I've been trapping since 1980 and no matter how many years go by this always makes me smile...



Should be some great fun coming up as we open up for rats and mink next week...



My last three scouting trips basically looked the same as this area...



"There were muskrats like the stars in the sky fighting to get into my traps"

It's like being a kid again each November....I found some sweet spots, super sign and terrain for mink sets today....but forgot the camera

It's just starting...

Yep, nothing quite like muskrat trapping.

I wish that we’d have them like that up here. I’ve never done it and would love to experience it without hurting our population even further.

Looks like fun! I love trapping mink, however, our rat populations aren’t too great so I don’t target them. But I do always smile when I catch a “skrat” in a mink set.

I just wish we still had open water when season opened November 1st

I will probably only take a few of these ones since the numbers elsewhere are actually low but the mink sign that I'm seeing is pretty good.

I've been mostly out of the game for a while wasting my time and body working for a living (which I still have to do). I know, where are my values placed?

But this year I have time off to trap and hunt and the back roads route to work has enough bridges and culverts with plenty of mink sign that I'm excited.

I think I'll keep a photo log of this season here.

My historical (few) honey holes had no sign a week ago.

The same feeling since 1966. I have lived through 2 fur booms and doubt I will live through another but even if raw fur prices are depressed, who cares, as the monetary reward pales in the amount of therapy you get while prospecting and imagining what could be. the mike

Good luck with it!

Well stated!

been at it for 40 plus years here,30 probably working for buyers and such learning everything about the trade to get to this point in the market.oh well,thats life-i also will be chasin ol fuzzy and slick tail.why--cause i can i guess.

I'm trying some new things this year like these 3/8" dia fiberglass stakes from Tractor Supply. They seem to be pretty stout.



I made a collar out of extruded aluminum and mounted some body grip clips. The body gripper is such an awesome trap design.



The trap is rock solid in this rig and I can adjust the depth of the trap to whatever I want. I'll be testing this shortly to see how it works.



I have all kinds of ideas for sets using this get up...

Agreed!

I sure miss muskrat trapping.
Thanks for the memories

tells of their allure when someone thats been blessed as you can be brought to a brighter place of yestertday Mark.

i'm headed to set a couple in a bit just for such experience.

I find that checking muskrat traps while running my canine traps can lift spirits on a not so productive day. I started trapping rats 45 years ago. There is just something about them I can't resist.

Being my second year I can say this much. When everything else is not getting trapped. There will be a muskrat waiting.

Just got back from the line and picked up another four this morning. The sky is absolutely crystal clear here this morning, low 30's with frost all over everything.

So I got six, then four yesterday, and four more this morning. Fourteen in three days with about 18 traps out.

I'll probably pull many of these rat traps soon and start to concentrate on trying to catch the mink that I know are there.

I'm making set-n-go type body grip stabilizer plates for bottom edge and bridge sets. I might make some pockets too but I'd really like to avoid the coons if possible.

Yes indeed running the rat line at 04:00 makes me feel almost like a kid a again, at least in my mind. My buddy arthritis doesn't agree but screw him....

i set a pipe the family has been catching muskrats outta my whole life about 2 yesterday and took a big swamp rat outta it before dark last night.probably have another this mornin.set about a dozen rat and the same mink yesterday.will add in another dozen each day and will start pullin a dozen soon as i hit my limit i imposed on myself.

Awesome....I picked up another pair this morning and spied out another spot that I will move traps to tomorrow. Plus I have plenty of rat meat for making mink sets with too.

The morning walks with my pack basket and .22 are actually helping my back feel better, as long as I keep my hamstrings stretched I'm good to go.

Now I'm looking forward to filling some mink boards.

i'm just the opposite,walkin is makin my back hurt--think its the counterweight i put on over summer.

i picked up 4 rats and a buck mink on my first check yesterday and got a few more spots set.

did figure out i probably will catch more rats in blind sets for mink than if i chase them up here.

good luck

Work is kinda getting in my way.....

BUT....today I finish up and don't go back until Dec. 9th. Time to get my trapline expanded and PA rifle season going.

I have at least six bridges and multiple culverts to set up starting tomorrow morning. I might even go make a couple sets tonight too.

Crap I'm almost out of rat stretchers and saw quite a few rats just swimming around this morning while I was checking.

One of the local beavers isn't very shy either. He swam right across my boots while I was remaking a set. I guess I was in his way.

Good luck right back at you.

Two of three today were in the foothold sets I made, both 1-1/2 DJ coil springs, strange how that stuff works...

Up to now these sets with the footholds, they're all blind sets in obvious runs to food, haven't shown any activity at all and then one night, bang, two of them.

Made a few set-n-go type bottom edge sets today at bridges and culverts...we'll see what happens. I'm thinking mink...

Got to make more plates for more sets, that's coming too as I got the materials, steel and trap clips, <--- this works well and so do the fiberglass stakes in the mud.

The aluminum collars on the fiberglass holding a body grip trap is absolutely deadly. (still have debug work to do on those) But It makes setting runs in the mud that you can see from above a breeze.

don't shoot a pistol in there,just sayin.

Hahahaha...yeah I won't. I thought about that too.

Well it's definitely time to change things up on the rat and mink line.

I'm only going to take a few more rats off the surrounding ponds that I haven't touched yet and re-set many of these traps in sets specifically targeting mink.

Got a nice jar full of muskrat meat and I'm making PVC pockets that hold 110 size BG's.

And I need to learn to use the bottom edge set.

Well, I have fresh mink tracks, but no mink in traps.....yet.

Something I really love about running traps, you're always in school and there are always new lessons to learn.

Making some new sets this morning, we'll see what happens.

He was here, my traps weren't, now they are...


I put my pvc pipe cubby back into the bank, muskrat parts for bait, bottom edge set under the muddy water off the point lower right..
I made two of those pipe cubby sets today and put in another bottom edge set...


Looking up the creek mink tracks go under the grass/bank on the left. A beaver or two run right down the middle of this regularly.

Moving rat traps to a new permission private pond that's also polluted with them. They can't believe someone wants to trap it....

That 2nd picture looks like an old drained beaver pond to me for some reason......

Yep, no doubt, and there is a pair of dams just upstream around the corner from it with a single or two youngsters living in a bank hut.

I caught 18 rats out of here in less than a quarter mile and there are still plenty of muddy holes each morning.

Right now I'm trying to catch this mink, and others if possible..

But we have beaver all over here, every place I go there's a dam and ponds, and awesome habitat for fur.

well done,i was surprised at the amount of ice here this mornin.

Thanks man. I definitely had to break things up to pull this morning. If it's going to freeze up I hope it just drops and stays there.

I guess it's time for through ice trapping and maybe some more bridges and culverts.

I like the idea of a trowel walking stick and a few traps tucked away in the coat pockets. I can see that.

Thanks for the cool post, JT.