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now that's good

I just haven't seen much consistency and I've been lucky enough to trap them in WV,NV and here in Mt.I also haven't kept a lot of records either.I remember setting on a tom track and it took 6 weeks to return.Here,the season would have been over by then.I remember another tom that walked right by a set that he had a clear view of and never broke stride,only to return,2 days later and get caught.There was another,big tom with a very long stride.He might come through once or twice in a one month season but I never once saw him follow a trail,road,ridge top or draw and never the same spot twice.I spent way too much time and effort on that one cat,hiking way more than was practical and never did get him on a set and never did get that cat.One year he just didn't show up and there weren't any other trappers around.

In very deep snows,I've seen them hole up on one spot for two weeks.That in itself disrupts any regularity as will also happen if they get on a big game kill.

I'm sure in some areas you will see more regularity in their movements,especially in denser populations.All the areas Ive trapped,the cats seemed more spread out.I just get as many traps out as quickly as I can and try to keep them visible and functioning.After that,I'm at the mercy of a short season and the cat's whims.

That has been about verbatim for me as well, Taxi brings alot of good points
I have found it best too put 2or3set preferably all walk thru in the line of travel for bobcats and use a different comb of smell at each set and sites if able as close to the cats track under cover if in a place of big snows. To help weather out of set and wait.
The only guy that has not had a cat walk by a set is the guy that has not been trapping long enough they will sooner or later.lol

Amen to that,Ken.

You can always tell a bobcat trapper. He is the one with half his hair pulled out and a facial tick.
Taxi and Red bring up some good points that I have experienced. I like to set a good location with three sets about 50 to 100 yards apart. All have different looks and smells. I find this works lots better than on set per location.

We must have met at some time,Ha!Good post.

The beaver came out from under the ice so I guess that explains why a cat would continue to keep track of them even after things lock up. I'm going to do a hay/walk through set right on the ice and see if I can't entice a cat to check out my set. I'm taking my chainsaw out and dropping an anchor under the ice.

Thanks for the replies everyone.

So far this year 2 big Toms, both on the first 48 hour check. The month since then, no bobcats. Set a new line all on fresh tracks or rabbit kills, checking in a day or two and will get back with results but wouldn't surprise me if its another first couple checks.

Wyatt

Well, close...but not close enough. I landmined the beaver pond pictured above with MB 550s but this guy chose not to walk by any of those flagged sets.

This track was fresh since yesterdays check. It walked directly over the beaver lodge. Also found another cat track on a logging road where I have a scent post set. That one deviated off the road a quarter mile away from where I've captured its pics, twice.

A fisher and fox also visited the pond. There's some fisher tracks and scat where it relieved itself off a log.

Update:

Set out 13 traps.

Within 24 hours, one cat.

72 hours later, another cat.

Both males, maybe 30 miles apart.

I've posted this before and got slammed but oh well. 90% of my cat sets that hit, hit within 3-4 days or they don't hit at all.

I believe I bought into that lure too, the web page shows pictures of hundreds of cats on stretchers. I have been using it for about 3 weeks at different sets so I could check tracks, and as far as I've seen nothing has bothered to inspect any of the sets its been used on. Bobcat season here in PA came in this past Saturday, so yesterday I set a couple sets with it in any area known for having a lot of cats for over 20 years. Ill be checking it in an hour, but I'm not really getting my hopes up.

Anyone notice any new patterns over the last couple weeks?

Did you ever connect Posco?

MooseMasher, anything since those two males?

I've been watching bobcats on camera for about 5 years now as much as I can find them. Last year I ran 8 trail cameras specifically set on cat travel ways to try to find a cat with rosettes. Our cats have a wide range of what I call "circuits." I've had cats consistently there every 7 days, and some that it is close to 30 days before I see them again. They do seem to take the exact trail/route every time they enter the area.

I had a cat I wanted this year, and I had him coming every week, and then something changed. I'm only getting him once every three weeks now, and I haven't hit that time while trapping (It's 20 miles from home, and I'm not checking daily for one cat). I have found that if there's an abundance of prey, and no pressure that some locations I'll have cats on camera almost daily. These locations are on property I know no one hunts/traps but me. One cat last February threw me for a loop as I put out some beaver tail oil, and he stayed on location checking the smell nightly for 5 nights in a row (that has never happened as long as I've been running cameras).

I'm with most people on two things regarding cats. They aren't hard to catch if you're on top of them, it's simply waiting until they come through an area again (although some days they just don't care and stroll right by). They will run the exact same places at some point you've found a track the question is when?

I had one forty acre location that was one place untouched. In the middle of nowhere. No hunting pressure. I've not seen another vehicle in there besides me (I have a camera on the only entrance to the place), and it's one of those locations where I had cats daily on camera, and not the same cat. Turkeys are in abundance (most guys say find the rabbits), but here if I see a pile of turkeys there's usually cats close by.

I set a trap where I had daily occurrences of bobcats. I caught a female day 1, a male day 2, the third morning had a coon, the fourth day was empty, and the 5th day I caught another female. I know by looking at pictures that I had at least two other cats I had not caught yet on the location. The trap went dead, but I really couldn't ask much more of it. Two weeks later I put a very small cat line out, and I decided to go across the creek from where I had the camera. Three sets in first check was nothing. Second night I had a male and a female. My truck wouldn't start that night due to cold temperatures, and I've since snapped them until I can get back at it. So I've taken five cats off this 40 acres, and I know there's more cats still there judging markings/size on camera. I took those five cats in three traps total in about a weeks time.

That being said this location is different then most areas I trap. No pressure, abundant prey, borders on a large water source, and little to no human interaction. If you can find about five locations like this a guy would be in great shape. For the most part my locations they are 7-14 days, and in my case I can only run at most 10 days at a time on vacation so it's hit or miss.

Thanks for asking. Nope, no luck. I did notice yesterday where a cat had come within a few yards of one of my sets. I've had over a dozen sets dedicated to cats out for six weeks or so and didn't have any luck whatsoever.

I saw evidence on the snow where they walked by some sets but didn't commit for reasons known only to the cats. Our season ends today so it's beaver trapping only from here on.

I was surprised to see this yesterday. A cat walked a fair ways out into a field and must have busied itself with trying to dig out a mouse. That hole in the snow is over a foot deep.


I'm ordering another dozen MB550s and think I'll pick up a half dozen 450s for next season. Going to try some different lures as well. Gusto, Hiawatha, etc.. Any tips on lure or sets you guys want to pass on would be greatly appreciated.

Another thing I noticed which should be an obvious observation was all the coyote sign I saw yesterday was near areas with high rabbit (hare) numbers. Where there was hare sign, there was coyote sign. Not all of my area holds hare numbers in equal measure. This has also been a year of abundant grouse. Turkey seem to have disappeared from what they were two years ago. Probably due to deep snowfalls and cats.

All of the areas I set had evidence of a cat being there, I had them on camera. The only area I went in blind was on a beaver pond. Rick Olson said they were cat hotspots and it seems he steered me right. I had cat tracks on the pond immediately following a fresh snow. I put out a half dozen sets there and a cat walked behind one of my scent post sets. Missed it by a foot.

Traps set on 12-14.

Caught 2 toms on 12-18, 2 more toms 12-26.

Pulled whole line because I didn't want to hurt population. Set more sets 12-31 and will update as it happens.

Any luck so far this season?

There was one spot where I cut fresh cat tracks on sunday, and on the next wenesday, I had a cat in the same spot. But I know it varies in their loop

I released the same female three times over one period of time.

Averaged it out and it was 20 days exactly for her to run her loop.