Anybody trap or hunt coons to help the turkeys?

[ROVERBOY]

Just wondered about this. I really don't have the time anymore. I had way more time when I was younger than I do now. The turkey in my area are in bad shape. We had way more 20 years ago than now.

 

[deerhunter10]

I do and many others do. I will set out my traps this weekend and run them for around a month.

 

[ROVERBOY]

What I don't really understand though, is we have had a lot of predators/nest raiders for a long time. Even when we had a lot more turkeys. Something else is going on.

 

[Creek bottoms]

I let a fellow trap and another one coon hunt. You have to stay after them, bobcats, coyotes and hawks. I hope we never get hogs.

 

[Boll Weevil]

I still trap, yes.

 

[JCDEERMAN]

We still do most every weekend from January until about September. Our numbers every year have declined since about 2020 - killing near 100/year then to just shy of 40/year now. We have seen a difference in turkey numbers, but we do WAY more than just trapping (habitat management). What I want to try is calling coons with my electronic call

 

[Carlos Viagra]

Last year, my Son and I trapped quite a few from just the 7 acres we have here at home.

I've planned on going to trap on some of the local WMA's but it seems like something always comes up.
Maybe I'll get a chance to go set a few next week.

I haven't tried the electronic call on them yet either.

 

[deerhunter10]

What I don't really understand though, is we have had a lot of predators/nest raiders for a long time. Even when we had a lot more turkeys. Something else is going on.

Go do your research. A pile of research out there to read. Or go back and reread piles of threads here.

 

[Popcorn]

I trap often and yes I remove a lot of coon. I also run year leg hold round traps on my fence line to defend and protect my chickens and domestic turkeys. I get all sorts of predators there.

 

[duvhntr]

Yes sir …, click on picture

 

[MickThompson]

What I don't really understand though, is we have had a lot of predators/nest raiders for a long time. Even when we had a lot more turkeys. Something else is going on.

Corn happened. Everyone wants to make their hunting easier but end up feeding the raccoons that destroy nests instead

 

[Gravey]

I'd love to get into it but our lease is an hour and a half away so no way to check traps every day.

 

[duvhntr]

I'd love to get into it but our lease is an hour and a half away so no way to check traps every day.

Land set require being checked every 36 hours
Drowning sets every 72 hours

 

[PickettSFHunter]

Coon hunting is a big deal here, I just let the few decent ones hunt my property.

 

[DeerCamp]

What I don't really understand though, is we have had a lot of predators/nest raiders for a long time. Even when we had a lot more turkeys. Something else is going on.

I'd encourage you to look at this post I made a little while back

Thread 'The most compelling data I have seen'

May 16, 2023

Linking the decline of turkey populations to declines in fur market/trapping.

fur sales mimics turkey harvest.

Raccoon population has nearly tripled since 1976.

Pelt prices have driven people out of the fur market.

• DeerCamp
• Replies: 36
• Forum: Long Beards & Spurs

• 
• 

There is almost a 1:1 relationship between turkey populations and the fur market.

 

[ROVERBOY]

Yeah, there's two or three generations that have probably never trapped. I got to admit, that I've not done a lot of trapping.

 

[jman 125]

Yep set 3 hrs ago

 

[Ol Fart]

Shoot coons, Bobcats and yotes on sight.

 

[timberjack86]

Yep I trap some on the national Forest in the areas I turkey hunt. Always helps.

 

[Hawk]

Raccoon trapping school. Is there one?

 

[readonly]

I've been trapping coons and other egg eaters for over 20 years. But it is a very small piece of the puzzle. I would hazard to say that only one out of a few dozen egg eaters disrupts a turkey nest in any given year. Obviously the more you take, the better, but it takes a lot of sustained trapping over a large area to have any significant impact. I don't think I will every see the kind of turkey flocks that I saw in the 90's to early 2000's again. We have better habitat and fewer egg eaters now than then. Disease and coyotes are the two factors that are adversely impacting turkeys in the meantime. Not much we can do about bird flu and other diseases.

 

[Savage Knight]

Raccoon trapping school. Is there one?

This has been my second year playing around with trapping. I've found cooncreekoutdoors YT channel to be one of my favorites to watch. Scheels has also had the best deal on dog proof traps. A little sprinkle of dog or cat food (I like the dog because it seems to have more odor) and about a spoon full of sardines have been killer! Also a chicken bouillon jar will hold a full can of sardines and it's cheap. Still waiting for my first coyote, fox and coon but this is the first year I've played with the footholds

 

[Savage Knight]

I never got into turkey hunting. But I never thought I'd see the day I would be running a trap line in the snow either. It turned out to be awesome! Definitely made a memory that day! I pulled everything as I went due to work and home life taking all my time. For the month of January I managed 8 coons and a possum.

 

[Gobble4me757]

Absolutely and it helps significantly. I've seen 200-300% increases in flocks

 

[jman 125]

another 12 eggs saved

 

[Bgoodman30]

We still do most every weekend from January until about September. Our numbers every year have declined since about 2020 - killing near 100/year then to just shy of 40/year now. We have seen a difference in turkey numbers, but we do WAY more than just trapping (habitat management). What I want to try is calling coons with my electronic call

I tried the E call on a whim last year and one came running within a couple minutes. It was a fun moving target. I've tried it a couple other times since to no avail..

 

[KDR21]

Running 30 Duke DP traps right now - best bait for me is cat food sometimes I use sardines. I anchor mine with either a wolf fang tether or aircraft cable to a tree. Golf ball on top of the trap with some Moonshine lure dabbed on it. If I have a lot of sign around I'll set 3 to 4 traps within 30-40 yards of each other. So far this year I've gotten 14 coons off our 187 acres farm and 22 on the lease I'm in that's around 1100 acres (I trap it in sections). I enjoy it but it's time consuming to set and run several times a week. I can promise you though it's made a difference on our turkey numbers as we are seeing a couple of flocks with 50-60 birds again.

 

[ROUGH COUNTRY HUNTER]

I use duke traps as well with cat food and a little fish oil splashed on the food

 

[KDR21]

Only caught 3 today.

 

[CrossVolle]

Have trapped over 100 various nest raiders at my in laws place in the last year.