Bobcat Trapping on the Ozark Plateau

I suppose I inherited from my father my propensity for adventuring as far from the road as possible. Apparently there is a mental trait that drives a restless outdoor soul to seek out new territory that few others often see or visit. That same trait also causes an otherwise social being to seek complete solitude during interactions with nature. When afflicted by this mental trait a person rationalizes that the further back in the woods they travel the fewer folks they will see. Therefore, in my outdoor adventures I tend to ‘walkabout’. For the past two years opening weekend of firearms deer season has found me circulating in the northern reaches of Indian Trail State Park in an area where particularly large whitetail bucks are rumored to haunt. As all in our deer camp would joyously tell you, those large bucks have eluded me for the last few years. However, both years I have seen what, at first glance, appeared to be a small yearling deer but then turned out to be a particularly large bobcat. Both years the bobcat has presented itself in the same general location along an edge bordering an old clear cut and a tract of old-growth timber. And, both years the sighting has left me with an idea of packing in a few traps and setting them in order to add an additional dimension to my annual deer hunting adventure. Utilizing the still-hunting method, an outdoorsman could set a small trap line and run the line while following the same hunting circuit each morning. Now that would be a mountain man adventure to remember!

Missouri furbearer trapping season begins November 15th at 12:01 am and all traps must be removed by midnight on January 31, 2010. All traps must be plainly labeled with the trappers name and address. Legal traps include foot-hold traps with smooth or rubber jaws only, conibear, foot-enclosing-type, cage-type, colony traps (with openings 6 inches or less in height and width), snares (under water only), and cable restraint devices. In Missouri, after harvesting each bobcat (otters as well) trappers are required to contact the local MDC agent for CITES tagging. The CITES tag provides valuable information for proper management of wildlife populations and without the tag the pelt and carcass are not legal to possess and/or transfer to a buyer.

For bobcats my trap of choice is a 1 ¾, 4-coil, off-set jaw trap. With 4 coils the trap is stout enough to fire through most frozen crust and it is fast enough to catch even the lightening quick bobcat. It is also durable enough to stand up to the riggers of the occasional coyote that snoops around your bobcat set. The off-set jaws allow for a firm yet non-pelt damaging hold on the quarry. My favorite set layout for bobcat is the dirt hole set garnished with feathers for visual appeal along with bobcat urine misted around a close piece of backing (rock or log) and bait containing beaver meat and castor in the hole for scent appeal. Firmly bed the trap on level ground approximately six inches back and three inches offset from center of the dirt hole edge. Usually when I arrive at a set that contains a bobcat the critter is laying there as if taking an afternoon nap… however I wouldn’t advise reaching down and rubbing his belly. He might be relaxed but he will NOT be in good humor!

Some may find it surprising to know that the Ozark Plateau Region, in which our seven contiguous county area is located, is the most productive bobcat region in the state. According to the Furbearer Status report produced annually by the Missouri Department of Conservation (MDC), Resource Science Division, the Ozark Plateau Region has produced more bobcats than any other region in the state for the past ten years. During the 2008-2009 season our region produced 868 (26% of the total) of the state total of 3,333 bobcats harvested. Of the 868 bobcats harvested in the Ozark Plateau Region, our seven contiguous county area (Dent, Crawford, Iron, Reynolds, Shannon, Texas, and Phelps) produced 291 bobcats (33.5% of the Ozark Plateau total).

It is also interesting to know that bobcat population trends generally indicate a gradually increasing bobcat population since the early 1990’s based on bow hunter observation surveys and sign station surveys conducted by MDC. This is a double edged sword for the outdoorsman. For the trapper and predator hunter this is a great boon of opportunity. However, for the small game and bird hunter, increased predator numbers can spell fewer hunting opportunities. If you are a small game and bird hunter you might consider asking a trapper to help harvest the surplus furbearers on your property this season. Or, you might take up trapping yourself. I strongly encourage anyone interested but I would also advise the perspective new trapper to take pause when considering taking up the pursuit - there is nothing easy about trapping. There is no such thing a lazy trapper. Prior to season a trapper must scout for furbearers as well as clean, adjust, boil, and wax his traps. After season begins the trapper will carry traps, tools, equipment, and attractants to the woods to make proper sets. The trapper must then travel his trap line daily to harvest the caught furbearers, all the while pulling fired traps and processing them continually through the entire cleaning process prior to resetting them. After each catch the trapper must promptly and properly process the harvest in order to produce a salable finished fur product, Fur processing can take several hours a day. Finally, at the end of season the trapper has to pull all his traps and sell all his fur at a fur action. It is a great labor indeed but it is a labor of love for the mountain man trapper who loves the solitude of winter in the outdoors and the lessons of the circle of life.


If you are looking for a new outdoor adventure this year trapping can provide the opportunity. Be advised, when trapping takes hold of you your mountain man spirit and your childhood impatience and eagerness will run amuck in your mind. Like a child at Christmas, you will lay in bed at night, sleepless, with visions, not of sugar plumbs, but of bobcats and coyotes dancing in you head (sets). You will anxiously anticipate 5:30 am so you can get out there. And, if you find traps empty you will feel dejected as if the Grinch stole Christmas! In closing, this fall during your outdoor forays please take the time to introduce a child to the outdoors. To firmly bed an impressionable young mind in the interworkings of Nature’s Economy is to share the Creator’s design. In life there is no lesson more valuable. Good luck, be safe, and get a big one.