Post by bill1958 on May 21, 2011 13:15:00 GMT -5
Scouting and Key Locations
Scouting is one of the most important aspects of trapping. Without taking the time to properly scout preseason will result in a waste of your time. Animals teach us a lot about them by the sign that they leave. Another very vital item of trapping is to set key locations. Key locations are defined as the areas that the animals would normally use for hunting food. Examples include but are not limited to the following: creek beds, drainage ditches, stumps, known travel routes, brush piles in a field, a corner of a fence, and anything that stands out from the surrounding area. Learning to recognize these areas will significantly increase your catches and build your experience.
Scouting coon-Summer time scouting is a little different on coon than canines.
During the summer, you scout the water edges ,hard wood timber and of course the grain fields. The easiest to scout is the water source. Here you will find different size tracks and of course droppings along stumps. Another sign often forgot about is the digging of the muddy banks, where they will be searching for crayfish, snails and frogs.
Hard wood timber
This should be done all throughout the summer and even as far as late fall and winter. You will be looking for holes in the ground, hollow trees, rock piles, old coverts ,and don't forget any old buildings .These are general locations of your coon dens. You will know when you locate a den by the droppings around the dens.
The proper time to trap these areas is when the weather gets real cold for several days or the water freezes up .the hard wood trees are where your large old boar coons are feeding at even during the mating season. Once mating season start, use a good coon gland lure. The raccoon has many habits that will help you. Prebaiting during the summer and fall months will increase the size of your coons and also get them accustomed to coming to an area. So on opening morning you can possibly catch the whole family.
Never over look your water source because even when the water is frozen they still return to the water source. But if there is a grain field do not overlook it either. Raccoons love young tender corn .Look for heavy used trails leading to and from the water source or den area
Scouting Canines
Summer
During the summer, by all means scout your trap line, but do not read too much into canines. The canines summer feeding habits will differ significantly from their winter diets, as will their travel patterns. These changes are due to the abundance of insects and wild fruit. This diet will remain until the early fall for the northern sections to late winter in the southern regions.( Use a curiosity type lure instead of a food lure)
The reason why summertime scouting is vital is because you can locate dens and determine the number of tracks, and how many you can expect to catch.
Never set close to the den as this will cause the canines to move their pups. Stay away from the dens because if they feel threatened then they will relocate.
(Fall Scouting)
This is the “bread and butter” of your factor of success!! Test new lures and baits, but more importantly this is the time to locate their winter travel routes. Remember: any location deserving of one set is worthy of TWO!! If you only put one set out, you have less chance of taking the canine due to non-target catches such as possums, skunks and coons. Another thing to consider is that many canines hunt in numbers so you always want to be prepared to catch a double if they come through
here's a location for red fox ,grey fox and coyotes.
notice the small openning at the edge of the field.
its a small opening that joins another fields .set two traps at that point
Scouting is one of the most important aspects of trapping. Without taking the time to properly scout preseason will result in a waste of your time. Animals teach us a lot about them by the sign that they leave. Another very vital item of trapping is to set key locations. Key locations are defined as the areas that the animals would normally use for hunting food. Examples include but are not limited to the following: creek beds, drainage ditches, stumps, known travel routes, brush piles in a field, a corner of a fence, and anything that stands out from the surrounding area. Learning to recognize these areas will significantly increase your catches and build your experience.
Scouting coon-Summer time scouting is a little different on coon than canines.
During the summer, you scout the water edges ,hard wood timber and of course the grain fields. The easiest to scout is the water source. Here you will find different size tracks and of course droppings along stumps. Another sign often forgot about is the digging of the muddy banks, where they will be searching for crayfish, snails and frogs.
Hard wood timber
This should be done all throughout the summer and even as far as late fall and winter. You will be looking for holes in the ground, hollow trees, rock piles, old coverts ,and don't forget any old buildings .These are general locations of your coon dens. You will know when you locate a den by the droppings around the dens.
The proper time to trap these areas is when the weather gets real cold for several days or the water freezes up .the hard wood trees are where your large old boar coons are feeding at even during the mating season. Once mating season start, use a good coon gland lure. The raccoon has many habits that will help you. Prebaiting during the summer and fall months will increase the size of your coons and also get them accustomed to coming to an area. So on opening morning you can possibly catch the whole family.
Never over look your water source because even when the water is frozen they still return to the water source. But if there is a grain field do not overlook it either. Raccoons love young tender corn .Look for heavy used trails leading to and from the water source or den area
Scouting Canines
Summer
During the summer, by all means scout your trap line, but do not read too much into canines. The canines summer feeding habits will differ significantly from their winter diets, as will their travel patterns. These changes are due to the abundance of insects and wild fruit. This diet will remain until the early fall for the northern sections to late winter in the southern regions.( Use a curiosity type lure instead of a food lure)
The reason why summertime scouting is vital is because you can locate dens and determine the number of tracks, and how many you can expect to catch.
Never set close to the den as this will cause the canines to move their pups. Stay away from the dens because if they feel threatened then they will relocate.
(Fall Scouting)
This is the “bread and butter” of your factor of success!! Test new lures and baits, but more importantly this is the time to locate their winter travel routes. Remember: any location deserving of one set is worthy of TWO!! If you only put one set out, you have less chance of taking the canine due to non-target catches such as possums, skunks and coons. Another thing to consider is that many canines hunt in numbers so you always want to be prepared to catch a double if they come through
here's a location for red fox ,grey fox and coyotes.
notice the small openning at the edge of the field.
its a small opening that joins another fields .set two traps at that point