Looking for a single fox/bobcat cage on a budget

Hey there..I run Tomahawk for my smaller cage traps but looking to add one big cage and can't justify the $$ for one of Tom. their big ones for the one or no calls I get a year for predators around a house where I can't set leg restraint traps.
Can I get some reccomendations on a 15x14" type cage that will hold up to a few cathes a year. Prefer wire/cage pan vs solid metal. Bridger 15x14 is 79.00. Freedom Brand 15x18 is 89.00

Thanks,
HJ

Looked at Toma., Advanced and they're too much $$..would be several years to get back the cost.

I bought the Freedom Brand 15x18x36 when they first came out. Quality is very good. I had two fox jobs going and wanted that sized trap. It got the job done. I wouldn't hesitate to recommend them.

I also have two of the Safeguard 15x18x42. Does the job but at a higher price.

I've used both the Comstock and Advanced beaver traps on fox jobs but as you know the price is high. But if you have them for beaver anyway they certainly will work on fox.

Awesome SGS! Thanks...Just came across the Wickencamp Model 50 for 89.00 through WCS too.

HJ, we're a little short on bobcats but I've caught over 100 foxes in my old Wickenkamps. I bought 2 dozen used ones about 26 years ago for $15 apiece. They are 32 inches long, 12 inches high, and 10 inches wide, and don't seem to be made anymore.

Not a problem. Any fox that will wander into a 32 inch cage, will probably jump into a 30 inch cage. The only big difference is that the old Wickens were 1 inch by 1 inch mesh, which are probably better for fox and worse for raccoons.

I also have 3 Wickens that are 28x12x10 and may very well be the deadliest raccoon traps that we own. ( Okay, disclaimer: "In my hands, they may be the deadliest coon traps we own" )

Like, like!

Thanks for the info Paul...1st I've run into the Wickencamps..Not sure how I missed em.

I plan on trapping a nuisance bobcat this winter. What is the minimum cage size you'd recommend?

I must be the odd man out here. I had some wickencamps years back and sold them all.

The wire grid was much too large on those models I believe it was 1"x 2". Way too large wire spacing for the coon to be able to reach and grab things. I and two of our employees were scratched or bitten by coon thru the wire due to its large grid size with no hand protection by the carry handle.

They can reach and grab your leg while walking with the trap if you aren't very careful or bite your hand also. If you attach alum. flashing to the top and sides you will stop this from occurring. But if you have to do all that work on a trap you may as well buy one that has these features built in for the protection of the handler. Just a logical conclusion I would think.

Much better traps available in safeguard or tomahawk models that allow transfer of animals, easier baiting, less area damage and safer handling of animals.

This has been my experience with these traps.

For serious cat trapping I would use a 15" > 18" height trap by 36" at least. Wide can be quite narrow if you wish. There are some good cat cage traps being built now. I have caught cats in 12" x12" x 30 " traps setting for coon and have known others to catch them on purpose in that model trap also.

Duke makes a pretty decent cage trap for the money. 15 x 14 x36 is 79.95. I got a couple last year along with a bunch of 12 x 12's. They have held the biggest raccoons without a problem and have paid for themselves many times over. If you order them from the Duke company shipping is free if your order is over $100. I did have one coon escape from the 15 x 14. The homeowner had a camera set up and pictures showed a coon of at least ten pounds squeeze out through the three inch by five inch bait door that I did not clip shut.

I think this is the best I've found for large bobcat. Not cheap, but the quality of Little Wolf Trapping Supplies cages is top notch.

A state instructor of ours had 2 bobcats get to to the end of a cage and the cage wasn't long enough. I don't want to go too short.

Not a fan of roll over release cages without door locks on them.

I stake them good.

It looks like the Little Wolf traps have a ring lock on the doors.

The Bridger 15x15x36 has been working for me on raccoon jobs. It is the "bobcat" size. https://www.minntrapprod.com/Bridger-Bobcat-Cage-Trap/productinfo/CCT-003/ It's an economy trap. I'd prefer if it had a bait door in the back. The trigger mechanism is a little stiff. I "lightened" it up by slipping some plastic tubing over the mated.

I've been using it with two separate, 14x14 pieces of plywood in the bottom. One at the door on the floor of the trap and a second that sits on the first piece of plywood and leverages down the foot treadle. This setup caught a troublesome raccoon that was habitually stealing bait from the side.
This video ends just before the door drops. https://vimeo.com/manage/356462460/general
The cage that's set up for "stealing" is baited heavily along the adjacent trap side.

Yes, it's an excellent lock. Of course ya just have to ensure the critter doesn't roll the cage over on its own.

Years ago we used a Williams type trap one winter in Alabama, 14x16x36 with 1x2 mesh. We caught 7 bobcats in them. Interesting that most go with tall and narrow, but there have been a lot of surprises I have heard of over the past couple of years with trappers using powered door traps, bifold doors traps and angled powered ring lock traps. One trapper caught a bobcat in his driveway in a 9x11x24 powered door trap. My comment, really small? He said "not that small." Andrew Huot caught a 23 pound female last year in a 9x9x40 angled lock ring trap where the opening is about about 8.5x8.5, but the cat could still turn around inside. We have made bifold, powered door traps, up to 24 tall but were surprised to hear that a 7.5x15 bifold caught a 38 pound bobcat in Washington. Another trapper in Maine caught a 30 pound bobcat in a 12x12x36 powered door trap. It may well be that cats do like taller and from what has been shown out west, narrow does not bother them, but what this shows is that if a cat is really interested in what you have, probably really hungry, he's going in. Guillotine door traps work well in the desert but in snow and ice country in the north they will freeze up solid with a few drops of ice. It's important to use a trap that can be covered with a tarp, board, shingle or the like to keep them working in rough weather that always comes. Prices vary greatly, but if you talk to anyone who has just lost a raccoon, woodchuck or armadillo in a poorly made trap, if they had it to do over they won't go cheap again.

Jim is correct, but he left out there is a lot more that needs to be considered. That is the ability of the trap to have a reduced magnetic field. The lower the projected EMF going over or through a trap or trap device the more total animals will be caught with less refusals. Two traps or trap devices can look similar and even look to be the same but are not. The trap or device may be sold as a Best trap for red fox and Bobcat but when tested shows that it will not prove to be that way. The test doesn't lie. It is accurate. What works best for one animal may not be for all. You can have the best functioning trap in the world but if the animal will not enter, how good is it. If you can buy a cheap trap that will catch baited sets (better than trap that does not test well) and that is the only sets you use, it might be better to buy that cheap trap. If you need a trap for forced sets or positive sets it may not matter as much unless your animal is educated and older, then it goes around or forces himself through a new hole he makes. There are powered door cage traps that will work for all, you just have to find and stick to those. It s the same for other trap/devices. At least a 4 t0 1 catch ratio difference and shorter time frame to eliminate the problem being very important in ADC work.

Any one that disputes that after what can now be tested is mistaken. He either does not know how to test, has not done the testing, or is telling a yarn to promote sales before it is common knowledge. EMF testing of devices will cause some devices to be more limited to more targeted animal species. They could be snares, conibears, footholds, or cage traps.

At least this is what I have found to be true. EMF test your traps to know what ability it has for the animals targeted.