|
Post by Marc on Dec 14, 2010 0:09:33 GMT -5
Wanted to say hi and ive been doing some lurking and i have no idea where to start. i love to hunt and i decided to try some trapping. i sit on 80 acres and some of it is wooded and its loaded with yotes, coon, and fox but i have never been able to harvest any. i go out and night hunt and can only manage to see eye shine from a distance and i cant ever bring them in close enough to harvest them. the yotes real bad here. on any given night you can hear a pack of yotes in my woods communicating and responding to another pack a mile south of my house and i have them come in my front yard at times and by the time i get to the door with my rifle, they are already gone. ive looked at the lure making and i dont think thats for me until i get more comfortable with trapping. i have no idea how/where to place the bat and trap and how to anchor the trap. when it comes to this im about as smart as a politician with out a teleprompter. what is a good store bought bait from walmart or any grocery store, and how far from the traps be from the bait and how many traps should i have around the bait? any advice is well appreciated.
|
|
|
Post by bill1958 on Dec 14, 2010 1:28:28 GMT -5
welcome marc first off i don't like saying this but check the site out and if you have a question feel free to ask..lure making and trapping is in my blood and to walk you threw this post would take a month of sundays...
to get you started scout your area and look for sign droppings and tracks this is the most important part of trapping,then make notes on what sign you find.learn to read the droppings to see what they are feeding on. this will teach were t start to look when sign is hard to find. studie the animals travel pattern by following the animals tracks..there are a lot of sets on this site that teaches trap placement and how to make the set..BUT the main ingredent to become a good trapper is to set on sign when ever you can..there are post on here teaching about earth anchors as well .
lets talk about lures and baits you will be way a head getting a proper lure from a comercial dealer because the formations has several ingredents that works togather were as a store bought can and will work to a degree but many times you only have one type of odor to play with..coons are not picky they will eat any thing jam,fish,twinkies,you name it they eat even peanut butter but they don't put out a loud odor.
now on fox we must know what type of fox are they red or grey fox this is important because trap placement is different..
on yotes are they thick cover yotes or open type yotes..meaing is the area mostly thick woody areas or open fields..this can affect trap placements..
here is some thing you can put togather from the store that works great on coon,cats,fox and yotes in cubbies,buckets,dirt holes and pocket sets.
formula 1 2 cans of jack mackeral get at dollar general cheap cans 1.00 add 4 oz of liquid smoke at general dallor 1.00
formula 2 2 cans of jack mackeral get at dollar general cheap cans 1.00 mix 4 oz honey mix 6 oz bacon grease works on every thing
formula 3 straight mackeral from the can mixed with mallassies works on canines and coon
any more questions drop me a note (pm) orpost on here
|
|
|
Post by Marc on Dec 14, 2010 1:41:45 GMT -5
thank you for the help, the fox's out here are mainly red fox, and as for the yotes they mainly travel right through the fields and along fence and tree lines, ive never seen them in the woods. the only signs i have seen so far are deer and coon tracks, but i am sure with snow on the ground now i will see many more signs. and too the looks of it i may try formula 2 since i already have 2 out of 3 ingredients.
|
|
|
Post by tmrschessie on Dec 14, 2010 1:53:58 GMT -5
What size traps do you currently have? Stakes? Remember the basic rule..."stake for the largest animal you may catch" Very important if you have coyotes around. I double stake with 24 or 36 inch stakes with the soil i have here. This is just the beginning of this post...LOL Tom
|
|
|
Post by tmrschessie on Dec 14, 2010 1:55:28 GMT -5
Just reread your post, check your game laws and make sure of them.
|
|
|
Post by bill1958 on Dec 14, 2010 2:11:10 GMT -5
marc we see very little sign here and snow for that matter..when it's fresh snow follow the tracks and you will save 20 years of headackes with locations...
ok first off check the old roads an a long the field edges ..don't set the corners unless you are after coon.most canines are like us they cut corners. now in the fields look for things that stick out. get down on your knees and the first thing you see when you look up check that area out and i bet you find sign.you can also check out the water source every thing needs water. the key point is don't push your self .you will catch on ..as for traps i use 1 trap per set and the amount of traps depends on the amount of sign you find..even tracks can teach you things other then a animal was there.if you learn to focus on th size of each track gives you a idea on how many traps to set.for the most part i never make just one set .there is always at least two or more and that applys for all animals i trap .ok lets say you made a 2 fox sets and a possum got in one then you have a second chance for another animal in the area. some times you get doubles,tripples and even more.coon trapping is different as i always set six to 8 traps per locations.why? coon travel in family groups i have seen coon in larger numbers as well.if there is a good food supplys then the population will be higher unless there has been a sickness come threw.
now when i pick a location for canines i always add a urine post as a back up and i set the trap two inches back and 2 inches to the side..dirt holes are different here i hug the holes for my yotes because they are in thick cover but the trap placement should be 9-10 inchs back 2 inches to the left or right..
|
|
|
Post by Marc on Dec 14, 2010 10:31:51 GMT -5
What size traps do you currently have? Stakes? Remember the basic rule..."stake for the largest animal you may catch" Very important if you have coyotes around. I double stake with 24 or 36 inch stakes with the soil i have here. This is just the beginning of this post...LOL Tom as of right now all i have are a couple of #2 foot hold traps, and as for stakes i dont have any my store didnt have them so i was thinking about using some rebar Just reread your post, check your game laws and make sure of them. since i am a tenant of the land, i can trap year round with out a permit, because all of the animals are nuisance animals, im down to 7 chickens because of some of these critters i started out with 25. Nuisance Animals A resident landowner or tenant may take, using legal methods, without a permit, a beaver, mink, muskrat, long-tailed weasel, red fox, gray fox, opossum, skunk, gray squirrel, fox squirrel or raccoon that is discovered damaging property and must report the taking of such animal to a conservation officer within 72 hours. If the animal is released, it must be released in the county of capture. The conservation officer will direct you on how to dispose of the animal. Ground hogs (woodchucks) may be taken at any time using any equipment. Landowners may take coyotes at any time on the land they own or provide written permission for others to take coyotes on their land at any time, without a permit. Coyotes that are taken outside the hunting and trapping season by a landowner or someone with written permission from a land owner cannot be possessed live for more than 24 hours, and the live coyote cannot be sold, traded, bartered or gifted. marc we see very little sign here and snow for that matter..when it's fresh snow follow the tracks and you will save 20 years of headackes with locations... ok first off check the old roads an a long the field edges ..don't set the corners unless you are after coon.most canines are like us they cut corners. now in the fields look for things that stick out. get down on your knees and the first thing you see when you look up check that area out and i bet you find sign.you can also check out the water source every thing needs water. the key point is don't push your self .you will catch on ..as for traps i use 1 trap per set and the amount of traps depends on the amount of sign you find..even tracks can teach you things other then a animal was there.if you learn to focus on th size of each track gives you a idea on how many traps to set.for the most part i never make just one set .there is always at least two or more and that applys for all animals i trap .ok lets say you made a 2 fox sets and a possum got in one then you have a second chance for another animal in the area. some times you get doubles,tripples and even more.coon trapping is different as i always set six to 8 traps per locations.why? coon travel in family groups i have seen coon in larger numbers as well.if there is a good food supplys then the population will be higher unless there has been a sickness come threw. now when i pick a location for canines i always add a urine post as a back up and i set the trap two inches back and 2 inches to the side..dirt holes are different here i hug the holes for my yotes because they are in thick cover but the trap placement should be 9-10 inchs back 2 inches to the left or right.. thank you, im going to do some scouting today and will take my camera just in case i see anything.
|
|
|
Post by bill1958 on Dec 14, 2010 11:04:58 GMT -5
marc the number two's will work on yotes ,fox and even on coon by setting the trap back 10 inches for a hind foot catch ...what i do is take and weld a lug bolt on top of the rebar.then if the stake gets frozen in all you have to do is take a socket or lug wrench and turn the stake several turns ad pull it out...also let me point this out if you don't cross stake like tom said thn you can also do three other things
1 use a 36 inch rebar
2 add 3 ft of chain and use 24 inche stake
3 use 6 ft of chain and add a heavy drag to it
take your camera and take pictures of the areas and post the pictures threw photo bucket the pull from there and put on here and i can help you a little better...i bet we can get you to connect on some thing..
|
|
|
Post by Marc on Dec 14, 2010 11:50:32 GMT -5
i have a 30lb chain that about 10ft long, is that too much?
|
|
|
Post by bill1958 on Dec 14, 2010 12:28:16 GMT -5
marc first off are you using stakes or drags ? stakes cut the chain and eather use a quick link or a extra swivel..for drags cut the chain down to 6 ft but i have used 10 foot of chain at times
|
|
|
Post by Marc on Dec 14, 2010 14:49:27 GMT -5
i was thinking on staking the big chain to the ground and hooking my trap up to the chain. or would that be overkill?
i just got back in from scouting out some areas and the signs are good, i found one are where something was mousing, and found track that were from early this morning (i know that cause we had a fresh snow last night) i got pics uploading to photobucket right now
|
|
|
Post by bill1958 on Dec 14, 2010 15:30:20 GMT -5
thats over kill....what size chain..i will check the pictures out.....first always remeber this set on sign ....the reason i scout a little harder because i look for animal cross roads were several animals cross the same path
|
|
|
Post by Marc on Dec 14, 2010 18:09:27 GMT -5
there is some of that buts its mostly deer and rabbit tracks, but i did see a track im not used to seeing it "looks" like a snake slithered through the snow but my first thought was a mouse.
|
|
|
Post by bill1958 on Dec 14, 2010 18:32:04 GMT -5
could me mice as i have see that in wyo
|
|
|
Post by hawkeye on Dec 15, 2010 0:20:47 GMT -5
I'll give you the same advice I give everybody. Use your trap money to buy books and videos. Any trapping supply house has them. Once you have read the books or watched a few videos everything will maqke more sense to you and we can answer your specific questions and not things so general.
|
|