For you fellow Western cat trappers, I'm curious what your catch rate is on cats. This season I've had 9 traps out for almost the entirety of our 3 month season. 80 days X 9 traps = 720 Trap nights. I've caught 8 cats so far for an average of 1 cat / 90 trap nights. This seems like a pretty poor average in country that I know holds a good number of cats. Luckily It's easy for me to run my line and my schedule allows it. Curious if this is at all close to "normal". Thanks!

Sounds successful to me. East or West side?

That sounds like west side being 8 cats. I do it differently with beaver carcasses out so my catch rate is pretty high for trap night.

East side. 8 is the total between the wife and I. This is her first year joining me. Just picked up another this morning to make 9. Either of you two headed to Prineville next Saturday?

Congrats! Yes, I'll be there and my guess is John will likely be there as well.

I have trapped cats consistently for 20 years but I usually have 3 or 4 ridges, or spots and 2-5 traps at each location. In some I’ll hike 15 minutes or a half hour, others are closer to a road. Basically I traps salient feature or spot and try to find weather proof sets there. I always have snow. Over the years I’ve picked 2 or 3 places at each general location , moving things over the years as I saw tracks and trying to learn where cats want to be. In December I have to be very careful with Christmas tree hunters, so often start in mid- December. Because we have snow I am confident I don’t miss many that visit an area, some years I’ll go a whole 2 months and never see a track in some places, other years I’ll get a couple. Overall I average 2 cats year, but for me one a year is enough to make me go back out. Our numbers, and consequently quotas, have dropped over these 20 years. I think this is much more indicative of cats in accessible areas than overall population but I don’t know..
I learned originally by watching John Graham videos and I remember in MT he said a spot that catches a cat, even though it might take a few years for a repeat, is a good spot. If I divided total trap nights by cats caught I bet I’m closer to 1:500 but it’s not really fair because if I was more stingy with traps I could lower that, but I miss one occasionally or see a track and can’t help putting out more traps. I am in central Montana, some rocky forested country with a little sagebrush. I’m not a particularly good or dedicated trapper but my biggest limitation is time and gas. So 8 cats in 500 nights sounds like I’d died and gone to heaven!
I snowmobile my marten line, often 30+ miles once a week and I’m sure there are cats around but haven’t seen a track, even with lower snow years in several years. My guess is that density and trapping success is largely related to density. I think those eastern MT/WY longliners are or were running 100+ traps in good open habitat. And they could undoubtedly read country a lot better than I can.

I plan on being there with a few things.

You guys should be commended on your dedication of trapping that rough country with that kind of success. Very few folks can stick with trapping very long with the amount of effort it takes to catch that handful of critters.

I’ve helped several local guys get set up for a short line over the last couple years and I don’t think any of them have lasted over 2 weeks. This is also a target rich environment.

The best part is, I always get to buy there traps from them at a very discounted rate when they decide to hang it up.

… used to drop fur off to nafa in malakoff years ago Busch

… here if you set in a cats territory you should have activity within a few days … big toms can be a little different as they roam more, especially in February

Right on. I'll be the one next to the pretty blonde gal.

…. It’s true in pine thickets here setting on sign Looney… but you don’t have to believe me