Cage Trapping Bobcats tips

Had my first experiance with a frozen door this last season. Being from TX I didn't have to really worry about it until now.

My first frozen door didn't cause me to miss a cat though. I caught a skunk and the door decided to freeze shut. Needless to say it was an interesting task to get the door open while talking to the skunk telling him not to spray me. Lol. I heard that if you talk to them it keeps em calm. I must have looked like an idiot out there.

I will be using some wax this year.
 
hahha nothing like staring down a skunk to make you rethink that wax idea.. lol

I just think that it would be a good idea to drop some traps as i go along and see sign, as i drive around an area for the weekend.
I figure that one cat or yote in a trap, would make it worth it.

One quick question though.. I have a lady friend that has a couple of cats.. Do you think it would work to put the cages in the garage sitting in some dirt and let the cats play around in them... I would think that it would do the same thing as saving the "hot dirt"
Idea's?
 
I personally wouldn't do it. I want all of my scent to be at the back of the cage. If the whole cage smells like a house cat I think a bobcat would walk up and smell the front and satisfy his curiosity.

I think you could use some turds from the litter box though.

I clean and touch up my pans after seasons end and let them sit in the garage until August when I set them outside to kinda air out.
 
Deer ears. Hang one in the trap for bait/attractor.

Had a fellow from Texas share this idea with me. He said it works great.

Sounds like it should work.

ML
 
The " hot dirt" works very well, although I have only done this a few times it is worth doing.
I have found that with visual attraction such as birds to a kill, feathers in the wind, that as Mercer says the hot dirt allows for easier second catches.
Using this technique, and others similar to it I have caught to date 8 cats in one set in 16 days, with many times as many as 4 to 8 cats in the same set, in as much time.
This does not happen at every set that the technique is used but out of 25 sets I usually can get 3 to 4 sets to do this in a season, when cat numbers are up.
In the past few years in my areas the cats are in decline as the rabbits and other food sources are way down, but I still have a set or two that will produce 4 to 5 cats over the season.
Take it for what it is worth everyone has their way of doing things, but a person can't argue with success.
Mercer thanks for starting this thread I look forward to seeing just how much response and tips show up on it.

G
 
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If someone would tell me how to post a pic I would.

I don't like using call lures outside of the cage. Too much evidence that it causes distraction. If I do use call lure above the cage I also put some of the same scent in the trap.

I figure if the cat has responded to the call lure then he must like it and is seeking it's origin. Allow him to find it in the back of the trap and not spend his time trying to get to it above which keeps him out of the set.

ML
 
Cat carpet.

A strip of thin carpet or other material the width of your cage and soaked in cat pee, turds and glands. Lay it on your pan and a few inches this side of the hinge. Adds that catty scent to the trap that helps get 'em in. Only gets better after the catch.

Also works good with a lead in scent. What could be better than a cat rolling on the pan of your cage trap!

ML
 
Originally Posted By: mercer lawingCat carpet.

A strip of thin carpet or other material the width of your cage and soaked in cat pee, turds and glands. Lay it on your pan and a few inches this side of the hinge. Adds that catty scent to the trap that helps get 'em in. Only gets better after the catch.

Also works good with a lead in scent. What could be better than a cat rolling on the pan of your cage trap!

ML




You got me thinking on that one. Might have some carpet in my camtrips this season.
 
The lock looks fine but the pan is something I would want to see up close as well. If it works on game as well as a regular pan it would be a great idea. The door looks cocked to the side pretty hard when the trap is set but it may not be an issue. I am a perfectionist so this would bother the heck out of me.
 
That's exactly what I was thinking Mercer. In the video they talked of the door coming down on the cat causing it jumping into the trap. Maybe the pan is suppose to trigger before the back feet are in the trap? If so, I would not feel confident in this but I am also making judgements without ever personally laying eyes on the trap.
 
I had a "big" tom back out of a swing door cage (no trap name to prevent piss'in. match.lol)last year two nights in a row cause the door was hit'in him in the butt. I set one of lawing's cages out the third night---tightened the cam so the critter had to be 7/8 of the way in the cage before it tripped---and there was a big pussycat wait'in for me in the morning.

I've had more of these mountain cats go backwards from a door hit'in them in the butt and leav'in than getting a good solid gate drop.
 
Cats "backing out"

The only reports I have ever heard have come from Colorado and it has been 3 maybe 4 instances and a couple of them were in my traps.

With perhaps 50 or more captures on trail cam I have seen lots of different reactions but never anything close to backing out. I am sure it happens and cats are different around the country. The old saying' "cats are cats" goes only so far as my very limited experience in Colorado this past season showed me that.

In Az it looks like the bait law has been changed to allow the use of non-edible portions of game animals.

This Fall when out bird hunting simply split the chest skin of your birds with your fingers and fillet the meat off the bone leaving the rest of the carcass as a nice piece of bait for you cage traps. Put the word out to your buddies and you will have plenty of bait for the trapping season.

In Colorado I used some full chukar carcasses I traded for from a bird farm. The game warden said it was OK so long as I had a receipt.

ML
 
Prairie dog shooting might be my new addiction! What a good time that is. Never did it before last year now I have been four times. Private property and public.

No idea what will happen this winter. It all depends on if the plant will give me time off without pay. I would need more than two weeks if I was to go back to CO. I had 14 days last Dec and it just wasnt enough time. You loose three days just in travel. I would sure like to go back. Very enjoyable running around out there and the challenge of new country. Quite an investment of time.

The downside is leaving shirt sleeve weather and two cats a day out here to go out there and catch two a week.

ML
 
Mercer,
I like the idea of your cat carpet. What is your opinion about domestic cats? Do you think it matters if that catty smell is from a domestic cat?

If that is the case, then my wifes cat pagoda is in for a carpet overhaul come November...hello instant cat carpet.

I also heard all kinds of good things at the Globe, AZ sale about your lead in scent, I hope you have some on hand come October.
 
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