing something anyway.lol

If you could only put one trap anywhere in this landscape....where would it be?

Ok, LT. I don't get to trap in the beautiful southwest with cacti and rocks everywhere. Instead I live on a small rural NE Kansas farm. Typical pasture land with trees along some of the fence lines. There is a large pond and a small pond. I have seen cat tracks on the large pond dam and near a corner fence post. Would setting a trap near the corner post and some kind of walk through on the dam be the best options? What would be the best for fencing on the dam to encourage the cat to walk through?

put four dirtholes on the dam.... two at either end...

bed a trap under that post in the first pix and hang a feather off the post about 3' off the ground.. smear some good skunky (feline fancy/purrfect) on the post 18" off the ground.. you'll have a cat if there are cats using the area

good luck

kirk

Should he bed the trap against the post? Or, how far away from the post should the pan sit?

the width of your hand laying flat on the ground...

search the archives for winterized cat sets..

i looked at the picture again... typical that the trail has eroded in front of the post.... put a big rock on either side of your trap...

Thanks miller

Well Rattie, I don't normally run around pickin' catcus thorns out of my knees either!

Where I normally trap, looks much like your photos and we don't have a legal 'cat season here in Ohio.

What 'cats I have caught have been on out of state ventures.

I have trapped and snared bobcats but there are a lot better 'cat trappers on here than me....certainly ones with more experience!

That said, I have been around enough to know that if a 'cat hangs around me very long, he'll end up on a streather!

I have trapped 'cats in Oklahoma, which looks much like your area.

On stock dam/crossings, 'cats will just naturally work them, as will coyotes and foxes. It is a natural funnel.

Flags made out of feathers, if legal, from overhanging branches will draw 'cats and get them to focus on a specific area, where a dirthole doped up with either bait, castor, gland lure, urine or any combination of the above will take most passing cats.

I like turkey wing feathers on a fishing swivel hung from light wire, the best!

A few feathers scattered around the set, if legal, for eye appeal won't hurt either!

On that corner post, a rub set would be in order there. Beaver castor about shoulder high would certainly work, if you had the cattle out of the pasture.

Jameson had a post on here once about "rub" sets. Maybe he'll show up and grant us another look at his version!

LT.... i just told him to make a rub set...LOL

I have not taken the time to read every post on this thread, but from what I have read, there is lots of very good information and pictures available on here.
Lt. Grey, in the desert picture above, Even though bobcats love the rocks, in the dry desert, their food craves water, and while bobcats will go to the rocks and lay up, they usually hunt and travel below the rocks, more in the thick stuff if possible, or border it. For that reason, I found in the desert southwest that say where those rock cliffs point towards the bottom is most likely where a bobcat would enter or leave those rocks, so no reason to climb up to that location, but would set in the bottom draw, as close to that point sticking towards the camera in the draw, or find a drainage, leading from that point towards the bottom as likely travelway for cats to follow to go to bottom.
Bobcat locations vary across the country, as pointed out well in this thread so far. However, with that said, experience will give you a feel for where cats will travel if they are in any kind of terrain----By that, I mean that they do not like to travel too exposed, yet like everything else, including humans, they will pick the easiest travel routes if possible so they can get from one possible food source location to another possible food source location. Cotton tail rabbits are normally the preferred food souces if available, however rodents, such as mice, packrats, rats in general, or prairie dogs, are likely hunting locations for bobcats. Now with that said, bobcats will vary greatly in size in different parts of the USA, so that often large bobcats will seek, and regularily hunt for deer and pronghorn antelope during winter months where snow gets deep, and small bobcats on both coastlines will spend most of their time hunting for birds. Yet both will also regularily seek cottontail rabbits, and of course cottontail rabbit habitat will vary greatly from swamp lands to high mountain terrains.
I see that use of flags to attract when slightly off location has been covered quite well, but do not forget that bobcats hunt with thier ears, as much as with their eyes. The sound attractors, commonly still referred to as squeaker units will attract bobcat attention as well as sight attractions do.
Bobcats have a good nose, but for some reason or other, they do not use it normally to seek food sources. Yes they will detect odors and go to some better than others, but their ficle nature will often have them ignore some of the better normal attraction odors as well. However their curiosity gets the better of them if there is something they can see, smell, and hear, so use of all three near good bobcat travelways is almost a guaranteed cat visit.
Another thing about bobcats, is that they all act like female humans all the time---meaning that what is interesting today, may be ignored tomorrow. I have caught bobcats at well blended in flat sets for coyotes with nothing more than a few drops of coyote urine, and I have caught them near flags, with sets that were so dolled up with fur, feathers, cotton, wool, tinfoil strips, etc. that they could be seen even by a human for over a hundred yards. The difference is the flat sets were directly on a good travelway, while the other type sets were attempts to draw them from where I could not get directly onto locations that they would want to travel on.
Yes loud odors probably get thier attention better than mild odors do, but if directly on location, a very mild odor will pique enough curiosity for bobcats to want to check the source.
Not sure what else I can contribute that has not already been discussed, as bobcat droppings are always an attraction as is other bobcat odors such as urine, glands etc. I have never been too high on catnip, but will quickly admit that at times bobcats seem to be interested in that odor, while at other times they may just ignore it, like they may do any other type of odor, since they do not rely upon their nose like canines do as their primary sense to locate things. As I already said, combining, sight, sound, and odor combinations will usually produce cats if you are near a travelway from one food source to anther food source.

LOL.. no one wants to follow slim... wonder why???

Because he is one of THE BEST bobcat trappers in the nation...?

Yeah, I'll go with that one!

That from O'Gorman himself....and that's saying something!
Slim is no doubt a wealth of information on trapping predators and I'm glad to have his contribution to this thread. But yes, a hard act to follow...

Ok, someone can follow me then....

Thanks to all for your help. When I get that cat I will post it's pic.

We're gonna hold you to it, Rattie!

Those Kansas felines are some pretty nice 'cats from what I've seen in pictures!

i would suggest using a snare, they are much cheaper and very effective for bocats. i like a 1/16 snare with a camlock set about seven inches off the ground with a seven to eight inch loop. good luck

nevada...

hard for her to narrow him down based on the pix...

Kinda what I was thinking in that vast open terrain. My snares for cats go out when I see where they crossed a road in the snow going down a trail or under a fence or outside edge of corn stubble fields.Although I have no experience snaring in Nevada.

A lot of fur can be caught coming and going through culvert pipes.

Even bands of Havalinas and coyotes will use them.

I caught my first bobcat yesterday morning in a dirthole on a trail that crosses a fencerow and connects two fields. It was baited with Dobbins' Purrfect, Caven's Just Mice, and some grey fox urine.

i trap nevada but cats are cats anywhere you go, if you have boulder piles, saddles in mountain terrain, creeks in wooded country ect, then they are all great places to set traps or snares. good job linemtncooner and best of luck.

'Cats will hunt rock formations for a mutitude of prey.

where in this picture should a person set for cats isay on the top ledge before the hill around the bottom xmas tree?

joeberg,
Why not set both?
look for tracks in those trails right along the edge and also at the cliff base. Easy to put a flag in the cedars, or a bighole/bankhole set in that light tan place you see in the lower center of the picture. If it is too rocky to dig a hole and looks as if it could be...I'd transport in some sandy soil,( via a 5 gallon bucket) and put in a 'cat toilet with lots of droppings for eye appeal, urine and a skunky call lure 12-15" up high on the rock face.
If only allowed one trap...that would be my choice, otherwise I'm setting about 2-4 good sets there.





These rock holes will produce 'cats come snow time.

Joeburg, my experience in Kansas tells me that cats are going to walk that smooth trail along that ridge. Probably going to have a staking problem there so look into a long chain with a drag attached.You could easily construct a cubby with cedar bows.

yes on the drag... soild rock, i wanted to make sure on the location though, thanks for the idea of bringing in some sand lt, i hadnt thought of that,and it would help just to bed the trap in. i was leaning towards a walk through at that lower tree, ill have to wait for a snow that sticks and try to see some tracks.

The importing sandy soil is a 'trick' used by many western trappers who deal with rocky or hardpan/clay soil.
Canine/'Cat trappers should always carry soil just for situations such as yours.

I import sandy soil to set traps inside of culverts and along bridge ledges, something most trappers never ever think about doing.

You can also use what "rock climbers" or "concrete wall formers" use and hammer it over the dropoff between the cracks of rocks.

A 'cat will NEVER, EVER get it out and will in all probability end up over the edge!
Make sure you swivel it off the "spike/wedge"!