1S, i realize your terrain & cat density is much different from mine, but i bet the cats are not.
Brush lines that come to a corner and are adjacent to a pasture are cat hotspots.
I consistently see more cats at those locations than anywhere else during hunting season.
It is also the number one catch location when I am targeting coyotes.
Flats with coyote poop & urine pick up the most cats by far.
Sometime the least conventional sets & spots are the most productive.
That has certainly been the case here.
Good Luck !
T,
I don't think the cats are different in my area either. I think most creatures have the same habits even in different terrain. Almost 30 Years ago I met a renowned big buck bowhunter named Gene Wensel. He told me that if you want to kill a big buck, you have to hunt them where they actually live. He said guys will spend their whole lives hoping to kill a big buck when there is not one there to kill. They waste a lot of time. In this case, I want to catch a Bobcat. I think I have been trying to trap them where I want them to live and not where they actually are. I was told Bobcats love cliffs so I concentrated there. Last year I had access to a property where there was a lot of cliffs. I spent a month chasing cats and another month chasing coyotes. No cats and no cat cat pics. Never saw a cat track either. However my trapping partner caught one directly across the river on his 20 acres. I assumed his cat came from this property which is 3000 acres. It took him 3 years. This year I moved to different property with a major creek/minor river running on the north end of it. It has several long drainages that lead to the creek. I have friends that trap upriver on the same creek. 10-15 miles away. These guys have had good success so I assumed the whole creek drainage has a good cat population. This new property has cliffs, brush, cat tail sloughs, junipers, and some timber. Lot's of pheasants, Huns, Jack rabbits, cottontails and mice. It has the cover ,food and water. 5000 acres w/ several miles of creek frontage. I was able to confirm 1 set of bobcat tracks in month. (no snow). I assumed they have to be there because to me the habitat has everything a cat would need to survive including no trapping pressure. My thinking was they just were avoiding me somehow. I like a challenge so I kept putting in more sets and expanding my line. Couple weeks ago I had 1' of snow and the day off. I put some miles on my boots hiking the various ravines and drainages. No tracks. Checked all the SD cards. No cat pics either. That tells me they aren't there or aren't there now. They've been there in the past because the owner said the biggest Cat he's ever seen in his life was right where I was concentrating my efforts. Anyway, That afternoon I decided to take a stroll on another new property very close to where my friends used to trap. Same creek but up stream. I literally saw more cat sign ( including the toilet) in one afternoon than in 2 years at the other properties. I put some sets in and expanded my line. 6 cameras up as well. No cats and no pics yet. However I know they are there because I saw the tracks and literally just across the fence line my friends have had great success in the past. That property is closed this year but another trapper caught 2 there last year. I've also acquired permission on the 2 neighboring ranches on either side of this property. My new goal is to at least get pics of them. Then next year concentrate on the areas where I get pics. I will defintely keep you guys posted. I'm not the kind of guy that gives up easily.
