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CONTEST ENTRIES-STORIES ONLY #6298173
08/09/18 07:28 PM
08/09/18 07:28 PM
Joined: Dec 2006
Posts: 5,314
Lakeland,Minnesota
B
Bogmaster Offline OP
trapper
Bogmaster  Offline OP
trapper
B

Joined: Dec 2006
Posts: 5,314
Lakeland,Minnesota
This post is for story entrants only.
Please post any questions or replies on the other -contest post.
Tom


If my feet aren't wet,I must not be trapping.
Tom Olson
MTA life member#100,also WTA life member
Re: CONTEST ENTRIES-STORIES ONLY [Re: Bogmaster] #6300971
08/13/18 04:59 PM
08/13/18 04:59 PM
Joined: Jul 2013
Posts: 17
Iowa
M
Minker2000 Offline
trapper
Minker2000  Offline
trapper
M

Joined: Jul 2013
Posts: 17
Iowa
My First Mink

It was just another chilly, Autumn afternoon getting off the school bus and coming to the house to change into my trapping clothes. As I got ready to head out and check my trapline, I thought that maybe today I would catch the animal I’d been trying to catch for a little over a year. In my young mind, this animal was the pinnacle of the sport of trapping. I thought that if I caught this animal, I would be a true trapper. The animal I’m referring to would be the mink.

Ever since I began trapping, I had always wanted to catch a mink for no explainable reason. For months I had pored over books and magazines trying to figure out everything I could about the mink and how to trap it. I scoured Trapperman.com until my eyes ached. I bought another half dozen 1 ½ coilsprings a few months before the season to help with my mink endeavors. I spent hours walking the creeks I was going to trap to try to find any and all mink sign. One thing I never took into account was the patience needed to catch mink.

The opening day of trapping season I began setting traps in a creek for raccoon, mink, and muskrat. When I was setting a 220 in a dry land coon trail, I glanced up and noticed a faint, grassy trail going up the bank. I saw what looked like a mink track in the trail. The trail and the track looked just like they had in the books I’d been reading. I excitedly set a 110 and finished setting traps. As I was trying to sleep that night, all I could think about was a big, prime mink in my 110. The next day seemed to drag on forever. School felt like absolute prison whenever I thought about my trapline. Finally, school ended and I rushed home and started checking traps. I finally got to my 110, and to my dismay, it was still set and unfired. That image greeted me every evening after school for about two weeks. I was getting frustrated that I had put in all that time trying to catch a mink and still hadn’t.

As I finally got ready on that chilly, Autumn evening I decided that I would pull that 110 in the trail in a few days if it was still unfired. As I ran the beginning of my trapline, I wasn’t really that excited to look at the 110 in the trail. When I pulled the four wheeler up to the part of the creek where the set was, it felt like a chore to go check the 110. When I looked from the top of the bank, I saw a furry, brown tail. As I clambered down the bank as fast as I could, I probably looked like a 6 year old running down the stairs on Christmas morning. I got to my set and held my first mink like Indiana Jones held the Holy Grail. I realized at that moment that maybe all it takes to catch mink sometimes is patience.

The evening I caught my first mink will be forever ingrained in my mind. That evening reinforced my love for the sport of trapping and still motivates me whenever the trapline gets tough. It also made me even more addicted to mink trapping. Any time I ever head out to set traps, the mink is still at the top of my list.

Re: CONTEST ENTRIES-STORIES ONLY [Re: Bogmaster] #6301106
08/13/18 06:42 PM
08/13/18 06:42 PM
Joined: Mar 2018
Posts: 30
Michigan
Varner67 Offline
trapper
Varner67  Offline
trapper

Joined: Mar 2018
Posts: 30
Michigan
I was deer hunting in Osceola County, MI with my dad and uncle. Ed Lundborg the NTA director for the Michigan Trappers And Predator Callers Association is our neighbor where we hunt and he came by later to visit. Mr. Lundborg is a really nice guy and invited us over to check out a beaver he had just finished stretching and drying. That beaver was huge! It was super cool. And then I thought to myself, I should trap. It looks like something very exciting and different to try. So Mr. Lundborg answered all my questions about trapping. He passed a ton of information down to me. He then said, “Wait right here, i have some things for you.” He came back with a copy of the NTA trapping handbook and 2 PCS feather light Raccoon traps and said these are for you. He showed me how to set them and told me what to use for bait. He also told My dad and I about the MTPCA convention which I am going to go for the first time this year. I shook his hand, said thank you very much, and my dad and I headed back to camp.

The day we got home, I set those traps just as Mr. Lundborg told me. Every morning before school i got up to go check the two traps. For weeks I found them empty but I never gave up hope. I just had to trap my first raccoon. Then the one morning i went to check i got startled because right in front of me was my first raccoon! I ran so fast back inside to get my dad to show him. It was probably one of the best school days I have ever had. That raccoon probably weighed over 20 pounds, he was pretty big. I will never ever forget that day on the trapline and I cannot wait to see what this trapping season brings to me.

Re: CONTEST ENTRIES-STORIES ONLY [Re: Bogmaster] #6301134
08/13/18 07:10 PM
08/13/18 07:10 PM
Joined: Feb 2017
Posts: 375
Pennsylvania
PA_K-9_Trapper Offline
trapper
PA_K-9_Trapper  Offline
trapper

Joined: Feb 2017
Posts: 375
Pennsylvania
My First Coyote

As many trappers in Pennsylvania did, I acquired my start chasing coon. One day I got an idea from a friend of mine to set some dog proofs and catch some coon. I originally had intent to sell the coon and make some extra money, until I was informed of the fur prices. Despite the lack of return, my dad and I kept catching coon. By the end of my first year, I had set a new goal for the next season: catch at least one coyote.

So in order to catch a coyote, I hit up all of the local trappers I knew and I scoured the internet for anything I could find about coyote trapping. Every spare five minutes I had, I was on Trapperman, Hunting PA or some kind of website reading about coyote trapping. Before the next year we also purchased four Duke #2s and three MB-550s. I couldn’t wait to catch my first coyote, so I had them boiled by the middle of June. By chance, I had a 550, with the loose jaw that wouldn’t rust or dye; it still hasn’t to this day. Little did I know that this would mean good luck. A couple days before the season started; I couldn’t wait to start laying steel. To keep myself from going mad, I convinced my dad to take a ride, looking for coyote sign. We picked out a couple places that we thought the coyotes might frequent. As we were driving along we spotted a coyote high-tailing it as fast as it could away from us. This was the first live coyote I had ever seen in person and only made my desire to set traps even worse. Although it wasn’t just any coyote, astonishingly it was a red and blond colored one.

On opening day at the second it became legal to set (7:00am), I went exactly to where we saw that coyote and set one of our 550’s there. It was a simple dirt hole lured with coyote gland lure, and baited with venison. I can recall how long it took to punch out the hole, dig my bed, and pack it solid. Between my dad and I we put out four more canine sets that day, because we only had one property to set at the time. The next day I sat through school all day anxiously waiting to check those sets. It was about 35 degrees outside and sunny. The first three sets we checked had nothing, which was disappointing. I had nothing in any of my coon sets either. My dad had explained to me before that we wouldn’t catch something every time we checked traps, and I understood that. Although I still had hope in the last set, which was where we had seen the coyote a few days earlier. Surprisingly, when I pulled up to the last set we had a red/blonde coyote in the special MB 550. It amazed me seeing an animal like that I had never seen close up in person before. I couldn’t believe my luck, and after that day I was hooked on canine trapping.

By the end of the season I had caught two more coyotes, and I was ecstatic with my success. That season also brought my first red/grey foxes and first muskrats. Since then my dad and I have improved greatly at catching canines. We will always enjoy connecting on them, but none will ever be as special as my first coyote.

Re: CONTEST ENTRIES-STORIES ONLY [Re: Bogmaster] #6301869
08/14/18 04:01 PM
08/14/18 04:01 PM
Joined: Mar 2018
Posts: 1,416
Central/Western Texas
AuthorTrapper Offline
trapper
AuthorTrapper  Offline
trapper

Joined: Mar 2018
Posts: 1,416
Central/Western Texas
My First Trapping Season
It was late September one year when I was out camping with my brother near our neighbor's fence line. I was looking across at the neighbor's cotton field and creek beyond, thinking it would be a good place for 'coon trapping. I had trapped 'coons before with Duke DP's so I resolved to ask our neighbor if we could trap his land in the winter.
With permission, I set out with my brothers to set some traps in December. At the time we only had 2 Duke DP's and 2 Duke #2 coil-spring traps, and dry cat food, marshmallows, and chicken liver as bait. We knew nothing of location or trap bedding, so we randomly set all of our traps along the creek. Surprisingly enough we had a coon in a DP the first night. A few days later we managed to catch a small 'possum too, which hide we tanned.
After Christmas a local trapper came over and gave us a bunch of steel traps, some coyote snares, and a little bait, urine, and lure. This made us cocky and we were confident of catching lots of predators. With the exception of a few skunks, we found most of our traps empty or sprung. But we never gave up! We were about to lose heart when one day we came upon a large female bobcat in a Duke #2! My brother and I almost jumped out of our skins at the mere sight, we were so happy!
Soon after we attended a TTFHA District Meeting where we saw demo's and bought some bobcat urine. Armed with more knowledge, we resumed trapping again on a different neighbor's land. First night my brother caught a smaller male bobcat in two Duke #1's using tainted bobcat meat with a gang set. I was jealous because I hadn't caught a 'cat yet and my brother was catching everything! Later that week my brother caught another bobcat in a Duke # 1 1/2 using a bobcat carcass for bait. I had a feather set near by in a blue bush thicket so I ran, hoping against hope that I had caught one too. From a ways off, I could see that the brush was wrecked, which made my heart beat fast. There was my first bobcat in a Blake & Lamb #2 coilspring! The next day I had a second! Boy, I really felt hot then!
We continued to nail those 'cats for the rest of the season, but we couldn't catch a single coyote. Then towards the end of the season it happened: my brother caught a large male coyote at a feather set. But try as I may, I couldn't get one and I got desperate to the point of despair as the season end drew near. Our trapper friend assured me that I too would trap one but I doubted it considerably. I began to think that I would have to wait for the next season to add a coyote to my name! frown Two weeks before the season ended I discovered some grey fox tracks on a dirt road so I determined to catch it with a double dirt hole set. Three days later I checked some skunk sets near the fox set, then started down the dirt road. I had my head down looking for sign when I chanced to glance up and saw what I thought to be a monstrous bobcat laying in the road with my trap on it's foot!
"It's a bobcat!" I shouted to my brother and started running forward, like a baby to it's mother. When the "bobcat" saw me coming, it jumped up revealing a long bushy tail, long narrow muzzle, and big pointy ears. It was my first coyote: a female caught in a Duke #1 3/4 off-set! I was so overjoyed and thankful a knelt down right there and said a "Hail Mary"!
Since then I like to tell other beginners, "Never give up! No matter how long it takes, you WILL catch your 'dream' animal. Just keep on trying!" That year we ended the season with: 2 coyotes, 10 bobcats, 4 'coons, 19+ skunks, 1 'possum, 1 porcupine, 1 squirrel, an unrecorded amount of rabbits, as well as other critters. Our room is now decorated with lots of fur!

Re: CONTEST ENTRIES-STORIES ONLY [Re: Bogmaster] #6304983
08/18/18 05:58 PM
08/18/18 05:58 PM
Joined: Jun 2013
Posts: 1,313
Indiana
K
kyron4 Offline
trapper
kyron4  Offline
trapper
K

Joined: Jun 2013
Posts: 1,313
Indiana
My dad is "kyron4" I am using his account to post my story. My name is Hannah and I'm 12 years old.


I feel like I will always remember the first time my dad let me set the traps on my own. That year, we spent about a month preparing for trapping season, dipping the traps, getting baits and lures, so on. It seemed like a lot of work to me at first, but that sense of pride seemed to make it worth it when he handed me the dog-proofs and told me to set them where I wanted. A day or two later, I had a coon in the trap, and I felt so happy thinking that I was the one who set the trap, and I was the one who chose that spot where the coon was caught.

Since trapping season was during school, I mostly missed out on all the good catches like the coyotes or most coons. I would come home everyday and look in the garage to see it hanging by the chain, and every single time I would feel a small bit of sadness and regret that I wasn't there to see it when it was alive. I remember the first year when we went to the fur auction, I didn't do much to skin or flesh the coons. I was mostly there to witness the animal in the trap. When we got home that day, my dad said that I would help out more, and I felt a little scared that I would mess up on something since I didn't want to mess up the fur's value.

My dad taught me to skin the animals first, letting me take care of the opossums and small coons that weren't worth much. The first few had a few mess ups like the eye holes were too big, or the snout was messed up, but dad said that the face wasn't that valuable to the fur itself. Over time I got better, and I soon was able to skin the bigger coons. When dad started bringing home muskrats, he taught me how to skin and board them as well. Soon, I was skinning coons and muskrats, while boarding and sometimes fleshing them too.

On the weekends when I could check the traps with my dad, I would always feel so happy when we got a coyote in the trap, or a large beaver. I remember I would dig out the mud to make a caster mound, and I'd help dad block it in a way the beaver would have to go through the trap. The fur auction was always one of my favorite things to go to lately, and I always liked to see or compare my furs to the ones the other trappers brought in. Me and my dad came early, and we brought a brush to fluff out the animal's fur to make it look better. Just last year, someone brought in a grey fox fur and I kept petting it and looking at it considering the fact that I have never caught one, or even seen a fur before for that matter.

Almost the entire auction, I was watching them sell the fur, and when they got to my table I felt nervous. I wasn't sure if I would have to bring home any fur that day, but all of them sold. I can easily see myself in the future in that exact same spot, nervous on whether my fur would sell, and be hopefully happy at the result. I love trapping, and I will definitely do it in the future.

Last edited by kyron4; 08/18/18 06:00 PM.
Re: CONTEST ENTRIES-STORIES ONLY [Re: Bogmaster] #6309747
08/24/18 08:48 PM
08/24/18 08:48 PM
Joined: Oct 2016
Posts: 996
Ohio, USA
Ave Offline
trapper
Ave  Offline
trapper

Joined: Oct 2016
Posts: 996
Ohio, USA
'Rat Race


It was early spring, and the days left in our trapping season were numbered. I had a handful of sets left out, and I would be pulling them in 5 days. I couldn't help but feel sad as I started hanging traps up in the shed, where they would remain unused until almost 9 months later. Each year I get a sad feeling putting my traps away, but at the same time I anticipate getting ready for next season. As usual, the past season had had its ups and downs, and I was grateful for the time I had spent outdoors.
I was finishing up on a few hides when a neighbor called me. He explained to me that the person who normally trapped his property never showed up, and he said he would appreciate it if I could trap a few muskrats that were damaging the banks of his ponds. On the entire property, there were 5 different bodies of water, totaling over 60 acres. I wasted no time putting 4 dozen traps in the trailer, and calling a friend who had an interest in trapping.
Within 20 minutes, we were on our way to the property. My friend and I had spent a generous amount of time fishing the ponds, and had even trapped a few beaver there a couple of months before, so we had pretty good idea of where muskrat dens were. We spent the rest of the day on the property setting traps, and I wouldn't have spent the day any other way. I showed my friend how to locate the dens and runs, and also how to set them. He set a few traps of his own, and we both started making sets to save time.
It was dark by the time we got back inside. We were cold and wet, but filled with excitement and anticipation for the first check. Due to school, we had to check the traps in the afternoon. Twenty minutes after school was out, we were putting on chest waders and heading out to the ponds. Due to the wet weather, the water had risen and was very murky. We later learned that this would make dens very hard to find.
We both knew it was going to be a good day when our first set, a colony trap, was crammed full with muskrats. We ran the line trap by trap, and started picking up more and more muskrats. After a few traps we pulled up to a set my friend had made. He hopped into the muddy water and started searching for his trap. It took awhile to find, but I’ll never forget his smile as he pulled up his very first muskrat wearing a 110.
Some of the ponds were so large, that we spent a couple of days setting and checking traps. The weather wouldn't cooperate, as some days were 30 degrees with snow, and others were 50 degrees with rain. On the third day of trapping, I stumbled across a castor mound that looked like a bomb went off on the bank. With 2 days left in beaver season, I knew that I had to make a set.
It was by chance that I happened to have a 330 and a half empty bottle of Backbreaker in the trailer. I made a castor mound set with the 330 next to the original one, and hoped that the beaver would respond to the threat against his territory. The next day was calm with clear skies, and it would turn out to be the only nice day during the 5 day adventure.
We picked up another nice bunch of prime spring muskrats that day, including a few that my friend had caught. As luck would have it, we walked up to the castor mound to find a big tail floating. We dragged the beaver up onto the bank, and had a fun time hauling the 50 pounder back to the four wheeler.
We spent the days trapping and spent the nights skinning and putting up muskrats. On the last day of the season, we both felt sad pulling all of the sets we had made only a few days before. It’s a feeling of disappointment that only a trapper knows. It took us a long time to pull all of the sets, but within a couple of hours, we were on our way back to the house to put up the day’s catch. The season was over, but we ended on a high note. Even with the combination of bad weather, ice, and other obstacles, we took 32 muskrats and a beaver off the property in 5 days. We sent a few of the best hides off to get tanned, and cannot wait to get them back. As I write, trapping season is only about 3 months away. My traps are all treated and waiting to be used, and on opening morning, it's a guarantee that I’ll be off in the outdoors setting traps and chasing fur.


THE END


Ave don't go where the beaver don't flow
Re: CONTEST ENTRIES-STORIES ONLY [Re: Bogmaster] #6311288
08/26/18 09:53 PM
08/26/18 09:53 PM
Joined: Oct 2015
Posts: 2,533
Fingerlakes New York
robert.d12 Offline
trapper
robert.d12  Offline
trapper

Joined: Oct 2015
Posts: 2,533
Fingerlakes New York
One of Those Days I'll never forget

It was a crisp, cool morning January 1st, 2017. I found myself checking traps late morning after a good ole’ squirrel hunting competition with my dad and oldest brother. The weather had been warm for a few days causing some snow to melt and got some animals moving. I normally check my traps off a four-wheeler as I was that morning. There are a couple swallow ponds about three hundred yards back into the woods from where I can get the four-wheeler. I hadn’t caught anything back there in a while and assumed that day would be just the same. I decided to leave my equipment on the four-wheeler. Well I’m sure you could guess that I was wrong about not catching anything, sure enough I had a coon in one of the canine sets around the back pond. “What could go wrong” I thought, “I’ll just release it with a Y-shaped stick instead of walking all the way back for my Deathray catch pole.” I happened to have my Gopro style camera with and figured I’d video releasing him. I spent a few minutes finding the perfect stick to hold him away from me while I released the trap. I turned the camera on and started towards the raccoon. He didn’t like the stick much but with a little time I was able to push him away from the trap. Everything was going well and I carefully made my way down to the #2 Bridger coil spring. As I pulled back on the levers of the trap he quickly pulled his foot out. He made his way onto the frozen pond. A problem presented itself as he ran across the slippery ice, he was slightly limping. I didn’t think the trap did and major damage but would hate to let him get away just in case. Now, let me summarize what has happened. I just released a racoon that I would like to now kill. He is running across a frozen pond that I would normally be able to walk on but due to the warm weather the edges of the ice were very thin. Also, to complicate things further both my catch pole and .22 were three hundred yards way. Without much thinking because the raccoon was getting way I quickly picked up a thicker branch off the ground and started running around to the far side of the pond. When the racoon saw me making my way around he stopped about in the middle. After a minute he proceeded to a side about 90 degrees from me. When I got to him he was about eight feet out, on the other side of a bush growing out into the pond. He seemed intent with staying there so I started edging out onto the ice with my “nose knocker”. My first step had no ice to step onto and the second my boot only broke through. I was then able to step up onto the ice. It seemed thin, but I slowly made my way towards him. When he didn’t run away was I got within eight feet of him I started to think that my plan might work. (Well...... of course, this wouldn’t be a very good story if it did work.) Very quickly the ice broke and I was above my waist in freezing water with an unhappy raccoon only feet away safely on the ice. Luckily breaking through the ice scared him back to the middle of the pond which gave me a minute to get out. The rascal ran all the way across the pond, but he was pretty slow because of how slick the ice was. I was able to walk over to him while shaking the water out of the box of .22s and my phone which were in my pockets. He was attempting to climb a sapling right on the edge of the pond. I was able to get him off and nose knock him. After I finished taking care of him all I could do is stand there and chuckle about what an adventure the past few minutes had been. Of course, my camera died only seconds after I had turned it on. Most importantly I learned a big lesson that day. I ALWAYS have my catchpole and rifle with me!


The beauty of the second amendment is it wont be needed until they try to take it. -Thomas Jefferson
Re: CONTEST ENTRIES-STORIES ONLY [Re: Bogmaster] #6314675
08/31/18 10:23 AM
08/31/18 10:23 AM
Joined: Mar 2014
Posts: 111
Fontana, ks
Kylee Eastwood Offline
trapper
Kylee Eastwood  Offline
trapper

Joined: Mar 2014
Posts: 111
Fontana, ks
My First Bobcat

It was January 14, 2017. Just like any other Saturday during trapping season, I woke up and got ready to go check traps. I hopped in the truck and thought, today is going to be a good day. Me and my dad drove up north of our house to check my traps. As we are driving, my first couple of traps are empty. I figured I had just let my overconfidence take over… Then I saw it; my first bobcat.

The summer prior to the 2016-2017 trapping season the FTA was in Lawrence, Kansas. It was the first time my family had been to an FTA. It was Saturday, the day that the auction to raise funds for the FTA was being held. I was looking through the tables for the auction, and this one trap stood out to me. This particular trap was a gold-plated Sterling MJ600. I finally got my dad to look at it. He told me It seemed like a good trap, but it would only be a wall-hanger. I was so bummed out it was the one thing from the auction I wanted. By the time the auction started my dad had talked to a buddy of his that uses Sterling traps, and I kept bugging him about it, so he finally broke down and bid on it and bought it. After the auction, my dad came up to me and said, ”There is someone who wants to talk to you.” So I followed my dad and saw Glen Sterling himself. Him, my dad, and I stood there and talked a while. Then Glen finally said, ”Now you have to promise me you're going to catch something in that trap before you hang it up.” I told him I would, and the game was on from there.

It was just after Christmas and I fully intended on keeping my word and catching a bobcat before hanging that trap on the wall. A couple of days after Christmas my dad took me up north and helped me make my set. Then we went to check my trap for the first week nothing was working my set not even an opossum was working my game. Then one day there is a bobcat track not even an inch away from the pan of my trap. I was happy that I knew a bobcat was working my set, but I was also bummed out a little, because why couldn't this bobcat step an inch to the left. Then about a week later I caught my first bobcat. Not only did I catch my first bobcat. I kept a promise and made memories that I will remember for the rest of my life.

While I love trapping all animals, bobcats have always seemed like the top prize to me. That made catching that bobcat much more special. Also, over the past few years; starting when I got that trap and talked to Glen. Trapping isn't just about seeing how many animals you can catch in a season. Trapping is also about going to trapping conventions, talking to people, and making new friends.

Kylee Eastwood

Last edited by Kylee Eastwood; 09/02/18 09:51 AM.
Re: CONTEST ENTRIES-STORIES ONLY [Re: Bogmaster] #6315095
09/01/18 03:12 AM
09/01/18 03:12 AM
Joined: Aug 2018
Posts: 11
Idaho
SkunkSkinnerID Offline
trapper
SkunkSkinnerID  Offline
trapper

Joined: Aug 2018
Posts: 11
Idaho
Great Day on my Idaho Trapline

I got up early on a chilly Saturday in November to go check my short trapline. I was running about twenty traps before school because I didnt have time to check them after school because basketball practice and homework kept me pretty busy. I had a mixed species line with coyote, beaver, raccoon, muskrat, and mink sets. These sets were located on a small horse pasture right on the Salmon River. I had just caught my very first coyote five days before and I was very excited to check traps everyday hoping to find another beautiful yote in my traps. This day I was especially interested to see what had happened the night before because a cold front had just moved in and I knew the animals would be active. As I jumped out of my car I was almost shaking because all the horses in the field were looking where I had a coyote set placed behind a hill. My suspicions were correct because I found a beautiful prime Idaho coyote staring back at me from the set I had caught my first coyote in. I quickly dispatched the thirty pound Male and got him back to my car and eagerly walked back to the field to check the rest of my traps. After a few empty muskrat sets I waded over to my castor mound beaver set and found my Duke #4 missing! I pulled up the downer rig and found a forty pound male beaver at the end! My first beaver ever. I took him out and reset the trap and left him on the bank because I didn't want to carry him back to the car a half mile until I checked the other sets. I checked the next few and found them undisturbed, but as I approached my last set, a pocket set for mink I saw some movement and found my most surprising catch of my short career. I approached the trap and found a very pretty female coyote caught by a single toe in a Northwoods 1.5! I quickly dispatched her as well because I was afraid she might break loose from the root I had anchored the trap to.
I had a very difficult time lugging the coyote and the big beaver back to the car, and I knew the day's work had just begun but I had never had so much fun and will always be thankful that I have the opportunity to trap and do what I love in this great country.
Ross Sheppeard





I catch a lot of skunks for a coyote trapper.
Re: CONTEST ENTRIES-STORIES ONLY [Re: Bogmaster] #6316345
09/02/18 10:21 PM
09/02/18 10:21 PM
Joined: Feb 2016
Posts: 168
KY USA
Ray smith Offline
trapper
Ray smith  Offline
trapper

Joined: Feb 2016
Posts: 168
KY USA
My first raccoon


It all started early one morning when I was around 5 or 6, I was with my uncle on the trapline, we checked about a mile of traps and didn't have anything the whole way. We had one more trap to check and the anticipation of if there would be something in the trap was killing me- low and behold there was a opossum. Ever since then I was hooked! A few years had passed, I was about 8 or 9 when I had met a man who was willing to mentor me not far from where I worked. His name was Bill Smith. He had a lot of chickens, which was the primary reason he trapped. He showed me different kinds of traps and how to use them. The next year I got a couple of TSC brand cage traps for Christmas and Mr. Smith let me trap on his property. I set the traps a bunch of times over the course of a couple months and I eventually caught an opossum. It was the best and most rewarding feeling ever, but the coolest thing I seen while at his house was a raccoon he had caught the night before. I was in awe looking at it as I had never seen one before. It was not big by any means--I'm pretty sure it was a yearling but he had a coonhound pup that he was training so he kept it for a day to show it then he turned the coon loose. At that moment, I was determined to catch one.
I had set traps everywhere I was allowed to do so. I had went door to door from suburban neighborhoods where people were having their trash messed with to farms with chickens being killed but for years all I caught was opossums. I didn't give up though, I kept trapping using mostly cage traps because of cats and other pets I kept catching opossums. One day I talked to my pastor at our church and he has mountain curs and walker coonhounds both of his females were pregnant so he said I could have a cur puppy if I took care of a walker puppy for 4 months. I was excited! I had to beg my dad, as he wasn't so happy with the deal but he let me have it. In my excitement I set out 5 squirrel feeders all over our property. After about a month and a half of having them out I had something get into that one. Half of the corn was missing (about 2 gallons). It was slung in about a fifteen yard radius of the feeder. I refilled it, not really thinking about it, then the next day I went over there and all the corn was missing. It was slung everywhere again i became very frustrated so I decided to set out a trail cam. Nothing came the first few days, but then about a week later I checked it to discover a massive coon. I went out about an hour before dusk and set about four traps out around the feeder. I continued to check them for a couple weeks, but there was nothing. Then the next day I went out to check traps and the bait was gone!
I blocked off the bait completely and by the next week the only thing the camera would show would be activity of a couple missfired cage traps. I was happy with that, knowing that the raccoon was still there. I reset the traps and went to bed early. I was ready to get up to check traps the next morning. I got up and made the walk through the field mentally preparing myself for a misfired cage and possible disappointment, but there he was a massive boar coon. And that's all about my first adventures of trapping a raccoon!

Thanks for reading


Ray
Re: CONTEST ENTRIES-STORIES ONLY [Re: Bogmaster] #6316938
09/03/18 07:31 PM
09/03/18 07:31 PM
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trappingthomas Offline
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Hi my name is Grace I am posting under my dads name. I am 8.

One Time I Trapped.

One time me and my dad and my sister went trapping. It was at my dad's friends moms house. They had serious raccoon problems. I go to hold the bait and my dad and sister carried live traps. We set them in sheds and got scared when a white cat jumped out in front of us. First day we checked the traps nothing was in them but one was turned over. We set it again and put something heavy on it for support. Next day we checked the traps and we had a raccoon and a oppossum. You have to make sure that the animal will step on the pan. The End.

Also my family went to the convention in the UP this year I loved the traveling.

Thanks

Re: CONTEST ENTRIES-STORIES ONLY [Re: Bogmaster] #6316968
09/03/18 07:56 PM
09/03/18 07:56 PM
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trappingthomas Offline
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Hello I am Lila posting under my dad. I am nine.

Title: I love trapping

The first time I used a live trap was at my house in a barn full of tractors. My dad, sister, and I put one trap in the front corner and the other in the back corner. The reason we put them in the barn is because we see a lot of scat and foot prints from raccoons and opossums. Our dog also will bark over there once in a while. How you set the trap is by pushing the front spring up and lifting the front door while holding it up than put the bait behind the pan than hook the door on top. Make sure you use a bait a raccoon can not steal because they are very sneaky. Every night we check the traps. The first night we got nothing. But the next night we got two huge raccoons. The next day we gave them to our uncle and he skinned and tanned them. Then I brought the hides to school for show and tell. My school mates loved the fur and I did too. That is when I realized I loved the live trap. Two tips I learned was 1. set a trap where there is a sign that animals are there 2. make sure the trap is stable and can not move. Animals do not like it when the trap can move side to side.

We went to the national convention. The thing I liked the most was the fur, teeth and the paintings.

Thank you all for reading.

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