Trails through thick cover works for me. I make a big flashy dirthole set right on edge of the trail. Use something non fir or non feathers for flagging t since fir and feathers in open near footholds is illegal here. I use a wad of old cassette tape hung up over the set with fishing line it works great. Something skunky in a lure seems to be attractive to cats, so is beaver castor.
Blind sets in the trail work too.
Look for tracks, of course. If there is no snow, a can of Christmas tree flocking spray is great you can make a bright white area around your dirthole set to make it stand out. So does and old dry cattail you can pound it on the ground and the fluff looks like feathers. Lots of ways to make a set flashy without feathers or fur to avoid the law here.
I have snared them, caught them in blind sets, but most of my Nebraska cats have been in dirtholes by far with bait and a skunky lure or smear of beaver castor.
If you have coon and coyote make two or three sets to keep your odds up. You can trap when it’s really cold too and the coon generally shut down when it’s around zero. If it’s warmer use DPs on coon trails to keep them out of the cats sets.
Also, big cages work great that keeps the coyotes away but you can be more selective and you can use feathers in cages just not near footholds.
I’ve caught a lot of cats in old dry creek beds during winter. Find weedy ones that lead from one thick cover to another. They use the dry creek beds like highways and sidewalks. Move some brush around if needed and make pinch points to snare them if no pinch points are naturally present. Easy catches.
Jim
Last edited by jabNE; 12/29/25 06:14 AM.
