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Post by Law Dog on Jun 15, 2011 23:44:54 GMT -5
Did not want to redirect Bills post on learning, I think he hates that a litttle bit!! I don't see much on the state of mind of the trapper and how it works for or against him. I think of how many deer I had "skinned and froze" bowhunting that ran off because I missed them when I started archery. My point being if I did not believe I could kill a deer with my bow I did not kill one. If I set a trap and think "if I'm luckey" I will get one, then will I take the time to do all I need to do if I think luck is my best tool? There are a lot of reasons I thinks beginners struggle to get that first catch and the mindset is a bigger part than most people consider!!!! I think thats why the rest start to come easier as more effort is put into future set making overall after a catch is made! This is when the wheels really start to turn and a trapper is born!!!!!!!! ;D
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Post by ewoktrapper on Jun 16, 2011 6:41:31 GMT -5
I agree Law Dog
Confidence plays a major rule.It's almost silly at times.One time I speed dipped my k-9 traps.I had the worst season I've had in a long time.Was it the speed dip?Was it Confidence?Or was it just a low year cause of Mother Nature?I don't know until this day.I did go and strip all the traps and ran wax again.Numbers came back up.So I never looked back..I often wondered if I was beat that season before I started.
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Post by redrooster on Jun 16, 2011 9:26:47 GMT -5
Good posts. I tried speed dip and barely caught anything, but Like you, I never knew if it was the speed dip or my confidence and skill level. I dye and wax now and my numbers are way up. It does seem that the more time I invest in scouting, setting and paying attention to detail, the better my catch yield. I also discovered that the absolute most important thing for me was to properly bed a trap. Once I got that accomplished, I think my speed and confidence went way up.
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Post by Law Dog on Jun 16, 2011 9:55:42 GMT -5
2X on the bedding being important!!! #1 in set making in my book!!!
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Post by bill1958 on Jun 16, 2011 14:36:16 GMT -5
first off so far what i see is hard work lol. jerry you know i hate that lmao.
ok my thoughts on this matter
first off it is a matter of the mind that can help you or hurt you. if you have no faith in your self ,you will make sloppy sets,poor beded traps and miss your key locations . how because you did not stay focused on what you are doing and that will kill your sets .how? you spent way to much time second guessing every thing.you have to train your mind just like your body. as a example take gas and oil in your truck .if you goe threw out the summer adding it at any point of time guess what when season comes around the first thing you do is check the gas and oil first thing.then you hit the line,so with out thinking you start setting traps and in that week you see dug up traps .ever wounder why? gas and oil was put on your traps from your hands.now lets say you put your oil and gas every day at the end of the day .you fill the truck up and check the oil late that evening,you goe home ,take a bath and eat and relax,so the next morning you start the line and you have no problems with traps.
ok lets take lures and baits, what happens when you get it on your hands? in your mind you know to wash your hands .do you? i wash mine at every creek i cross no matter what.if nothing else just to keep my mind focused on what i am doing.
should i train my mind in to a habit? yes you bet you should and that will build more faith in you and the work you are doing and then you will see the results you want
i have a friend here that uses speed dip for canines and makes some great catches and i have used it and it hurts my catches so i have to say it's the faith in your self.
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Ohio
Administrator
Posts: 2,397
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Post by Ohio on Jun 16, 2011 15:39:45 GMT -5
I agree Law Dog One time I speed dipped my k-9 traps.I had the worst season I've had in a long time.Was it the speed dip?Was it Confidence? Same thing happened to me. I can not bring myself to dip my canine traps now. Even though i know trappers that do well with it.
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Post by chinook on Jun 16, 2011 16:08:43 GMT -5
I agree, I think having confidence is very important. I can't count the times I've seen someone with confidence go out and make mistakes and do some things 'wrong' but yet somehow still come up with good catches. The unsure person might not put the work in or take the time to do things right because down deep he doesn't believe it will work anyway.
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Post by bill1958 on Jun 16, 2011 16:21:18 GMT -5
i think what happens is in your mind you know there is gas in it and then the mind starts playing with you sort of like a mind game .after a while the game builds up and you start making mistakes and these mistakes starts costing you fur.now i have used it in wyo and here and i know the temps has a lot to do with the dip ,in wyo it stayed tacky were as here it dried well but just the same in both areas it played with my mind,now it could be the dip or it could be just a mind game so to speak but to me it don't matter because i am stuff in doing it the old way.
your mind controls your body and when you let your mind take over you lose prospectives. as another example i am a beleaver that a person can do any thing she or he sets thier mind to and you can.now i have a young lady here that the doc said had biepolor now since i stepped in and she tells her self every day it's a good day and i will be great.now for the last four years she has dropped the meds and no longer see a doctor so if she can so can you guys. your mind is a very important tool but you must understand how it works your body.
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Post by Fluff747 on Jun 17, 2011 23:09:40 GMT -5
nice post jerry ! , when I started trapping I sucked , low catches and so on , I thought one summer Im goin to do better ! I read books , watched movies , visited with every trapper that would talk to me , that yr I nailed them good , did I get better yes , I started paying more attention to detail , the wind , bedding my traps right , there fore I got my mind right I STOPED BELIEVING I SUCKED , I GOT MY CONFIDENCE UP and started making the catches I didnt know I could make !,,,, Fluff
just think how much better we all would be if we had the internet back 30 yrs ago LOL
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Post by lyonch on Jun 20, 2011 11:12:45 GMT -5
Here is a little tip that was taught to me by a ADC guy in wyoming. When he looks at a track he would sit down and physically write down what the sign was telling him. At first it was a few words. The words then turned into sentences. Those sentences turned into paragraphs, and thos paragraphs turned into pages. Once you train your thought process to think like you were writing, you will begin to not second guess anything and just go with it. I am no where near as good at reading things like he is, but it is something that definitely has brought out a better trapper in me.
On a side note that is a little different direction, is when i first think mind over matter, it had to do with me being able to physically keep myself running late hours into the night and being able to skin when i got home. My body was telling me absolutely not, my mind said time to keep going. To me now, mind over matter, is simply being able to know that when i leave that set, i expect a catch in it when i come back. If there isn't a catch, and no sign of an animal working the set, it is the patience game. if there was evidence of something working the set, then it is the educational game and start writing down why. Mind over matter is another item that we can all work on in off season too!
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Post by natedawg on Jun 20, 2011 23:19:53 GMT -5
I agree 100% that mindset is important in whatever you are trying to accomplish, although my post will kind of go against that. This year and 2 years ago when I was after bobcats I didn't start catching cats until I had basically lost all hope of catching anything. This year I had traps set for bobcats for 24 days until I finally connected with a cat. Just continually catching trash each day or nothing at all, I was frustrated as hell and basically had no hope or confidence of catching a cat then on the 24th day caught one. A week later caught another, the day after that caught one, then there was about a week gap of nothing and then caught 5 cats in 6 days...then season was up. I started re-gaining confidence and hope as it went on.
I would say I lost confidence in being able to catch the cats, but it was my mindset of not giving up that ended up persevering. Just kept plugging away, never got sloppy with my sets and worked just that much harder out of anger to catch more, finally started hooking up. I have learned a TON since just 4 months ago when season ended, and feel much more confident in this upcoming season.
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Post by tmrschessie on Jun 21, 2011 4:50:23 GMT -5
Nate, you did not say if you moved your traps, location etc....My gut feeling is that as the season wore on the cats started moving for food and breeding purposes....additionally you were getting rid of the critters that pay for the gas, thus leaving the sets open, when the cat came through. I don't believe hope plays into the factors one should be focused on. I fully expect a catch in every set I put out....of course that is not the case....but the way I look at it anyhow...just a couple of my thoughts on this. Tom
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Post by bill1958 on Jun 21, 2011 5:49:03 GMT -5
i beleave cats plays a larger roll when it comes to mind over matter.it's very easy to get off locations,get rejected sets,or they flat out don't come back threw.i remember a few years a goe i had a trail cam scouting the trail along the creek two weeks before season .one tom cat came threw that trail and in most cases i will by pass if a area only shows one cat over the summer but this cat was special it was the first bobcat with a long tail just like a house cat i ever seen .did i get that cat nope it took me two years before i got him and now i have a full mount of him.
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Post by natedawg on Jun 21, 2011 6:05:27 GMT -5
Yes Tom I was moving my traps around and that had a lot to do it with it, I missed 3-4 cats from tracks I saw at the set before I got the first one so that was adding to the frustration! I had two friends that were trapping and catching cats, I know what they were doing and what their sets were like and everything was the same in that aspect = more frustration lol.... I was just noting how I thought it was funny/odd how in the past couple years when after cats I didn't start catching anything until I felt like I was never going to catch one. Even though I lost confidence in being able to catch a cat at those times I still kept plugging away and worked even harder and was more determined than ever to catch them.
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Post by tmrschessie on Jun 21, 2011 6:45:38 GMT -5
Nate harder, smarter work always pays off....determination is the sign of a trapper...lol Also I would bet your later cats were better furred and brought a better return at sale. Plus you got the experience factor of putting up all the other critters you took. I put fur up for a KS trapper that had about the same issues you faced...one of his later cats brought $270 at auction...some times late is better....just saying...Tom
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Post by minifoxer on Jun 21, 2011 10:14:10 GMT -5
I never actully read this thread before today, very good oppinions!!!!!
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