What do you guys typically find with Bobcats moving around, and the weather? Are they more of a good weather (sunny) moving type of animal, or doesn't it matter much to them, and they are moving no matter what the weather?

The reason I ask....... I was thinking about putting in 5 new sets in the next few days, but the weather is suppose to be bad here. Rain, snow, sleet. I am using peat moss, but part of me thinks I should just wait until this bad weather blows over and then set, but the other part of me wonders if I'm giving up 3 of my days to get a bobcat. My season is over December 25th, and I was hoping to get in as many days as possible to get my cat. But if I'm just going to have 5 new sets I'm going to have to redo because of the weather, maybe I should just wait it out..... and if cats don't move much in crappy weather like this, then I think I might as well wait it out a few days....

Thoughts.....?

Use Zags method and set...weather doesn’t matter. It had started raining the evening before and finally quit the next morning right before checking. Rear foot catch, but you can see the hole the trap was bedded in, lol.

They will move in cold weather but they will often sit out a snow storm and move the next day.I get out after every storm and sweep snow off the sets and make sure every thing is working.Mild weather and rain is different than snow and sleet.On the other hand,it doesn,t take long to reset a trap after the initial setting.For here,the night after a storm is always better but there can be a flurry of activity before as well,so you decide.God luck.

I have always found that those cold clear nights right after a storm are the best for cat movement. As Taximan said above, make sure to get your sets cleared off right after the storm. I’ve also had really good luck around full moons with cats as I think the full moon imitates dusk and dawn and keep the cats moving all night.

When you sweep the snow off the sets, do you sweep the snow away in front of the trap, or do you sweep snow off the trap area, and past towards the dirt hole?

so if you guys had a skiff of snow on top of traps when you go out to check them out, would you chance it that the trap would still fire, or do you trigger the trap and reset just to be sure? I will be using peat, with salt mixed in, but I still wonder, especially with a dusting of snow on top.

I want the snow completely off the trap so it doesn't melt on the set but I also kick back the snow,making a huge visual of black dirt that is visible from a distance.The bare dirt area may be six feet across,in front and to the sides of the set.

I run all exposed DLS traps for my cat sets so it’s a bit different for me. I pull the trap and all the blocking and guiding away from the set and dust everything off. I then reset the trap and guiding so that theirs no snow on them. I also pour a bit of calcium chloride around the parts of the trap jaws that contact the ground. I’ve noticed that when my exposed sets and guiding are covered in snow the cats have a tendency to step on the guiding instead of the trap as it’s taller and and more prominent than the trap pan.

For a blended set I’ll brush off all the snow down to bare dirt for a ways around the whole set. It adds good eye appeal and will prevent the set from getting saturated by ice melt.

If it was strictly for cat I would probably reset to make sure the trap would fire if their has been a freeze/thaw between the snow. But if their hasn’t been a freeze/thaw I would let it ride probably. I started using waxed sand this year for blended sets and it’s been a game changer.

I say the trap in your shed never catches s cat! Set up some walk thru and post sets that tolerate weather changes

When I drive the northern highway at night during a blizzardy storm there are loads of predators out.Cats,wolves and foxes especially.
Also I can expect good catches when I check traps a day or two after a blizzard.
An old timer told me that the predators like to hunt in stormy weather as their prey is holed up and don't run,so is easy pickins.
If you have ever hunted in the rain,or storms then you know you can get a lot closer to game.
The cree prefer to hunt winter moose in stormy weather,they know where they are yarded up before the hunt and can easily approach them.

Good point Boco.

This is my all weather cat rig.

I catch probably 75 %of my cats day before till day after storm .
Stale air I find is the least amount of movement

When I’ve tried to beat the weather running sets... I’ve seen cats running in the middle of rain/snow. They definitely move here the best a day or two after the event. Full moons surprisingly usually result in a lot of cat catches for me.

Yep, big dump always equals a catch or two right after.

We had the perfect snowstorm today so I'm optomistic it will get the cats moving in my area.


I'm trying to figure out the best kinds of bobcat walk thru sets, as I should get out & make some New years day when I'm off work