As you may have seen from my other posts, I’m essentially a born again trapper. This is my first year since I was 13. I caught a beaver to which I hear is one of the best bait meats you can use when targeting any predator. Here in PA, we have a very short window to catch bobcats. I saved all my beaver meat to attempt formulating my own bait for next season, & I hung up my carcass with a trail cam to keep an eye on habits.

I’m not necessarily asking for trade craft, but if you don’t mind sharing, what are some other ingredients you’ve notice mix well with bobcat targeted bait/lures?

There are alot of products that will interest a cat. Catnip, beaver castor,skunk, fresh meats, slightly tainted meats,cat glands,cat urine the list goes on and on. Curiosity and plain ole greed catches alot of cats. But first and foremost I personally want EYE APPEAL FIRST!!!! A cat is an ambush or stalk and kill critter that uses its eyes first and then its nose.

Large chunks of fresh beaver meat works for cats. As far as lure ingredients castor, oil sac, beaver tail oil, beaver liver are all ingredients you have. Skunk essence, mink and rat glands and good salmon oil are other good basic ingredients.

Honestly as a novice trapper and a short season id maybe keep the learning curve as simple as possible and buy good proven cat lures for the season and play with lure making off season till u got a better handle on trapping and lure making

Thank you both