my profile | search | faq | forum home

» The New Huntmastersbbs!   » Member forum   » 24 Hour Trap Check (Page 1)

UBBFriend: Email this page to someone!

This topic comprises 4 pages: 1  2  3  4

Author Topic: 24 Hour Trap Check Krustyklimber prefers the bunny hugger pronunciation: ky o tee Member # 72 posted December 17, 2006 07:05 PM                    I been at it for ten days now, and a week and a half of 48-72 hour checks before that. I'm tired, but energized too. I lucked onto a great piece of private property to trap on (actually two ajoining farms). Nearly three sections of hay, corn and pastures, surrounded by cottonwood fields, on the river, with three creeks, four ponds, and a small lake. Two of the ponds, and the cornfields, are a duck lease, so I have to wait a few weeks to start on them, but the other two ponds and the lake are all me. I even get to duck hunt on one of the beaver ponds. (It's not as good as the feed fields, but it's a free duck lease, just the same) Kokopelli was right, muskrat trapping leads to beaver trapping, or at least beaver trapping can get you on a piece of ground faster, they do more visable damage than muskrats. And they do go hand in hand. I still gotta admit, I am kinda scared of a trap that'll kill a 60 pound critter. But I said I'd try, so I am gonna give it all I got. Heck I gotta kill some of the beavers anyways, if for no other reason than they step on my colony traps, fouling the set and/or damaging the trap, or stealing the green sticks I used to support/stake the traps in place and (possibly) dragging the trap off. (*Yeah I learned something, I shoulda learned already... use dry guide sticks and stakes... not beaver bait, duh). I should get the paperwork back from the State soon, so I can use padded foothold traps for beaver, and conibear traps for 'rats and beavers. Hey Tim, You still got them muskrat stretchers laying around? Did you ever get the WSTA patch I sent? I went and met with one of the WSTA members yesterday, he helped me a bunch (going over what traps I need and how to pre-set and "saftey" them, State paperwork, drying boards and stretching, skinning station, etc), gave me some castor bait, a couple drowing slides (to copy), and a couple books he wrote. I am on a serious roll here! I'm not catching anything, but I am having more fun than calling another blank stand. Krusty -------------------- Think about how stupid the average person is, then realize that half of them are stupider than that! Posts: 1912 | From: Deep in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia | Registered: Jan 2003  |  IP: Logged Tim Behle Administrator MacNeal Sector Member # 209 posted December 17, 2006 07:57 PM                       I got the patch, and still have Muskrat stretchers! Did you get that stick I sent? I was just looking at the tree that I cut it off of tonight, set a cage for bobcats and two footholds for coyotes around the tank that it grew on. Have you caught a beaver yet? I've got to warn you, Beaver trapping is the most work of any trapping you will do. Heavy steel and drowning bags, the ice is always too thick, or not thick enough and if skinning a beaver isn't hard enough, wait until you have to flesh the gristle off of the back down by the tail! ( Beaver fat makes great dog food, but you will have to teach your dog to wait until it hits the floor ) What all are you looking to trap, and what type of traps are you allowed to use? -------------------- Personally, I carry a gun because I'm too young to die and too old to take an ass kickin'. Posts: 3160 | From: Five Miles East of Vic, AZ | Registered: Jun 2003  |  IP: Logged Cal Taylor Knows what it's all about Member # 199 posted December 18, 2006 05:11 AM                    An old grizzled beaver trapper was talking to a genuine "city slicker" and the city slicker commented that the trapper might possibly be the toughest individual he had ever met. The trapper said, "yep, I guess I'm pretty tough. I've only said ouch twice in my life." The city slicker couldn't resist asking about it and the trapper replied that once while on his knees setting a large conibear for beaver, the trap had fired catching him by the balls! "Thats once," said the city slicker. "When was the other time?" to which the trapper replied, "when I hit the end of the chain." -------------------- Democracy is two wolves and a lamb deciding what to have for lunch. Liberty is a well armed lamb contesting the vote. FoxPro Field Staff Member Posts: 1069 | From: Wyoming | Registered: May 2003  |  IP: Logged Andy L HI, I'M THE NEW MODERATOR OF THE CENTRAL MISSOURI FORUM, PULL MY FINGER! Member # 642 posted December 18, 2006 08:04 AM                   Beaver trappin is hard work. But I sure used to love it. I had one place that was not all that tough to trap. There is a golf course along the Osage River not far from here that has several ponds on it. They always have lots of beaver trouble and it gets restocked regular from the river. I have caught alot of beavers out of those ponds over the years, 44 being the most in a year. Best thing is, they give me a golf cart to run traps in. Makes it much easier. -------------------- Andy Posts: 2645 | From: Central Missouri | Registered: Apr 2005  |  IP: Logged Krustyklimber prefers the bunny hugger pronunciation: ky o tee Member # 72 posted December 18, 2006 09:03 AM                    Tim, Yup, I still got that hunk of mesquite sitting on my drying rack. I haven't started setting for beavers yet, I've been working on muskrats, weasles, and 'coon. And I haven't caught any of them yet either. I'm starting small and building up, each day I get quicker at running the line, and can handle more traps. I'm trying to add three new sets each day. That and hauling in weights, learning the land, and opening trails has kept me hoppin'. I'm using colony traps for the 'rats, boxes with big Victor rat traps for weasles, and Havahart 1089s for 'coons. The lease hunters were more accepting of my being there, if they knew I was helping with egg thieves. We can use, padded leghold traps, non-strangling type foot snares, and conibear traps in water, if we just file some simple forms. Pretty soon I'll be adding 110 conibears for the 'rats, and some #14 jump and 220 and 280 conibears for beaver (we can't use 330s anymore). My brother, Red, is going to do most of the fur handling... his dog already knows to wait by the door. We ain't afraid of hard work, and I don't give up easily. Andy, It's no golf cart, but I can drive my Samurai most of the way around the line. When there's a good frost I can drive all of it, or at least close enough to put my boat in and float to it. The last guy to trap this place, 10 years ago, took 34 beavers in one season, with two being 70 pounders. One of the landowners said "We've never had this many beavers around, I was beginning to think I'd never meet another trapper". Krusty -------------------- Think about how stupid the average person is, then realize that half of them are stupider than that! Posts: 1912 | From: Deep in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia | Registered: Jan 2003  |  IP: Logged The Outdoor Tripp Knows what it's all about Member # 619 posted December 18, 2006 09:26 AM                       Keep at it Krusty, sounds like you're having a heck of a lot of fun, albeit hard work. Please keep us posted with regular trapping updates -- successful or not! -------------------- The Outdoor Tripp www.theoutdoortripp.com "All great truths begin as blasphemies." Posts: 805 | From: Texas | Registered: Mar 2005  |  IP: Logged Tim Behle Administrator MacNeal Sector Member # 209 posted December 18, 2006 10:32 AM                       With the cages traps, you will need to clean them every 3rd or 4th coon or the coons will quit entering them. The easiest way I found, was to tie a rope to the handle and toss the trapped coon in the pond for a few minutes to drown him. When you pull up the trap, the coon is dead and the cage will be clean. The best bait I found for the coons are Jumbo Marshmallows. Just toss a handful in the back, and one or two up near the front of the door. I've always been a big fan of double longspring traps, I like the #4 for Beaver and #3 for coyotes. I've a couple of the #14, but I just didn't use them allot as they were harder to set. Will you be making mudpies for the beaver, or setting the coni's down in the runs? -------------------- Personally, I carry a gun because I'm too young to die and too old to take an ass kickin'. Posts: 3160 | From: Five Miles East of Vic, AZ | Registered: Jun 2003  |  IP: Logged ninthinning Knows what it's all about Member # 900 posted December 19, 2006 02:35 PM                   Krusty, Try small feeder streams with beaver channels carved along the axis. Three beavers were harvested at this one set. Good luck [ December 19, 2006, 02:38 PM: Message edited by: ninthinning ] -------------------- Their horses are swifter than leopards, fiercer than wolves at dusk - Habakkuk 1:8 Posts: 67 | From: Colden | Registered: Jul 2006  |  IP: Logged Tim Behle Administrator MacNeal Sector Member # 209 posted December 19, 2006 03:59 PM                       Ninth Inning, That some beautiful looking fur! But two things caught my eye. In your second picture, your digging hammer, if you move the digging bar off of the angle and onto the top of the hammer, it will keep your hole sides straight, the dirt out of your face and your knuckles out of the ground. Second thought, don't get cheap on the hog rings. When you put a beaver on a hoop, keep going around until you have hooks every 1.5"-2" apart. The buyer's will notice a difference. But don't stretch them too tight. You will get more money off of one put up loose with Heavy fur than one pulled tight at medium. -------------------- Personally, I carry a gun because I'm too young to die and too old to take an ass kickin'. Posts: 3160 | From: Five Miles East of Vic, AZ | Registered: Jun 2003  |  IP: Logged Krustyklimber prefers the bunny hugger pronunciation: ky o tee Member # 72 posted December 19, 2006 09:33 PM                    ...Runnin' on fumes here, I roofed all day, after checking the line. Then I had to skin a raccoon! I caught a 'possum (in a cage) this morning, but he was small so I let 'em go. On the way home I found a fresh road killed raccoon, without a mark on him (besides a few day old small cut on his knee). It took my Dad, Red, and me, about 35 mins to skin, with all three of us trying to cut the other's fingers off. Skinning a face is a trip. We did a pretty good job, I messed up one ear, and knicked one eyelid and a spot in the whiskers, but I got the nose off, and the tail stripped. I don't have a tail stripper yet, and I couldn't find the piece of steel stock I picked up, to build one. I noticed a while back, John Henry was using the hooked utility knife blades to split the tails. That's what I used, and it worked really good. I cut the tail down about halfway, peeled it back, then I used the "gap" (where the big teeth are) in a pair of pliers to slide the tail right out. This is a big deal... we've lost the tails on the last few deer. I don't have any stretchers for coons yet, so I rolled it up and froze it, 'til I can finish it. Man oh man, he had a bunch of fat on him. Tim, I dunno what sets I'll be using, for sure, but I know I won't use just one exclusively. I figure I am better off trying to make sets work for where I am, than to look for only spots where that one particular set will work. It rains here a lot, my marshmellows just melt, even if I cover the cages really well. I'm still using them, but I'm adding fruit too. Ninth Inning, Thats a nice beaver, I saw one that looked just like him today. What'dya figure he weighed, and what (market) size would you say he is? Thanks for the advice, I don't have but one creek here (on this property), but I'll add it to the old file bin in my noggin', because I am sure I'll find a place like you describe eventually. Krusty -------------------- Think about how stupid the average person is, then realize that half of them are stupider than that! Posts: 1912 | From: Deep in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia | Registered: Jan 2003  |  IP: Logged TA17Rem Hello, I'm the legendary Tim Anderson, Southern Minneesota Know it all Member # 794 posted December 19, 2006 10:10 PM                    Krusty: If you can find a nut cracker, they work good for pulling the tails. -------------------- What if I told you, the left wing and right wing both belong to same bird! Posts: 5613 | From: S.D. | Registered: Jan 2006  |  IP: Logged The Outdoor Tripp Knows what it's all about Member # 619 posted December 22, 2006 06:07 AM                       Okay Krusty, We're all gathered 'round the campfire. It's time for another update. Roll it our way, good or bad! Just give Tim a minute so he can grab a beer. -------------------- The Outdoor Tripp www.theoutdoortripp.com "All great truths begin as blasphemies." Posts: 805 | From: Texas | Registered: Mar 2005  |  IP: Logged Krustyklimber prefers the bunny hugger pronunciation: ky o tee Member # 72 posted December 22, 2006 07:24 PM                    Tripp, Not much to report. I caught two 'possums today, then pulled my cages and snapped my weasle traps, so I can take the weekend off. My colony traps haven't caught anything yet, despite being set on runways leading to feed piles. They have a 72 hour check, so they can stay where they are for now. Thanks for askin', Krusty -------------------- Think about how stupid the average person is, then realize that half of them are stupider than that! Posts: 1912 | From: Deep in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia | Registered: Jan 2003  |  IP: Logged Tim Behle Administrator MacNeal Sector Member # 209 posted December 22, 2006 07:27 PM                       It's too cold to drink beer here Tripp, But I've a glass of Jack Daniels Single Barrel to keep me warm tonight. Just lit up a good cigar too. I'm ready. Where's Krusty? -------------------- Personally, I carry a gun because I'm too young to die and too old to take an ass kickin'. Posts: 3160 | From: Five Miles East of Vic, AZ | Registered: Jun 2003  |  IP: Logged Tim Behle Administrator MacNeal Sector Member # 209 posted December 22, 2006 07:36 PM                       'Possums can be fun! I was trapping a public lake once, and had some other trapper move in next to me, literally. Every place I'd make a set, he'd make a set 10' away. You've never seen so many 'Possums caught in water sets! It took him about two weeks before he pulled his traps in frustration! Have you tried fleshing one yet? I never could flesh the belly of a female with out ripping her at the pouch. -------------------- Personally, I carry a gun because I'm too young to die and too old to take an ass kickin'. Posts: 3160 | From: Five Miles East of Vic, AZ | Registered: Jun 2003  |  IP: Logged Cdog911 "There are some ideas so absurd only an intellectual could believe them."--George Orwell. Member # 7 posted December 23, 2006 04:17 AM                       Tim, That's just mean. Creative and obvioulsy effective, but mean. Flesh possums?!? Hell no. Sell 'em green. I don't flesh coons either. A coon is one thing every fur buyer in the country will find some reason to dock you a buck here or there for. You didn't skin it. You didn't flesh it. You fleshed it but I wish you wouldn't have. It's strecthed too wide. It's stretched too long. If I had the freezer space or a buyer close by, they'd get them all in the round. What I used to do when I worked my way through the inevitable truckload of possums I would catch each year would be to take them to a youngster trapping their first or second season. I hate the damned things but those kids' eyes would light up like Christmas trees at the prospect of free fur.. When Dalian was little, I'd have him go with me and set a few possum sets along the line just so he had some traps of his own to check. (Possum sets are made just like coyote and bobcat sets, except you use the last clean traps in the gear box and you take twice as long and twice as much care in setting the. In fact, if you commit an hour of time you don't have in constructing the perfect bobcat (possum) set, you'll have a grinner by 9 that night for sure. ) A bit o' trivia: Did you ever notice that possums have finger prints? I guess that humans and chimps are the only other species that share that trait. So,..... which one do you follow on the evolutionary ladder? Grinner or ape? -------------------- I am only one. But still, I am one. I cannot do everything, but still, I can do something; and, because I cannot do everything, I will not refuse to do something that I can do. Posts: 5440 | From: The gun-lovin', gun-friendly wild, wild west | Registered: Jan 2003  |  IP: Logged Norm Knows what it's all about Member # 240 posted December 23, 2006 06:54 AM                    I agree with the coons... sell them green. I would get more for coons by skinning them, rolling them and freezing them, then thawing them out before taking to the buyer than I would fleshing, stretching and drying... I think it is due to the fact they can see the fur vs having to run their hands up in and feel it... plus they can flesh and stretch their own way... Krusty, when can the connibears go in the water?? sounds like you need a few of them around to corner the muskrats... Keep up the effort... how is the rain you are getting impacting the water levels?? -------------------- Carpe Diem Posts: 778 | From: Phx AZ | Registered: Oct 2003  |  IP: Logged TA17Rem Hello, I'm the legendary Tim Anderson, Southern Minneesota Know it all Member # 794 posted December 23, 2006 09:45 AM                    Alot of the fur buyers have people that work for them to do the skinning so they prefer to have you bring the coon in green so they can keep them busy and also they like to put them up a certain way so they look good and sell better at the auctions. I sell all my furs green except for my fox and the coyotes if i have the time to put them up... -------------------- What if I told you, the left wing and right wing both belong to same bird! Posts: 5613 | From: S.D. | Registered: Jan 2006  |  IP: Logged R.Shaw Peanut Butter Man, da da da da DAH! Member # 73 posted December 23, 2006 10:48 AM                   There is one huge drawback to freezing and selling green. You are forced to sell your coons the day you unthaw them. You can refuse to accept the offer on 100 put-up coons, take them back home, and hangum up for another buyer or another day. You cannot return home with 100 green coons and expect to refreeze them by dumping them in the deep freeze. Expect to loose at least half of them if you do. Randy Posts: 567 | From: Nebraska | Registered: Jan 2003  |  IP: Logged Krustyklimber prefers the bunny hugger pronunciation: ky o tee Member # 72 posted December 23, 2006 06:53 PM                    Still no muskrats, but getting to sleep in tomorrow almost makes up for it. TA, Oh yeah, thanks for the tip on the nutcracker, I'll give that a try. Tim, I am actually kinda disgusted by 'possums. It stays pretty warm here, and they are always heavily infested with fleas. How much is one worth, on the hoof, green skinned, or prepped and stretched? I'd deal with them, if I could hand the whole critter to someone, and walk away. I didn't even skin the two I caught the other day (but after I the first one, I was asked to "remove" any other's I caught, and I am sick of their bait stealing ways) For now I am freezing the 'coon(s), because I'm still working on getting my fur handling stuff together. I need to make a fleshing beam, I'm kinda stuck in park until I've got one (or two). Lance, Isn't being "just a little bit mean" part of being a trapper? In the round, is that case skinned only (no other prep)? Norm, You make a good point, I wondered why 'coons aren't turned right-side-out. Shouldn't they be sold more like a coyote or a 'cat? It would certainly make grading them more uniform, and exact. With the holidays slowing down not only the mail, but the wheels of bureaucracy, I am not sure when I'll be legal to use conibears (and footholds). Duck season ends the second weekend in Jan so I figure I'll get way more serious then. The BIG BIG rains, that made national news, fully kicked my ass. I had to drop the whole tidal island area I had scouted out, because the dyke failed, and it's pretty well wiped clean. The National Marine Fisheries Dept has now slated the area for "salmon habitat restoration", which means not fixing the dyke and letting the river reclaim the land. I was discouraged... then I found this new place, and I got over it, and some. It's not so hard, now, to get up in the morning and go see what I got. Randy, You and I are on the same page. We ran into the same decision this year with our burger meat (from my deer). We forgot to bring the grinder, so we would have had to freeze it to transport it home... we couldn't thaw it to grind it, then refreeze it. I've got 36 pints of canned meat waiting for me at the Ranch, along with the pile of conibears I didn't think I was going to use 'til next year (since my island was gone). Somehow, I doubt that same solution would work with hides. Thanks again, for everyone's help and encouragement. Krusty -------------------- Think about how stupid the average person is, then realize that half of them are stupider than that! Posts: 1912 | From: Deep in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia | Registered: Jan 2003  |  IP: Logged Tim Behle Administrator MacNeal Sector Member # 209 posted December 23, 2006 08:44 PM                       Krusty, Those possums are worth about a dollar in the round ( On the carcass ) two dollars green ( Skinned but not fleshed and dried ) or three dollars if you put him up and finish him. Not much of a financial incentive, but them more you skin, the better you get. Practice will not only help you to make less mistakes and holes in a valuable pelt, but with practice, you will begin skinning faster and faster. I've seen coons skinned in under a minute. I've done them in two minutes, but it usually takes me 5-10, and then another 5 to flesh and five more to pin him on a board. But then I've had a few years of practice. This is one of my first ever trapped coons. It's been a couple of years -------------------- Personally, I carry a gun because I'm too young to die and too old to take an ass kickin'. Posts: 3160 | From: Five Miles East of Vic, AZ | Registered: Jun 2003  |  IP: Logged Krustyklimber prefers the bunny hugger pronunciation: ky o tee Member # 72 posted December 31, 2006 09:25 PM                    Well I have been taking it easy, on the line, I hunted ducks all week on the one beaver pond I am allowed to, and just made check of the few ('rat and weasle) traps I left in over the X-mas break. I managed to catch a fat wood rat in one of my weasle boxes, but that's it. I bought another cage trap, so I'll get them out again this week, it's time to start thinking about trying to catch a bobcat... some beaver meat would help with that quest. Today I spent the day in the shop, I made myself three plywood 'coon stretchers (a sm, med, and large, because I don't know what size my raccoon is), made a fleshing beam for 'rats and one for 'coons, and washed all my cages up to go out again. Should I put any kind of sealer, or shelac, on the beams and stretcher boards? And should I use the strips I cut off the edges as belly boards? Tim, If I could find the guy that'll gimme a buck apiece he can have 'em, either way I've resigned myself to take them as the opporunity you suggest. So I take it you can pull pretty hard on a 'coon's hide, and not have to "whittle" the skin off. I meant to ask, how high do you hang a 'coon to skin it? Up high so you can pull with your hands, or down low so you can put your knee into it? Krusty -------------------- Think about how stupid the average person is, then realize that half of them are stupider than that! Posts: 1912 | From: Deep in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia | Registered: Jan 2003  |  IP: Logged Leonard HMFIC Member # 2 posted January 01, 2007 01:17 AM                       I'd say both, Krusty. But I've never pulled a coon. I'd like to watch somebody tube a badger, though? I'm not a trapper. I have heard beaver is good for bobcat, but I know they love porcupine. Good luck in 2007, Happy New Year! LB -------------------- EL BEE Knows It All and Done It All. Don't piss me off! Posts: 32361 | From: Upland, CA | Registered: Jan 2003  |  IP: Logged Norm Knows what it's all about Member # 240 posted January 01, 2007 06:50 AM                    Krusty, for that coon... put your knee into it just like you would with a coyote... You will need to whittle the ears and eyes and nose, but the fat allows it to peel better once the legs and tail is free. Good look on the remainder of the season... May 2007 be a peaceful and prosperous year for you. -------------------- Carpe Diem Posts: 778 | From: Phx AZ | Registered: Oct 2003  |  IP: Logged Tim Behle Administrator MacNeal Sector Member # 209 posted January 01, 2007 11:13 AM                       Krusty, You might sand down the edges of that plywood and seal it good to help avoid it splintering. I've never tried plywood for coons, only beaver. DON'T FORGET THE BELLY BOARDS! You will hate yourself if you do! If a coon should get stuck, first double check to make sure you didn't miss a pin. You can then rap the nose against the concrete floor to loosen them sometimes, but they will always require a lot of work to get off of the board. If you find yourself driving past a craft shop, look for long push pins. Most push pins are 1/4"-3/8" long, they sell them in 1/2" - 5/8" lengths, the longer ones are the best to use for putting up fur. Here is a little trick for getting a couple of more dollars out of you boarded coons. When you skin around your ankles for your opening cuts. Skin off the tops of the feet. When you put the coon on the board, use these tabs to pin it first. Don't pull it tight, just snug. Turn the board over and put a pin in each side, where the hips come around the side of the board. Then push the fur up on the board, so that you can pin in a straight line between these two points. Only the tail should hang below. Put a pin every inch or so apart. It will look kind of funny at first, with a "Pillow" kind of a lump, but it will make the fur on the back dry more densely. Pinning a coon like that, will cost you an inch or two in length, but it will bump you up into a higher grade, which normally pays more money. You can also use push pins to close any holes in the pelt, that are half dollar sized or smaller, bigger than that and you are better off sewing them. Edit: I like to hang them high when I skin. Once I get the legs and tail clear, I lean back and pull it all past the shoulders. Here is another trick to help you skin. When you hang the coon, make an incision between the wrist and elbow on the underside of the front legs. Then when you go to pull out the front legs, they will pop though this opening. I used a long screw driver, kind of like a tail stripper, to pull out the legs. [ January 01, 2007, 11:20 AM: Message edited by: Tim Behle ] -------------------- Personally, I carry a gun because I'm too young to die and too old to take an ass kickin'. Posts: 3160 | From: Five Miles East of Vic, AZ | Registered: Jun 2003  |  IP: Logged

All times are Pacific

This topic comprises 4 pages: 1  2  3  4

Printer-friendly view of this topic

Hop To: Select a Forum: Member forum Politics forum Predator forum Calls and Gear forum Firearms forum Night forum Hunting Vehicles Optics forum Cat forum CONSOLIDATED PINHEAD FORUM BUY, SELL, TRADE

Contact Us | Huntmasters




UBB.classic^TM 6.3.0