Flags?

Anybody have any pics of flagging they use? I can't use feathers in Wisconsin, so looking for other ideas. I've heard of tinsel or cd's, do you guys try those at all?

For a set location attractor I use a 4X6 inch piece cardboard, brown on one side and white on the other. When fluttering in a breeze the white stands out against the dark forest cover background and the brown against the snow, like a flashing neon sign. This flasher is place about 5-10 feet out side the cubby where it can be seen from several long distance directions within hare activity areas. This works very well for me in drawing lynx to set locations from long distances.

Nice! Do you use that setup at all of your sets? Cubby's, dirt hole, flat?

Cds, tinsel, and white cardboard down here

I've only used it for cats. I haven't ever used flagging for any other species.

Laz posted his attractors are par none the best even against a whole turkey wing. I had to see it for my self to believe it but a day with a very slight breeze his attractor looked like a mini helicopter! My turkey motionless! Its hard to believe but I could easily see his attractor at 300 yards! Twice as far as any cat can see clearly.

Thank you sir!!

I've experimented with many materials for flagging. Some serious testing.
Here in the east we have lots of rain and added snow with freezing conditions.
Christmas tree tinsel, fur. feathers & fake fur gets wet or freezes and doesn't perform on a constant. daily basis.
Cardboard gets wet and fall apart. Tyvek when colored on one side fades. CD's are a bit bulky & break if one is not careful.

Thru my testing, I feel I found the ultimate flagging material. It's readily available in farming communities and FREE for the asking.
It's call AG BAGS. Ag bags are the long, white, tube like bags used to store feed. As farmer cuts off end of bag to get at feed, he discards these cut offs. He will give you all you want if you ask. When finished using all his Ag Bags, farmer has to pay to haul cut offs to landfill.
Ag Bag material is made to take the weather. I've tested it in all conditions, high winds, rain, snow, freezing rain, summer heat. It has not failed.
It never fades and is made to shed water. Plus it is white on one side and black on the other side. In which I feel is a perfect combination of flagging colors.

Ag Bag with cut offs laying around...


1 1/2" wide x 8" long seems to be the right size.
Thru testing in high winds, eyelet isn't necessary in this tough material.


Here I added eyelet for professional look, since I was making some for a friend.
A fishing snap swivel in needed to make the light weigh material spin & dance in a slight breeze.



*For folks that need a little flash or sparkle just add hot glue & sparkle

That's a great idea, and I can get all I want from my cousin. Thanks!

Thanks Motley Row

Happy flagging.

I'm going to try both flagging options mentioned above. I've used flagging on my cat sets and it has brought them close but didn't bring them all the way in. They satisfied their curiosity from a distance and went about their business. I saw the evidence in the snow.

You hit on a truism there Posco.

Think about it. Why does that cat take any interest in your flag? I can only think of a couple reasons: (1) the cat can eat it; (2) the cat can mate with it; or (3) the cat feels threatened because the object poses a threat to its territory dominance. Cats are near sighted so once the cat has closed the distance to the flag to see exactly what it is, if it doesn't create an interest in the three reasons mentioned above, THEN WHY WOULD THE CAT COME ANY CLOSER???

Granted, cats are curious, but I suggest that their curiosity is centered around those three reasons so once they determine your flag is a piece of tape, plastic, CD, foil, cardboard, etc. there is really little interest in coming any closer and they turn to leave.

The flagging is to draw them into close proximity of a set. Your bait and/or lure should take over at this point and draw them into the set, if not then I think you need to change one or the other.

Depends on what you want the flagging to do.
Flagging used to attract animals to a set is different from flagging used to divert animals into a set.

Explain the difference please.

I used about every set known to T-Man as well as about every recommended lure. Baited cubbies with beaver, deer and grouse and still had cats turn their noses up at it.

I often use flagging to divert animals off of open travel routes into snares.There are certain items you can use that animals will avoid to get them to go where you want.
A lot of trappers don't know how to use flagging as a diversion.

That's a good idea.

The flagging is to draw them into close proximity of a set. Your bait and/or lure should take over at this point and draw them into the set,
Agree

flagging to divert animals off of open travel routes into snares
Agree
because of two methods of flagging with footholds vs. snares/cable restrains
both spot on

Is that not what I essentially said/implied in my post?

No,you are using the flagging as an attractor.
I use flagging to scare an animal off his route.That is using flagging as a diverter,not an attractor.
Like I said Not many know how to effectively use flagging as a diversion.
You can use attraction flagging and diversion flagging at the same time.
I learned from an old time wolf trapper,Jimmy Shank how to do this effectively,it works extremely well for wolves,but can be used in different ways on any animal.

OK thanks, I now know what you mean. I have never used flagging as an diversion but can understand how it would work on coyotes and wolves.

I use a piece of ag bag like Hern, I cut mine 4" wide x 8" long I don't use an eyelet just a large fishing swivel. I put the ag bag flag about head high then a feather flag down low at the set

Tracy, I used tea bags to hold your silvervine and I can't say with certainty which interested the cats more the tea bags floating in the breeze (they make a nice little flag themselves) or the silvervine. I will say that combo accounted for 75% of the cats I caught this year. I stumbled upon your attractor to late in the season last year, but I plan to get some this year in case I have some free time to set out a cat line. That's just the ticket I need here in Nebraska where we can't use real animal parts.

I'll second Lazarus attractors, plus his setup rig...you can see them flickering from a longways out even in the slightest breeze...got this cat last season and the attractor was set right above the set, I guess the cat didn't spook from the attractor...

Very cool! Thanks for the photo.

Picture's worth a thousand words. So say you have a hedge row that connects two waterways. Since the point of the flag is to draw them near not necessarily right to your set do you think I'd be better off putting a flag up and a set on each approach from the two directions rather than a set with a flag directly over it?

Wade, yes. I would actually set it out a little ways from hedge row so the cat uses the hedge row as its cover to sneak up on the flag, if that makes sense. They will see the flag for a long way out there. Good luck.

Sign me up for "Team Enticer"!




They even double as a beaver attractor! Just kidding, they can take a lot of rain though lol



Enticers are awesome, cheap and effective, right up my alley. I have more than I can hang. I may even hang 2 per set this year, 1 high, one low, the uses are endless!

Great photos MM!!!

other than a silage possible odor why not trap pan covers also

Ttt