Laziness #1: This starts starts back a few months ago. My son wrote a "Young Trappers" story for Trappers Post and they sent him some Bridger 1.5s. I told him we would weld some Wild River expanded Pans on them so he could use them for cats, but of course we never did. This is what all my traps look like (beside my sons 3 traps)

They provide a nice, flat spot for the cat to step on.

Laziness #2: I accidently grab one of his traps to hike up a canyon to a spot we always get 1 or 2 cat from. I realized my mistake when I got the trap out of my pack so my son decided he was going to make his cat set. It has a small pan so I grabbed a piece of waxed paper from my bag. We normally do exposed traps but this pan is too small so I was going to be covered between the jaws. Well we caught a cat and I didn't have my pack (so no waxed paper) so I just left the trap uncovered.


Results: A week later (last night) I go to pull this section of the line. I start walking up the canyon and notice cat tracks heading up it as well. The last cat was coming down the canyon so I knew these were a new cat. I get to the set and the trap is still there, but on the other side of the set I see this.


Missed a cat all because of a trap pan. Those traps are getting some Wild River Trap Pans welded on them today after work. Mike Kelly makes a great product but it only works if you use it. Lesson learned.

Mike does make good equipment. I have had some for many years. I use mine for mink.

Ok, explain please. A pan or lack thereof caused a miss? How? For some reason my brain just can’t quite comprehend what you’re implying. If a cat steps where you guide him he’s caught right? None of my traps have extended or whatever those pans are called, but they still catch cats. What am I missing?

That cat just stepped over both sets of stepping sticks. Didn't see a good spot to put its foot down between them. He's using walk- through sets in the high desert, not a dirt hole catch-all set. It's a bigger deal to miss a thousand dollar cat than it is to miss a $25 cat.

In a buried trap, pan size isn't a big deal. When i made the original set, used waxed paper over the pan and covered it in dirt. I didnt have my bag with me after i caught a cat so i just left it exposed. If i would have had my bag (or went back to the truck to get my bag or another trap) and covered it, i would have caught the cat. Down here a lot of cat trappers use exposed traps. If the pan is to small, for the cat it doesn't look like a good spot to put its foot so it steps over the stepping guides. In the two pics I posted with the traps, you can see a big difference in trap pan size.

The reason for exposed traps is no freeze down, and less gear you have to pack up the mountain, and the quicker you can put sets in. It also helps keep the coyotes out which is a big deal (even though a few dumb ones end up getting caught). Down here you are lucky to find someone who even wants our coyotes, but $1,000 cats are very possible. In fact the last cat I caught at the spot should be in that range.

Especially when you miss one right before you pull your traps. Hopefully it's still around in a couple years when I trap this area again. I'm telling myself it's a big mature female, who has 3-4 kittens a year and is big enough to fight off males to protect the kittens and easily catches enough rabbits to keep the kittens well feed. Plus has perfect color and passes them to all her kittens. Hahaha. Makes me feel better.

Got them welded on. Here's the difference between a wildriver pan and a stock pan. A huge difference when you are trying to motivate a cat to step on the pan

Looks great!!!

Do you put anything on those larger pans? In your pic it doesn’t look like just bare steel, looks like it has some texture.

I just put some kind of textured paint on the pan. Normally use a sand textured spray paint but don't have any so this is bed lined. Just something to take the shine off of it and give it texture so when I sprinkle dirt on the pan it stays longer

If that ever happens again wad up a little vegetation and use it under the pan, like an underall. Then you can cover it.

I make pan extensions from 1/2 wire mesh by fold it over and wire wrapping the two sides making an open ended pouch to slide over the pan. Trim to fit dog and corners. Fills trap jaw to jaw and does not interfere with coil springs as mesh is stiff enough to trigger trap but will fold by closing springs. I use a cover pad of fiberglass screen to make it more inviting to step on. Or white non skid drawer pad in snow.

Not sure what a dirt hole catch-all set is, haven’t learned that one yet. And yeah, I’ve used exposed pans down here and caught cats. First was an accident after a rain. I learned from that and started leaving pans exposed if there’s nothing but cat tracks. Even an ole Southern boy can learn a thing or two from the western trappers. Of course I leave the pan exposed, not the entire trap. Guess that’s why coyotes will step there as well.

I used to do that on my traps. But then the mice and pack rats would chew it up or drag it off. Also it's one more thing I would have to remember to pack. If I targeted coyotes or other species that require a buried trap more often, I would still do it just so my traps can stay stock and be more versatile. Since I only target cats, it's easier just to make the Pans bigger. But the shelf liner and fiberglass screen does allow you to fill the entire space between the jaws which is nice.

My dozens and dozens of mb 550’s all have his pan on them.