Putting up bobcat furs and sealing requirements?

[HillHound]

Hello, new to trapping this year. Do you guys typically take bobcats in to be sealed as you get them, or just freeze them all and do it at the end of the season? And if you do freeze them are you freezing them whole or skinning them out and just freezing the hide? Got one a couple weeks ago and bio would not return my call so I skinned it out and froze the hide. He finally got back to me 3 days later and wasn’t thrilled because I did not save the carcass and did not cut a hole and put something through it but said I could just hang onto it and do it at a later point now. So today I got another one and have not heard back from him again. I’m debating on triple bagging and freezing it whole and just cutting a hole in the hide where I would start skinning  on the back leg and putting a pencil through it so they have a spot to seal it. What do you all think? Thanks in advance for any advice

[Born2late]

I've never saved the carcass. fleshed it and boarded it and fully dried it then at the end of trapping season i have them all sealed at once. i pin one eye open for the tag to go through.Had local wardens come and tag them and they never had a problem with that

[redi]

Cats have very acidic stomachs which can cause hair to slip if you wait to long to skin or freeze them. When lucky enough to catch cats I skin them and put a 4 or 5 inch piece of 12/2 house wire through the mouth and eye hole then bend it in a circle. The wire will slide out and leave space for a seal to slide in. On whole cats or otters you can slip a knife from the  gum line up to the eye and slide the wire in before freezing. I prefer a filet knife for this task on whole animals. I use this method rather then cutting extra hikes in the pelt.

[HillHound]

Awesome. Thanks

[callturner]

Might read the regs, I know lions have a time limit to be sealed

[HillHound]

Yeah I did confirm that since the trapping regs leave some Grey area. It states you have up till two weeks after the season but they can’t be frozen. So you have to skin and dry them? Nope. They said I could freeze them but have to pull them out so they are thawed enough to seal it and determine sex if possible. He actually said they are going to add another line in next years regs to clarify in what condition the hide needs to be, raw, dried, tanned, frozen then thawed, etc, since I wasn’t the only new trapper with this question

[Humptulips]

The only reason why cats or otter can't be frozen is so they don't show up frozen in a ball, impossible to get a tag on.
I have tagged many frozen cats and otter but I insert a stick through the eye hole to create an avenue to insert the tag. Typically they are saved until the end of season. Bring them to the Winter Rendezvous and we will tag them, no hassles.