|
Post by Deadfall_Paul on Feb 16, 2005 12:15:45 GMT -5
Well did anyone come up with any new ideas or plans for your trapping next year ? What did you learn or want to try next season that you think would improve your line?
|
|
|
Post by paintmanj98 on Feb 17, 2005 20:40:01 GMT -5
Buy more and stronger traps. Watch a few trapping movies.
|
|
|
Post by Deadfall_Paul on Feb 17, 2005 23:12:26 GMT -5
What you been using paintmanj98 and what you plan to go to ?
If it isn't any trouble could you tell us why the change ?
Thanks.
p.s. this is not a test. you will not be graded. ;D
|
|
|
Post by paintmanj98 on Feb 18, 2005 23:20:13 GMT -5
As of right now I'm useing BMI 1 1/2 soft catch. I'm going to buy a half doz or a doz or Sleepy Creek 1.75 offsets. I'm want to use the 1.75 to hold the coyote's better. I'm also thinking of buying some #220's for coon. Did I pass ;D
|
|
|
Post by Deadfall_Paul on Feb 20, 2005 11:09:24 GMT -5
paintmanj98 you aced it !!!!!! ;D
Sounds like a good plan. The 1.75's should do the trick for 'yotes. I use them and #2's and I don't have any trouble with pull outs or with fox, even greys.
Question on the 220's. I want to pick up some and was wondering what brand you would recommend.
|
|
|
Post by WalkonWater on Feb 21, 2005 17:34:15 GMT -5
Hello Paul,
Great topic! This was the firt year I ever really committed myself to trapping. I used Bridger #2 os for the K9's and 220 buckets for the coon. The K9's really gave me a run for my money trhis year. I had problems early on with chain lenght issues, deer digging up my salted sets, numerous pull-outs and misses etc. After eliminating salt, shortening chains, adjusting pan tension and refining my dirtholes, freezing weather set in and the frozen ground combined with educated animals made things much more difficult for a novice. I did put some fox on boards this year but the season was more for learning than hanging fur.
I decided to trade-off my #2 os for the same in reg jaw and will fully modify. I purchased some Bridger 1.65 mods, #2 vic rj mods. This coming fall I will do alot of scouting and prebaiting and expect a far more productive season.
Coon..I beat the hell out of them early, then when they denned up I pulled all my sets. I reset the last week of the season when we had a few days of unseasonably warm temps and took 8 boars in the last four days. An old friend of the family and trapper of sixty plus years was dealing with some health issues this year and was unable to set even a single trap.. I delivered all of my season coons (fur on) to him the same day(s) they were caught and he put them all up. My donations as well as a surprising number of other donations literally filled his shed this year. It would be difficult for me to choose which part of the season was my favorite..The predawn hours alone creeping through the woods or the times I was pulling into his driveway and seeing him smile out of his living room window as I tossed another coon into his shed.
Next year? Well, as I see it, regardless of the outcome, it will be a win- win situation.
Steve
|
|
|
Post by Deadfall_Paul on Feb 22, 2005 14:05:29 GMT -5
Hey Steve good to hear from you !
I didn't realize it was your first season going at it as serious. You sure put a lot of thought and reasoning into solving the problems with the K-9's. That along with any advice you can pick up on the boards, in books and videos always seems to pay off.
I am like you as I prefer regular jaws to offsets. Nothing wrong with offsets it's just my own personal feeling that the reg jaws "set up" in the pad.
Don't know if that is clear so I'll try again. As almost all my catches are across the pad the indentation or groove the jaw makes there seems to me to prevent slipping of the foot between the jaws or pull-outs. It takes a better hold. Even when I get greys in a larger trap, like the old square jaw #2 Victors that I am too "frugal" to throw away, the across the pad catch doesn't do any damage. I've caught them(greys) in 4 coiled #2's and had the same results. I believe the pad catch to be a result of the correct pan tension so the fox is committed to the trap before it springs. Again this is OMHO and it works for me.
My scouting is more or less done year round and I like to hunt for denning sites in the spring. Seeing the pups helps to give me an idea of the populations and they sure are fun to watch. I pick up an occasional dropping to enhance a set if needed and do manage to find a few natural scent posts that I use later on. I also do a bit of pre-baiting a couple weeks before season.
I want to commend you for your friendship and compassion in giving the coons to your friend. I know how it must have made him feel as for the same reasons I haven't been able to get any traps out for a couple years. It is something that is so ingrained in your blood and so much a part of you that life just ....isn't without it. Thankfully this year I will be at it again, the Lord willing.
I like your attitude about next season. It is a win-win situation for like the old saying goes 'A bad day trapping is better than a good day doing anything else !'
Best to you. Paul
|
|
|
Post by paintmanj98 on Feb 25, 2005 17:09:46 GMT -5
How do you pre-bait for next season?
|
|
|
Post by TimWilcox on Feb 25, 2005 21:00:14 GMT -5
My new ideas will be to buy new & better fur handling equipment for next season !!
|
|