bobcats

catdaddy · #1 04-09-2006, 12:27 AM

hellow, what set is best foe thses critters and what kind of habitat do they prefer
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vaporgenie

Skyline · #2 04-09-2006, 08:32 AM

catdaddy the best set I have found over the years is a cubby set for both bobcat and lynx. You can use either a leghold trap or a 330. Bucket or box sets which are basically the same thing as a cubby work well also and are portable.

I usually use a 330 right in the cubby and set several leghold traps around it for the cautious kitty that comes in and circles but won't actually poke its head into the cubby.

hatracked · #3 07-12-2006, 08:30 AM

We wear em out here with a typical dirthole set baited with a food lure and an added visual attractant over the set like feathers or a piece of audio tape. Anything flashy that moves works pretty well. As they say curiosity killed the cat. Keep in mind felines are far less scent orientated you have to appeal to his visual senses to really catch them consistantly.

catdaddy · #4 07-12-2006, 11:49 PM

really, cats are takin in dirtholes,well that sounds good,so scatter feathers and tinfoil around and a good strong bait and lure and i should havce one

hatracked · #5 07-13-2006, 10:59 AM

Feathers work very well I save bunches of breast feathers off the spring turkeys we take and use it in several ways for set attraction. One is quite simply spreading feathers around the set so its obvious to a passerby that something has been killed easten and left overs buried to be eaten later. I also take these feathers and mix them with small amounts of food based lures to bait my holes with The feathers stored in a platic zip lock with a half teaspoon of lure will absorb that scent and really help catch the nose as well as the eye.

Tin foil will work as well but I get kinda anal about using unnatural stuf at my sets including the audio tape tassles. Not that it makes any difference in the long run I just prefer to do it with as much natural stuff as possible. Wood duck feathers on a beaver dam or pond edge are a sure stop and look enticement around here as well as a dove wing protruding from your baithole.

Couple things you might consider on the bob cat sets is they wander large areas and dont always use the same trails every day. Just becuase a set is inactive for a week dont pull it sometimes the cat just hasnt been back that way yet. Also more so than other trapping target species location is paramount. I typically wont set for a cat unless I see a regular run established. lastly but not least use a fine tuned trap and understand that bobcats tread very lightly, it needs to have a fast trigger and not require a whole lot of foot commitment to fire. Even with good foot committment most of my bob cat catches are toe catches.

Good luck

Lynches river bobcat

You can see with this footbridge crossing over the canal travel was restricted and very specific. My set was 2/3 up the opposing bank on the left. It produced two nice bobcats and a third that I took with a rifle a few weeks before trapping season opened. Not to mention several greys and a couple of coons. Location Location Location

catdaddy · #6 07-13-2006, 05:01 PM

thanks for postin the pics,them cats are wary thogh arnt they

hatracked · #7 07-13-2006, 06:59 PM

I dont know if wary is the right word for it. The are definately secretive and dont get seen often but far as catching them they arent near as bright at a trap set as a fox.

catdaddy · #8 07-14-2006, 01:03 AM

but cat longliners probly bring in the most money nowdays, with there prices's so high ,since all it takes is a dirthole with good strong lure and attraction around it il try my hand at bobcats,they killcats and dogs arond here

hatracked · #9 07-14-2006, 09:34 AM

Lot of the serious bobcat trappes out west use live trap cages. I think this is as much to keep the cat from being torn up in the set by a yote as anything else. On those longlines trap checking is not a daily occurrance so long waits in dirt hole cs sets arent any good.

Shouldnt be a problem in Fl. Good luck and be sure you stop back and tell of your successes or what you leanred. I find it darn near impossible to set a trap without learning something before its over.

catdaddy · #10 07-14-2006, 02:14 PM

yup,but i trap at my grandpas in AL,do they have high poplulations up there, and youre right aboyt learning stuff on the line, when i first started,i never considered any of the modifications and stuff for my traps, the a season passed and learned i did,i still have a lot to learn though,my current line is after coon ,posum and gray fox,then bobcat