Yea, just got too comfortable in this chair….
I do a lot of gang sets when I’m after coon. Coon are wondering bandits, that have their stubborn patterns.
Generally, coon will run in groups of 2 to 10?? It varies, but after using trail cams and watching the signs, I see where multiple coon will visit my sets. Also, which i think is more important, is multiple groups will come in through out a night.
So, the real question is, if you are investing time to make 1 or 2 effective sets….what happens to all the other coon that visit that spot that night? Educated, steal your bait, and leave.
To some, my attitude may be greedy. But the reality is I’ll hit them hard and take what I can from that spot. After 10 years of trapping the same farm, I have proved that you can not eliminate the coon. They reproduce like rabbits, crap everywhere, and do a tremendous amount of damage to crop/feed for agriculture. They are a renewable resource, that always seem to bounce back. Also, after trapping them for so many years, I found that I now very seldom run into a coon with distemper or mange.
Every spot is slightly different and of coarse, each state has their unique laws. But when I look at a spot, I see where they enter, where they leave, and how much activity are they doing in the water. Are they walking the bank a long distance? Are they shelling? Are they hunting frogs? Are they just getting a drink of water and leaving? Coon are stubborn and generally have a focused food diet. If they are eating grapes, best to offer something very sweet and not in the river bed. Corn requires they drink. So a heavy corn in the scat will show they are just drinking. Turned over shells, frog carcasses,….track in the water/water edge will show they are hunting.
That’s where I’ll determine what I need to do. I’ll usally set the slide with a long drowner. I can take the first coon and get them out of the way. Next, I look at blind “trail” sets if the spot offeres them. Following, I make pockets sets, and double up my traps per pocket.
The beauty of using drown rods, is the directional control you have. You can take one coon to the left, and a second to the right – all with only one baited pocket set.
If its a culvert, its a bottle neck and they will often cross over the creek there. Perfect spot for a couple cubby sets with conibear 160’s or a couple coil spring 1-3/4 sleepy creeks if they have a very well worn in trail.
I encounter a lot of farmers that let their dogs run loose most of the time, so I most often never run the coni’s.
In addition to gang setting for the coon, I look at the multiple opportunities I have at a spot. Is there signs of rats? mink? Sometimes a spot need to have 1 or 2 specific sets made for mink. Other times, a well placed pocket set or blind trail set will take the mink passing by. A few properly placed guide sticks or grass a few inches out from a trap will work wonders for this.
Finally, this is a common place where I love the conibear 160’s. Small enough for mink and rats, and perfect for coon. If i have a trail in the grass where I know I have little to zero risk of a dog, I stake a couple trail sets. If the creek is very narrow between the over-grown grass, I’ll stake a 160 in the creek with a dive stick above. Sometimes you encounter rat dens with wide openings when targeting coon. They are a great filler tool, that has very little weight in a pack basket, and can contribute heavily to a fur check.
My last point of gang setting is time and money. It is so fast to make the extra 5 or 6 more sets at a prime location. By concentrating your efforts to more at few spots, you don’t need to drive so many miles. A few nights, and you’ll know if its time to move or not. After a couple nights of good catches, number will most likely drop. Once your not satisfied with your numbers, pull it all and move to the next spot. If you have an extra trail cam, you may want to consider using it to check out prime coon spots. You’ll be surprised at how frequently that spot can be hit by many different coon through out a night. And keep it simple, too much effort can easily result in too much for too little.