Watching The Tom Cat

this morning rub on the side of the barn got me wandering. What's y'all's favorite lure to use for rub sets for bobcats?

Sierra Mist

And it doesn’t have to be used as a rub lure. On a little stick/Qtip in a punched hole catches them too.

I'm not any where near an expert on cats but from the ones I've got on camera and playing with the farm cats is if they like it they rub on it. I've not done much testing or comparing but I do like having Sierra mist with me when cat trapping. One very interesting thing I've noticed with our farm cats is they are very sensitive to the amount you use. Way more than canines. I've seen it several times where our house cat will ignore some lure I put on stick to test on it, like act like they don't even smell it but let in air out 5 days and it falls in love with it. I figured this out because several years ago I'd been working with some lure and got some on the sleeve of my coat. I noticed several days later the cat got to meeting me at the door every evening when i came in and immediately start rolling on my coat when I laid it on the bench. I knew it had to be one of two lures so I tested both on it. To my dismay even with a very small amount it wouldn't react to either fresh out of the jar. But about 5 days later she was in love with one of the sticks after I had through it out in the yard. Course I didn't know which one it was at that time so I had to run test again. Same thing no reaction fresh out of bottle and I'm talking barely enough to even get any on stick but after a few days it's in love with it again. I donr know if or how this applies to Bobcats but I found it interesting and thought I'd share.

The first chance my cat gets she will go in the basement and go straight for my wooden stretchers. She will start rubbing all over them. She loves it. Some of those stretchers haven't had a pelt on them in 2 or 3 years.

Funny you say that about house cats. I tested some ingredients on ours last year and was amazed he completely ignored everything. Never gave him a chance to work it later. We had a stray come to the house and I put some rub lure on the side of a box and was bummed to see him ignore it too. Guess I should have given it more time, but I’m a slow learner.

I have Sierra Mist, pecos valley, and one from keg creek who’s name escapes me.

I got some catnip I dried and it makes our house got crazy like literally. Think it has a chemical effect on it like drugs. I know not every cat has this reaction to it and it grows wild around here so I'd think maybe wild cats built up a tolerance to it. I've tried tinturing it several different ways and mixing it formulations as is and it never comes close to same reaction as when it's straight and dried.

When u think about it cat urine and glands are more subtle than k9s or at least to my nose. Which kind of makes me wonder is cats have much better sense of smell than we give them credit for. Got to visit with Mercer Lawing about cats once and watch his demo on cats. That guy knows what makes cats tick. I'd love to spent a day picking his brain. He told a story about how he missed a cat at a cage set because that cat spent a lot of time and was more interested in the spot on the ground where he had laid the cat caught previously after dispatch than any of the the attractors he had at or in the cage. Forgot how long the cat sat and smelled that spot on camera but if memory serves me correctly it was a long time.

Put a few drops of good cat urine with some powdered catnip and few drops of trout oil, Yes Sir and test it again on those barn cats. Don't use too much.

Thanks

My go to lures are Pecos valley, Apple road bobcat gland lure, and good cat urine.

Jameson's Sierra Mist

x3 on the Sierra Mist.
I am big on rub sets and unless I left it somewhere else, my go to is Siera Mist or Bob's Nub Rub at face height with some visual and Carmen's Catmando up high.

If you set it up like that and see a cat ever passed it by, you will probably going to see strides every 8 or 9 feet (cat was doing Mach 1).

For you guys observing barn cats, do you ever see them rub just once and leave? I never do. If they like something they rub over and over both directions which I think accounts for the reason Bobcats never work my posts and leave before I check traps.

I have convinced myself they go back and forth until they hit the pan but the way I set it up, they probably set off the trap the first pass.

I like watching there feet and seeing how close they are to what they're rubbing.

I've gotten a few Bobcats on video working coyotes sets. Cats seem to spent a lot of time at sets even dirt holes.

Carmans catmando? Milligans?

Yup Miligans

The older I get, the more I turn things around

Back in the old days. When I ran a few big flash = Leggetts style dirt holes with skunky stuff. I caught more bobcats than I wanted too ! LoL !

caster,a little sac oil, good fish oil, and a dash of valerian works pretty good

My “best” bait this year has been the bobcat meat you can buy from MTP mixed with different lures. Bobcat and fish oil did well, as did bobcat and Gusto. Bobcat and I think Jameson’s egg based lure did good too. The best was bobcat and castor mixed up. That caught the most coyotes and bobcats. My son has been saving his jars for me to mix up some for him. He swears if he finds a cat track and uses that bait then he’ll have a cat the next day.