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Post by natedawg on Apr 28, 2011 0:07:13 GMT -5
There are some areas that I will be trapping next year where the public roads are very low maintenance roads...mostly just 2-tracks. The coyotes and cats like to run these roads, find a lot of tracks/droppings. I can get permission where I would be able to set right on the side, but it is almost a guarantee for traps and animal to get stolen.
One thing I do have going in my favor is that there are areas where the evergreens and brush get very thick on the edge of the road, can't see through the other side at all. Close enough the brush/limbs are rubbing your truck. My idea was to set on the backside of those thick areas and use a trailing scent that would run from about the middle of the road, through the thick stuff, to where they could see/find the set. Maybe toss a few feathers around in the road to catch their eye and slow them down a bit - make them start working their sniffer. Also would have LDC up high at the set. Main target is cats, don't really care if I catch coyotes or not. When using the trail scent to guide them I would have it going through a natural trail or spot where there would be no obstructions so they could easily cross. So once they crossed through that they would be on the backside of the evergreen tree where the set was waiting to greet them ;D
I was wondering if anyone has ever tried something like this or if you think it would be effective in getting the the animal guided to where the set was securely hidden? It would only be 15-20' off the road so it's not too far to try and pull them from...
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Post by redrooster on Apr 28, 2011 7:34:20 GMT -5
I have found that it is very difficult to pull a cat as little as 10 feet from its travel path. They will stop and sniff( Confirmed with trail Camera) but will not follow and go to the set. I have tried this many many times, it just does not work for me. Hopefully you will have better luck at it than I did. If you can build a walkthrough with double trap on the sign of the cat, you will catch nearly every cat travelling through. Good Luck
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Post by natedawg on Apr 28, 2011 8:24:01 GMT -5
Thanks redrooster, that was what I was afraid of with them being so stubborn...
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Post by yoteskinner on Apr 28, 2011 20:43:09 GMT -5
Could u put your traps on a slide wire... you'd be able to trap right along the road then get them hid in the trees after the catch
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Post by lyonch on Apr 28, 2011 21:38:54 GMT -5
yoteskinner makes a very good point. I run a lot of traps on a slide when i am worried about such things as trap thieves and people taking my catch. If it is extremely brushy, you might find that a drag will work really well in most instances. Trailing scents just seem to be more of a hassle then what you get out of it. I am a run and gun type trapper, so that could by why i think that way.
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Post by natedawg on Apr 28, 2011 22:02:52 GMT -5
The slide wire is a good idea Kolby...that could very well work. I'm hesitant on drags a bit, in this situation the animal wouldn't make it far but I just wonder about the possibility of it getting hung where it would stick out even more with chain strung out across the road or something like that...I don't know, I don't have enough experience with drags to say. Always been nervous to use them, but I guess now could be the time to start!
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Post by timberhippie on Apr 29, 2011 6:29:59 GMT -5
On the drags there is a method of sort of aiming them in a direction. It is a little more labor but can help. Drive a smooth metal rod at a sharp angle with the top pointed towards the brush you want them to tangle in. You just hang the drag on the bottom then the angle of the rod only allows the drag to slide off when the animal is heading in the desired direction.
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Post by redrooster on Apr 29, 2011 12:00:25 GMT -5
Slide wire is a great idea... Drags do not work well here in Eastern KS, Spend too much time looking for the drag. They do not make many marks unless there is snow on the ground
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Post by natedawg on Apr 29, 2011 22:02:29 GMT -5
That's an idea timberhippie...rooster its kind of the same here, I worry about not being able to track the drag and the other big factor for me not using them is time. I am always checking traps before work and I can't afford to spend too much time looking for an animal. I will be thinking hard on using the slide wire.
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Post by timberhippie on Apr 30, 2011 13:21:29 GMT -5
The secret is heavy well built drags on long chains no compromise on those two factors and they do well. Light drags and short chains mean lost time and frustration for sure. I check before work as well and avoid drags if I can but at times they are a necessary evil LOL.
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Post by natedawg on Apr 30, 2011 14:01:44 GMT -5
I just got Locklear's Cat Collector and have only made it through the first DVD, watch the second today or tomorrow, but he used all drags and I was surprised a lot of the cats the drag really wasn't caught up on much at all, some were just dug into the dirt a bit and that was it for the cat. They were heavy duty drags, like they should be, but it surprised me how far some of them did NOT make it....
In high school my friend suggested we start using drags. We had no idea really what we were doing and no one to show us so we were using large tree limbs, wasn't a bad deal till a couple coons climbed some trees and we spent forever looking to find them. That left a sour taste in my mouth for drags and I said its rebar from here on out LOL. I trap where you can always get a stake in the ground so I understand some of you may not have the option of always using stakes like I do. I'm just rambling now, anyhow...
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