Trapping- What did you catch today?

[xHCxOutdoorsman]

Well my info probably wont help because i am very new at the sport but when i was in south dakota we used rabbit and rabbit guts not alot of lure really some on post sets i only am using snares right now have done fair and they are easy no scent needed

[xHCxOutdoorsman]

i have a wooden strecher and thanks for the offer i might give this one ashot on my own but i will contact you guys if i need help thanks for the help

fisher you explained it very well thank again

i might contact a taxi if needed thanks leech

[leechmann]

Jake, it's been my experience that if you trap in a really cold climate, you need a really loud lure. So some of the lures you can buy, say Mike Massinna's lures from PA., don't ork very good around MN when it gets cold. But if you buy some lure from a lure maker in ND, or Montanta, where it gets cold, they seem to pretty effective in MN. I think Cavens lures and baits are great for this area. Gusto is the breakfast of champions. I like some of Ogormans stuff too, but it is more expensive.

[fishermann222]

cavens lures are great, it is even starting to work up here. Plus they are AWESOME to deal with.

[leechmann]

Fishermann, have you ever caught any other deseased fox on the island before?

[fishermann222]

That was the first one I trapped this year. I did shoot a sampson fox earlier in the year. Last year I trapped 10 of them that I sent off to fish and game to have a necropsy done on them. Disease is undefined the fish and game vet said.

Iast year the ones I caught had no hair on the tails and some had no tails they had already frozen and fallen off.

[J48jake]

How much scent or lure do u usually use on one set? Seems like 4.00 for an ounce could get spendy after a while. Also what do you use to apply it? I am just using a syringe to suck it out of the bottle and then i squirt it down the hole or on the post.

[fishermann222]

if you are using enough to squirt it down the hole it is too much. Overscenting a set is a common mistake, something I did ALOT. I could not figure out why my fox would not hit my lured sets. TOO much scent. Let the scent calm down for a week and they would hit them. Now I just take a piece of grass and dip it in the bottle and put it where I want my scent, it will hold for a few days, this way. Unless it rains.

[xHCxOutdoorsman]

say tony i actually would like some help on it my dad would like to see and learn it as well when would be the best time for you i would like to get it skinned out to night is it a problem if its a little cold cuz i dont have a place to keep it warm

[fishermann222]

It can be cold, but no part can be frozen. If it is frozen (legs, face and tail freeze first) then you will wreck it.

That is awesome that you are willing to go help him skin. This is what sets us trappers apart from others.

[Stiff]

I do have plans tonight, but I'm free the next 3 evenings. Can we plan on tomorrow evening? Keeping it cold is a good thing - just don't let it freeze.

Tony

[leechmann]

Jake, as far as the lure amounts go, while I'm knealing at the set, I just reach over and snap a little 2 inch twig off, or find one on the ground. Then I dip it in the bottle of lure and place the twig at the back side of the hole, maybe a little off to the right. Not in the hole. I put the bait in the hole, and finally, I give the set a squirt of urine on the back side of the hole, maybe a little off to the left. My thinking is that maybe once the fox is in there nice and tight to the set, you get him to take one more step across the trap to get a wiff of all the different smells. Cover your bait with a ball of grass or maybe some feathers. You don't want the critter to see the bait. Make him get in there and smell it, and try to dig it up.

[The Grebe]

222...In one of the earlier photos of the red fox you caught, I noticed that one looked sparse of guard hair around the shoulders and kinda flat and wooly toward the rear. His tail looked kind of skinny compared to the other fox pics you've shown us.

Is there a possibility, or has there ever been an instance of mange up on your trapline? You ever get any fox that look almost alright, but seem to be aggressive and more vocal?

That one fox on the blue tarp looks almost like a "Cotton" fox? Really long, fine and silky fur. I've caught a few mink in the past that were refered to by the buyer as cotton mink...they looked different then the other mink.

I seen it once in a coon that I caught and I had never seen one like that before, or after.

[fishermann222]

Good eyes grebe. Another one was lacking some guard hair. actually all of it. I had forgotten about that one becuase it never made it to be skinned. The hide "fell apart" as I skinned it.

I do get alot of fox that are very vocal. My fox population is odd because it is totally isolated. Mange we have not seen out here. It is something else. The "cotton" fox is a name given to fox with no guard hair. The reason for this with fox anyway is inbreading in the genes. They are called "sampson fox".

[tealitup]

Nice job stiff - way to help out.

[The Grebe]

222...The Sampsons I've caught before, both red and grays, the grays are short haired and look like they've been singed in a fire! The sampson reds are short haired all over, no guard hair...look like shorn sheep that got their do at great clips! Tail looks like a bottle brush.

But the cotton phase, the hair/fur is silky and long, easily matted and snarled, with a wooly, cottony underfur, looks like someone went crazy with the conditioner, the fur seems to be limp, more like fine hair then fur?

On the mangy fox I caught, some of them looked like they were mostly skin, their fur was so sparse! Awful to look at! I wouldn't touch those fox without a pair of rubber gloves on and a pair of channel locks! Even at that I would get the willies and I wouldn't remake the set. A .22 between the eyes and I would bury the whole carcass on the same farm, or area where I caught it.

Some would have fur, but they seemed to be more aggressive, I think they were half crazy from those scabie mites? Some would have mattering eyes, thick ears, crust around their mouths, some even had thicker limbs, rat looking tails and sores.

I've on occassion seen them staggering around during the daylight hours, I suppose they are looking for something to eat?

One would think that the cold and rigors of winter would kill those that are carriers, but they turn up in numbers every year? That mange is an awful canine desease and I've seen dogs with it also...it's almost to tough to look at sometimes!

[fishermann222]

good vivid descriptions grebe. Mange is a TERRIBLE thing. The wolves in some areas of alaska, mainly on the kenai have a kind of lice that causes them to loose hair also. It does not kill the wolf, just puts it through pain, and it is spreading. It renders the hide useless to trappers as well as putting the animal through a slow and painfull death. I hope it never gets as bad as mange and spreads.

An animal with mange deserves to be put out of its pain and suffering.

[sig]

This is a very interesting thread full of great info. I have a question for you guys. Do you run into fleas on coyotes often? I shot one in North Dakota last year pheasant hunting in late november. We brought it home to skin and clean with our birds. During some photos I noticed a flea or two jumpin on my skin! We had to fog the whole house. How do you avoid this? I thought maybe trash bagging the animal and fogging it inside? Thanks for the help.

[fishermann222]

did a late check last night had 2 fox, both in good shape though, so thats good. Hopefully I get a few more this weekend and I can wrap things up for the year.

As far as the fleas go, the guys I know who do alot of lynx trapping (lynx have TONS of fleas) they put them in a garbage bag and spray half a can of raid in there and seal it up for the night, next day they are all dead.

Fleas are pretty host specific, so you don't have to worry about certain fleas getting on your dog. But a yote flea would probably do just fine on a dog.

[The Grebe]

222....I made the mistake of letting a couple of em get cold, over night in the bug bag....they were like trying to skin out a recap tire!

[The Grebe]

HEY OUT THERE HEADS UP...If anyone one is interested in seeing a hunt for Musk Oxen like 222 from Alaska was talking about, they are showing a hunt on the "VS" channel, right now.

[fishermann222]

WHere were they filming at? was it Nugent? He was here a few years ago for a hunt when he drew a bull tag. I am heading out tomorrow to shoot mine I think. Photos will be up late tomorrow night if we find them tomorrow.

Here are a few pics from the line today, I am going to shut it down soon. I reached my goal so it is about time to wrap it up for the year and start making sausage and jerky.

All blood in photos is from the reindeer heads I use for bait.

this fog bank looked pretty cool I thought

[blackwater]

Fisherman,

When you are setting traps, are you able to pound stakes in the frozen ground, or do you pick your spots and put stakes in before season? Do you ever use cable stakes? Just curious. Thanks for sharing your pictures with us.

bw

[leechmann]

BW, Fishermann is out on his Musk ox hunt. He's told me that he drives a short rebar stake into the ground, and uses a snare cable lead to the trap. Then when he pulls the trap, he just cuts the cable and gets the stake back in the summer time.

[xHCxOutdoorsman]

fisherman great photos and good luck on your hunt i was just wondering what was your goal this year?

the past few days i havent caught anything i'm thinking of pulling my snares and resetting on another farm before im done here

When would you guys pull your stuff i'm just wondering because it won't be long and the summer coats will be in on the yotes and fox

Also does any one know of a taxi looking for a grey/silver fox its frozen and some local fur buyers cuz i have some yotes to sell

thanks