Culver trapping 2020

[Culvercreek hunt club]

5 minutes ago, E J said:

I've had a guy in trying to get some beaver out of some of my ditches. He's gotten a couple with one being over 60 pounds in his estimation. 

That is a lot of tree damage in one basket. 

[Nomad]

Bob, you may find this funny . 

Back in the day, when my buddy’s trapped , their main spots were , MCC , any drainage behind any shopping center , or restaurant  , along the Bay like behind the Bay Front restaurant and every other business down there . 
 

My friend and his two brothers trapped along with their Dad . Dad would skin rats on the hood of his car in the parking lot waiting for the boys to come out from hockey practice .

 

Riding in the car was always fun . In the back seat , one side of the floor was skins , the other body’s in a sallow cardboard box . Try to sit on the skin side ....

One time a coon my buddy “ killed” by hitting its head with the blunt side of his axe, came to in the car .

Times are different now sadly .

Edited January 8, 2021 by Nomad

[mlammerhirt]

Kinda like Tommy Boy when the deer comes alive.....that had to be a seen with the coon.

 

Sent from my moto z3 using Tapatalk

 

 

 

 

[Culvercreek hunt club]

Well Saturdays check went well. 2 coyotes, one on each farm. Sunday we put in a few of the toughest sets I have ever made. The ground was frozen solid about 8" down. Had to chop out every trap bed and I am not looking forward to pulling those anchors out...lol. The first coyote in the pics had mange very bad. 

Sunday we placed 3 beaver sets. Tough area to do it. The banks on the stream are about vertical for 5-20'. the entire stream is mothing but large gravel. We found the bank den but cant set within 15'. 330 stands were about useless and the only water deep enough for a drowning rig was within that 15' of the den area. We managed to get 3 sets with 330's in so first check will be this morning. I always thought beaver trapping would be in marsh and silt areas but I guess they will go just about anywhere. 

Edited January 11, 2021 by Culvercreek hunt club

[mlammerhirt]

Did you just dispatch and bury the one with mange? Don't wanna bring that home if you have a dog.

Sent from my moto z3 using Tapatalk

[Culvercreek hunt club]

1 hour ago, mlammerhirt said:

Did you just dispatch and bury the one with mange? Don't wanna bring that home if you have a dog.

Sent from my moto z3 using Tapatalk
 

dispatch and bury

[Culvercreek hunt club]

Well the check this morning held a  decent sized female. Worked a compass set that was set on sign about 2 weeks ago.  Hoping to get into another property for beaver so I whipped up some top side drowner anchor stakes.  We were running on our spare hammer becaseu I had the weld snap on the one we bought. I replaced the handle of it with 3/4" gas pipe so this should hold up. I beat the hell out of it this weekend chipping trap beds and driving anchors so I'm confident those welds will hold up long term. 

[Water Rat]

Your having a great year on the coyotes ! Keep up the good work Culvercreek hunt club.

[Culvercreek hunt club]

My partner had a couple slow days on the checks.  Hit  a red on a set today that was made about 5 weeks ago. rebedded once a few weeks back when a deer stepped in it.  finally hit something there. There had been sign and it sure looked like a good location but it's been quiet there since we set it. 

[rachunter]

Was it the ground hog hammer? I just repainted mine after leaving it behind. Luckily on my property lol



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Water Rat]

11 minutes ago, rachunter said:

Was it the ground hog hammer? I just repainted mine after leaving it behind. Luckily on my property lol



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Be careful that small chips of paint don't fall into your trap bed when you use it. I learned that the hard way. Now I just paint a small ring around the tool handle. That ground hog hammer makes dirt holes a breeze.

[Culvercreek hunt club]

Was it the ground hog hammer? I just repainted mine after leaving it behind. Luckily on my property lol



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

It was. Broke the weld right at the head.

[The_Real_TCIII]

We reset everything with peat Moss


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

[Culvercreek hunt club]

Well boys and girls. Color us done. Pulled everything on Saturday. What a cold freaking day that was. We had a fun season and learned a lot. I'm looking forward to next year.  The frost was so deep and tight even the new disposable ancho puller I made wouldn't budge them.  

In the off season I will be fabbing a skinning machine. (maybe I'll post that build on here) making some more stretching boards and getting some bulk dry and waxed dirt put up. 

Beaver season is open until April 7th in the general area. If I were to find a place with some I might try so set in March but not expecting that. 

Thanks for following along. 

[The_Real_TCIII]

I went out to see @dinorocks for some more help last night, theres no better place to visit! And he gave me the greatest gift an aspiring unprepared trapper can receive: five gallons of wax dirt! We are going to reset after Fridays rain and see what we can catch in the final week. We did get another nice red Friday morning

[Steve D]

On ‎1‎/‎25‎/‎2021 at 9:59 AM, Culvercreek hunt club said:

Well boys and girls. Color us done. Pulled everything on Saturday. What a cold freaking day that was. We had a fun season and learned a lot. I'm looking forward to next year.  The frost was so deep and tight even the new disposable ancho puller I made wouldn't budge them

You kept them out a couple more weeks than I could. The day after I pulled mine the snow came in along with the cold and the snow has just kept piling up. You had a pretty good season and it can be a fun way to spend part of the winter.

When one continues to look ahead by making method and equipment improvements they can call themselves a trapper.. I look for easier and better ways but they don't always end up as improvements or being more productive.

I always "look forward"  to next year but don't always make it out. Deer season and weather always seem to get in the way.

Sound like you have a new hobby

[Culvercreek hunt club]

17 minutes ago, Steve D said:

You kept them out a couple more weeks than I could. The day after I pulled mine the snow came in along with the cold and the snow has just kept piling up. You had a pretty good season and it can be a fun way to spend part of the winter.

When one continues to look ahead by making method and equipment improvements they can call themselves a trapper.. I look for easier and better ways but they don't always end up as improvements or being more productive.

I always "look forward"  to next year but don't always make it out. Deer season and weather always seem to get in the way.

Sound like you have a new hobby

We did enjoy it. If we get a mild March and I can locate some beaver I might take a stab at that. But like you I'll be planning for next year. Off season will be skinning shed improvements, make some more boards and finish putting together a winch skinning machine. we also are gonna put up  a bunch of waxed dirt and dry dirt. I'd like to see two 55 gallon barrels of waxed dirt. That would make it through I think. 

[Culvercreek hunt club]

3 hours ago, The_Real_TCIII said:

I went out to see @dinorocks for some more help last night, theres no better place to visit! And he gave me the greatest gift an aspiring unprepared trapper can receive: five gallons of wax dirt! We are going to reset after Fridays rain and see what we can catch in the final week. We did get another nice red Friday morning

You'll like the waxed dirt. Makes all the difference. 

[The_Real_TCIII]

14 minutes ago, Culvercreek hunt club said:

We did enjoy it. If we get a mild March and I can locate some beaver I might take a stab at that. But like you I'll be planning for next year. Off season will be skinning shed improvements, make some more boards and finish putting together a winch skinning machine. we also are gonna put up  a bunch of waxed dirt and dry dirt. I'd like to see two 55 gallon barrels of waxed dirt. That would make it through I think. 

Dino gave me the fantastic idea of mixing it on the driveway in the summertime

[Culvercreek hunt club]

9 minutes ago, The_Real_TCIII said:

Dino gave me the fantastic idea of mixing it on the driveway in the summertime

tarp and clear plastic over it?

[dinorocks]

I didn’t cover it so the moisture could escape.  After it was dry from sitting on a dark tarp on my black driveway in the heat of the summer, I transferred it to a couple black Jet sleds and added my wax.  With the Jet sleds I could easily mix it and pull it in the garage when needed.  I found that the sunlight alone wasn’t completely melting the wax so I transferred it in 3-gallon batches to a large canning pot and heated it over a propane grill...once I got the hang of it, the process went fairly quick and it was very obvious when it was done because it noticeably darkened.  It was also obvious when it was heated too much (smell and smoke).
 

A couple take-aways I learned;

1. Sand alone works great...organic material is very bad as it sucks up too much wax.

2. make sure the dirt is 100% dry before adding wax.

3. Test the waxed dirt often so you know if you need more wax. You cannot add too much wax. If you spend all the time and effort and money making wax dirt and not enough wax was added, when it gets wet, it WILL freeze when the temps drop.  I.e., it will not work, period, for its intended purpose.

4. Note number 3 above needs to be repeated if your dirt source/conditions change.

5. Once off the heat, Keep mixing wax dirt until it cools...if not, you will end up with a solid block and will need to reheat/re-cool.

 

I’m by no means an expert but learned lots through trial and error and discussing with those more experienced...feel free to reach out to me with questions...if I cannot help, I have lots of mentors I can solicit for answers.

good luck!

[Culvercreek hunt club]

3 minutes ago, dinorocks said:

I didn’t cover it so the moisture could escape.  After it was dry from sitting on a dark tarp on my black driveway in the heat of the summer, I transferred it to a couple black Jet sleds and added my wax.  With the Jet sleds I could easily mix it and pull it in the garage when needed.  I found that the sunlight alone wasn’t completely melting the wax so I transferred it in 3-gallon batches to a large canning pot and heated it over a propane grill...once I got the hang of it, the process went fairly quick and it was very obvious when it was done because it noticeably darkened.  It was also obvious when it was heated too much (smell and smoke).
 

A couple take-aways I learned;

1. Sand alone works great...organic material is very bad as it sucks up too much wax.

2. make sure the dirt is 100% dry before adding wax.

3. Test the waxed dirt often so you know if you need more wax. You cannot add too much wax. If you spend all the time and effort and money making wax dirt and not enough wax was added, when it gets wet, it WILL freeze when the temps drop.  I.e., it will not work, period, for its intended purpose.

4. Note number 3 above needs to be repeated if your dirt source/conditions change.

5. Once off the heat, Keep mixing wax dirt until it cools...if not, you will end up with a solid block and will need to reheat/re-cool.

 

I’m by no means an expert but learned lots through trial and error and discussing with those more experienced...feel free to reach out to me with questions...if I cannot help, I have lots of mentors I can solicit for answers.

good luck!

We used two heavy turkey roasting pans on a double burner propane stove. We also found the part that took the longest was cooling it down sufficiently to avoid clumping. We spread a batch on a 4x8' sheet of plywood  on a 8' long folding table and used a metal tined rake to stir and move it until it was cool.  once cool we scraped it off into a container.  I have an electric concretet mixer and I've seen them do it on a youtube video using one. I may try that. 

[dinorocks]

I was tempted to use a mixer but the one I was looking at had a plastic drum that I could not heat.  I’ll probably use my method (or close to it) again next time as things worked out pretty good for me.
 

Regarding cooling, I dumped my hot wax dirt back into my jet sled and used a metal rake to mix it.  I found it cooled quicker when the sled was on my cool concrete floored garage.

Unfortunately I will not be making much wax dirt next year because my K9 trapping plans this year didn’t pan out. (I have about 50 gallons currently stored).  

[rachunter]

I really enjoyed following along.Hoping to see more next season.