Culver's trapping escapades 2019

[wolc123]

3 hours ago, Nomad said:

My friend made enough over Christmas break, ( four weeks ) to pay for the next semester at St .John Fisher college . $7 a rat, $35 plus a coon , don’t recall the mink price , but it was nice to get a couple here and there .

Those were the days when it came to fur prices.   I bought my first boat, while I was in high school in the early 80's, with fur money.  I had one set that produced a muskrat almost every day of the season, and the adults peaked at $ 8 ea that year.   

[Lawdwaz]

20 minutes ago, blackbeltbill said:

I don't know anything about Trapping or Muskrat numbers or Muskrat Season Limit--- but is it not possible to take too many Muskrats out of a single area until they are gone from that particular area if you get one every day?  

I know less than you about trapping BBB but I bet you more will move in PDQ.........a nice rat house is always in demand within the muskrat community.

[Lawdwaz]

1 minute ago, blackbeltbill said:

Muskrat must be numerous then. Population cannot be eliminated. Now imagine if every single Spring Turkey Hunter in the US-- 2 1/2 MILLION had the skill to take 2 Gobblers next Spring out of a population of 7 Million Turkeys Nationwide. Might not be any Male Birds left in just 1 Spring Season. Just Googled above numbers.

Stop............

[rachunter]

If you could go over your skinning and fleshing tools.It looks like your using a necker fleshing knife.I'm thinking of getting the necker 600 fleshing knife.

which do you like better the wire or wood stretchers.

[Culvercreek hunt club]

If you could go over your skinning and fleshing tools.It looks like your using a necker fleshing knife.I'm thinking of getting the necker 600 fleshing knife.
which do you like better the wire or wood stretchers.

It is a necker 600. I don’t have a big frame of reference but it seems to work well. I am going to sharpen the sharp side a bit though. I have an aluminum 3 hole tail stripper. About a $15 first cut knife. I
Love the havalon replaceable blade knit I got to skin. I may actually try it for skinning deer. It is razor sharp. I built a gambrel since I had the 3/32” cable spool. Wanted to play with heights and spread before I build something more permanent. I have a bench vice so if you are gonna use cable and have a vise don’t waste money on a bench swagger. For the Furrels. I lick mine in the vise and it works great single handed. Running Berkshire earth anchors with 18” between anchor and swivels. I used 12” pvc pipe to cut my fleshing beams.

I got the wire because a guy I bought some traps from made me a deal I couldn’t refuse. I am trying to get woken stretchers though. They work much better in my view. Working on a mill to cut me 1/2” basswood planks to build my own. Coyote wood is like $90 a half dozen. Boards will run me $15. Less if I build them collapsible.

[Culvercreek hunt club]

Muskrat must be numerous then. Population cannot be eliminated. Now imagine if every single Spring Turkey Hunter in the US-- 2 1/2 MILLION had the skill to take 2 Gobblers next Spring out of a population of 7 Million Turkeys Nationwide. Might not be any Male Birds left in just 1 Spring Season. Just Googled above numbers.

The biggest factor is their ability to have multiple litters. Some info I am seeing is in out climate they could have 4 litters a year. In warmer it can be up to 7. In a big marsh you’d be hard pressed to trap them out but in a small area I guess you could. That isn’t good management but in the right spot one a day could be

[Nomad]

My friends had trap lines on many areas all across the county , run ways were very plentiful on the each creek .

Their skinning knife was a skinny five inch stag handle fixed blade , that they also used to mix up bondo to fill the rust holes on their crappy old cars , had to knock off the set up  bondo with a hammer , before you could skin them  .

Wolc , is 100% correct, big money in the late 70’s early ‘80s , and nobody cared when you parked at a shopping center and trapped in the drainage behind it , or on the college campus  like we used to , got cattails cool we’re Setting traps then .

[wolc123]

3 hours ago, blackbeltbill said:

I don't know anything about Trapping or Muskrat numbers or Muskrat Season Limit--- but is it not possible to take too many Muskrats out of a single area until they are gone from that particular area if you get one every day?  

That set was by far the hottest one I ever had.  I used sticks to block off a ditch, which drained a low marsh area of about 5 acres, into a creek.  The stick barrier forced the muskrats thru a 110 conibear trap.  There were only a couple of days, thru about two months of the season, when there was not a muskrat caught in that trap.   One day I caught a mallard duck in that trap, which was pretty tasty.    I have always wanted to try a young coon in the crockpot but that duck was the only thing I ever cooked and ate out of a trap.

The spot was about a mile down the road from our house, and I would ride my bike to check it every day.  One day, about 3/4 of the way thru trapping season, someone stole the trap.  I was thankful to have had it produce for as long as it did, but I never tried setting another trap in that spot after that one came up missing.    

I had a few other sets that may have produced several muskrats, but nothing close to the 50 or more of that set.  The ditch was the only way out of a big marsh, and the creek and ditch always had flowing water, until freeze up in late December.   In that situation, it did not seem possible to take too many and wipe them out.   On smaller areas, such as the 1 acre pond at a neighbor's horse farm, I was able to clean them all out (around 6) in a week with couple of traps.   The next year, there was always more that would move in.           

[Culvercreek hunt club]

Well last night's trap check yielded 3 small coons and I forgot my phone. These were really small and I am glad they didn't hit my trail set. it was however a new learning experience in releasing a trapped animal. walking up they were so docile and calm. kind or cute looking actually. But let me tell you about the Hades possessed devil they turned into when the loop from that catch pole closes up. These things were probably only about 10 pounds but it is all you want to do by yourself...lol. This is something you can watch on YouTube and think "I got this"  but when it is growling, hissing and baring it's teeth and the distance from the pinned head and the trap lever you have to squeeze to release it is less than a food it makes you very aware of judging distances....lol.  SO here I was with the first one. (should have had someone videoing me because you guys would have got a chuckle). loop tight on the neck, right hand on the catch pole and the end of it in my right armpit to try and keep it pinned. trap chain tight so you are almost using the chain and the catch pole like a bipod to keep the white chomping teeth where you want them. Lean forward  and with the left hand compress the spring on the dog proof trap. All good right? well that just let the one leg of the "bipod" loose and off they try to run. It was like someone kicking my leg out from under me as I was leaning on the pole to hold the raccoon down. Well I got the first one released and I don't think I have eve seen one run so fast. Luckily it was in a direction away from me. Glad I learned something on a smaller one. The other two went much better. I wasn't depending so much on the pole to hold my weight as I leaned forward. 

The canine traps were still sitting idle. nothing dug, no tracks at the sets and no bait touched. There had been a lot of sign where I set and several guys are telling me it could take a week to 10 days for them to come back to there. I'll see how my sets held up to the rain. I had them made with peatmoss and top dressed with dirt so hoping they weathered well.  The weather is going to be turning so I will be making some waxed dirt over the next week to handle the wet and freezing temps that are sure coming. 

[rachunter]

The first dog proof traps I had[the egg] had to be taken apart to get there foot out. If I wanted to release the coon i put a pal with a notch cut in the side and pull his leg and trap out. I'll never get over the strength those little buggers have.

[wolc123]

9 hours ago, Culvercreek hunt club said:

Well last night's trap check yielded 3 small coons and I forgot my phone. These were really small and I am glad they didn't hit my trail set. it was however a new learning experience in releasing a trapped animal. walking up they were so docile and calm. kind or cute looking actually. But let me tell you about the Hades possessed devil they turned into when the loop from that catch pole closes up. These things were probably only about 10 pounds but it is all you want to do by yourself...lol. This is something you can watch on YouTube and think "I got this"  but when it is growling, hissing and baring it's teeth and the distance from the pinned head and the trap lever you have to squeeze to release it is less than a food it makes you very aware of judging distances....lol.  SO here I was with the first one. (should have had someone videoing me because you guys would have got a chuckle). loop tight on the neck, right hand on the catch pole and the end of it in my right armpit to try and keep it pinned. trap chain tight so you are almost using the chain and the catch pole like a bipod to keep the white chomping teeth where you want them. Lean forward  and with the left hand compress the spring on the dog proof trap. All good right? well that just let the one leg of the "bipod" loose and off they try to run. It was like someone kicking my leg out from under me as I was leaning on the pole to hold the raccoon down. Well I got the first one released and I don't think I have eve seen one run so fast. Luckily it was in a direction away from me. Glad I learned something on a smaller one. The other two went much better. I wasn't depending so much on the pole to hold my weight as I leaned forward. 

The canine traps were still sitting idle. nothing dug, no tracks at the sets and no bait touched. There had been a lot of sign where I set and several guys are telling me it could take a week to 10 days for them to come back to there. I'll see how my sets held up to the rain. I had them made with peatmoss and top dressed with dirt so hoping they weathered well.  The weather is going to be turning so I will be making some waxed dirt over the next week to handle the wet and freezing temps that are sure coming. 

I am wondering why you would release them alive ?  Now that trapping season is open, you don't need to bury or burn the carcasses, you can just throw them out in the field to feed the buzzards.    Dead coons save turkey and grouse eggs, and reduce the rabbies threat to pets.  I cant think of any good reason to release one alive.     

[Culvercreek hunt club]

I am wondering why you would release them alive ?  Now that trapping season is open, you don't need to bury or burn the carcasses, you can just throw them out in the field to feed the buzzards.    Dead coons save turkey and grouse eggs, and reduce the rabbies threat to pets.  I cant think of any good reason to release one alive.     

I hard time justifying it if it’s waste. I know all the reasons to do it but as the season gets later and I can do something with them I will keep them. Everything I am posting right now is only on 80 acres. I also am short on stretchers right now. I have gotten the cart before the horse on some of this. I don’t have enough stretchers to handle more coons right now 

Well tonight I popped my cherry. Finally a canine. Got a nice male red fox on a 4 trap blind set on trails leading into a bait site. Also got a grinner. Checked the dog proofs and had another opossum and another small 10# coon. Kept the possum to try skinning them and le the coon go.