10-4 on cool

No doubt on that run location!

Chris

You need to put some stop and go lights on that avenue!

Bryce

You sure say a lot in your posts nimzy! Keep them coming.

The family and I have been stacking up the incidentals of late. Coons in the fisher sets and rats in the otter sets. I guess it's better than the other way around

7 agian
That ice sure looks familiar nimzy hope you good as always

Wow John there sure is a huge size difference in those coon you caught. I am sure that the 6 of the larger ones are well furred but the there are just more smaller ones then one would expect. I noticed too that most of the tracks on the ice of coons were smaller sets of tracks. I am wondering if that is later litter coon that are in need of food to make it trough the winter. There are some larger sets but mostly smaller ones. I have one marsh I am on that has 4 springs with open water spots. I have some traps in runs going into these but no catches or snaps in two checks yet, but all the other creatures are attracted to the open water also.

Bryce

Yeah isnt that crazy the size difference and yeah most of the tracks I see are from small ones I dont get why they would want to run when it's cold never understood that my take is the big ones dont really start to run good until the breeding season so it's a little early yet I think

yep tad early, pretty soon you will see coon trails heavy on frozen creeks or next to them. Now coon are hitting standing corn fields in warm nites

Set some traps in a small marsh last week and the rat had hardly any fat on them and the fat was grainy/yellow. It looks like they were eating watercress because I had 2-160 set going to the spring with the watercress and had a rat in each for 3 days.The rats were all good size.

Today I got 8 rats and all were really good rats, but the rest of the story goes South in a hurry. I picked up another marsh this year that due to all the rain had a lot of water in it. The rat sign this fall was OK to good but with other issues etc. I decided to wait and trap this marsh through the ice. There are a lot of structures on the marsh but very few feed beds and to me it seems they have moved out or the most have. I will trap that with the canoe next fall. Some places 6 inches or more of ice! Off to the next place we put 14 stakes in by feeders on December 10th, so I went out today to open those and set. We had the real cold snap but it seems the water level dropped a few inches and we have about 1-1.5 inches of ice above the water now and hardly any ice below in the cattails. Can't get out to those stakes right now. Will have to figure out how to pull them this winter.

Bryce

Took my granddaughter with me today. If anyone thinks the styrofoam is the hot ticket I had 6 traps under the ice with it for a week and this is the one rat I caught, I just do not have it yet when it comes to under the ice. I will say not one pushup could I find, but I know there were rats earlier, maybe someone else got in here first. The colony trap had a rat till a coon must have been running down the ditch and saw a meal somehow, the trap was submerged but not deep, all that was left was a bit of backbone. Why it was not in the baited cage trap on the bank I don't know. Did have one coon and and two rats in the field ditch. Three possums also, I see John is saving them, I don't see myself skinning and stretching them for maybe two bucks at auction? If I could sell them in the grease I would skin them for two bucks, remember getting 4 or 5 dollars like that in the early 80's

I guess 7 is my number jeez haha the 2 skunks were cool at least

That's to bad Bryce yeah this ice isnt a joke that's for sure I've got the saw going now spud ain't enough haha

Fishdog yeah I've been keeping them usually I let them go or just kill em and toss em but I have a buddy who want them so I've been saving them for him

Yup just another coyote track .........

Concerned?

Snare him! That's weird eh

Depends?

Merry Christmas from my walking trap line. This year I thought I would just do a little walking line over the holidays to relive the memories of my childhood. Nothing has been moving the last couple of days but last night was the night. Nice big boar in the bunch. Merry Christmas fellow Wisco Trappers (and anyone else who is checking out our page).

Brian

Early prognosis is terminal. More testing is required.

Could this be the final chapter?