2013 Trapping

[assateague]

Won't really know til the auction next month. But tell you what, if I get 2 more decent coons (I've already scraped and dried all I have right now), I'll be more than happy to make you one fir nothing and send it along. Dan just sent me a GPS- the least I can do is pay it forward a little with a coonskin cap. If/when I get the coons, I'll PM you what I need for the measurements. Deal?

[one2many]

Won't really know til the auction next month. But tell you what, if I get 2 more decent coons (I've already scraped and dried all I have right now), I'll be more than happy to make you one fir nothing and send it along. Dan just sent me a GPS- the least I can do is pay it forward a little with a coonskin cap. If/when I get the coons, I'll PM you what I need for the measurements. Deal?

i would love it Jim,but i wouldnt feel right taking it for free. next couple weeks im having some caps made i will have one made with "50/50 tm" on it for you.im thinking black cap with white number and letters.
even if you dont get one made for me i will still get you your 50/50

[BrewGUN]

Okay got one for you guys, had this critter runnin around my snares last night. It's not a coyote obviously, but its creating a trench, tracks are good sized(snowed in, can't te definition), shorter steps. I'm guessing coon, but its diggin around the trees pretty good.

[jehler]

porc-u-pic

[BrewGUN]

porc-u-pic

It flung snow a pretty good distance, I didn't rule out porky, just haven't seen one back there lately.

[quackhead]

Can't see the tracks very good, but what about badger?

[BrewGUN]

Can't see the tracks very good, but what about badger?

Slight possibility, but I don't think the tunnel is wide enough. They're usually pretty dormant at this time, but not ruled out.

[assateague]

My money is on "not a coon", but I don't really know how they are up there, or what else you have. Around here, coons won't travel around enough to make a trench like that in the snow. They den up, and just sort of eat whatever opportunity presents. And I'd think you could see some pretty recognizable coon tracks, but I don't know for sure about up there.

On an unrelated note, I just got home from a birthday party at the neighbors. One of the guys was a GW, which pleased me to no end. Decent enough guy I guess, but took the typical party line. We came to an agreement that I would continue water swatting, and he would write me a ticket for it, even though the law says "waterfowl RESTING on the water", not FEEDING or SWIMMING on the water. I did bet him $20 that if he wrote me a ticket I'd beat it in court.

Anyway, as it relates to this thread. We were talking about trapping, and he asked me if I'd caught any fishers. I told him we didn't have them down here, and that's what he thought too, but they'd had 3 of them caught and 1 shot (by a homeowner, who had no clue what the fuck was in his yard). So now I need to figure out how to try and trap fishers, because they are way higher dollar than anything else we have around here.

[quackhead]

Cubbies on the ground or elevated with beaver meat. I'm guessing the ground is a better option for you? Can you use connibears?

[3legged_lab]

I did bet him $20 that if he wrote me a ticket I'd beat it in court.

Don't push your luck. That seems like asking for trouble.

[assateague]

Cubbies on the ground or elevated with beaver meat. I'm guessing the ground is a better option for you? Can you use connibears?

We can use conibears, as long as they are touching water. Don't have to be submerged, but have to be in something like 1" of water. I don't use them, so am not sure, but it's something like that. What size?

That being said, I'm not above bending a law or two, particularly if there's a high dollar hide at stake.

[assateague]

I did bet him $20 that if he wrote me a ticket I'd beat it in court.

Don't push your luck. That seems like asking for trouble.

Fuck him. I haven't been caught yet. At least not in this state.

[quackhead]

If it's just fisher in the area then prob want 160's. They do like riparian areas with trees. You could build natural cubbies with leg holds to stay within the rules. They are fairly big critters but I suspect a 1.5 could hold them.

[quackhead]

Jim, are you on trapperman forum? Tons of info on that site.

[goodkarmarising]

On an unrelated note, I just got home from a birthday party at the neighbors. One of the guys was a GW, which pleased me to no end. Decent enough guy I guess, but took the typical party line. We came to an agreement that I would continue water swatting, and he would write me a ticket for it, even though the law says "waterfowl RESTING on the water", not FEEDING or SWIMMING on the water. I did bet him $20 that if he wrote me a ticket I'd beat it in court.

You're not allowed to water swat birds in the commonwealth? He would have a fit seeing us do pond jumps in the Midwest.

[assateague]

The law says no, but I do it all the time. Actually, the law says it's illegal to "take waterfowl resting on the water", and was intended for the punt guns and market hunters who flock shot rafts of sleeping birds. Not those two buffies that landed in the spread 1 second ago.

[AKPirate]

The law says no, but I do it all the time. Actually, the law says it's illegal to "take waterfowl resting on the water", and was intended for the punt guns and market hunters who flock shot rafts of sleeping birds. Not those two buffies that landed in the spread 1 second ago.

You should read that book Chesapeake Assa, Lot of history and cool family lineage in that book

[assateague]

I've read it, twice. It's a pretty good explanation of the feelings most of us down here have towards GW, and game laws. We've been fighting the DNR since about 1867.

[AKPirate]

I've read it, twice. It's a pretty good explanation of the feelings most of us down here have towards GW, and game laws. We've been fighting the DNR since about 1867.

I know you have. I remember the first time I mentioned it at DHC a few years ago and you got pissed.

[assateague]

[assateague]

So I just pulled all my traps, and moved 10 onto some state land as coon sets. I'm only going to give it maybe 2 weeks, so we'll see. Trapping strictly for coon is hardly worth it, but it's only a mile and a half from home, and they only cover less than a half mile in the swamp, at this point.

Quack, I'll take some pics tomorrow- not sure if the area is even somewhere a fisher would want to be, but this area is pretty typical of all the wooded areas I have access too. Any advice would be appreciated, even though I know you're in a completely different landscape.

[quackhead]

Do you still have snow on the ground? I'm assuming not since you said temps are going to the 50's. If you did you should be able to see fisher tracks, if you don't, well, your screwed. Just guessing where their at at that point. Gd luck on the coon traps.

[assateague]

Nothing in any if the coon sets. Go figure.


Anyway, quack this is what I've got. Big areas of pines that change abruptly to big areas of swamp.

Looking right

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Looking left from the same spot

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There's not really ever much transition

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But I've got miles and miles of it. Need to do some homework on fishers, and figure out if I need to be high and dry or closer to the water.

ImageUploadedByTapatalk1391357158.680238.jpg

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[QH's Paw]

My guess is high and dry. Maybe near open breaks in the pines. My boy will have a better guess, I'm sure.

[quackhead]

Building natural cubbies on the ground near the transition would be where I'd start. Find the thicker deadfall areas and set those. You could build boxes like I use for marten and put them on leaning trees. A 160 will be big enough for a fisher. Atleast if you have cubbies with legholds you won't be checking empty traps all the time. I'm sure you'll get coon and maybe fox in them.

[quackhead]

Oh and if you have any kinds of ridges set those.

[assateague]

What the hell do they eat? The research I've been doing says anything from grubs to baby deer. What the hell do you bait that with?

[assateague]

And thanks for the tips.

[quackhead]

I would use beaver. I would say the majority of folks get them with beaver in marten sets. But other things that could work are; salmon, duck, muskrat or deer scraps.

[assateague]

Gonna have to use deer guts, then. No beaver around, I eat the muskrats, and Lord knows I can't kill a duck. Do have plenty of deer parts, though.