Hey guys…. My season doesn’t start until middle of October here in Wisconsin, but I got wondering about something.

Would I be crazy to make up some dirthole and cubby sets now (No Traps), put some lure and urine sent in them, in hopes that a bobcat passing by them in pre season, might remember where they are, and would come back during my trapping season to check for something there again?

Or would I be educating them, and they won’t bother checking out that set ever again???

Well I believe the WI DNR say's you can't bait and lure before the season opens.
I guess I never felt that pre making sets helped much. Look for locations that funnel the critters from one spot to another. Look for tracks look for scat. Once you find these spots set them up when the season opens. And always make at least 2 sets at each location. And sometimes 3 would work better.

Ok thanks, I better look into that.

When you say two or three sets at each location, are you saying real close to each other?

At least 20 feet apart. If your trapping farm road set both sides so you can play the wind If It changes. Big showy sets will get a cats attention.

Rather than dirt holes and cubby's I recommend starting cat toilets. There are places in the area I trap with bobcat toilets that are frequented by all the cats in the area. I can easily pick up a gallon can full of scat from one of these (sandy areas under prominent ledges) and use them to start other toilets at convenient places to trap later. Do it several months in advance of season to give them time to start using them.

Examples of places I've started pottys:
Under a big bushy juniper at the point of tree covered hill where it meets a sagebrush draw.
Under an overhanging rock at the point where two canyons meet.
Under a lone Juniper tree in a sagebrush flat.
Under a prominent tree in the saddle between two ridges.
Under edge of a house sized boulder along the border of sagebrush flat and pinyon-juniper ridge.
Under dry bridge in large drainage.

Of course locations will be different in your habitats but hopefully this will give you some ideas of where to try it.

Choose places that will give some protection from the weather and are along cat travel ways and are easy to check. Make mock scratches with several groups of scat. Applying a little bobcat urine and gland lure is helpful. These new pottys should be on location for where cats will naturally travel anyway. But once they find it and start using it the frequency of visits from different cats should increase. Good luck.

I've also heard house cat scat is attractive to bobcats too. I have never tried it and can't vouch for it. But if you can't find enough bobcat poop it might be worth a try. It might not create the same territoriality / communication triggers. On the other hand, it might really fire them up. Thinking about it now, I might just have to give it a try to satisfy my own curiuosity

The thing we have to remember Is Motley Row Is trapping In WI. I've spent lots of hours working the north woods of WI and looking for cat toilets Is not going to pan out.
My advice would be to find every beaver dam In your area and start setting. Bob cats just naturally tend to work these areas. Not sure If It's legal to hang CRs on dams but those trails leading to those dams set up with Crs or foot hold type sets will catch you a cat.

correct^^^

I issue I see with pre-making cat sets is the cat kills the curiosity before the trap is there. Most cats are drawn to the set because it’s flashy, and new, and pulls at the cats curiosity. Once a cat feeds that’s curiosity by checking out the set, the set looses its appeal to the set.

Like mentioned above, I would focus more on finding choke points and travel ways. Beaver ponds, water crossovers, edge lines, and trails. Then set all the travel ways you find. It’s easier to catch a cat doing what it wants than trying to draw it to a set.

I’d set the cubbies up just before the season opens then bait accordingly to state laws. Cats check out new things so a change in their territory should earn a visit.

If you are selling on the raw fur market october is too early.
Cats prime later than other furbearers and your best pelts will be dec and jan
If you're just trapping for your own use november will be OK.

Boco that trapper had to wait around 5 years to draw that tag. Get out and trap that cat as soon as you can. He may never live long enough to draw another tag. LOL

Another trick is dragging a fresh beaver carcass down the trail or old road for a few hundred yards then into your cubby or a cache set is my preference over a cubby

If he is starting in October, he didn't wait 5 years. Only tag that cant be drawn with 2 or less points is the late northern season.

Well the point Is that you just can't get a tag or tags when ever you what.

If I had a hard to draw bobcat tag I would want to take the furriest, prettiest cat I could and Oct would not be when I trapped it.
How many tags for that area and how many cats are there around ?
I agree with Boco, wait til later and take a really nice cat.

I've skinned lots of WI cats(DNR fur school) and we don't have decent cats here In WI.

Not sure on Wisconsin, do they have a quota as well as a draw on the tags? Do you have to worry about the quota being filled if you wait because they give out more tags than the quota or can you figure on hunting/trapping the whole season if you have a tag?