First year trapping lynx and I'm wanting to try out a couple different sets.

I know the typical pen made with a peice of bait wired to a tree and making a pen around it with sticks, conibear in the enterance and 2 snares on the outside of the pen.

A fellow trapper told me he wires the bait to the bottom of a milk crate, puts a conibear in the opening of the milk crate and lays it on its side. It's wired to a tree with snares around it as well.

What other sets are there?

I know to hang a bird wing, cd or pie plate off the tree branch to get the cat's attention. Anything other tips?

Is a lure required for lynx?


I will also do a couple blind trail sets on snowmobile trails as well.

Sounds like you pretty well got it covered.
Good places for sets are where the lynx are hunting pockets of hares.
I have found one or more lynx will work a pocket of hares for several days before moving on to another pocket.
Setting on fresh sign should get quick results.Lure is effective for lynx.The old standby of a castor wrapped in a hayball hung inside a pen works very well.

Many different sets and bait are effective for lynx as long as you are on location. Myself I fine a good cat lure to generally be more effective than bait and thus basically use scent only which I smear on a squirrel or bird wing attraction hanging in the center of a double end snare cubby. Additional snares are set up in all tight spots around the cubby itself as cats are notorious for circling sets and in such situations where they are reluctant to enter the cubby can often be captured in snares hung in these tight spots around the set. It is not unusual to obtain multiple catches with snares hung around the cubby and on any obvious trails leading to the set location. For a set location attraction I use a 4X6 inch piece cardboard, brown on one side and white on the other. When fluttering in a breeze the white stands out against the dark forest cover background and the brown against the snow, like a flashing neon sign. This flasher is place about 5-10 feet out side the cubby where it can be seen from several long distance directions within hare activity areas.

Once a lynx comes to the flashing attraction it seldom passes by without investigating the scented cubby. Although it may not enter the cubby, due to lack of bait, the cat will often be caught in a snare hung in tight spots around the cubby.