Trappers 2012/13

[Rocks]

Great pics again everyone.

Congrats on the line Trapper Toe! Looking forward to helping you out a little, if I'm still working around Falher I'll be nice and close. Can't wait to get over there and check it out with you.

[jim summit]

357Xp and myself are heading out out tomorrow for the last check on our line, weather is nice and warm, itchin to go. Only problem is with the warm weather is the Lynx just might be a bit green.....

Can't believe the season is almost done, have a bait pile going all winter and the only Wolf tracks we have seen were a pack of 3 in Dec and one loner end of Jan.
Decent moose sign, not sure why the lack of wolves.

Still have a couple month to work on beaver.

[jim summit]

Originally Posted by Gabby61

Hi 357,

When you make your Lynx sets, you use no cubby, just bait in tree with snares around the same tree ????

Thanks,
Gabby.

Like 357 said, it works really well. Seems our cats are well fed and have no intrest in cubbies. have set some cubbies with 330's and some with snares, they will look at it but not commit. Then the cats walk down the trail to the next set with no cubby and just bait in the tree and a snare, circle around and seal the deal.

We have about a dozen cats caught in this type of a set, and the rest in trail sets like the pic i posted a while back.

[steve]

Got going late and caught a few cats

[jim summit]

Weather was warm, about +6C and snow was soft. Lynx had not moved much since last check, but a couple cats had found the snares, #20 and 21. Cleaned up all the traps and snares, not one cat in a 330, all caught in snares.

A couple pics, had a young trapper along again, think he enjoyed it.
Boarded up the old line cabin, won't see it till next Nov. Kinda sad to think we won't see that end of the line till next fall.
Had a great day weekend out on the line, hope to find time to do some
"management" on some beaver.

Counted the pelts, we came up with..

Marten 57
Lynx 21
Fisher 3
Weasel 20+
Squirrel 15+
Beaver 2
Coyote 1

[Rocks]

Nice cat Steve, good for you for catching a few.

Nice pics Jim, you guys had a good season, congrats.

[Torkdiesel]

Originally Posted by jim summit

Weather was warm, about +6C and snow was soft. Lynx had not moved much since last check, but a couple cats had found the snares, #20 and 21. Cleaned up all the traps and snares, not one cat in a 330, all caught in snares.

A couple pics, had a young trapper along again, think he enjoyed it.
Boarded up the old line cabin, won't see it till next Nov. Kinda sad to think we won't see that end of the line till next fall.
Had a great day weekend out on the line, hope to find time to do some
"management" on some beaver.

Counted the pelts, we came up with..

Marten 57
Lynx 21
Fisher 3
Weasel 20+
Squirrel 15+
Beaver 2
Coyote 1

I'm going to have to sign up for some Lynx lessons from you guys. I have them on the line, they just seem to avoid my sets like the plague

[Thunder Elk Hunter]

Originally Posted by jim summit

Like 357 said, it works really well. Seems our cats are well fed and have no intrest in cubbies. have set some cubbies with 330's and some with snares, they will look at it but not commit. Then the cats walk down the trail to the next set with no cubby and just bait in the tree and a snare, circle around and seal the deal.

We have about a dozen cats caught in this type of a set, and the rest in trail sets like the pic i posted a while back.

Hi Jim,

We ended up snaring all our cats this year as well.
We are currently using 3/32 our standard coyote snare cable.
What size of cable are you guys using?
Your trail set are on trails with old cat tracks?

Nice pictures by the way and thanks for input.

[jim summit]

We used 1/16" cable, about an 8-9" loop. Had some 5/64 coyote snares that we used but like the 1/16" better, easier to hide. Have not lost any to broken cable.

Trail sets are just snares set on your snowmobile trail where they like to walk, fence off the other side guiding them into the snare.
Bit of a pain resetting all the snares as you go down the trail. Tree sets just tramp down a trail off the main trail into the bush about 50 feet.
Hang a snare on the first good tree, we usually tie on some bait, lure, and a coke can hang on a string and curousity killed the cat.

I'll try to find some better pics of the trail sets.
357xp might chime in ......

[Thunder Elk Hunter]

Thanks Jim

The cable looked way smaller than what we are using.

Will look at going to smaller cable next year.

Would like to reach our quote while hare and cat populations are high. Our quote for our small line is 5 lynx and we caught 4 but had 4 walk around but not commit to a cubbie, had snares around the cubbies that picked up some and others were caught at a bait site for coyotes.

So I like the idea of trail sets just off cutline trails. Lots of receration snowmobliers on our line so right off the snow manchine trails I don't think would work for us.

Was thinking about put a snare under some of our marten/fisher boxes as there was a few coyote checking out the boxes. Must have been the smell of the bait and lure. Does anyone else do this?

35 coyotes
4 lynx
6 fisher
7 marten
25 beaver
9 rats
3 weasel
1 squirrel

TEH

[Dog_River]

Thanks to all you guys who post in this forum and on this thread.

I love it !

Dog_River

[Brian Bildson]

Snaring cats is a numbers games. there is always refusuals and walk bys no matter what. A consistent snare set that you can get down and operational in minutes is the answer. Many of those are described above.

one trick that speeds me up is I mark on a piece of surveyors lath my loop size and height. yes i can eye it up but I like a small loop so placement is key

[Brian Bildson]

Jim thanks for sharing your stories I've really enjoyed them. you're a serious trapper and have been generous in sharing, thanks bud.

[jim summit]

Thanks Brian, have used many of the tips you have shared.

For next season will have a lathe marked, would keep things consistent.
Find I am second guessing myself after setting a snare, then go back and adjust.
Oldtimer said "Never leave a set if you have any doubt".

50% effort will get you 50% results.

Thunder Elk, here is a pic of a set on the main trail, Tundra is in the back ground. Never did connect here, it was on a corner of the trail, so Lynx just takes a shortcut through the trees 50 yards down and back on the trail.
Lesson learnt, set on a relative straight trail.

[Thunder Elk Hunter]

Thanks Jim & Brain

Have days where you make loop to high to the ground or to low, lathe will fix that.
I like the smaller snare lenght helps not making the loop to big.

Those trail sets look easier to set than making cubbies. Remember my dad just used a piece of moose hide hanging from a branch with a foot hold under the hide. He caught his fair share of lynx. Got a spot where the six foot spruce are thick, will make a trail in them and set a snare.

[Bushmaster]

Jim, just a thought. I've never snared for cats....but couldn't you just make a loop trail where you want to have your sets to avoid resetting them? And having them on a curve helps to hide things a bit as well ?

[357xp]

Originally Posted by jim summit

Thunder Elk, here is a pic of a set on the main trail, Tundra is in the back ground. Never did connect here, it was on a corner of the trail, so Lynx just takes a shortcut through the trees 50 yards down and back on the trail.
Lesson learnt, set on a relative straight trail.

one check i did, a lynx also just walked right through this set, pussing the snare aside, i think it was when we still had our snares to low to ground. but thats half the fun, learning, at least for me anyhows.

if we got every lynx that checked out our sets.............woulda had to pull sets ALOT earlier

[savage10]

nice!

[Brian Bildson]

a quick trail set is to take a piece of binder twine and tie spruce boughs to it. Tie it to a tree on the side of trail and pull string tight to a stake in trail beside your snare. When you pull up on machine grab stake out of snow and swing to the side. After you pass pull twine tight and reposition stake.

[The Spruce]

This thread is way too far down the list, time to bumbp it back up! Also, spring trapping has begun...well sort of, trugging through knee deep snow setting houses (rats and beaver). Here is a picture of my first pull since fall on the water.

[Thunder Elk Hunter]

Originally Posted by The Spruce

This thread is way too far down the list, time to bumbp it back up! Also, spring trapping has begun...well sort of, trugging through knee deep snow setting houses (rats and beaver). Here is a picture of my first pull since fall on the water.

Nice!!! Hope to start later this week.

[jim summit]

Sent the last of my furs out couple weeks ago, should be out east by now.
Now it's wait time, waiting, waiting.......
IMG_1193.jpg

In the meantime, wife and me headed into the Caribou Mountains to drill some holes and catch some less furry creatures.
We left April,5th, it was -28 in the morning, not a bit like spring.
Warmed up during the day, 4' of dry powder snow.

IMG_1200.jpg

[Brian Bildson]

Looks like well handled fur Jim. winters hanging on for sure. We still have several feet of snow in the mountains ourselves. You went ice fishing? how'd you do. How long a ride from the road? How'd you make out?

[The Spruce]

Nice fur Jim, I sure wish I had a line.
Mr. Mink finally made a mistake and got himself caught in one of my rat traps. Hopefully that is the end for half eaten rats. Question, due I have to take the Mink into F&W due to it being out of season? Fur still looks beautiful on it, nice ligth creamy brown color to.

[Brian Bildson]

You need to bring it in and report an incidental catch. There's no reason they won't let you keep it.

[nube]

Was the mink eating the rats under the ice? I had a rat this year with the head eaten off and wondered if it was a mink but I don't know how he would have gotten out under the ice?

[The Spruce]

The mink was eating rats that were drown. I think the live ones would have put up a good fight. He ate the head off one, and about 50% of a different one. I was checking twice a day, I like to do that when I first set a new place. If I was on a 24 hour check, those rats would have been gone, and I would have been none the wiser.

PS, the Mink measures 31" from nose to pleated tail...NAFA lists an XXL at 24", I guess he is as big as they get! Might have to tan him and keep him.

[jim summit]

Trip was good, approx 70km to to this lake. caught some nice pike and Laker.
As well we saw some Caribou, they use the snowmobile trails as there is just to much snow.
IMG_0017.jpg

[braggadoe]

cool bou pic! still winter up there eh. no snow on my line down low, lots in the mountains still. heading back in next week to try to reduce the black bear population by two(allowed 2). get some lip/ear/paw turning practice.

then start clearing line. nice line clearing time before everything starts to get very green and bees/wasps come out.

hope to build some bridges and replace a roof this summer.


be nice to see some pics this summer of work/projects everyone is doing.

good luck in the may sale

[mark-edmonton]

Aren't we allowed to havest 6 bears without a tag off our lines?