Trying to figure out which farmer to ask, the one with the Porsche might have some.

Just plain old dry cat food works well for skunks and possums.

Might be a dumb suggestion, idk, if your pretty green at trapping maybe since you use cage traps and can release the animal pretty easy you might just do some experiments using different baits..Would be a good time to learn/understand animal sign, travelways, territories of certain species your after and might give you some insight on how they react to cage traps...

Maybe learn to trap in this way and use this knowledge during you regular trapping season when you can harvest the animal when it has some value...bet you’ll learn to skin quickly, but you can’t skin if you can’t catch what your after...

I love this thread , I am learning a lot. JayRay,do you have red fox in California?

That isn't the answer^^^^^^^. All throttle no brake. I can already see your bait&lure shelves filling up with what people say is the magic chit. Knowledge of the target animal you seek will save you a lot of money and time when it comes to baiting/luring animals. jmo

Like sitting around the campfire

Yea the box traps let me release, i have tried the wet cat food, going to put out some dry tomorrow, maybe one with some fruits or vegetables. Add some sardines?

We have red fox out here but they are no touch, only the grays.

Might be, but the difference here at this campfire, is that I have no problems trapping animals in a cage trap. I can assure you that if you put all your confidence in a bait and have no idea what you're doing in the field. You will be asking the same questions and getting the same responses. Mind as well get some popcorn for this thread.

Mr. Paul Dobbins has a pretty good line of lures for sale. I like his asafoetida gum.

Thats exactly why I want to try and figure it out in the off season, I am sure that I am doing it totally wrong. All the trapping I have ever done in the past had a service ticket attached to it so I knew the animal was there, trapping on BLM and National Forest land a whole different game.

When I go out tomorrow I will take some pics of my sets so I can get some feedback. The creek bed I am in just had recent rain so any scat is gone. I was hoping that as the water receded I could find some fresh tracks but the ground is so hard I am not even leaving tracks so I tried to identify some trails and pinch points that animals would have to run into my trap to follow the creek without getting wet or circling out of the creek bed.

JayRay, have you thought about using Urine, I would say urine is better than bait. Animals communicate with their urine. Be sure to save urine from the animals you catch.

Looks to me like you would get better results if you were to hit the forest floor with a cam or 2 and locate good habitat and sign, then use the cams for reassurance. Lots of reading with the ability to process the information and implement it in the field and adapt to scenarios that are presented is the trick. A cage trap placed on an adc job regarding "entry" is no different than being placed out in the woods, you still need an incentive for that animal to enter the cage. It's the same cage, in the woods you need to be able to locate the animals and encourage them to commit and that is where I think many lack the ability, along with finding a healthy population of animals and then blame the bait and lure for the lack of catches or no success.

As stated on another thread, "bait & Lure ingredients or products made from "experts" wont make up for a lazy trapper. Numbers come with work and population". That statement will put a lot of fur in your traps if you stick to it.

Put some trail cams out to see what critters are even there. This will at least tell you if your in the right area for your target critters. Try different baits and lures in front of the cams see what works for you .You want to practice skinning ,pick up some road kill. Follow all your trapping regs even if they seem stupid.

Don't forget the garlic,lol

That and all the in-house formulated ingredients that will make animals stand on their heads. At this rate, it would behoove you to make extra shelving for all the bait and lure jars you are about to purchase trying to find the cure all package.

When I take my grandson to a buffet he instantly heads for the cake. I go to the opposite end of the table for the roast. Seconds? He goes again for the cake, I want more roast beef.
I just explained all a trapper needs to know about bait.
Time to move on!

JayRay, Right now is perfect time to get trapping permission from landowners before you get busy messing with traps and lures in the fall.

I agree, it is kind of a win win for both the land owner and myself. They get pests removed for free and it opens up some private land I can trap on. Its weird out here though because there are so many people here the suburban areas run right up to the federal land wilderness boundaries, there is not alot of open space in between. but on the flip side of that the federal govt owns a-lot of land near me that is open to public for hunting, fishing, and trapping. Everyone is so Anti all of those out here no one uses it but me. 30 minutes west I can be at the ocean, 30 mins east in the mountains, and an hour and a half be in the desert.

Once again tbn chimes in with no help whatsoever ! Do you really even trap ? I’ve yet to ever see you post anything on here that makes me think that you have anything to say that will help another trapper !

It might be federal land but the state still dictates hunting, trapping, fishing restrictions. Seems to me the number of licenses you quoted says a mouthful. Why bother ?....of course that's their goal........ eliminating trapping completely. I would think that ADC work there might be a different story. Fur trapping seems pointless.

went and check the traps this morning and I am getting animals to them, just not in them. All my lead in bait is gone and traps were triggered but no catch. I took some trails cams with me and as soon as I got the first one attached to the tree I realized I left my SD cards next to my computer at home..... will have to get them hung tomorrow.

I explored a little more further up creek and found some promising spots to try.

This is my issue finding tracks down in the creek bed, no mud, I looked for scat but didn't see any. Trying to think of what other sign to look for. I think I am going to add one on the small trail in the upper left.



Here are two of the traps that are getting set off the most, the first one I think a coon might be messing with it because the bait bowl keeps getting pulled to the back and side ways, might need to put some smaller wire on the back to keep his hands out.




This one there is a small game trail leading out of the creek bed so I placed it right in the center of the trail. I have been using wet cat food in it and it went untouched all week, added some dry food leading in yesterday and it was triggered this morning.



I am down in a canyon with 60 degree angles all around so I would think all the animals would funnel through the canyon. There is a small meadow with the creek on the other side of the trees, I am going to put a large 60” trap out for a yote with something stinky. Even if he wont go in maybe I can pick up on his approach and times and take him with a shotgun.



What do you think? Suggestions?