Im mainly targeting raccoon. I really have no interest in the possums, plus we have bad tick problems down here in the south so I prefer to just let the possums go but it seems like I keep catching them more than anything. And it's not just raccoons. These critters get in every trap with every bait and then stink it up like a skunk. Right now I'm running a small line that 50% of the traps are catfood and the other 50% is peanut butter and marshmallow (and I didn't even think possums liked peanut butter...). I know some of you old school trappers have to have some tricks to keep them at bay. Thanks fellas.

So you plan on releasing them? And possums have nothing to do with the tick population. Release one and you’ll catch him the next night. I like possum catches, tend to catch a coyote after catching one in a foothold. I’ll even catch them using corn and peanuts as bait, so it makes sense they like peanut butter too. I always set DP’s before footholds trying to weed them out. I always considered possums like goats...they eat anything.

Set more traps than the possums can find. Possums are the fastest land animal on the country.

Lol, I can tell.

Yeah I release them with the chokestick. I don't know, just doesn't set right with me killing them. They don't really have a pretty coat neither imo.

If you release possums you are getting what you deserve. Lol half joking but also half serious

Check in certain parts of your town and see if you can’t find someone that wants them. $5 is the going price. Ain’t gonna make you rich, but should buy a tank of gas after season. Same with coon carcasses, just leave the back feet on...$15-20 going rate on those.

Really isn’t anything you can do unless you get rid of them. They will come back and be waiting there again for you. Does the area your trapping have a good enough coon population to make weeding all the grinners out worth your time? I stay next to the water when I’m after coon and that in itself will cut down a bit on the possums. I still catch my share but not as many as say setting close to areas where possums den and frequent. I know they like to den in the same places but you get the picture. Also,if your setting on any type of carcass or dead piles,you may as well move on. Possum magnets.

Pig Castrator stops em every time.

They have a pretty coat around here this time of year. Problem is they are so thin skinned. I skinned one last week and was reminded of that so the rest end up in the brush pile.

Yeah sadly down here in the southeast nothing gets a good coat.

Amen to that, went from fleshing 4x boar coon to a smallish possum. You can just look at those possum hides funny and you'll put a hole in them.

Once you get the fat off, they don't smell as bad.

Possum fur is kinda nice.

The land I have them on does have a good population. Owner was a champion coon hunter back in the day but he's old and doesn't hunt them anymore. I reckon he should've been the first one to ask about this lol

Here's what ya do to keep 'possum out of your 'coon sets. In close proximity to your 'coon sets, construct a hog corral trap similar to this one:


Now, in the back end of this corral suspend a speaker the 'possum can't get at and rig it so it plays continuous highway traffic sounds. The more truck sounds the better. Then get yourself a wheelbarrow load of asphalt chunks and scatter them inside the corral.

Any 'possum in the area will be drawn to the corral by the highway traffic noise, then seeing and smelling the asphalt they'll be doing their best to get inside. Voila! End of 'possum problems!

Now go ahead and make your 'coon sets in the same area with confidence the 'possum will ignore 'em.

The Beav showed me this trick years ago. What a guy.

I swore you to secrecy on that system. I'm not going to share any more of my secrets with you.

I’ve heard if you paint a white stripe on the asphalt it will also draw in skunks. But that may only work during mating season.

I caught 26 last season in my coyote sets - frustrating!!
This year I've only caught 1 so far. Mr. Yote or Mrs. Bobcat did the dispatching on this one...
Gave them all to a guy who lives across the road from the pature I'm trapping. Didn't ask what he was gonna do with them - probably send them to NAFA!! LOL!

Well I've caught 2 Coons in the past 2 days and haven't had any more possums so I guess I'm doing better. Maybe the Coons bullied them away. These suckers are extra vicious on this land lol

Run out of opossums to catch, that will solve that problem lol. When i was younger and had more coons to trap, i baited alot with big marshmallows, worked pretty good for limiting my skunk and opossum catches, fail proof, of course not but it’s something.

How about how to keep the possums, coon and skunks out of your traps before you can catch the coyote!