2017 Sets and Catches

[RockChucker30]

Started setting today, will update with before and after (hopefully).

First sets, in an open gate to hay field along farm road and tree line intersection. Have connected here every year. Last year with a big ol 42 lb dog.

Flat set near cowpie with a pokehole containing Hiawatha Valley bait and some sheeps wool. Red fox urine on cowpie.

Nearby

Charred wood pegged down with landscaping nail, two holes drilled in face of wood, Purrfect in one, Yodel Dog in the other, RF urine on top.

One of these traps is a Jake, the other a MB650.

Sidenote: I decided my female Catahoula at 3 years old has enough puppy out of her to be a trapline companion. I got both these set, told her "TRAP, Get back!" A bunch of times, but she had to check it out when I turned my back to get the bait can.

She got in the Jake first, pulled out, ran around the truck, and hit the MB650 with a back foot on the run. Pulled out of it too. Strong dog. Set more a few minutes later and she stayed by the truck.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[RockChucker30]

Flashy dirthole for bobcat. Heavily guided, flagged with chicken feathers. At intersection of a grown over fence row and a woodlot.

Hiawatha bait, Purrfect, Voo Doo lures with RF urine.

Coyote pipe set same location. GHII lure, RF urine.

Both Jakes, both on drags. Should be fun.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[RockChucker30]

I have a newfound dislike for beavers after they started diverting the creek into our access road. Digging out beaver dams is a lot of work.

A 330 is good beaver medicine.

I'll be honest, these traps scare me a bit. I've got a healthy respect for them. Like snares, they're great in the right situation, but there's a lot of downside using them in the wrong situation.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[RockChucker30]

Blind set at a go under. Good spot, field edge, woodlot, draw all come together. Trail cam pics taken from the cut privet tell me coyotes are using it...

Prefer foothold over snare here due to potential fence damage and neighbors pyrenees. This is a heavily modded sleepy creek #3 DLS.

Flat set with a Jake just up the trail. Trap basically in the trail, using a tuft of dead grass as backing, pokehole with some GHII as lure.

Both these are on cable slides to try and preserve the location. Drags wouldn't work here, too open. Interested to see how it works.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[TN Song Dog]

Following.

I was hoping to see some folks making some sets this year. I sold a good bit of my equipment, but kept a few essentials. I hope to be in a better situation to get back into it one day.

Looks like a lot of hard work and thought put into these. Good luck and keep us updated.

Suprised your dog pulled out of the jake and 650! Wouldn't of guessed that on either one.

Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk

 

[RockChucker30]

Connected first night. Location covers a lot of mistakes, scouting camera showed they're using this.

Cable slide worked as intended, moving the catch circle 10' away. I've never caught a coyote inside a catch circle.

With this setup I swapped in a fresh trap and had it remade in 5 minutes. Trail still looks fresh.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[eastTN270]

Awesome. I hope to start some next week.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[TN Song Dog]

Very nice, that's a great start and first night

Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk

 

[RockChucker30]

Got 4 more punched in this afternoon.

Three sets same location, farm road leading to food plot, thick cover all round. Coyotes and bobcat on cam here.

Pipe flat set, Purrfect, RF urine, sheepswool. MB650 on drag.

Big dirthole under a rock, cat set. Flagged with turkey feathers, baited with Hiawatha, lured with Purrfect, Violator #7, locklear rub lure, RF urine, and some feathers. Very very busy set, guided down tight.

Jake on a drag.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[RockChucker30]

Flat set on road entering food plot, connected here last year.

Very subtle set, geared to coyote. Tuft of grass with pokehole, GHII in hole with sheepswool, urine on grass.

Another big garish dirthole cat set. Edge of field, woodlot, grown up briar thicket. Hiawatha, RF urine, flagged.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[pass-thru]

Thanks for sharing pics of your line, I'm not doing much trapping these days due to my schedule.

On your 330 set....have you considered blending that in more? Also, I presume you are using a stabilizer of some kind....but you can further stabilize it with stout deadwood through the springs, which can also help to blend.

I have found that 330's remain productive longer if they are not noticeable to approaching beaver, and if the beaver once caught has enough slack to roll out of the channel. Otherwise they get smart real fast. And also, I always use a dive stick, even when they are not fully submerged, otherwise a certain percentage will try to climb over.

 

[RockChucker30]

I actually caught the beavers back in the early summer but didn't get all the dams pulled till recently. I did notice slight activity so I think there's been a passer through. So I'm not putting a ton of effort into them, just hoping to catch a transient if he wanders through.

Thanks for the tips, I'm not a beaver guy.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[RockChucker30]

Sprung and empty. Probably a deer.

Remake

Had to pull a cat set and coyote flat set due to poor tractor driving. Somebody drove 6' out of the way to drive over a flagged cat set. PVC for flat set was pulled out of the ground and tossed in woods. Not the landowner, probably a neighbor. Traps still there and ok, thankfully.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[TN Song Dog]

Probably thought that pipe was trash in the field. Might of gotten a stinky suprise, ha!

Looking forward to the morning updates. Keep them coming.



Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk

 

[RockChucker30]

Not much activity the last couple day, and not much time to set more. Pulling fence and cleaning up fencerow in my free time.

I did reduce the nest raider and poult killer population by one this morning.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[RobbyW]

Following


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[RockChucker30]

Yesterday morning, blind set in the fencerow.

I don't know why, but I like possums. When I trapped as a kid they were always easy to deal with while a coon is downright mean. I wish I knew numbers on turkey nest raiding between the two.

I let this guy go unharmed.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[RockChucker30]

The charred wood flat set put out 7 days ago connected last night. Nice young female. I love the silver and blacks.

This is why I like a bigger trap for coyotes. This one is in a Jake and going absolutely nowhere, and with no damage.

Key takeaway on this catch is that I went nowhere near these sets after I put them out. I checked them from the truck driving by.

If you've got a good location, good trap well staked, bedded right and weatherproofed right, use good attractants, just leave it alone. Coyotes don't tolerate you messing with a set every day.

I pulled the line this morning due to forecast for a very wet week. I hate trapping in mud and rain. Will get some back out in a week or two, hopefully with more time.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[fishboy1]

Love this thread !
Havent been motivated to set my line this year. Need a couple decent foot holds and dump my duke rubber jaws.

I have a yote marking the farm road through the property poopin in the same spot every week.
Definately a foothold location but I don't have confidence in the dukes.

Keep posting your trapline report! Love love love hearing about it and good luck !

 

[pressfit]

She got in the Jake first, pulled out, ran around the truck, and hit the MB650 with a back foot on the run. Pulled out of it too. Strong dog. Set more a few minutes later and she stayed by the truck.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

congrats on the catches!!
I can't believe she pulled out.... I don't think I have ever had a non target catch pull out of a coyote trap... personality I despise a trap line dog.. I've tried it and tried it.. I end up remaking set after set.. lol and hanging snares.. forgot it.. they will get caught in every one you put out.. lol

 

[cmc934]

Oct - Nov I see and hear coyotes all over my property, but I have not been able to trap one. How often do you leave your coyote traps out before relocating or resetting? I set some Sun & picked them up today due to the weather forecast. 4 of the six had never been touched. The others had a coon and a smiley.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[RockChucker30]

How often do you leave your coyote traps out before relocating or resetting?

The second coyote I caught this year the set was out 7 days without freshening. The key is to know you're on location, have a good stake, good trap, and you're weatherproofing right as well as using attractors proven to work.

Bedded in peat moss with a waxed dirt cover, that set could've gone 3 weeks with no problems. Coyotes have a good nose, so you don't need to freshen often. The key is location. If you never have any first night catches then either your location is bad or your aging isn't right.

There's not a specific answer to your question. Tons of rain forecast and family coming for the holidays, I pulled everything. Left stakes in the ground to reset quick though...

If I were moving to another area and didn't want to drive, I'd pull gear. Otherwise let it soak a couple weeks. It'll help you weed out good areas from bad. Some spots produce every year.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[eastTN270]

Got my first coyote this afternoon. I tried trapping a couple years ago with little success. My in-laws farm is covered up with coyotes so thought I'd try again. I've got 6 sets out at different fence crossings. Lots of sign, trails, and hair on the fence. One set has been tripped twice with no catch, not sure what the problem is. A couple of sets are getting some of the covering brushed off. I wonder if it is a little smell of the new latex gloves I'm using. Anyway, here is my first coyote catch ever. It was a flat set on a trail coming from a fence crossing. I stuck an old cow bone in the ground and covered it with June's coyote call.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Remington700]

Thanks for the pictures. I have never trapped, but have always been interested and enjoy reading and seeing it accomplished.

 

[buckaroo]

I'm still learning as I stated earlier I have used only road kill for bait, but just ordered red fox urine, where do I place urine?, also I have the duke traps are they ok? thanks

 

[pressfit]

Congrats!! The first one is the hardest!!

 

[TnHoss]

buckaroo, Dukes are okay just in my experience they need more tuning than others but if something steps on them they will hold. Spray your fox urine on a bush, sapling,tuft of grass, log ,etc. usually behind where you set the trap.

 

[Chipola Buck Hunter]

good catches! get every coyote you can.

 

[Farm manager]

buckaroo, Dukes are okay just in my experience they need more tuning than others but if something steps on them they will hold. Spray your fox urine on a bush, sapling,tuft of grass, log ,etc. usually behind where you set the trap.

TnHoss said it right when referring to the question about the Duke traps.
With a little tuning the Duke #4, the almost identical Bridger #3, the Victor #3 (all padded jaws in my examples)( the regular or offset jaw will work too) will hold everything that steps in them. I have run the #4 Dukes and all catches are above the pad. A buddy runs the #3 Bridgers and is well pleased. Another buddy runs #3 Victors two coiled and is depending on 200-300 of them every year, not just playing around. Mark Steck, who owns Dakota Line Snares, a big trapping supplier and has access to whatever traps he wants, is running #2 Dukes and reports that they are working good for him. I wouldn't dare put down anyone who wants to use Jakes, MB650's, 550's, CDR's, No-BS Extremes, Sterlings, or anything else they want but we don't want to discourage anyone from getting out and catching critters by throwing off on the equipment they use. Modifications and tuning isn't that hard or expensive if the traps you have access to need some upgrades. By the way, Billy and T.A. Duke give more back to the trapping associations, kids events and such, than any other company in the business. Also a person can buy 3 dozen #2 Dukes for the cost of a dozen Jakes, maybe more. Who's gonna catch the most the fellow with 12 traps or the one who has 36.
When a little fellow at the Buffalo Ridge Training Camp asked " if I can't afford peat moss can I just cover my traps with dirt" it reminded me that we can intimidate some of these folks just starting with the cost of the equipment.