any trappers?

[Bobb-o]

any body on this board do any trapping? Just getting into it and looking for some tips and pointers for trapping beaver, muskrat, fox, fisher, and martin

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Diplomacy - The art of saying "nice doggie" while you find a rock.

[Gissert]

I've done quite a bit of water trapping when I was younger. Mostly rats and beaver. I whish I had more time to do it now.

For rats, my bread and butter sets were conibars in bank runs and feed pile sets. If the water is clear, you can see where they are bank denning. Simply stake a 110 or 120 conibar in the entrance. Sometimes I would catch two or three rats a day when I was able to check them a couple times a day. These can be also set after the ice forms. Mark the bank with a stick, and jot down in a notebook how far out the run is so you can find it again on snow covered ice.

The next favorite rat set was the feed bed set with a foot hold trap. Feed beds are small platforms built in emergent vegatation that the rats sit on while feeding. My favorite set here was a #1 coil set right on the edge. I like a longer chain on these to let the rat swim away without destroying the feed station. Some of these feed stations were good for many, many rats. Make sure you stake the trap well, as you will get the occasional mink here. Once the water freezes, these sets will be out of action.

You can also trap rats in houses, but I am not a big fan of that.

For beaver, I would set #330 conibars in a narrow spot in a flowage. I put a dive stick over the top of the trap. Beaver often dig channels in soft vegitation like cat tails and bogs, and these are great spots for conibars also.

[Bobb-o]

thanks for the tips, we managed to catch aboot a 45lb beaver with two foot holds on a run

[protrapper]

I am a full - time trapper.If you need and help or advice let me know and will try to help ya out. Good Luck.

[BLACKJACK]

Just make sure you set those big conibear traps UNDER water so you don't catch somebodys dog!! My lab was almost caught once when we were out pheasant hunting, some jerk had set one in a cattail run leading down to the water, probably for coon. It snapped on her nose, she was young enough and quick enough to jerk back. If she had been caught and killed, I'd have been waiting for that trapper with a baseball bat!

That also taught me a lesson, no more pheasant hunting cattail sloughs along roads where trappers have easy access, I put my dog on heal.

[sheepheadslayer]

if it is public land i can see why a person would be [PoorWordUsage]ed about a conibear and a dog. on private land we some times put them out just so the tresspasser thinks next time he does it. odds are a 220 won't get to the dogs neck but a 330 kiss it good bye. cubby bucket sets are common were we are which is a conibear in front of a bucket that has bait (fish) in the back of it. Pretty deadly to anything that is curious. my thoughts.

[protrapper]

330's are only allowed in water sets. That guy had every right to set that 220 there. He is hardly a jerk. When I trap private land the owners sign a release that I am no way liable for accidental cat and dog catches.

And a 220 will kill a big lab. Most trappers use common sense where they set traps where we want. I buy a Minnesota trappers license for the state so I will trap where ever I am legal just like you hunt where legal.

[Rainman]

Well put protapper, The really sad part is that someone that does not know what they are talking about can make us trappers sound really bad. They should know the facts before they post. I'll call that (hoof and mouth disease)

[This message has been edited by Rainman (edited 11-26-2003).]

[This message has been edited by Rainman (edited 11-26-2003).]