My first bobcat trapping season is going to be starting up here in a few weeks, and I'm really torn on whether to use flags or not. My situation..... I will be in Hill country in sw Wisconsin, and we have lots of logging roads that these cats use. So my question is, do I use flags in front of my cubby's or dirt hole sets, or no? Some of the reading I've did, say some cats are skiddish of the flags, and you might spook a cat off, instead of draw one in from 100 yards away...

What say you guys that trap them?

I use flags on private land

I don't think a flag will spook them, they don't really back away from much. I usually put a flag up to get their attention, and then put my trap and attractor in a spot that's only visible when they're investigating the flag, so I can control the direction they investigate my set from.

ya, this would be private land also..

Flags work great for drawing lynx to set locations so I don't see why they would be any different for bobcat as all cats hunt by sight as much or more than by scent. I hang my flag 5-10 feet out from my set where it can be seen from a distance in several directions.

Unless your cats are highly pressured, flags arent going to hurt. Even if they were, you can probably get away with using smaller flags, Ie using one or two feathers instead of a whole wing.

I can't use feathers in wisconsin, so I was going to use the cd and tinsel method... I think I will try it. I just read somewhere where a guy thought it spooked some cats, and I didn't know if I wanted to chance that happening, as I only have one tag I drew, and want to make sure I have all the odds in my favor. I have had quite a few pics of cats on our property in the past 5 years, so I am hopeful for a dumb one to walk through and check out my set.

Very little will scare an adult cat other than a bigger cat. They just have bad cases of ADD and curiosity

Cats have great eyesight,flagging is often used to draw them from a distance in open country
to a set location where lure and or bait can take over.
A half a castor wrapped in a hayball or something(piece of fur etc) suspended inside a pen,jackpot enclosure,or cubby will get their attention as well.



Kind of hard to see but there is a chunk of fur suspended on wire at the jackpot to the right of the cat.

But I'm kind of partial . . . .

i've had good luck with old cd's hung from fishing line and also the white shopping bags you get.think the rusling noise helped.if i lived in cat country i'd be using Lazarus's products for sure.Tracy,i want that dog.just for a month to hang with my new female.lol i know you may be a little far away.but thats my first thought every time i see it.

I consider flagging one of my most important tools when cat trapping. Like Boco said, gets them to the set and then lure and bait do their job. Good luck

My vote is YES!

Yes, many options here like
Clump of VCR or cassette tape
1/3 of a CD on florist wire with a number one ball bearing fishing swivel
Piece of cardboard
Feather

I am definitely a yes!
Experimenting with a foil tape based flag this year. First one's go out tomorrow. I'll let you know how they work.

I've been using Ag Bag material. White on one side, black on other. I do like the black/white spinning, an eye catcher.
Very durable material, repels rain.
Free at your local dairy farm. Ask farmer first.

Ag Bag-


Cut into strips and make 'em yourself...


I add an eyelet, but also tested without eyelet, no problems...

At our IL trappin demo Jeff Dunlap was using a snare support with a fishing swivel and a small piece of a cd about the size of a silver doller or just a little bigger.
J

The only good reason I can think of to not flag is if one is trapping an area with a ton of other outdoors man around. Not all are honest and don't mind helping themselves to equipment.

here is some I caught here in eastern ks. I flag sometimes. Maybe 20 percent or so. My flag is about 18 inches off the ground. Right behind my trap. So if the cat walks up to it he is going to be on my trap. getting one "into the area" is a mistake IMO. you want it to step on the pan. for what its worth cats eyes are not made for distance. they are ambush hunters. always sneaking around. I don't believe they can see a flag fifty yards away. I believe you can move one about ten yards with a flag. I use them when im not sure exactly where that cat will be.

Nice haul, danny.
Jim