Tainted or fresh?

[Blsum]

So it's agreed that beaver meat is the best bobcat bait to use. However I was just curious if you prefer to have tainted beaver meat or fresh beaver meat, and why. It seams to me that I have more activity at my cat sets after they have been sitting for a while and the meat has had time to start to smell a bit. Also remember this is my rookie year so I don't have a lot of experience. So looking to hear from some of you veterans.

[Bango skank]

I prefer fresh beaver meat.  Hair removed.

[DishBogget]

I got 2 cats this year , this year being my first trapping. I harvested one cat with fresh ( day old ) meat , and one with three week old meat . Obviously not much of a sample size there to come to any conclusion but I have a feeling they'd eat either .


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[Trapper John]

I find that tainted or a week or longer works best.
They like it fresh but I have caught more bobcats when the meat has been sitting at a set for a week to ten days.
JC   

[JakeLand]

My  is fresh beaver meat ! For several reasons
 #1- cats that are not starving want fresh meat where in the deep freeze they are hungrier and will eat anything
 #2- fresh meat has eye appeal where rotten is dark
 #3- using tainted meat attracts skunks,possums and critters I'm not targeting when I set cat traps that's what I want

 All my cats have been caught on fresh bait  not saying you won't get any on tainted but I have better success with fresh
 

[Timberstalker]

This thread has legs.........

[ouchfoss]

I'm still learning but almost seems like the cats dont really care if it's fresh or stinky. I've caught more with stinky but that's because most of my bait is like that by the time I get to using it. The smell of rotten beaver meat carries far more than fresh so I'm sure that plays a part in the equation. This is a tough one to really give a definitive answer to. I'm sure hunger plays a big part of it depending on how the winter weather was and if there is competition for food in an area. Last year we had a very mild winter here and all three cats I got were very healthy 25 lb toms with lots of fat in them in February and they ate every morsel of very stinky rotten beaver meat out of the traps.

[Humptulips]

I prefer tainted. I have used fresh and it works but things seem to pick up after about a week. I think it makes the sets easier for the cats to find. Some LDC with fresh bait could take the place of tainting.
After a while when the bait gets pretty ripe I don't think it is a deterrent to cats but civets come streaming in.
Personally I use what I have unless it is real rotten. I've been trying to conserve on bait. With the price of beaver I don't care to trap them for the most part. If I had an excessive amount of bait I would concentrate on more prebaits and larger baits rather then changing out baits to keep fresh in the cage.

[bear hunter]