Hi all, need a little help, this tom has been terrorizing my small deer population and along with a pack of coyotes we hardly have any fawns reach maturity. I just acquired this 200 acres to hunt and trap on and i'm looking for advice on how to deal with the predators by trapping them. I live in Florida, so steel trap are out (thanks to whining fox hunters and dog running deer hunters) so i'm down to using snares, and maybe Belisle foot snares. The issue is cows, there are 10 "Cracker" (original cows in the US for those who don't know what a cracker cow is) cows on the property and they made most of the trails that these predators are using. Cracker cows are small and have small hooves which makes the belisle snares problematic, anyways, have numerous trail cam pics of this Tom, a mother with two kits, and 3-4 coyotes all using this path pretty regular. How would you (if you were in my shoes) go about snaring these critters using whats legal here? Any help is greatly appreciated. I've tried back tracking to find a path with their sign on it, but it is mostly wire-grass covered terrain and there are no tracks. I trapped when i was young (dot you worry how long ago that was) but have been out of the game years, help out a fellow trapper with ideas if you can, thanks.

Cage trap should work

Never used one before could u elaborate a bit on that..how to set it up, what size i should get?

That is a big cat. If it is a standard cage it would be best if the door opening is 18" or more, high. Probably 12" wide would be best. If you use live bait use pigeons or pen raised quail.

If you use a paste bait in the back of the trap use a stick hanging down from the top with paste on end with Vaseline coated from cage to paste because of ants. Or stick the stick up in the back with Vaseline to where the ants have to go through it to get to bait.

You should do the other stuff too. Place debris on bottom of trap and make a cubby set. Maybe get some bobcat pee and feathers.

There will be others to add more.

Thank you Kirk for taking the time to answer, do you have or recommend a particular cage trap, I’ve only ever gotten trapping supplies from F&T but their large cage looks low to me and I k ow cats don’t like to bend down, and I agree, seen a lots of cats in the wild, that there one is prolly the biggest I’ve laid eyes on, again, thanks for responding, cool video also

Kirk makes a nice walk through trap.

I am not making traps now and don,t have any I can sell. I would recommend something you could buy close because of cost with shipping added.

The cat looks to me to be 19 to 21" tall. The length of a standard cage probably would be best at 40" or so with gravity door. If you had a cage to hold some pigeons you could place it beside the cage trap with hay or debris to where the cat has to go into the cage trap to get close to the pigeons. This would be best because of ants where you are. The bait cage should be of half by one wire or 1x1 wire covered by half by one so a coon can,t reach in and kill the birds. You want one male and two females to work best.

If you do the Vaseline trick when the temp is above 80 degrees it is best to run a stick through the back of the trap from one side to the other, Place paste bait in middle and Vaseline on each side.

A guillotine door trap would probably be best. A trigger that would not fire if the cage were bumped, also.

Melnik Resources is making traps with my patents but I believe the total costs would not work for you.

Thanks again I shall see what I can come up with, and I’ll post the results as they come in

Since you are allowed to use snares, a simple wire cubby covered with a little brush and set perpendicular to the trail or along the edge of a road can be deadly on cats. a lured dirt hole in the middle or a lured flag hung from the top should be all you need. Hang your snares at each end and anchor securely.

That's a big kitty!

I was thinking a little on the lines of what monster toms posted. I was thinking make a narrow trail perpendicular to the main trail about 4-6' long. At the end make a cubby and hang a wing or put something in it with big eyes, then set your snare about two feet from the main trail.

Taller than wide I suppose? I have wire this I can do easy, until my cage gets here

Yes,I like an 8" loop,8" off the ground so I would size it to fit that.Remember,the animal has to move a certain distance before the snare sets,so keep that in mind when planning the length of your cubbies.You can test that with your hand,pulling till the snare closes.I like to wire it off,tight,just behind the lock,to shorten that distance.

Might try setting up a camera at a likely-looking entry point.