Re: The ole Spring hole and Mafia set
[Re: Wolfdog91]
#6219572
04/17/18 01:03 AM
04/17/18 01:03 AM
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Joined: May 2011
Posts: 2,494 Garden,Michigan
Buck (Zandra)
trapper
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trapper
Joined: May 2011
Posts: 2,494
Garden,Michigan
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A lot of guys turn their nose up at these sets nowdays.I think their excellent change ups from the more run of the mill sets.How many fox come across a spring hole set nowdays?
Buck(formely known as Zandra)
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Re: The ole Spring hole and Mafia set
[Re: Wolfdog91]
#6219613
04/17/18 06:54 AM
04/17/18 06:54 AM
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Joined: Dec 2006
Posts: 29,912 williamsburg ks
danny clifton
"Grumpy Old Man"
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"Grumpy Old Man"
Joined: Dec 2006
Posts: 29,912
williamsburg ks
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Tweed, call Craig O'Gorman. He started calling it the mafia set. O'Gorman is best known as a top trapper. his marketing skill is overlooked.
Buck, not many. You have to find a perfect spot and it takes a long time to make. Lots easier to catch that same fox on one side or the other. There are a lot of sets that work but are just not practical. Read Hawbakers trapping north American furbearers to se a compilation of time consuming sets.
I never saw a reason to tie up two traps for one critter. If your catch goes from 80% caught per visit to 90% by starting out with two traps you will catch more fur putting the second trap in its own location.
Anyways that's what I think.
Those who would give up essential liberty, to purchase a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety. Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790)
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Re: The ole Spring hole and Mafia set
[Re: danny clifton]
#6219640
04/17/18 08:03 AM
04/17/18 08:03 AM
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Joined: May 2011
Posts: 2,494 Garden,Michigan
Buck (Zandra)
trapper
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trapper
Joined: May 2011
Posts: 2,494
Garden,Michigan
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Tweed, call Craig O'Gorman. He started calling it the mafia set. O'Gorman is best known as a top trapper. his marketing skill is overlooked.
Buck, not many. You have to find a perfect spot and it takes a long time to make. Lots easier to catch that same fox on one side or the other. There are a lot of sets that work but are just not practical. Read Hawbakers trapping north American furbearers to se a compilation of time consuming sets.
I never saw a reason to tie up two traps for one critter. If your catch goes from 80% caught per visit to 90% by starting out with two traps you will catch more fur putting the second trap in its own location.
Anyways that's what I think. Agreed with needing the right location.I can think of a few places where I've trapped where using the water set would have added a few more pelts,areas up here that have more rock than top soil.Thing was when I saw the location I thought back to those old sets and knew I had a perfect location to make one,but thinking it took too much time and having never having made the set before didn't have the confidence.I'd do it now.I have used the trail sets successfully for just about everything.The problem we have here is the amount of deer we have running around,if their not using the trail before they will be after you make the set.Again,just a couple of old time sets to use as a change up where its feasible to use.
Buck(formely known as Zandra)
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Re: The ole Spring hole and Mafia set
[Re: Buck (Zandra)]
#6219736
04/17/18 09:54 AM
04/17/18 09:54 AM
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Joined: Dec 2006
Posts: 3,723 Maine
Mac
trapper
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trapper
Joined: Dec 2006
Posts: 3,723
Maine
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A properly made spring hole set is a good set. I doubt over a handful of trappers make the set. There are certain strategies that are needed to really make it shine. I am personally glad it has fallen out of fashion. Granted it is not a high speed production set. But you would be surprised how fast it can go in with the right circumstances. Would I trade the spring hole set for say a dirt hole set? No, but it is a good tool. Probably not worth a darn out West or in a desert. Mac
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Re: The ole Spring hole and Mafia set
[Re: Wolfdog91]
#6219773
04/17/18 10:58 AM
04/17/18 10:58 AM
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Joined: Mar 2009
Posts: 1,253 wantage n.j.
eric space
trapper
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trapper
Joined: Mar 2009
Posts: 1,253
wantage n.j.
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The key to a spring hole set is to make it at the spring, not just anywhere in the water. Biggest advantage is that springs do not freeze, even in sub zero weather. It's a great wintertime set, your set is always working, no matter how cold or how much snow. In the mid to late 60's (I started snaring in 1970) my grandfather and I would trap fox in winter, almost all in springholes. Always fastened our traps to a notched rock, I still occasionally find a spring with a notched rock in it. A few months ago I mentioned that Gramp used a Blake and Lamb underspring #2 with offset galvanized pans for watersets. In the May 2018 Fur-Fish-Game in the antique trap section Tom Parr has a picture of a B&L with notched pan spikes to hold on the sod. In the same picture, behind the featured trap is one of those galvanized pan B&L's with the upturned pan corners. Check it out, Eric
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Re: The ole Spring hole and Mafia set
[Re: Lazarus]
#6219852
04/17/18 12:28 PM
04/17/18 12:28 PM
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Joined: Dec 2006
Posts: 4,949 PA
elkaholic
trapper
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trapper
Joined: Dec 2006
Posts: 4,949
PA
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Looks like a walk-thru with 2 traps.
Millions of trees die every year to print environmentalist publications
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Re: The ole Spring hole and Mafia set
[Re: Lazarus]
#6219863
04/17/18 12:50 PM
04/17/18 12:50 PM
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Joined: Apr 2012
Posts: 5,445 Southern Michigan
trappergbus
trapper
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trapper
Joined: Apr 2012
Posts: 5,445
Southern Michigan
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That's correct, it is not a Mafia set. I for one only use 1 trap. That's OGs set to share.. Givem an offer they can't refuse! There's also more to the spring hole than a sod on the pan. With a little preseason work they are quick to set for winter. Like any other sets theirs a right way and a right time to be most effective.
Common sense catches alot of fur.. Pay homage to all you harvest..
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Re: The ole Spring hole and Mafia set
[Re: elkaholic]
#6219867
04/17/18 12:53 PM
04/17/18 12:53 PM
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Joined: Mar 2012
Posts: 3,697 Nevadafornia
Lazarus
trapper
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trapper
Joined: Mar 2012
Posts: 3,697
Nevadafornia
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Looks like a walk-thru with 2 traps. Not being critical of the set that is pictured . . . its just not a mafia set. A blind or flat set used as a back up to another set is frequently referred to as a mafia set. IT IS NOT. As I learned it, a mafia set is a very specific set with specific components (a coyote trail, a dropping, good camouflage, etc).
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Re: The ole Spring hole and Mafia set
[Re: Wolfdog91]
#6219869
04/17/18 12:54 PM
04/17/18 12:54 PM
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Joined: May 2013
Posts: 5,114 Northern Michigan
J.Morse
trapper
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trapper
Joined: May 2013
Posts: 5,114
Northern Michigan
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What Eric said. That set (springhole) was used because it was an all-weather set, within reason of course. In a part of the country where sub-zero weather is sporadic, not having to fuss with crusty snow, melting/re-freezing, etc. made that set attractive, at least in theory!
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Re: The ole Spring hole and Mafia set
[Re: Wolfdog91]
#6219893
04/17/18 01:39 PM
04/17/18 01:39 PM
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Joined: Dec 2006
Posts: 3,859 Pa
Wright Brothers
trapper
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trapper
Joined: Dec 2006
Posts: 3,859
Pa
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There's an Old Pro trapper around here that knows the spring set. Hope he sees this topic.
Far as I can tell, the other set is pay per view only though I could be wrong, again.
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Re: The ole Spring hole and Mafia set
[Re: Wolfdog91]
#6220096
04/17/18 06:06 PM
04/17/18 06:06 PM
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Joined: Dec 2006
Posts: 213 Pennsylvania
OldCoon
trapper
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trapper
Joined: Dec 2006
Posts: 213
Pennsylvania
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Over the years I've taken a lot of foxes in the 'springhole set' or 'water set,' as us old Dutchmen call it. It is not for high rolling or Phil Brown style of fox trapping, but as some have observed, made in the right place and made correctly it can be a real good fur producer.
I am now 71 and not in the best of health so my trapping days are over, but I dare say springs I fixed up years ago would be ready to go with just a bit of a cleaning out. I always fixed my springs in early September so there was plenty of time for Mother Nature to hide my work. When I was ready to trap everything looked nice and natural.
A springhole or water set will work anytime of year but the best time is after deer season is over and most of the hunters are out of the woods and woodlots. The best trap I ever used in these sets was the old Victor #2 square jaw coils with 8 feet of extension chain and a two pronged grapple attached. I also tightened up the pan tension so there was no creep when the fox initially stepped on it.
The water set works best for the trapper with a static trapline, meaning he traps the same 3-4 farms year after year.
There used to be a trapper up in Barryville, NY, Lew Eckert who was also postmaster. Lew was a great believer in the water set. He trapper larger creeks, not just small springs. If I remember correctly, Lew once caught over 300 foxes in a single season in water sets. He had the bounty affidavits to back his claim. Fox fur was worthless back then, in the 50s, and it only paid to trap them for bounty.
I trap mink because I don't know any better.
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