Started the trap line today

Great Read
Thanks for taking the time Mike,really enjoy following your days trapping.

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Time to get that mink and coon line set.

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I was looking for places to set a few mink traps out. The tracks are there, but not sure where to set them. Pan traps are about out of the question since I really can’t stake the trap down in frozen ground. I also am not sure about holding them in a #1 or #1.5 coil. I have the bait, just need something to dig a pocket in the bank since we cannot have any exposed bait.
Coon is the same way. Once the ground and water freezes, my land trapping usually ends. I could throw out a bucket set for the coon using a 160 body grip.

Quote:

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Time to get that mink and coon line set.

---

I was looking for places to set a few mink traps out. The tracks are there, but not sure where to set them. Pan traps are about out of the question since I really can’t stake the trap down in frozen ground. I also am not sure about holding them in a #1 or #1.5 coil. I have the bait, just need something to dig a pocket in the bank since we cannot have any exposed bait.
Coon is the same way. Once the ground and water freezes, my land trapping usually ends. I could throw out a bucket set for the coon using a 160 body grip.

pm sent mike.

pm sent mike.

Mike, somebodys messing with your sets…? anyplace to put a trail cam, and catch some shots of the Azzhole ?

big g

Mike, somebodys messing with your sets…? anyplace to put a trail cam, and catch some shots of the Azzhole ?

big g

Tomorrow my rat trapping season will end
I had fun but the time has come to pull the curtain for the year. My catch rate has dwindled to nearly non-existant with today’s total of 2 rats
I had a heck of a time getting around due to ice that went from 4-5″ a few days ago to less than 1″ today. I broke through several times, luckily I was in the boat when that happened. It is very tough to get back on the ice after you break through. Of course the only places I broke through were in the deep water where there is current eating the ice away. I had to get close to the ice and the use the axe to pull myself up on the hard ice. Then to boot, I couldn’t find any new areas that didn’t already have traps set and I don’t want to crowd another trapper. I have 29 sets out now so hopefully I can connect on a few more. I will not be reaching my goal of 100 rats this year, but I gave it a good try anyway.

Tomorrow my rat trapping season will end
I had fun but the time has come to pull the curtain for the year. My catch rate has dwindled to nearly non-existant with today’s total of 2 rats
I had a heck of a time getting around due to ice that went from 4-5″ a few days ago to less than 1″ today. I broke through several times, luckily I was in the boat when that happened. It is very tough to get back on the ice after you break through. Of course the only places I broke through were in the deep water where there is current eating the ice away. I had to get close to the ice and the use the axe to pull myself up on the hard ice. Then to boot, I couldn’t find any new areas that didn’t already have traps set and I don’t want to crowd another trapper. I have 29 sets out now so hopefully I can connect on a few more. I will not be reaching my goal of 100 rats this year, but I gave it a good try anyway.

aww dont stop yet mike, what else am i going to read every day? I truely enjoyed reading this post day to day. I believe next year im going to dive into this and give it a try.

aww dont stop yet mike, what else am i going to read every day? I truely enjoyed reading this post day to day. I believe next year im going to dive into this and give it a try.

I pulled the plug on the trapping this morning
Ended the day with 3 rats. I have not decided if I am totally done yet since there is still plenty of time to get out there again. The ice in my areas is basically shot and what is left is so cloudy finding runs and trails is next to impossible. On the bright side, if the ice melts, that just means I will be able to start all over again with fresh ice
When this fog lifts, I plan on checking out another area a little closer to home to see if there are any rats left. I still might make my goal this year. I think I am going to get everything unthawed and get what I have sold before X-mas to see how they shake out as far as price goes

I pulled the plug on the trapping this morning
Ended the day with 3 rats. I have not decided if I am totally done yet since there is still plenty of time to get out there again. The ice in my areas is basically shot and what is left is so cloudy finding runs and trails is next to impossible. On the bright side, if the ice melts, that just means I will be able to start all over again with fresh ice
When this fog lifts, I plan on checking out another area a little closer to home to see if there are any rats left. I still might make my goal this year. I think I am going to get everything unthawed and get what I have sold before X-mas to see how they shake out as far as price goes

How many have you got so far this year? you should make a counter in your posts so we can tell what the total rat,beaver,coon,fox,coyote count is so far this year.

How many have you got so far this year? you should make a counter in your posts so we can tell what the total rat,beaver,coon,fox,coyote count is so far this year.

Good idea on the counter
Well. have I got a funny but not so funny at the time story for you guys
It seems this trapping bug has bit me pretty good and I just can’t seem to hang it up quite yet With the unseasonaly warm temps and the rumore of coon up and running around again, I had to throw a few coon sets out near home. Well, I invited a friend of mine along since he has never trapped and it turns out it was a good move on my part. We went out and I started with a nice pocket set right at the edge of the water. I had to chop a hole in the ice along the bank to get a little bit of water to cover the trap. Once that was done, we moved down the bank and put a few more just like it in. Then I came to a spot that looked pretty good and decided to try and set it. I knew the water was fairly deep in this area, but I thought it shallowed up in this area. Can you see where this is going Before I jumped off the vertical bank and onto the ice, I looked at it looked like there was sand right at the water’s edge under the ice. I kind of hopped off the edge onto the ice when it happened. The ice broke and it was not shallow at all I was able to touch bottom, but I was know chest deep in some very cold water. The bank was too high for me to just reach up and pull myself out. I tried to qickly get out myself, but the ice kept breaking and I couldn’t get anything to hold onto. My buddy was able to get down low and give me his arm and pull me out. I must have smacked my knee pretty hard going through the ice because it is getting stiffer by the hour and is pretty sore. Once out, I got my hip boots off and emptied the water out and immediately wrung my socks out. That alone was enough to keep me somewhat warmer until I finished getting the rest of the traps out. What is really bad is I just told my buddy that this area was pretty deep water and really isn’t a good spot to make a pocket set. All the time I was rat trapping, I rarely got wet except the one time I fell down, but that was in 2 foot of water. Now, I go out and set for coon on mostly land, and I fall through the ice I am beginning to develop a bad habit of falling through the ice So, now I have 3 pocket sets, 1 pvc set, and 1 bucket set. I may set a few more sets out tomorrow, but it will all depend on what I am seeing for action tomorrow. The bait I am using for coon should bring them in if they are running the river near my sets. Let’s just say the fish I used was “slightly” tainted

Good idea on the counter
Well. have I got a funny but not so funny at the time story for you guys
It seems this trapping bug has bit me pretty good and I just can’t seem to hang it up quite yet With the unseasonaly warm temps and the rumore of coon up and running around again, I had to throw a few coon sets out near home. Well, I invited a friend of mine along since he has never trapped and it turns out it was a good move on my part. We went out and I started with a nice pocket set right at the edge of the water. I had to chop a hole in the ice along the bank to get a little bit of water to cover the trap. Once that was done, we moved down the bank and put a few more just like it in. Then I came to a spot that looked pretty good and decided to try and set it. I knew the water was fairly deep in this area, but I thought it shallowed up in this area. Can you see where this is going Before I jumped off the vertical bank and onto the ice, I looked at it looked like there was sand right at the water’s edge under the ice. I kind of hopped off the edge onto the ice when it happened. The ice broke and it was not shallow at all I was able to touch bottom, but I was know chest deep in some very cold water. The bank was too high for me to just reach up and pull myself out. I tried to qickly get out myself, but the ice kept breaking and I couldn’t get anything to hold onto. My buddy was able to get down low and give me his arm and pull me out. I must have smacked my knee pretty hard going through the ice because it is getting stiffer by the hour and is pretty sore. Once out, I got my hip boots off and emptied the water out and immediately wrung my socks out. That alone was enough to keep me somewhat warmer until I finished getting the rest of the traps out. What is really bad is I just told my buddy that this area was pretty deep water and really isn’t a good spot to make a pocket set. All the time I was rat trapping, I rarely got wet except the one time I fell down, but that was in 2 foot of water. Now, I go out and set for coon on mostly land, and I fall through the ice I am beginning to develop a bad habit of falling through the ice So, now I have 3 pocket sets, 1 pvc set, and 1 bucket set. I may set a few more sets out tomorrow, but it will all depend on what I am seeing for action tomorrow. The bait I am using for coon should bring them in if they are running the river near my sets. Let’s just say the fish I used was “slightly” tainted

This post gets me through the day!!

Keep it up Mike

This post gets me through the day!!

Keep it up Mike

I’m glad to hear everthing is ok Wats
Thanks for a gut busting laugh I could see the whole picture……telling buddy water is deep..blah, blah….then ending up in the drink
Been there, every time you warn someone of a danger it is followed by an example

I’m glad to hear everthing is ok Wats
Thanks for a gut busting laugh I could see the whole picture……telling buddy water is deep..blah, blah….then ending up in the drink
Been there, every time you warn someone of a danger it is followed by an example

I have to say Wats, I have been lurking on this thread almost daily, and getting a kick out of you trapping exploits. Thanks for the updates.

And don’t worry, I have done a few stupid things in my day as well, and why does it always have to happen when there is someone there to laught at you

Let us know how you do with the coon sets.

Brent

I have to say Wats, I have been lurking on this thread almost daily, and getting a kick out of you trapping exploits. Thanks for the updates.

And don’t worry, I have done a few stupid things in my day as well, and why does it always have to happen when there is someone there to laught at you

Let us know how you do with the coon sets.

Brent

No coon and no “mishaps” today It was almost a dull day
I put in 4 more sets today as well. The sets I put in this morning are on the high side of the river bank and the ones from yesterday are on the bank of the river down low. This way which ever way they decide to run should catch their eyes or nose and bring them into the sets. I found some dry dirt so even if it freezes a little overnight, the traps should remain working and be able to fire when a coon steps on the pans. The trail I set traps on is very well used and packed down hard so I know they travel this area frequently, but now it is the waiting game.

No coon and no “mishaps” today It was almost a dull day
I put in 4 more sets today as well. The sets I put in this morning are on the high side of the river bank and the ones from yesterday are on the bank of the river down low. This way which ever way they decide to run should catch their eyes or nose and bring them into the sets. I found some dry dirt so even if it freezes a little overnight, the traps should remain working and be able to fire when a coon steps on the pans. The trail I set traps on is very well used and packed down hard so I know they travel this area frequently, but now it is the waiting game.

Okay, I updated the fur count. It appears I am not good at keeping track of how many rats I catch
Whew, today was quite the day. Started the day checking traps, but I will get to that shortly.
Once that was done, I gathered all the critters I had and headed down to the fur buyer full of excitement and anticipation to find out what the rats were going to bring. I arrived and the buyer told me to put them on the table. He took a few rats in his hand and then told me he didn’t want them and to take them home I was speechless and didn’t know how to react to this. So, as I was putting them away, he told me they were waaaay to wet for him to deal with. There were a few other things said, but nothing really important. I asked him what I was supposed to do with them and he said if I was lucky, I could take them home, hang them up, and put a fan on them and hope they dry. I felt like I was an inch tall at this moment. So, I took them home and scrambled to get something set up in my limited space to try and get them dried out. They were not all wet, but a lot of them were. I nailed some boards up on the studs in my small shed and put nails every 6″ or so to hang the hides on. I then got our small fan from the house and a bunch of towels. I think the wife is going to hang me when she finds out about the towels The ones that were fairly dry, I hung up in front of the fan. The rest I patted down and rubbed s much water out as possible before hanging. Then the sun was out so I made another board with nails on it and put it on 2 sawhorses. In the meantime, I called the buyer back and asked if he would look at them again when they were dry. We had another conversation and then he told me that was his way of teaching people lessons. He said he would be glad to take them once they were dry. 5 hours later, I had them all dried and brought back to him. He was super nice this time around He quickly got a count and gave me the price. I was really suprised because he didn’t seperate the kits from the rest. So, here is the breakdown on the price I was given
73 @ $6.50 green skinned
3 @ $7.00 on the carcass
That breaks down to a $6.51 avg and I was happy with that

Okay, I updated the fur count. It appears I am not good at keeping track of how many rats I catch
Whew, today was quite the day. Started the day checking traps, but I will get to that shortly.
Once that was done, I gathered all the critters I had and headed down to the fur buyer full of excitement and anticipation to find out what the rats were going to bring. I arrived and the buyer told me to put them on the table. He took a few rats in his hand and then told me he didn’t want them and to take them home I was speechless and didn’t know how to react to this. So, as I was putting them away, he told me they were waaaay to wet for him to deal with. There were a few other things said, but nothing really important. I asked him what I was supposed to do with them and he said if I was lucky, I could take them home, hang them up, and put a fan on them and hope they dry. I felt like I was an inch tall at this moment. So, I took them home and scrambled to get something set up in my limited space to try and get them dried out. They were not all wet, but a lot of them were. I nailed some boards up on the studs in my small shed and put nails every 6″ or so to hang the hides on. I then got our small fan from the house and a bunch of towels. I think the wife is going to hang me when she finds out about the towels The ones that were fairly dry, I hung up in front of the fan. The rest I patted down and rubbed s much water out as possible before hanging. Then the sun was out so I made another board with nails on it and put it on 2 sawhorses. In the meantime, I called the buyer back and asked if he would look at them again when they were dry. We had another conversation and then he told me that was his way of teaching people lessons. He said he would be glad to take them once they were dry. 5 hours later, I had them all dried and brought back to him. He was super nice this time around He quickly got a count and gave me the price. I was really suprised because he didn’t seperate the kits from the rest. So, here is the breakdown on the price I was given
73 @ $6.50 green skinned
3 @ $7.00 on the carcass
That breaks down to a $6.51 avg and I was happy with that

As far as the trap check this morning, I finally connected with my dirhole sets, but it was not really what I was after
I caught a grinner He sure made a mess of my pocket set for not being very big. It was a perfect pad catch and he was sleeping when I got to the trap this morning. The rest were untouched but at least I know the coon and possum are running so it is only a matter of time before the coon make it into my sets

As far as the trap check this morning, I finally connected with my dirhole sets, but it was not really what I was after
I caught a grinner He sure made a mess of my pocket set for not being very big. It was a perfect pad catch and he was sleeping when I got to the trap this morning. The rest were untouched but at least I know the coon and possum are running so it is only a matter of time before the coon make it into my sets

AM,

Why were you able to get more for full carcasses then for green skinned animals? Or did I read that wrong?