I think I have a bobcat problem

[dennishoddy]

The DP traps don't work well for cats that I've seen. I run them every year for raccoons and have never caught a cat.
Cats are visually oriented, not so much smell. I have my best luck with a leg hold in a trapping set.
Use a tree or bank as a backer, dig up dirt to be put into a bucket from the area. clean the area in front of the backer smooth, then plant the trap in the cleaned area, sifting dirt around the trap leaving only the pan to be exposed. Put a piece of cloth over the pan, and lightly sift some more dirt to cover the cloth and pan. The trap has to be SOLID and can't wiggle when the cat walks over it or they will leave.
At the backer put some chicken parts and surround the trap with sticks, logs and what ever. Make a little cave for the bait.
Cats are lazy and will take the easiest route. Simple sticks into the ground to guide the cat into the trap works great. Offset the trap from the entrance so it's in the path of the cats legs, not down the center of the body.
To attract them to the trap area, hang a bird wing or big feather with some string from a tree overhead with a weight underneath so the wind doesn't blow it back up into the tree that will allow the wing to swing in the wind.
I've also used the yellow plastic caution tape vs a wing. Seems to work the same.
Probably not the best to use in the barnyard, as it will catch everything that wanders in including domestic animals, but you wanted to know how to catch a cat.
Okie4570's solution with the live trap will let momma's puppy live another day and keep you out of trouble.

 

[bushmaster06]

The DP traps don't work well for cats that I've seen. I run them every year for raccoons and have never caught a cat.
Cats are visually oriented, not so much smell. I have my best luck with a leg hold in a trapping set.
Use a tree or bank as a backer, dig up dirt to be put into a bucket from the area. clean the area in front of the backer smooth, then plant the trap in the cleaned area, sifting dirt around the trap leaving only the pan to be exposed. Put a piece of cloth over the pan, and lightly sift some more dirt to cover the cloth and pan. The trap has to be SOLID and can't wiggle when the cat walks over it or they will leave.
At the backer put some chicken parts and surround the trap with sticks, logs and what ever. Make a little cave for the bait.
Cats are lazy and will take the easiest route. Simple sticks into the ground to guide the cat into the trap works great. Offset the trap from the entrance so it's in the path of the cats legs, not down the center of the body.
To attract them to the trap area, hang a bird wing or big feather with some string from a tree overhead with a weight underneath so the wind doesn't blow it back up into the tree that will allow the wing to swing in the wind.
I've also used the yellow plastic caution tape vs a wing. Seems to work the same.
Probably not the best to use in the barnyard, as it will catch everything that wanders in including domestic animals, but you wanted to know how to catch a cat.
Okie4570's solution with the live trap will let momma's puppy live another day and keep you out of trouble.

I have plenty of places to put a trap that aren't in the chicken yard. One of the videos I watched earlier showed using some old CDs and a turkey wing/feather or duck wing on some fishing line with an egg sinker between the CDs and wing/feather so it would flutter. About 10 feet passed that was the trap with a bunch of feather scattered around.

 

[dennishoddy]

I have plenty of places to put a trap that aren't in the chicken yard. One of the videos I watched earlier showed using some old CDs and a turkey wing/feather or duck wing on some fishing line with an egg sinker between the CDs and wing/feather so it would flutter. About 10 feet passed that was the trap with a bunch of feather scattered around.

Yep, lots of things can be used to attract them to the set.
Some lure that can be bought is also a good thing to use in the set. Cat-Man-Do is one of the most popular. Run the tip of a stick into the jar and poke the opposite end into the ground at the back of the set.

 

[Okie4570]

If you've seen them skinner your driveway, that's the first place I would start.

 

[swampratt]

I put foot hold traps around my coop and catch critters in them.
I will place 2 and sometimes 3 traps on the same rebar stake drove into the ground.
This way the critter walking around the coop usually gets 2 or 3 feet caught up in the taps.

Yea I want to catch them really bad.
Foot hold and DP coon traps are really not that expensive.

 

[diggler1833]

Yep, DP coon traps are pretty cheap. I still think it is a raccoon issue...I can't imagine a bobcat only making a bald spot with a puncture wound and not killing a bird. Like I said before, one raccoon got five of my chickens in one night. Four were dragged off and down the hill, the fifth was killed and partially eaten in the coop itself.

I'm still using DP coon traps now across the ranch. I'm trying to thin them out as I have a few wild turkeys (not the alcohol) and want to improve their numbers before shooting one. I set two out next to a creep feeder two nights ago and caught one that night. All I ever use is that apple flavored corn...it works well in my very rural neck of the woods.

 

[Raido Free America]

Nobody traps anymore and so the populations are getting out of control.

great dogs that bond with what ever they are around. They have been known to prevent parents from spanking kids they have bonded with!

 

[OKRuss]

Anyone that wants 2 Great Pyrenees dogs just let me know. Neighbor with a very small yard lets them out and we've caught them on trail cameras multiple times(just never when I had a gun). I'll help bait, trap and load into your vehicle. Whatever is done with them after that is up to you. Only requirement is you have to take them at least 100 miles away!

 

[1Mudman]

Dont forget Fox. They are very populous and can live near you without you knowing until you catch one in the hen house! I trapped for several years for coyotes and they are smart but not that hard to catch. Never really targeted Fox but a #4 will get them and or coyote or bobcat. I used a 3 prong drag so they could work out of the trap. I would usually find them in they by the nearest fence or tall weeds and dispatched them with a 22LR in the brain. I used anything that was rotten or stunk real bad for bait. When I was after a bobcat I would use a couple of Sardines. I dont know if they have changed the law but it used to be illegal to use a Turkey feather or mirrors to attract bobcats.