Caught 2 bobcats today out of the 7 coyote sets I still am running. In some states that would be a good day but here in Michigan where we don't have many bobcats we have a limit of one in a very short season. With the 2 I caught today that makes 9 this coyote season. The dumb thing is I am making very blended not flashy sets in the open. Can't seem to keep cats away. I have 3 spots where I know there are cats that I haven't caught yet. I am sure I can catch one during my 10 day season. All I have to do is make my best coyote set and wait a few days.

same here

Feel your pain. They are becoming to be a pain in the but here as well. Even if we got to catch more then one a season they ain't worth a squat compared to a western cat.

Talked to a guy a about a yr ago on here in pm......lives east of me 60 or more miles told me same thing. Said he cant seem to keep them out of coon sets in the water too.....nice change

I couldn’t wait to catch my first cat!!! Now like y’all, they clog up my coyote sets. Most folks down here think you’ve done something special. I made a set last year just playing around because I knew the landowner would see it riding around...a side by side dirt hole (eyes) the trap where the nose would be, and guiding sticks made in a smiley face. I hung a turkey feather over it and had a cat the second night. Landowner laughed but loves when cats are caught...quail and turkeys are what they want to protect. I just feel I’m lacking if I don’t catch some coyotes.

After that catch I swapped out the trap and removed the smiley face, dug out the dirt holes a little and left it. Almost 2 weeks later a coyote was waiting for me. Even got a pic with the feather blowing in the breeze above him.

Cats here may not be worth the same as Western cats but with the market what it is I will take the $100 for a cat all day. That is what I got last year for my big rabbit backed Tom. This year I am not keeping a rabbit back, I am looking for some spots. I caught 3 last year during season but kept the first for fear of not getting another. I have a few spots with more sign than where I have been catching them and some on camera that I am feeding. I am glad to bear others are having this problem. I figured I was just having bad luck.

Likely you have more cats than you think. Game managers love to think there aren't very many cats!
mt

Our cat season doesn't even open for 2 1/2 more weeks. We've got pretty good cats though.

We don't have a bcat season around here because there are none or just passing through individuals. West River has a cat season that starts in mid-December so I've never seen a road kill bobcat until last week when I was down in west Georgia. An interesting site. Yeah, for those guys that have a limited quota and season, I'd do some cherry picking to keep only the best one. I hope you find some nice spots this year!!

That is because most of the Game Managers never get out from behind their desk. We are getting more and more of them in Ohio, but the State still won't establish an open season on them.

Garry-

To me, unless cats are really hot...I'd be culling the lesser cats and letting the better spotted cats go. Assuming the spotting is genetic, only keeping the lesser cats ensures getting less good cats in the future.

Yup some species just get lucky and everyone wants more and more of them, so they can get one. Most of the times there is very little if any thought to what it means to the ecology of the area to have huge increases of species that have been at low numbers for many decades or longer. We know how destructive to nature 12 lbs. feral cats can be, but we don't seem to think much about how destructive 35 lbs. bobcats can be.

Bryce

I have found them almost impossible to keep out of a fox/coyote snare. Last winter we went to big 12 inch loops set only 6 inches off the walking surface and surprisingly neck snared coyotes and missed most of the cats, but hip snared the foxes (not ideal). Here the bobcats often are still with the mother in January and February, its almost like a pack. We do not have a season on cats. Pictures same location different years.

On this subject, I am convinced that trappers and deer hunters with trail cams out have a much more accurate view of how many cats there are in an area than do the DNR Officers. In years past, I have had exactly the same conversation with DNR Officers...but now this year, way overdue IMO, they have upped the annual limit per person to 3.

I see the tree stand in the background. So did you shoot the deer and leave it for bait?

Nice pic

strike2x - what lure are you using at your blended sets that the kittys can't refuse? If you do get an unlimited open season you will find that you can lower the population of cats. Possums just keep coming no matter how many you catch!

Big problem in southern Indiana too. They are everywhere. Can't keep any. Caught 3, 3 nights in a row, in the same trap. Definitely 2 different cats - 2 male and one female - and I think it was 3 different cats. Just a subtle dirthole in a hayfield about 20 yards from the edge of the woods. All 3 released. Turkey farmer landowner was not happy about that.

In WI one can wait 10-15 years to get a tag. I have never applied for a tag and don't plan to. I have only caught one cat in my trapping time. I was setting yote traps in the national forest and this was about 25 years ago now. I caught a younger cat and not knowing how fragile they are almost killed it with my snare leash pole. Got it free and it laid there gasping for about a minute and then took off. No tag, I pulled my yote sets and just went grouse hunting.

Bryce

I agree I don't think DNR has a clue here in IL. At the IL trapping convention I was talking to a couple of student doing a study for Western IL College. They were really surprised when I told them I average 4-6 a year. Even though I'm not in their study area/ counties they want me to call them anyway. I figure once the cats start pinching on some lap dogs up around Chicago we'll finally get a season.
J

"Cats here in Michigan are one of the most mis managed furbearers we have.We went from no limit,to a limit of 1,then to 3,then to 2,now our houndsmen friends want to go to a lottery for 1.There should never had a limit in the U.P.,and I believe from the amount of incidental catches in the lower peninsula you have far more than they'll admit to.As long as the houndsmen have a lock on them it'll never change.