Grant Woods

[Planking]

Planking, can you post a video of letting a bobcat loose? I've shot a few, but can't imagine having anything to do with a live one.

I was thinking the exact same thing!

A rubbermaid tub with a notch in it for the leg is how im going to do it by myself. I did it with just a catch pole, but won't do that again.

These guys are using plywood and that's a good idea too.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YY_khuybWIE

These guys are using a tub. I would get a big square one.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C7PV361ztL0

 

[BSK]

Predator reduction programs can produce great improvements in fawn survival, or they can provide virtually no improvement. . . . . They might help; they might not.

But can reducing the predators "do any harm"?

Probably not. I just don't want people getting the impression that predator control is critical or absolutely necessary. It might be helpful. Even VERY helpful. But it might not help at all too. But do harm? Probably not.

 

[Boone 58]

The studies are alarming on Fawn predation, (see the north Georgia studies by googling it) and coyote predation of fawns. While we need yotes as part of the system, we need good control of same, or they can become horribly dominate in an environment. In Florence Alabama I know of at least two attacks on small dogs, cats by yotes preying on them in suburban areas where they lose their fear of man and can easily jump fences to attack pets!!

here are some pics from members here and others.

 

[BSK]

The studies are alarming on Fawn predation, (see the north Georgia studies by googling it) and coyote predation of fawns.

They certainly are. And I don't doubt those studies for those areas. However, similar studies in other areas find coyote predation is not a serious concern for those areas. So which is it; a disaster or not much of a concern? The answer is, each situation is unique. I've seen areas in TN I'm deeply concerned about fawn predation. I've also seen areas in TN were fawn predation is the saving grace for the local deer population, as otherwise the population would go through the roof. Then I've seen areas where I don't believe fawn predation is a major factor.

Now the difficult part is finding out which category EACH of our hunting properties fall into. Maybe it's a concern and maybe it isn't.

 

[BSK]

I've got a guy who's going to do some serious predator control on my place in a week or two. I look forward to seeing how many he catches and whether I see a significant shift in fawn recruitment this summer. Should make for an interesting test.

 

[Boone 58]

We have one trapper on our 3038 acres who traps if the pelts are bringing good prices and over the years has averaged about 20-25 yotes, 5 bobcats, and several grey foxes. I think it helps and hunters usually shoot them on sight. I have no scientific evidence that it is seriously affecting it one way or the other, but my sightings are down to a few per season and I hunt about 60 days thru all three of the seasons. From my game cams spread out over the lease I can say it looks like we will always have them, but their numbers seem to be in check.

 

[TheLBLman]

Would be fine with me if we could totally eradicate coyotes in Tennessee, but that appears to be impossible.

Are coyotes a native species to Tennessee?
I'd be totally fine with us humans sharing the apex predator role here with only foxes and bobcats in Middle & West TN. If we didn't have so many coyotes, I believe we would have a much larger fox population. (And the black bears can stay in East TN where they can better co-exist with humans.)

In the meantime, in most parts of TN, I believe the coyote population is more up or down based more on rabbit and other "small" meal populations, and are not generally as much a threat to deer as is generally thought. However, I do believe certain individual coyotes do focus on deer more than others, and I have witnessed large male coyotes seeming to do this, even on adult deer. But most of the time, it is the smell of blood that causes coyotes to specifically go for a particular deer. I have no doubt that many deer that get wounded (either from a hunter's poor shooting or fighting with another deer) are specifically "dogged" by coyotes and killed by them, when they would have otherwise recovered from their wounds in the absence of coyotes. This just adds to the importance of our only taking very high probability shots, as even a small "nick" anywhere on that deer is likely to cause that deer to be "dogged" and killed by coyotes.

Back to Dr. Woods, many may not realize what an accomplished deer hunter he is.
And relating the deer hunting to coyotes, if I remember correctly, he once said something to the effect that deer were much easier to hunt in places where coyotes do not exist. The implication was that deer that lived along side coyotes were always much more alert and wary than deer than were not constantly on the alert for these predators.

 

[pass-thru]

We have seen that turkeys gobble better also when you remove the predator stress.
Planking- hang in there with the yotes, it will come. And sometimes its nothing your doing wrong, just have to wait on them to come through!

I recently saw Grant Woods Coyote episode from a few months ago, and remembering this thread.....I take it your fella on Grant's program?

One question I have for you....why do you use peat if you are wetting it down with glycol, using a pan cover, and mixing it with dirt? What benefit does peat give you after accounting for those factors?

I fully agree that glycol is a great anti-freeze in wet conditions. And a pan cover is necessary if you are using glycol. But, once you have saturated peat, you are defeating the very qualities that are making it useful in the first place.

I pretty much use strictly peat. I use calcium chloride or table salt in the trap bead and sprinkled lightly in the peat so it won't freeze in case it does get wet. But I don't mix dirt and I don't use a pan cover (not needing one is one of the main benefits of using peat IMO). So....a trap properly bedded in peat can shed several inches of rain and still be functional...the peat under the pan will often still be bone dry. The dirt hole may be filled with water, and the trap still work. I may blend the peat with grass or dust from the location...but often not. If you cover it with a quarter inch of dirt you may well defeat the peat....mixing with dirt will just draw moisture in. If the peat remains dry, it won't freeze and the trap will still fire.

Try it like this, you might find it works better and faster, and obviates both the glycol and the pan cover.

 

[diamond hunter]

I use poly under the pan,are you saying that salt sprinkled in the peat that helps cover the trap will keep it from freezing?

 

[pass-thru]

Table salt is an anti-freeze. I dig out the trap bed, put a light covering of salt, a couple handfuls of peat. Bed the trap, packing dirt from the set outside the jaws to stabilize, again using salt as antifreeze. cover the trap with peat, continuing to sprinkle in a modest amount of salt.

So, under and over the trap there is nothing other than peat and a little salt. No dirt, unless a very light amount for blending the pattern (not enough to form a frozen crust or pull in a lot of moisture). No need for polyfil or any pan covering with straight peat. The peat will not compact under the jaw to prevent the pan from dropping.

I blend peat and antifreeze in a fan out from the dirthole so that the trap is not sticking out as the only spot not frozen in the pattern.


Here's a remake after two yotes. very hard pack here so the hole is not subtle as I usually use, but was effective none the less.

 

[8 POINTS OR BETTER]

I bed my sets the same as Pass-thru only I still use poly fill under the pan.