First bobcat i ever snared was a 28 pound female. That is big cat in Arkansas. Weighted it on fish hatchery scale's. I was coon trapping. Seen sign and set it. I did hang a snare a little lower. When i reset the spot. Somehow i snared a skunk. Wasnt trying to catch a skunk. Would say that the bobcat had been eating a few rainbow trout.
Ramblings and Such From Hunting Coyote
- Thread starter DSheetz
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I've noticed that cats vary in size and color from area to area even in this state . Cats from farther north , say Canada or Alaska tend to average larger size and weight while cats say from Arizona and south or eastern states tend to be smaller in size as well as a more reddish color on their backs . I would think that cats from these areas would be larger due to the fact that food is more redly available for the most part but maybe the size difference is due in part to the types of animals they hunt in different parts of the areas they live in so while they are bobcats they may be a different subspecies .
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A few years ago I decided to build myself an AR . As with most things that I do I studied on what I would want to do to get the most out of one that I built . I didn't want to just put parts together and hope that it would be accurate with most factory ammo or even my hand loads . I then discovered that there are so many things that can and probably should be taken into consideration when you build an AR the same as when you decide to learn how to hunt , trap , call and snare coyote and other animals . I soon found out that it's often the small things that tend to make a big difference in the out come of such endeavors . So then during the course of my search for knowledge I stumbled across some youtube videos by American Gunsmith done by a guy named Joe Carlos that so far have held a lot of good information on building an accurate AR .
Dave in life, you know as your a little more elderly than me, it's always the smallest things that make the biggest difference…… 
Did u stay something about trapping or snaring coyotes? You got my attention!!
I did I had to be able to use every thing that I could at different times to get the problem animals killed and found that attention to detail paid it's way often . When I have a little more time then now I will talk more about the way I did some of it .
I know this is a long thread but DSheetz the JEDI MASTER of Coyote has literally filled this entire thread with his vast knowledge of ALL things coyote. If you didn't start from the front I highly advise you to do so just so you don't miss out!
Wait till he switches the subject to woman we will really get Ed-gee-K-Ted
As with all others I find what works best for me and tend to stick with it tweaking it and making small changes in it till I get it fine tuned and then will make adjustments to it and the way I'm using it as needed for varying situations . Snares and traps are no different for me . I found what worked well for me fine tuned them for my needs and also fine tuned their use for me . The way that I tune them and set them is only a starting point for others as they will need to refine the way that they do things for their situation and the differences in their areas . My area is dry and so I didn't wax my traps , I just cleaned them adjusted them and simmered them in black log wood crystals after the first year of use . When you buy new traps they are filthy , greasy and need a lot of tuning . The first thing that I would do was clean them by simmering them in hot clean water to get the oil and such off of them . I found for me that a # 3 square offset jaw trap worked the best in my situation . I would file the sharp edges down on the stamped jaws so they wouldn't cut the skin on animals . I checked the spring tension to make sure they had enough holding power even on new ones and kept new springs on hand so I could replace them as needed . So I used the same brand of trap all of the time that made it easy to keep repair parts on hand as well as tuning them stayed the same . I liked the dog on type of trap not the dog less ones , but some people that used them got real good at tuning them and setting them . I would use a 16 gauge wire and wire 12 traps together to clean them . Then I would start to adjust them . I first pinched the dog down with my pliers so that it was snug on the frame and didn't move back and forth but would turn freely on it's pivot point . I then checked that the pan screw wasn't going to fall out and would smash the end threads so that the nut wouldn't screw off with an animal beating the trap on the ground like coyote do , but I wanted the pan to be loose enough that frost wouldn't stop it from functioning as it should . I used a small knife edged file 3" to square the dog notch and put a small v notch in it close to the end . I squared the end of the dog and put a v notch in it so that I could mate the dog and pan together and they would click in place and hold when I held them with out setting the trap and bent the frame where the dog pivoted to level the pan . Then I just set them or left them laying out to rust the first year . Log wood die will not adhere to metal till it's rusted some and I didn't like the stuff that used gasoline to put on my traps . For me waxing them the wax would hold odors and you would find where mice had dug around them to eat the wax or the coyote would smell them and dig them up spring the trap and get a face full of dirt scared then associate the smell with a bad experience and be very cautious of it in the future . I carried my small file with me every place so that I could keep the notches clean and working as they were meant to , snap with no pan movement when the pan moved the trap closed no toe catches as the coyote started to pull it's foot back to a movement of the pan . I used trap pan covers made of old jeans or muslim material cut to fit inside of the jaws with a split that went over the dog . both ends extended under the jaws and could be pulled snug so there wasn't any dirt getting under the pan and keeping it from working correctly . I didn't like to use any thing under my pan such as fiberglass insulation , it smells and if water got in it it would freeze and not let the pan drop fast enough for my liking and I didn't like to leave any thing on someone else's property , I don't like my home and yard trashed up so why would I do that to some one else .
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Now then I've got my traps and pan covers ready to use . My trapping supplies are put together in a square bucket . the hammer to pound my stakes in with the digging end welded on it , the dirt sifter so I don't get rocks and sticks that will keep the jaws from closing properly and let an animal get out of it . My lure is kept away from every thing else so that it doesn't contaminate anything with it's smell . I find a trail they are using then find a good short backing they can see over on the up wind side , our wind normally comes from the west here , and off of the trail a few feet 2-5 feet , I don't like setting in or close to the trail as I don't want deer or antelope tripping my trap or being caught in it , it's set for coyote ,fox ect. not deer ect. and if they are caught in it or it's sprung by them I can't catch them . So for me animals are like people most of them are right pawed so out in front of my backing and facing it I dig my trap bed big enough and deep enough for the set trap to fit easily in it then I drive my steak or stakes . I pull on the chain to make sure it is solid and won't pull out easily . Set my trap and click the pan into the notch , put my pan cover on then set it in the bed lift the free jaw up and check that no dirt or any thing has gotten under it put the pan cover under it and push it down firmly making sure that the trap is solid pack some dirt around it to make it solid then sift dirt over it blending it all in so it looks as natural as I can get it to . I use a cotton ball or small cow pie as a lure holder and just a small amount of lure on it to much and they don't need to get very close to satisfy their curiosity .
Trapping is an art it takes time and effort to learn I can only say what I do that works for me every one has to figure out the fine points of it for them selves just like what truck or rifle caliber works for you so is every thing else in the world a matter of getting things to fit your needs today and will change over time .
