I got lucky last season and caught my first cat, I am 100% positive that it was by accident as it was a pipe set for fox. This year I have had no luck with cats and have almost all the kinds of sets out waiting to connect.( walk through, dirt hole, cubbie, with & w/out flags & or poly-fil, blind, pipe, rub, toilet) I've read a lot on here about cat sets and have seen many pics but what I don't know is what are the measurements?
Coyote and fox both have there measurements for hole to trap and then the offset but does anybody have the secret for the different cat sets?
Thanks in advance

Caught in a pipe set I set for cats.

The one thing I’ve learned over decades of trapping is to throw the ruler away and just eyeball the distance between trap and hole. There are no absolutes in trapping. Repeat, there are no absolutes in trapping.

Set tight for fox and you’ll catch coyotes. Set long for coyotes and you’ll catch fox. Set perfectly for either and you’ll catch possums, coon, and whatever comes along. The trick is to just keep setting and do what works. Sometimes it’s luck. But the more experience you get, the more skill you’ll develop. Have patience, grasshopper!

One can probly get away with trying to guide the bobcat to step on your pan.

Very well said. Hope many take note.

100% agree on skill and YOU GAIN CONFIDENCE !!!

Setback and offset barely apply to bobcats as the trap should be well blocked in so that the target animal has only one place to step.This applies to exposed as well as covered sets.I let the set location dictate distance from the attraction.I have had sets where the distance from the attractor was 1' to 2'.Of course,there was natural blocking from trap to attractor and tbe trap itself was well blocked in.If the cat wasn't going to completely commit,it didn't matter.I don't mind catching them before they get their nose to the attractor,as long as they get caught.Distance from trap to the attractor as well as offset have very little importance in cat trapping.Block them in!

Some seem to say blocking them in is best while others seem to prefer pass thru sets. Kinda makes me wonder what kind of sets I should be focusing on

With the walk through you block off everything except your trap pan with rocks, sticks stuck in the dirt pointed up, plants with thorns anything that is uncomfortable for it to step on. I've noticed they like soft surfaces, I always find tracks in a sandy part of a trail.

Picture two large trees close together. Put a trap between those two trees and then place small sticks on either side of your trap. The cat will walk between those two trees, step over your guide sticks and step on the pan of your trap.

Give the cat a fairly narrow place to walk through and place your trap there. In close proximity to your trap, place small sticks, stones or anything else to step on that doesn't look as inviting to step on as the exposed pan. The cat will choose the pan.

I can't think of a set off the top of my head that can't be made a walk-through. You can use this with a beaver carcass wired to a tree, in front of a rub set, in front of a pipe set...use your imagination.

No need to worry about offsets, how far back to put the trap, or even a trap freezing down. Keep the trap exposed, add stepping guides (a cat has a 10-12” stride so make the blocking 13-14”, make sure the cat can’t go around, and put a lure on each end of the set to force the cat to go over the trap to check out the different smells. Add some poly-fil around the set, a flag above the set, and a skunky call lure up high. Best cat set out there.

Thanks guys

Thank you everybody, very informative I'll keep at it.
Another quick question bout cat urine. Use it on cat sets or use gray fox urine?

I use cat because it's free and I'm only trying to catch cats. But I've found just like your dog likes to pee on every spot another animal peed, any urine attracts them. I took a friend to check traps and while I was remaking a set, he peed ten feet from my trap, I caught a cat the next day.

One of these mornings you're going to walk out there all discouraged after days and days of checking empty traps and boom, you hear the sound of chain snapping taut. It will all be worth it. Use your head, keep after it and don't give up.

That would be nice Posco.
I'm not sure what else to try.
I think a lot of people in Wi's winter season probably use hounds.

A friend of my daughter called in and shot a big cat before he went to work yesterday morning. What a brute of a cat. I have the pic on my phone but haven't been able to transfer it to upload here.

About how many traps do you have out and what kind of sets are you using? I know you have your heart set on getting a cat and you have a bunch of guys here rooting for you. All you can do is try. Don't give up.

2 dozen. A combo of CR's, cages, footholds, a pipe set, some cubbies of various varieties, a few dirt holes, a tire set. I probably should have some 160s out but there's only so much time in a day. I'll try to get more sets out. It's just been so hard finding sign. I've scouted many a properties that had cat sign last year but not a track this year. I'm running exposed pans on my footholds. Flagging now at the non CR sets. Maybe I'm not using enough call lure...or maybe my daily prescense has pushed 'em outta the area. The snow is gettin deep, no greater than average depth for January tho. When chasing a ghost it's hard to strategize. The few tracks I've seen are from a single bobcat passing through. I think I'm gonna put a full (frozen) beaver in a (large) wire cubby today. Kinda rough it up w/ axe like I think Boco suggested. I have to cover it so it's not exposed tho, if I do that...at least if I put traps within so many feet of it. No fresh sign for several weeks, that I can see anyway. There were a few days the snow was either really hard or really soft, making track ID tough. It's still snowing...I may go drag a beaver around to try to drum up some interest. Actually, I have a 55 gl barrel, open on each end. I think I'll go put the beaver in there today, with a a foothold on each end.

I'm no great cat trapper but I did better when I went to blind sets. Not because blind sets are better but it made me focus on putting the trap right were the cat wants to be. With that said not finding sign is tough. I look for the thickest cover I can find. The kind of cover you would look for to hunt rabbits and mice. I haven't used it a lot but when I'm on a travel corridor and not sure exactly where the cat is coming through, sun rendered Salomon oil squirted both directions has been very effective as a trailing scent. Helps for unknown wind direction also. Good luck.

Funny you mention rabbit cover. My uncle just called me and told me to look for where the rabbits are at! He gave me some ideas on location. He said prime rabbit territory can change throughout the year. You guys are probly onto something there. Hmm..

I'll see what I have for fish oil.