A Puurfect Ending To Trapping Season

Mary Margaret Spann, of Ball Ground, was 10 years old when she had an amazing ending to her 2024-25 trapping season in Pickens County. She caught back-to-back bobcats in the last days of trapping season. The first one was a 25-pounder (bottom), and she closed her season with a 28-pounder (above).

I’ve been trapping for about four years as a part of the GTA (Georgia Trappers Association) but haven’t really gotten into it. I mean I’ve caught coyotes, opossums and raccoons but nothing really exciting. I’ve always wanted to catch a bobcat. It was only five days before the end of the 2023-24 trapping season. I decided that since my brother and dad were setting traps at the top of our mountain, I would tag along.

We rode up to the spot and started to look for sign. My brother, Henry, was able to find a good spot quickly. My dad had caught a bobcat just a few days before. So he helped me find a spot where it looked like three trails came together. I got down on my knees and was able to set, bait and decorate my trap. By the time I finished, it was close to dark. We drove home, and I fell asleep with hopes of catching a bobcat.

The next day we woke up for school and got in the truck to go check our traps. It was still dark, so we had our flashlights with us. We came to my brother’s compass set, and he didn’t catch anything. We continued walking  down to my trap. Again we saw nothing. I went to school and came back home kind of sad. There were only four days left before the end of bobcat season.

The next day we all drove up to check the traps. My brother’s trap caught nothing. Then we came to mine. We couldn’t see very well, so we suspected nothing, but then my dad saw a pair of gleaming yellow eyes belonging to a massive bobcat! I got very excited but stayed put next to my dad. My dad could tell he was a big, ol’ tom cat. My dad shot it, and we began to drag it toward the truck. We took pictures and weighed it. The bobcat weighed 25 pounds. Then I went to school, sadly none of my friends thought it was cool, but I didn’t care.

We drove home, and I reset my trap from that morning. I woke up the next day hoping there would be something in the trap. We drove up the mountain and passed my brother’s trap (which was still empty). Then we came to mine. My brother spotted two gleaming eyes coming from my trap. A ginormous tom cat was growling and snarling in my trap. My dad quickly realized that it was toe-caught, so he shot it as quickly as possible.

The large cat weighed 28 pounds. It made us late for school, but it was worth it. I’m definitely going to trap more now! Sadly, bobcat season has ended, but there’s always next season.