I have taken a bobcat in a 220 conibear cubby for fisher/raccoon (it was incidental and I had no tag). I now have a tag this year in Wisconsin. Does anybody else use this set for bobcats? Or recommend a different set here in the Midwest?
Ghanks

Contact maddog47 I watched a demo he did on just this subject and he was full of good information maybe because it’s a real passion for him

Me I end up with a couple every year but have never filled my quota since I got out of running them with hounds

. ... a conibear would be a last option for cats.... use a foothold and set on sign

for many years that was only way I could ever seem to catch them around here. Wooly, brushy creek bottoms the heavier the cover the better. Old dry crew beds and washouts produced too. Mine were either buckets or wood boxes with beaver meat and a loud skunky lure, feathers for flagging too. Caught a ton of coon in them but would get enough cats consistently to know it worked, and at that time we didn't have many cats around here either.
Now days use more dirtholes and cages for cats, or snares.
Jim

I've caught them in a 220 conibear set but it seems to be a low percentage set (catching something like 10% of the cats that walk by it) compared to footholds or snares, as others have said. I've had many, many more cats walk by or even step on top of the box than I have stick their head in them. The only reason I will sometimes still use this set is that I only have to check it every 3 days. It seems each individual cat has different preferences and personalities and some completely ignore boxes while others are more interested or at least more desperate for food. Some things I've learned if you're going to use boxes are:
1. Use wood boxes with a screened back so that the cat can see through the box.
2. Elevate your box a bit. For example, stick a smaller log under the box so that when the cat approaches it, it's already at their level and they don't have to crouch down to investigate.
3. Thicker, brushy areas seem to do better for boxes. For some reason, the cats have tended to be more skittish for me if boxes are in open areas.
4. Like jabNE, I've had my best luck with fresh beaver quarters or halves along with a loud lure and some kind a flagging at the set and near the set.
5. Use wooden pans on your trigger and bend it into your box at around a 90 degree angle to allow for a larger opening in your box.

I discovered that 220s standing up in coon trails thru cattails work awesome on bobcats as well. Especially if the conis are painted the color of cattails. Leave them standing after the coons have been caught. ;D

We're rednecks in Nebraska, not Yankees!

Patience is a virtue.......specially with bobcats!

My two favorite cat sets are:
A 160 Belisle in a box, with a wooden pan, 1x2 wire on the back, with the front raised a bit, brushed well on sides and top, with a beaver quarter in the back, and a good loud lure at head height.

A leg hold, either an mb 550 or a Victor 3n with a big pan setting on top of of the ground in a cubby found where a tree falls over and the roots/dirt make a good natural cubby.

Both these sets stand up well in snow and freeze/thaw.
Legholds produce better for me, but the boxes are 3day here so I can run more

I've caught plenty of cats like Jim in the past in 220's in buckets. We used to be able to run 220's in the ROW and it was simple and effective underneath bridges. I found the biggest thing that improved my catch with 220's and cats was getting the bucket or whatever you're using up to eye level. Our cats weren't the brightest I used white square buckets, the regular 220 wires, and a rabbit or feathers slapped with some Grawe's Fat Cat (when it was a bait before they made it a lure). It was that simple.

The only reason I liked running 220's in buckets here is I could use things like feathers, fur, etc. that I can't use with footholds. If you're not looking at crazy amounts of snow (I have no idea what your weather is like) if it's anything like here I'd run exposed footholds. We get some snow every year (less than a foot max on the ground at a time without drifts and it doesn't usually stay more than a week or two) and I've found exposed footholds are just simpler and more effective on cats. I agree with Gary I've set up on day old cat tracks in fresh snow and waited 10-14 days for their return with no new tracks in the snow between. Patience it is. The good news is once they return they're not hard to catch.

Leftlane I live right on the Ks/NE border you bring your exposed sets up and we'll play.

Do you commute to work? I figured you to be near Omaha. I grew up at Pawnee City.

I've left a lot of money on that Kickapoo reservation over time. Gary I'm not far from Pawnee City. It's about 45 minutes east of me.

I have never used wooden pans on my 220 conibear bucket sets. I bend the trigger up and in so that the fisher and raccoon set it off with the top of their neck after they take a step in (I use to have a lot of sprung 220’s when I set them straight). What do you guys do?

I’ve caught half my cats in conibear boxes. Like it’s been said, fresh beaver or rat, or my favourite a duck carcass, eye appeal(feathers, hair) and some loud smells. A skunk lure near or on the top of the box and some castor inside the box. Having a wire back on the box seems to up the percentage of a catch imo. I run wooden pans on all my conibear in boxes. A belisle 220 kills cats awesome as most are still in the box when I get there.