When I had coon sets out, I have quite a few different scents and lures I have been using. Hardcore, Midnight Madness, Cavens fox lures, anise, vanilla extract, shellfish oil, and a few others that I can’t remember right now. Most of the coon I have caught in the last couple years have come mostly of of fox gland lures. I have tried fish like jack mackeral, tuna, and fish fillets but end up with more possum than coons.
Try using Caven’s “Gusto”, it’s a skunk essence. Works awesome in the winter, just don’t get any on your clothes.
I caught 4 coons this week in my fisher sets using this.
Try using Caven’s “Gusto”, it’s a skunk essence. Works awesome in the winter, just don’t get any on your clothes.
I caught 4 coons this week in my fisher sets using this.
I have never used any scents with skunk essence in them, but have heard they are great for cold weather use as well as other times. I will have to look for some around here. Coons are still running from the tracks I have been seeing.
I pulled all my rat sets until after X-Mas. I caught 2 rats this morning out of 19 sets. The walk to get to the area I was setting in was too far to justify keeping them out for a few rats. Monday or Tuesday I plan on going back at it hard again and finding areas to get all my traps out. As long as the ice is clear and there is no snow I might as well keep going. All I need to do now is get back on terra server and find some decent looking areas.
I have never used any scents with skunk essence in them, but have heard they are great for cold weather use as well as other times. I will have to look for some around here. Coons are still running from the tracks I have been seeing.
I pulled all my rat sets until after X-Mas. I caught 2 rats this morning out of 19 sets. The walk to get to the area I was setting in was too far to justify keeping them out for a few rats. Monday or Tuesday I plan on going back at it hard again and finding areas to get all my traps out. As long as the ice is clear and there is no snow I might as well keep going. All I need to do now is get back on terra server and find some decent looking areas.
Wats, are you a member of Terraserver?
I noticed that you can only zoom in a certain distance if you are not a member. The image quality is good, but it takes quite a while to get from the globe all the way zoomed on LAX, Wisconsin…Have you taken a look at google maps at all? I use that site a lot and you can zoom in close enough to see individual trees, docks, boats, etc. in the La Crosse area. Just thought you might be interested.
Good luck trapping. It sounds really interesting, and The post is great!
Wats, are you a member of Terraserver?
I noticed that you can only zoom in a certain distance if you are not a member. The image quality is good, but it takes quite a while to get from the globe all the way zoomed on LAX, Wisconsin…Have you taken a look at google maps at all? I use that site a lot and you can zoom in close enough to see individual trees, docks, boats, etc. in the La Crosse area. Just thought you might be interested.
Good luck trapping. It sounds really interesting, and The post is great!
Cade-Thanks for the tip 
I just went and checked it out and it has great satellite imagery and it is really recent as well 
I am going back there right now to do some more scouting 
Cade-Thanks for the tip I just went and checked it out and it has great satellite imagery and it is really recent as well I am going back there right now to do some more scouting
No problem wats..Glad I could help! 
I think I might just take up a little trapping on the side in a year or 2 when I can drive to goose and check everyday. Sounds like you can make some decent money (if you have good success) and have fun doing it!
No problem wats..Glad I could help!
I think I might just take up a little trapping on the side in a year or 2 when I can drive to goose and check everyday. Sounds like you can make some decent money (if you have good success) and have fun doing it!
I had used Hardcore and it really worked well for deer. I plan on trying it as a deer lure during the season. I put Hardcore on a q-tip and put it the dirthole set. Caught some coon and one coyote at the same set. I tried a q-tip with hardcore and just put it on a weed. The next day the q-tip was gone and loads of deer tracks. That is why I said a good deer lure. i had several sprung traps with the use of Hardcore and loads of deer tracks. The trap was sprung and pulled back with no disturbance of the area. Some traps had a small tuffes of tan hair. One old time trapper said I was catching the coyote on the arm and he just pulled straight back. I had #2victor traps I used 40 years ago for fox. I think I’ll purchase some #3 bridges for next year. Any thoughts. Thank You Larry
I had used Hardcore and it really worked well for deer. I plan on trying it as a deer lure during the season. I put Hardcore on a q-tip and put it the dirthole set. Caught some coon and one coyote at the same set. I tried a q-tip with hardcore and just put it on a weed. The next day the q-tip was gone and loads of deer tracks. That is why I said a good deer lure. i had several sprung traps with the use of Hardcore and loads of deer tracks. The trap was sprung and pulled back with no disturbance of the area. Some traps had a small tuffes of tan hair. One old time trapper said I was catching the coyote on the arm and he just pulled straight back. I had #2victor traps I used 40 years ago for fox. I think I’ll purchase some #3 bridges for next year. Any thoughts. Thank You Larry
I put Hardcore on a q-tip and put it the dirthole set. Caught some coon and one coyote at the same set. I tried a q-tip with hardcore and just put it on a weed. The next day the q-tip was gone and loads of deer tracks. That is why I said a good deer lure. i had several sprung traps with the use of Hardcore and loads of deer tracks. The trap was sprung and pulled back with no disturbance of the area. Some traps had a small tuffes of tan hair. One old time trapper said I was catching the coyote on the arm and he just pulled straight back. I had #2victor traps I used 40 years ago for fox. I think I’ll purchase some #3 bridges for next year. Any thoughts. Thank You Larry
I put Hardcore on a q-tip and put it the dirthole set. Caught some coon and one coyote at the same set. I tried a q-tip with hardcore and just put it on a weed. The next day the q-tip was gone and loads of deer tracks. That is why I said a good deer lure. i had several sprung traps with the use of Hardcore and loads of deer tracks. The trap was sprung and pulled back with no disturbance of the area. Some traps had a small tuffes of tan hair. One old time trapper said I was catching the coyote on the arm and he just pulled straight back. I had #2victor traps I used 40 years ago for fox. I think I’ll purchase some #3 bridges for next year. Any thoughts. Thank You Larry
On the traps that were sprung and pulled back with no disturbance, I would say that is a deer Especially if the trap site was not disturbed. A deer can pull out of a trap with no problem.
It is funny you bring this up. 2 years ago I had some dirthole sets along a cornfield and was also using Hardcore for lure. I had more deer sprung traps than anywhere else on this farm. The trap site constantly had deer tracks all over. I then only used the Hardcore on the water sets after that.
On the traps that were sprung and pulled back with no disturbance, I would say that is a deer Especially if the trap site was not disturbed. A deer can pull out of a trap with no problem.
It is funny you bring this up. 2 years ago I had some dirthole sets along a cornfield and was also using Hardcore for lure. I had more deer sprung traps than anywhere else on this farm. The trap site constantly had deer tracks all over. I then only used the Hardcore on the water sets after that.
After taking a few days off, I got 21 sets out this afternoon. I plan to take 18 more sets out tomorrow, but not sure if I will get them all set or not. The ice was in much better shape today than it has been so getting around was a lot easier. I went off in a totally different direction that where I was last week. I really didn’t find as much sign as I hoped, but I didn’t have a lot of time to look either. I am hoping tomorrow I will have more time to do more looking. I do have some areas that I want to check out that look good from a distance and those will be checked out tomorrow. I was suprised that I only ran into a few other trap stakes out there from other people. Actually only one person’s sets judging by the color pattern on the stakes. I am shooting for 43 more between now and New Years so I will have 150 for the year and then hang it up for the season.
After taking a few days off, I got 21 sets out this afternoon. I plan to take 18 more sets out tomorrow, but not sure if I will get them all set or not. The ice was in much better shape today than it has been so getting around was a lot easier. I went off in a totally different direction that where I was last week. I really didn’t find as much sign as I hoped, but I didn’t have a lot of time to look either. I am hoping tomorrow I will have more time to do more looking. I do have some areas that I want to check out that look good from a distance and those will be checked out tomorrow. I was suprised that I only ran into a few other trap stakes out there from other people. Actually only one person’s sets judging by the color pattern on the stakes. I am shooting for 43 more between now and New Years so I will have 150 for the year and then hang it up for the season.
Hope you make your goal of 150 rats. I sure would like to have gotten a few more coon. Like I said before I have not trapped for 30 years and am just getting my feet wet again. I will be able to scout a little more next year and have a better chance to get some extra sets out. I only trapped a few days this year as hunting pheasant came up. So Merry Xmas Larry j
Hope you make your goal of 150 rats. I sure would like to have gotten a few more coon. Like I said before I have not trapped for 30 years and am just getting my feet wet again. I will be able to scout a little more next year and have a better chance to get some extra sets out. I only trapped a few days this year as hunting pheasant came up. So Merry Xmas Larry j
Not much happening on the line right now. I was able to scratch out 5 rats from yesterday’s sets and also get the rest of the rat sets out today. The rats today were all on the small side. I had to do a LOT of walking today just to find areas that were not open water or had any decent sign. Tomorrow I will be pulling the first 20 sets and hoping I can at least find somewhere to set them. The problem now is getting so far back in the marsh that it takes me up to 5-6 hours just to get to the traps, check traps, pull and reset, and then get back to the truck. It wouldn’t be bad, but when you are only pulling 5 rats a day, it makes you wonder if you are losing your mind. I have a few places to check tomorrow that I didn’t get time to get to today that might produce a little better. The other problem I have is I am about phsysically whipped.
Not much happening on the line right now. I was able to scratch out 5 rats from yesterday’s sets and also get the rest of the rat sets out today. The rats today were all on the small side. I had to do a LOT of walking today just to find areas that were not open water or had any decent sign. Tomorrow I will be pulling the first 20 sets and hoping I can at least find somewhere to set them. The problem now is getting so far back in the marsh that it takes me up to 5-6 hours just to get to the traps, check traps, pull and reset, and then get back to the truck. It wouldn’t be bad, but when you are only pulling 5 rats a day, it makes you wonder if you are losing your mind. I have a few places to check tomorrow that I didn’t get time to get to today that might produce a little better. The other problem I have is I am about phsysically whipped.
Quote:
The other problem I have is I am about phsysically whipped.
Wow is that ever believable. I would believe that it is a little mentally draining too when you check the sets and only have minimal success…fully knowing (thinking) that when you set them there would be something in them the next day. Mike, sounds like you are doing a hell of a job on the line and covering a TON of area. Just know that I will be going through withdrawal on the 1st of the year once I stop seeing the word ‘new’ next to the thread in my favorite threads.
Chris
Quote:
The other problem I have is I am about phsysically whipped.
Wow is that ever believable. I would believe that it is a little mentally draining too when you check the sets and only have minimal success…fully knowing (thinking) that when you set them there would be something in them the next day. Mike, sounds like you are doing a hell of a job on the line and covering a TON of area. Just know that I will be going through withdrawal on the 1st of the year once I stop seeing the word ‘new’ next to the thread in my favorite threads.
Chris
Once I get the traps back in the storage bin for the year, then I am going to be changing over to coyote hunting and fishing. I will be putting as many reports as I can for the coyote hunting. For some reason my interests have gone away from fishing and toward trapping and predator hunting. Of course my true passion has always been coyotes, but this rat trapping is a VERY close second.
Quote:
I would believe that it is a little mentally draining too when you check the sets and only have minimal success
You are exactly right on that. I am not trapping for the money as much as the enjoyment. But, I have to admit, it is mentally tough to keep going when the catch rate drops way off. If I reach 150 rats for the year I would consider that a good year. But then again, this is the best year I have ever had trapping so it is still great either way.
Once I get the traps back in the storage bin for the year, then I am going to be changing over to coyote hunting and fishing. I will be putting as many reports as I can for the coyote hunting. For some reason my interests have gone away from fishing and toward trapping and predator hunting. Of course my true passion has always been coyotes, but this rat trapping is a VERY close second.
Quote:
I would believe that it is a little mentally draining too when you check the sets and only have minimal success
You are exactly right on that. I am not trapping for the money as much as the enjoyment. But, I have to admit, it is mentally tough to keep going when the catch rate drops way off. If I reach 150 rats for the year I would consider that a good year. But then again, this is the best year I have ever had trapping so it is still great either way.
I got through the day, but I am in a serious predicament. I checked the sets and pulled 25 sets to move to new areas. With the checks done, I ended up with 6 rats for the day.
About halfway through setting the pulled traps my already injured knee statrted to feel funny and was starting to hurt everytime I bent over. I get going but the knee kept hurting more and more and then started burning. With the chest waders on it was hard to tell if it was just from kneeling on the ice or something else. Anyway, I made the long journey back to the truck in serious pain. I can usually handle pain without a problem, but this is bad. Once I got home and got out of my wet clothes, there is obviously something not right. My knee is at least twice the size of the other one, extremelly hot, spongy feeling, and don’t even think of touching it. Then to top it all off, the boss calls and weants me to work tomorrow. It took me 7 hours from start to finish today. I am not sure how in the heck I am going to be able to work and pull traps in the shape I am in. It looks like my season is over 
I got through the day, but I am in a serious predicament. I checked the sets and pulled 25 sets to move to new areas. With the checks done, I ended up with 6 rats for the day.
About halfway through setting the pulled traps my already injured knee statrted to feel funny and was starting to hurt everytime I bent over. I get going but the knee kept hurting more and more and then started burning. With the chest waders on it was hard to tell if it was just from kneeling on the ice or something else. Anyway, I made the long journey back to the truck in serious pain. I can usually handle pain without a problem, but this is bad. Once I got home and got out of my wet clothes, there is obviously something not right. My knee is at least twice the size of the other one, extremelly hot, spongy feeling, and don’t even think of touching it. Then to top it all off, the boss calls and weants me to work tomorrow. It took me 7 hours from start to finish today. I am not sure how in the heck I am going to be able to work and pull traps in the shape I am in. It looks like my season is over
Mike, I am guessing your knee is full with fluid. Been down that road many times, too many times. Used to have mine drained, not sure how often they do that any more. Said it may cause infection and don’t do it as often. But if they do drain it, amazing how quick it feels better. Won’t hurt those traps if ya can’t get to them for a day either. I would say you have done a great job on the trapping this year anyway, if it does come to an end. Good luck on the knee—John
You must be logged in to reply to this topic.
