Here in Michigan we have a short bobcat season with a bag limit of one. I believe it is time to fight for a higher bag limit. With a very small line out and nothing set specifically for bobcat I have caught 3 in the past 3 days. By short line I mean 12 sets. It is ridiculous around here.

Has there been any type of study where a basic methodology of counting has been done? Something that would help give firepower is if all of you guys start marking every bobcat you catch. That way there is some system of identifying unique bobcats.

I doubt there is half a dozen wildlife biologists that can do a good number study on bobcats and the ones who can are trappers. nocturnal, camouflaged, i have caught them with snow on the ground and sign leading to the set is almost impossible to find. not new snow either.

I think it requires more effort on the state game depts. to work on CITES cate and otters to change limits so they’re the ones that don’t get worked on. I may be wrong but it seems that way.

Otters are starting to get that way here.

All CITIES is, is a treatie protecting look alike species. They do not set limits or quota themselves, that is up to the state agencies to set quota or take, but must be backed up by research from each state. Just because they look like an endangered species from somewhere around the world! That said, some of these states go to the extreme, over protecting.

can each person take 1

that trap might just need more tags , you get one , wife gets one , son gets one , daughter gets one , brother gets one

they just need to be able to show up for check and dispatch it

or does MI have rules against multiple tags on a trap

in WI any one who could check the trap needs to have their tag on the trap

Strike 2x,have you ever been to a furbearer management meeting in this state?The houndsmen basically run the show,and all claim they can't find the 'cats trappers say are out there."Can't hardly find a track",they claim.

Nice lookin' cats.

Ok so let me be more direct. Choose a start and end date, the entire trapping season works well. You need to have a worksheet that has this, you can make it yourself. It would help if the MTA more or less "sponsored it" so that when it gets submitted to the Michigan DNR it has the maximum amount of data. This study should also be published independently, regardless of the DNR, because what it does is show the legislature that trappers are being sincere and care enough about the animals to do a population density study in order to obtain the correct harvest numbers. If you guys do this, I will email the steps to force the DNRs hand and raise the harvest numbers or explain why they refuse. In the event of a refusal, then we can talk with the Michigan Legislature Natural Resource Commission.

Trapper
Date and Time Bobcat was caught
Location minimum of county, ciy, state.
Trap & Set used to catch(no lures or secret formula or steps)
Species
Gender
Length
Height
Weight
General Color
Observations that would include anything like damage to the bobcat, identifying features, any observed illnessess, oral health, etc.
Action Taken: Harvested, released, collared & released.

This has been going on since the late '80's when we went from no limit to a limit of one.When politics enter none of that matters.We've been down this road before

Call your Game Warden to release all of your cats. Refuse to do it with out a warden there as you want to insure the animal is released properly.


The Wardens have to record the interactions and they will not like to do the releases. Your limits will be increased if there are enough complaints and information passed by the Wardens.

I think Matt is on the right track. Hopefully the Trapping association in Michigan has a good relationship with its DNR to help get the ball rolling.

Yes, that research justification is the problem. It takes more effort. We’re dealing with limits installed in a lot of states “way back when” cats and otters were exotic and rare. Now, there’s more cats than foxes here and otters are everywhere in packs. The houndsmen are very frustrating being included in issues they really shouldn’t have as much say in. Good luck to you guys.

Good luck getting Lansing to listen to us trappers. I used to go to the furbearer management meetings, then when my Bride needed 24/7 care that ended. I will likely start going up to St. Ignace again to attend. It was a purely political deal when the state went from NO limit, to a ONE 'cat limit in the Lower Peninsula. It happened because of some local houndsmen I know real well.......this father/son team had fantastic hounds, plus were woodsmen enough to take full advantage of their dogs abilities, racking up very impressive numbers of 'cats several years in a row. They always froze the 'cats whole, then at the end of season they would take a barn shot type picture of their season's tally all hanging by their back legs. The photos were epic and several sports shops in my area had blow-ups on their walls. I used to mount a bunch of 'cats for these fellow's clients. Long story short, these photos ticked some people off, and things came to a head when one ended up being printed in a large downstate newspaper. The writer did the story to settle an argument between houndsmen that called these local folks liars about the number of 'cats they'd shot one season. Well, it backfired when a bunch of downstate folks about wet their collective britches and raised holy heck with the DNR about allowing the Bobcats to be way over harvested. At the time, I don't think there was a problem of shooting too many 'cats because there just weren't all that many guys running them or hunting them by any manner (Lower Peninsula trapping of 'cats wasn't allowed at that time). It soon became flooded with 'cat chasers/hunter though, and the numbers of local 'cats suffered for a bit, even when you were only allowed one a season. As Greg (Strike2x) proves every fall, they have pretty much recovered here in this neck of the woods, and the areas now open to hunting and trapping in the Lower peninsula has really expanded to the south.

Good info there. Thanks J!

well like [buck] and j morse, said , i have been going to fur work group for years sitting on the panel up front for years , and no matter how much proof we bring to the table , the state goes with the dog hunters , that say that there are no cats ,

Ok, as a fellow trapper, can you send me the studies that you guys did on bobcat populations in Michigan? I am doing a similar study in Louisiana and I would like to contrast Bobcat populations between the North and the South. We have unlimited numbers that we can take, as well as hunters are limited to 1 per year as an experimental harvest type. I can PM whoever to give you my email.

contact adam bump michigan dnr fur special

No, I am asking about trapper conducted studies, not somebody who works for the DNR. If there is proof of a trapper study that has taken place that has even some of the general things I said above, I would love to see it.