here ar emy best and worst

Iowa had an open beaver season unlike the restrictive season in PA, which allowed me to trap as many beaver as I wanted within the trapping season. Now I knew beaver fur is best and primest in Late December and January. Well here in Iowa that means ICE and thick ICE. I did get a few that way but decide to wait for spring break up to try and get some more. Well the breakup was late and I went and chopped a few holes in the ice and tried that. Then it warmed up, and the ice got rotten (never go out on rotten ice), I knew the ice was going rotten and went to retrieve my traps and poles. As I walked the 30 feet out on the ice to my pole my right leg disappeared! Odd I thought it was here just a second ago, and then my body tipped sideways due to my right leg going through a particularly rotten spot in the ice. The impact of my body (I weighed about 250 pounds then) on the ice caused it to break and drop me straight through into the inky depth below, I came up spluttering and spitting our water and various curses. Luckily the hole I made in the ice was easy enough to move around in, and I was only in chest deep water. Unluckily I did not have ice spikes (spikes/nails on a string around your neck to help you claw out of the ice). I put my hands on the edge of the ice and pushed up with my feet off the bottom. I was just about to lie on the ice and slither out when the ice broke dropping me back into the water. I stood up and grabbed the edge again and tried to push myself up and it broke again. I did this the entire way to shore. I was exhausted after being soaked lugging a heavy soaked jacket and pant and breaking my way through 30 feet of rotten 8 inch ice. And to add insult to injury, I still had to go pick up my daughter at day care, how no one noticed I was soaking wet in mid-March was beyond me. Lesson learned – don’t go out on rotten ice unless you have to and if you do make sure you have some ice spikes!

A few years later I was doing some beaver control work in a very upscale neighborhood. The job was at the base of a big bluff and it was so steep the trail ran sideways down the bluff for about a good eighty yards. From the bottom of the bluff to the river was about 40 yards so, then down a six to eight foot mostly sheer bank to the river itself. The ground still had between six and ten inches of icy snow, and the river in many places was still frozen across, but this area was open. The beaver were somehow climbing the bank to feed on the trees and the landowner wanted them gone. It was tricky because even right near the bank the water was almost over the top of my hip boots. I made some bottom edge sets for beaver and put in a castor mound as well and had removed some of them when we got a huge spring warm rain storm. I rained all day and night and melted most of the snow and ice and broke the river into a raging torrent of coffee colored water and icebergs. My traps were staked and wired but I still wanted to get them out if at all possible.

My wife and our new baby drove me out to the site, she and they baby parked at the road on top of the bluff, while I headed won to try and retrieve my traps. The river looked nasty with the water about 2-3 feet higher than normal and full of slabs and chunks of ice. I had made a grappling hook out of an old drag and 20 feet of 3/32” cable to try and snag the traps and drag them to where I could reach them. After fishing for a bit with my hook I did manage to snag out two of my 330’s. The last 330 I had wired high on the bank just in case of high water, it also had 10 foot of 3/32” cable hooked to the spring, and it was all tie doff to a 24” rerod stake I had driven into the top of the bank.

After untying the wire and pulling the coni up I noticed a place where the beaver were still coming up the bank despite the high water. I thought if I was real careful I could lower the 330 into the river where the beaver seemed to be coming up the bank. I was trying to maneuver myself down the bank to a small edge to lower the 330 on a pole. I took on step and my feet shot out from under me (it w-as a 1/2” of mud on a still frozen bank). And I slide down the bank and off the ledge like a ride at the water park. When I resurfaced I was chest deep in the river with slabs of 8 inch ice floating by me. I was also at the bottom of a 8-10 foot tall sheer mud and ice slickened bank. I could not go down stream as the water was deeper there, and I could not go upstream against the current when up to my chest. Panic started to set in as no one would hear my cries for help, I could not hope to climb the bank and trying to swim down to a lower bank may lead to drowning and or hypothermia as well before I even got out of the river. I had to think, so I took stock of what I had on hand. I still had the 24 inch rerod stake in my right hand and the 330 conibear with the long cable in my left hand.

Finally I figured out what to do. I switched hands and set the 330 under water against my knee, nose nearly under water, then holding onto a loop at the end of the cable threw the 330 up on top of the bank and heard is SNAP onto the brush at the top of the bank. ( I was glad as i doubt i could have set it again) I said a very large prayer and pulled on the cable, it seemed to hold so I wrapped my right hands in the cable and pulled myself up at least to my waist out of the water and face first into the bank. Then I took my left hand and drove the stake in as hard and as high on the bank as I could. Then I I pulled myself up using the stake, and when I got to the stake I wrapped my hand in the cable again to hold me in place against the bank and withdrew the stake and slammed it into the bank again . I did this over and over slowly inching my way up the bank until I reached the top. I was soaked, covered in mud and starting to shake from the beginnings of hypothermia. The long slow hike up the bluff back to van warmed me up at least. My wife was shocked by my condition and got me home to a warm shower and dry clothes but alas no hot cocoa. Lesson – when stuck in a dangerous situation, do not lose you head, think out your problem, as panic can lead to death. Use what you have to your advantage.

Bag balm or this:

Looking for mink and otter skulls. $5 for mink and $15 for otter. Need 30 of each.
Message here or text 541 409 2218
Ted

Oh so true. Got to go over things a couple of times so I know I haven't forgot anything to go set. But still end up forgetting something once in a while.

I would think they would. Give them a try, their fairly reasonable.

I do that in my cabin on the Mississippi in Wisconsin. Winterize it and close it up until spring.

I sure will, would be good to shoot the breeze. The last time i was up there was for an auction. Guy had trailers full of traps and some good guns. Can't miss those type of sales.

Good job guys. That looks like great country. Thanks for the video.

Have you used it? I have to be honest I am not familiar with it. The description you gave makes me think it would be great in a sausage recipe. I can't imagine it would not get some response in a bait of some sort.

My buddy had a 15-1/2" today, my best was 14-3/4".

I got my pork out of it. Looking like 22 to 25k of my half time part untaxed ot pay. Increased child tax credits, standard deduction of 30k for married. With farm deduction added it not only brought me down to the 12% bracket but I also was able to move 20k from ira to roth at the 12% rate. Wure would be nice if I could get everything in my ira and 401 that is tax deferred into roth ira and roth 401 before I access them

And I have my first suppresor i won't have paid a tax stamp on in the system now. Need to get a few more moving.

I can go without it and would be fine with it going to the country's debt. But at the same time is nice to finally see some direct benefits personally.

Has anyone ever tried cling wrap? I have heard of sandwiche bags, but that type of plastic will not easily mold into position. Why not carry a roll of cling wrap, set trap cut off a piece big enough to wrap the trap in. Will also put a barrier around entire trap to prevent frost from sticking jaws to ground.

make it happen!