going to be a good trapping season!

[fishboy1]

Yotes were firing up again last night. 2 packs singing to each other.
Trapping season should be good this year.
Wish the fur was worth something.
My wife is threatening to throw my $7 beaver hides in the ditch to make room in the freezer for deer meat.
I told her she could make herself an $1800 beaver blanket if she would learn how to sew those $7 hides ... :rotf:

 

[TN Song Dog]

You have any traps out, or waiting until after deer season?

 

[fishboy1]

They FINALLY harvested the beans so I have access to all parts of the farm now. I will wait until after our Christmas party then set heavy next week.
Got 3 different packs howling tonight, yote crap in my cattle working pen, and poop on the log road. Its time !

 

[TN Song Dog]

Sounds like it will be prime time. May be time for someone to start an official 2015 - 2016 Trap Line Pictures?

 

[fishboy1]

Plan.
1. Hammer the coons and possums. This will help the turkeys nesting success and hopefully discourage the trespassing coon hunters. Set out 6 DP's baited with catfood dusted with cherry koolaid. They also make great dog food in the crock pot.
2. Set up some snares at the yote access points.
3. start a snare pen for bobcats.
4. Pull trail cam off deer trails and set it up in other locations that might be good trapping spots. I want to get some video of my trap sets this year.
5. Get a couple beaver traps set in the creek.

Im undecided on how much effort to put into using foot holds for yotes. I only have those duke rubber jaw #4 traps and I don't really like them. They all need to be boiled/dyed and made ready for this season. Most need new rubber on the jaws. Didn't even use them last season...

 

[TN Song Dog]

Will you describe the snare pen idea more?

Also, what is your preferred buying source for pre made snares, and what setup do you prefer in regards to cable size, length, and type of lock?

 

[fishboy1]

my Snare pen is kinda modified from how they do it up north.
I find a good brush pile or make one along a trail I think the bobcats are using. You can also use a trail through tall weeds.
Then you basically make an alley way through the brush like a trail. Put some bait under some leaves and dress it up with some eye appeal, ( i use chicken feathers since I have a good source.) Snare both ends. It works MUCh better if they can see all the way through and can walk through, than to do a one sided pen. Add something flashy as a long distance attractor. I usually use a bird/chicken wing but some flagging ribbon, or even an old CD will work. Cats are primarily visual predators so you need a flashy set to bring them in from a distance. COVER your bait or you will catch buzzards and they are NO FUN to release, or so I am told.

Snareshop.com can help you out. Great people and quality stuff.
I usually make my own. 6' of cable and a micro lock (relaxing). I would rather use a cam (kill) lock but its not worth the risk if you get a non target catch. About 40% of my yotes are still alive in the morning and Im running 50/50 on cats.

Once a snare gets twisted from a catch, I rework it to become an extension cable. Some guys like short snares with extra swivels and extension cables. For the way I set, I have better luck with about a 4-5' snare and add an extension cable as needed. This way the snare takes most of the abuse and the extension cable doesn't get tangled or kinked.

I like snares. They work great for yotes/cats/beavers, and even coons if you want to set specifically for them.
Hope this helped

 

[TN Song Dog]

Yes, this does help. Thanks!

I have a few spots on a farm where there are old brush piles next to trails, left over from when it was logged a few years ago. I think I can make this set work there.

What height and loop size on the snares for bobcat? Using 5/64" or 3/32" cable?

Also where do you get your tie off and support wire? Using 9ga or 12ga wire for this? Best I could find at tractor supply was a spool of 14ga wire used for electric fencing.

 

[fishboy1]

I don't remember on the cable size, its whatever the max legal size is in the hunting/trapping guide. (snare stuff is in my shop)
I want a 10" loop about 10" off the ground for bobcats.

I make my own snare supports. Take a piece of 1/4 or 3/8" rebar 20" long and bend a 90' at the top. You are making a handle to help pull them back out,not necessary but nice to have.
On the bottom, weld a washer or scrap piece of metal a couple inches up from the bottom. This will keep it from spinning in the ground.
Next I take a piece of 10-11ga wire and wrap around top about 3 " down from the "handle" and tack weld it in place. You want your support wire to be about 16" long. 14 Ga will work but it wont last as long. TSC has heavier ga wire, look for high tensile fence wire, but you could even use old wire coat hangers.
I'm using a 1" piece of 1/4" clear aquarium tube as a support collar on my snares.
Make your loop and stick the support collar on the support wire. Bend the support wire until the snare loop is where you want it. Then anchor your snare/extension cable.
A lot of people fence/block the trail down with sticks and stuff right next to the snare.... I started having better luck when I move those guide/fence sticks 12-24" away from the snare. Still guides them but looks more natural.

As for those brush piles next to a trail..... They are a great place to make a double set for yotes and cats.
Yotes are reluctant to go into a snare pen set, but they WILL circle and investigate. Great way to add a foothold and some blocking to pick up those wary yotes that won't commit to a pen set. Depending on the location, put a rock or log (blocking) out a bit from the pen and put a foot hold on each side. Add just a dab of urine to the blocking. Cats will probably be more interested in the feathers in the pen but yotes will be really suspicious of all the flash and stay out a bit. When they get a whiff of the urine on the blocking,out a "safe" distance, and go to mark it ... bam you got em. Make that set like a urine post, or walk through set. The trick is to figure out how far away "safe" is.

All this talk of trapping is getting me fired up!

 

[X-Tennessean]

Sounds fun!! Good luck.
Id love to get into trapping especially on my leases but hard to do it on just a weekend not to mention that added non resident fee :(
I did let some friends trap one lease last year and they caught 17 yotes (2 week period) and lost count on grinners. Surprising they did not catch very many coons and no bobcats.
I have a couple friends who are hard core trappers here in Missouri and do very well at it.

 

[TN Song Dog]

This is awesome input and detail, and exactly the type of info that helps newer people like me get started. Much appreciated!

5/64 is min and 3/32 is max cable sizes, according to the regs.

Agree, getting me fired up too! Trapping involves a lot of enginuity and strategy, and that's half the fun. It's a real cat and mouse game for sure.

 

[fishboy1]

If you are new, don't go gear crazy. Keep it simple and its a lot more fun. I recommend starting with snares. Cheap and effective, light weight, easy to set and carry. An added bonus is that if your set is off a little, they just walk through and it gets pushed out of the way without educating them. With footholds, they get educated pretty quick.

Add a foot hold or three, don't go crazy and buy dozens. Get quality traps rather than a pile of cheap traps. (made that mistake) A bent trap on the work bench only catches dust.

Learn one type of set, and learn it well, then learn another type of set.... I was punching in all kinds of sets(poorly done) all over the place and not catching much. Once I caught my first one, I specialized in that set until I got it down. Then I tried a different one and worked on it until I got it down.

Im no expert by any means and you will have to figure out what works for your locations. My biggest struggle is trapping in rocky clay. All the best locations for foot holds on our farm are either rocky or wet and mushy most of trapping season. Its hard to bed and blend a trap in goo.

 

[TnHoss]

Peat Moss is your friend when it's wet/muddy.

 

[TN Song Dog]

Hoss,
Do you use pan covers or polly fill like normal when using peat, ot does peat also allow you to skip the pan cover or polly fill?

 

[fishboy1]

I have been puttting polyfill under my pan and using peatmoss. Only problem is that peatmoss doesn't blend well with pudding. :rotf:

 

[pass-thru]

Hoss,
Do you use pan covers or polly fill like normal when using peat, ot does peat also allow you to skip the pan cover or polly fill?

You don't need to use anything with peat. That is one of the main advantages. Make sure there is no junk in the peat, peat in the bottom of the bed, peat inside the jaw and over the trap, dirt from the set packed around the outside of the jaw to bed the trap solid. I am starting with a bowl shaped bed so it is easy and quick to bed the trap with the pan the low spot in the pattern. Blend the peat slightly with material from the set. I use salt as antifreeze.

Here's a remake after this set caught a few yotes.


before the remake

 

[TN Song Dog]

I will be getting a bag of peat soon, then. Good pics. I like the location at the head of that wash.

 

[fishboy1]

TSC has peatmoss by the bale for a buck or two more than the garden centers sell a small bag.

 

[TnHoss]

Sorry I haven't seen this until now. I pretty much do the same as pass-thru does. Sometimes I will use underalls or a latex pan cover with peat, just depends on the situation. Tip, if you buy a bag of peat take your sifter and sift it into a 5 gallon bucket, you'd be surprised at the junk in peat that could get under your pan and keep it from firing.

 

[shoningram]

TNHoss,

Can you explain to me exactly how to use the peat moss? I am confused by the trap covers and the peat moss seems easier.

 

[TnHoss]

Use it just like you would dirt. Dig a bed, pour a layer of peat in bottom and pack firmly,place trap over peat and pack firmly again, pack inside the jaws with peat and pack outside the jaws with dirt from digging the bed, make sure trap is bedded solid and doesn't have any play in it. Then I sift peat over the whole bed and then I'll sift some dirt from digging the bed over the peat ( peat is light and a decent wind can expose your pan/jaws ) I wouldn't be too concerned with covers if you're using peat like has been stated in the above replies. I do sift the peat from the bag into a 5 gallon bucket to use for my traps, first time I did this I was shocked at all the junk left in the sifter. It could mean the difference between a catch or a miss.

 

[TN Song Dog]

Who has a trap line out? How's it going with this weather?

All of my sets had gotten rained out, so I pulled everything for now.

 

[fishboy1]

Im ready to set but figured I would wait until after the bad storms today. Weather man says partly sunny and 74 !!! tomorrow so Ill see if I can get across the muddy ditch and go make some snare sets for yotes and set some DP's for coons.

The ditch I have to cross has mucked up since last year and its tough to get the 4 wheeler across so I have been slacking. Finally put down a 10' section of chain link fence to drive across and give me a bit of traction in the goopy mud.

 

[TN Song Dog]

I'm gonna check the extended forecast first, but would like to get several sets back out after Christmas. A bag of peat will hopefully help.

 

[fishboy1]

Being lazy is paying off ! Rode the atv around to my spots yesterday but couldn't bring myself to put out traps when it was 75 degrees. Just didn't feel right.
This morning, its flooding like crazy. There is a river running through our pasture down the hill to the pond, pond is over its banks and whitecaps from the run off through the fields. Most of my sets would be in another county by now. Time for a cup of coffee, may have to put a life jacket on the cows if this doesn't let up some.

 

[bigdoc]

I caught one yote for a friend, but I'm going to wait till it drys up to set at my farm for yotes, just to hard to set in mud.

 

[fishboy1]

Im with ya bigdoc. I don't mind running the traps in the rain so much as I do trying to set in 6" of pudding. Wearing rain gear and slogging through the goo when its 75 isn't real motivating either. I prefer it to be cold so I can wear my good rain gear and not heatstroke out.

 

[shoningram]

How do you do a set in the mud? You can't exactly sift dirt over ur trap if it's muddy. Confused.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[TnHoss]

You don't, too much rain here. It'll be at least a week with dry weather before I can redo my sets and even think about putting more out.

 

[pass-thru]

the day after several inches of downpour, everything's washed out, you have a whole line out, what do you do?

As long as the rain system as passed, I'm remaking. Or if it is a limited time I have to set, then I'm setting.

You would be surprised how fast things drain out. The biggest problem is dirt-holes already dug, have a tendency to fill up and hold water. I take a plastic soda bottle and cut the top third off, and scoop out the holes. If the trap beds are soup scrap them out comletely, start over with fresh peat rebed. Amazed how many times I have found dry peat under the pan in washout conditions.

For those who are constantly dealing with freeze thaw wet conditions, there is an alternative to peat moss: propolyne glycol. It's is a wet anti-freeze. Cut with water, use a pan cover and dirt from the set, spray the whole set down. Wet and mud won't result in freezing when the temperature drops. If sifting is a concern, bring in dry dirt to make the set and spray it down as well. I don't use this method because I am happy with the petat moss.