2013 Trapping

[quackhead]

If you weren't so far I'd let you have every one of those stinky ass rats! You are a crazy sob! Lol

[assateague]

There are waiting lists at all the restaurants around here that serve them. You want a rat, you better make reservations at least a week in advance. No kidding.

[NuffDaddy]

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.

Rats good?

[assateague]

I like them. So do quite a few folks around here. They eat the same stuff as a rabbit, but are far richer, like an overgrown squirrel. Sort of.

[NuffDaddy]

I like them. So do quite a few folks around here. They eat the same stuff as a rabbit, but are far richer, like an overgrown squirrel. Sort of.

I like squirrel 100x better than rabbit. If I ever see one I'll have to shoot it and see how it goes.

[quackhead]

That's crazy cause they stink like shit! I was wondering where you got them cause we all know your not catching any of them. It looks like you should be able to get some in that swamp.

[3legged_lab]

The hawks and coyotes love them too... far as I can tell.

[quackhead]

If you were closer to my paw, tripod, you should freeze them and send em to me we could make a deal but I think you in kfalls huh?

[3legged_lab]

If you were closer to my paw, tripod, you should freeze them and send em to me we could make a deal but I think you in kfalls huh?

I am. Last year I was just trapping them on a buddies property because of the damage they caused to the levee roads. Haven't seen but 1 or 2 on the property this year. We've also been froze over since end of November though.

[assateague]

That's crazy cause they stink like shit! I was wondering where you got them cause we all know your not catching any of them. It looks like you should be able to get some in that swamp.

They do stink. You have to boil them first, and it's best to do that outside.

[assateague]

I did catch a coon today. Been so long I forgot I had a pic.

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[quackhead]

Sweet! Looks like a pretty clear coon. Are most of to coons in the Xl or so range?

[assateague]

Pretty much. I'll get the occasional L, but most grade north central, and are XL or XXL. No clue how they determine what "region" they grade. This one was a little greenish. Don't know if you can tell from the picture, but it was sort of odd. I'm keeping the next few I get to make a hat for Jeff, but other than that, they'll probably go to the next sale.


Funny thing about this morning. I have 7 dog proofs in a line, each about 25 yards apart, along the transition form forest to swamp (same place I took those pics the other day). He was in the first one, and then the next 5 were tripped, but pulled out of. The last was untouched. The ones that were pulled out of, the cables were stretched straight out from the tree, and you could see where something had struggled, but not too much, before getting out. Not sure, but I think I may have had a gray fox poking in at least one of them. There was no fur left in the trap, no toes or anything, to give me a clue, but I just don't see a coon getting out without making more of a mess to the area than what was there. If it was coons, I certainly think there must be a few around, because I don't believe that the one coon I caught would have been brash enough to get stuck in 5 traps before getting hung up for good in the 6th. Maybe 2, but not 6. Surely he would've got shy before then.

Tomorrow I'm going to make a couple cubbies with legholds, see what turns up. I didn't have any with me, or I would have done it this morning.

[BrewGUN]

If I don't see more sign of coyotes are hook up with one, I'm leanin towards pulling all my snares. Getting old checking them everyday and nothing even around. I haven't seen a fresh track in over a week, and that's was only the second set of tracks. This year has been fucked up. There is more rabbits around that tweety birds, so where the hell are the coyote and fox? If my sets were in spots where I could drive to and check I'd leave them, but trudging through the swamp everyday is getting old.

[assateague]

I hear you. It's almost to that point now. As soon as I get enough coons to make a hat or two, I'm done. Hell, I should've just called it quits a month ago, for all the good it's done me.

[quackhead]

Maybe you'll get lucky and it will all pay off with a big fisher.
My coon I sent last year went north central also. He went 4xl.
Not sure the coons are gonna do great this year. China is a big player for coon. But then again China's a big player in fox and fox prices have been holding this year.
550,000 coon being sold this auction.
95,000 sable

[3legged_lab]

Talked to a buddy today who primarily targets bobcats, said he had one piece of property produce 5 cats in 2 weeks. When I asked him how prices were since I had heard from a few (you guys) that catching was slow he just smiled.

[assateague]

Maybe you'll get lucky and it will all pay off with a big fisher.
My coon I sent last year went north central also. He went 4xl.
Not sure the coons are gonna do great this year. China is a big player for coon. But then again China's a big player in fox and fox prices have been holding this year.
550,000 coon being sold this auction.
95,000 sable

A lot of guys I've seen selling to local buyers have been getting what I'd call insane prices, unless the middle buyers are hoping for a big return when they get to auction, but that seems like a sucker's bet. I'm talking $20 averages, and I've seen the receipts. Madness.

Talked to a buddy today who primarily targets bobcats, said he had one piece of property produce 5 cats in 2 weeks. When I asked him how prices were since I had heard from a few (you guys) that catching was slow he just smiled.

Yeah, bobcats are insane. I could be wrong, but I think they are by far the most valuable thing you can get in the lower 48, and may be more than wolverines, but I'm not sure about that. Crazy really, because you never see them in any fur articles. I have no idea what they do with them.

[quackhead]

They make coats. Russians are the largest buyer of high end cats. This years prices have been down on cats but that could change next month when all the bigger sales have set prices. Kfalls has a good size sale for cats.
Jim I hope that nafa does good for all your coon and you don't miss the boat on the higher avgs on coon in your area.
I havnt heard of any avgs in the 20's for a while.

[3legged_lab]

Yeah, bobcats are insane. I could be wrong, but I think they are by far the most valuable thing you can get in the lower 48, and may be more than wolverines, but I'm not sure about that. Crazy really, because you never see them in any fur articles. I have no idea what they do with them.

I want to say that 3 or 4 years ago he was telling about getting something crazy like 600 or 700 bucks for one fur. Does that even sound right? I may be way off.

[quackhead]

Yeah, bobcats are insane. I could be wrong, but I think they are by far the most valuable thing you can get in the lower 48, and may be more than wolverines, but I'm not sure about that. Crazy really, because you never see them in any fur articles. I have no idea what they do with them.

I want to say that 3 or 4 years ago he was telling about getting something crazy like 600 or 700 bucks for one fur. Does that even sound right? I may be way off.

Last year, the good skins were going over a 1000$. Guys were avg 7-900$ on them

[assateague]

2 more coons this morning.

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The first was a pretty big boar, caught in the same trap as the one yesterday. Funny thing about that was I ran out if sardines before I got back to that one, yesterday morning, but figured what the hell, and set it back anyway. I had a little strip of aluminum foil in my pocket (I usually hang them on a twig or branch just over the coon sets to get their attention), so after I set the dog proof, I just put that foil down in it and left about 3 inches hanging out the top. Can't believe I caught him on that.

And that gave me an idea. When I'm done this year, I'm going to take the triggers out of all the dog proof sets, clean them, and paint the part that goes inside the trap white. Maybe that'll make them grab it better. I've heard of guts putting a little piece of rubber tubing on it as well, to give them something to grab that feels like good, not metal. May try to find some very small white hose and give that a shot instead of paint.


This is my first ever cubby set. I'm pretty much a dirt hole guy, so if this is screwed up for reason, feel free to let me know. We don't have rocks down here, so I had to use sticks and pine needles for the roof. Holefully, anything interested will choose the "door" instead of clawing through the roof.

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[quackhead]

Nice catches. Are those duke dp's? Do they have push/pull triggers? Did you put that cubby set on a drag or is it staked. Reason I ask is if you get a coon or fox it will probably be wrecked.

[assateague]

Yes, they are Duke, pull only. The leghold at the cubby is cabled to that pine tree. It's almost impossible to stake anything in the woods around here. There's just about 3 feet of decaying pine needles and leaves, and you can just push a stake in with your fingers. No dirt. If it gets wrecked, that's ok. I didn't actually do too much. It's hard to tell from the pic, but thee vines and green briers coming off the tree make up most of it. All I did was fill in at the bottom with a couple sticks across the top, and cover it with pine needles. I'll trade rebuilding it for a gray. A coon, maybe, but for a gray, definitely. Should a gray happen to step into that coon set, of course.

[Feelin' Fowl]

Looks like Jeffy is getting a hat!

[assateague]

Unless I fuck them up skinning, yep.

[quackhead]

A seasoned vet like yourself shouldn't be f-ing them up! Lol

[quackhead]

How do you like your dp's?
I only have one (Alcatraz) it's a push type. I havnt even tried it yet. But I do think they could do well for a guy.

[assateague]

I occasionally get just disgusted enough with coons to fuck one up scraping the shoulders.

[assateague]

How do you like your dp's?
I only have one (Alcatraz) it's a push type. I havnt even tried it yet. But I do think they could do well for a guy.

I like them, but I'm not too sure I'd like the push type. I only broke down and bought them last year. I always thought they were a little too high dollar (and still think that), but they do work well. I've only ever caught coons, a handful of possums, and one cat in them, so they do work, as far as keeping undesirables out. Last year was a bit of a learning curve for me with them, and I didn't have much luck until the end. I found that, at least in my experience, you don't want them hidden. I was making them almost like the hole in a dirt hole set, and wasn't catching much. One day I got tired of effing with them, and pulled them up. Was going to take them home, clean them up, and put them on eBay. But I had some open sardines, so just half-assedly set three of them by where I had the Jeep parked, just baiting them and sticking them in the ground. And damned if I didn't have three coons the next day. After doing a little research, a lot of people will paint them orange to get the coons attention, and I think that's why they worked that last time for me- because they were just sticking out of the ground, in plain sight. Ever since them, I'll put them no closer than a foot from a tree, in the open. I cover the cable, but make sure the trap is wide open to see, and that seems to work. I'm still not sure how I caught that cat, because you have to put a pretty good pull on the trigger to get them to trip. I keep the dog set all the way back in the trigger, not like a leg hold. I want a critter to really have to get in there and grab it to get it to go, to keep from just catching toes. I have had several occasions when I just had a coon finger or two left in a sprung trap, but they're pretty rare, and if you can get the spike to hold pretty good, I think it helps to stop this. Just my opinion, but I like them.