Naw Duke aren't no good

I talked to Robert and he wasn't to interested In giving a running dialog or doing the blog on his hog and beaver trapping In MS. So Is guess we will just have to wait till next Oct.

But he did say he would be back In Kansas In May to do some ADC coyotes work on some large hunting less. When he told me what they were willing to pay for his services blew me away.

Posting this for Robert:

I want to thank all of you for following along on this Quest. Hopefully you were able to learn some small bit of beneficial trapping information. If not, well hopefully you were at least entertained.

Considering the weather in North Dakota, then having my trapline aerial gunned and destroyed in Nebraska 12 days into the trapping season by Wildlife Services I am happy with how it finished.

I could have kept trapping another 4-6 days and caught the other 73 coyotes to reach the 1,000 mark. The coyotes had started to break and with the fur deteriorating it was time to quit. My passion is,Wildlife Management / Conservation. Conservation means wise use, these coyotes are a resource and should be treated and managed as such.

There were mistakes made in this endeavor with logistics, planning and efficiency. These mistakes were learned from! The educational benefits of pursuing this Quest were tremendous for me. My learning curve the last few years had stagnated and I was only learning the little things. Now I believe i am ready to take it to the next level and have alot better understanding of what my true potential is.

In the 1930s Pud Long reportedly skinned 1200 coyotes during one fiscal year. No one knows exactly how long that time frame actually was. Pud didn't have the benefit of the modern traps we use now. He also didn't have to deal with opening and closing hundreds of gates every day and just as many different landowners. Add in complying with the modern trapping regulations we have today I consider it a level playing field / fair comparison / challenge. This is what I am shooting for while I am young enough and physically able. My goal is to be the best I can possibly be. I'm not there yet!

If you enjoyed following along on this Quest or benefitted from it please join and support the FTA. Support the organization defending your rights as trapper's managing this renewable resource .

Robert Waddell

Thank you Robert for the fantastic ride! And what a ride it was-looking forward to next year!

An interesting article about PUD. Click on the article to read/ in large it

https://hunting-washington.com/smf/index.php?topic=218725.0

Great job by the both of you!!!

Didn't someone say he was also going to run snares next year on his quest.

Awesome!!! And thanks Beav!

Robert is getting all kinds of emails and text messages asking what he thinks. He’s more interested in everybody’s thoughts and observations... What should he have done differently? What have you learned from all of this? He would like to see this turned into an educational discussion... I guess me, the Beav, and ebsurveyor will answer for him as best we can...

What was his overall catch percentage?

What I learned was how unnecessary lure is at a set.

I would like to know how many coyotes did he end up skinning?

Just read that article about Pud Long, and when I finished, I looked at the date it was written. I about crapped, it was written the very day I was born, Jan 26, 1947! That got my attention!

I have a few questions that may have already been answered. First I learned that natural bait is all that's needed. Second good traps of any brand will get it done. I would be interested to know about pull outs and snapped dug up traps and what his thoughts and causes were. If I'm understanding it correctly remaking with the same trap in the catch circle produced normal catch rates. Good to know. Is there anything about his dirt hole that he thinks make it more attractive to the prey? Does he use pan covers and what are they or does he think it matters? How does he bed and cover/blend traps? Does he offset at the dirt hole if so is there something that seems to be preferred? What was his experience with how most coyotes approached the set? In short just asking for all his "secret squirrel" stuff. Actually not all his secrets but just what he would like to share.

I don`t use much lure anymore but I use a lot of apple road bait and I don`t plan on stopping that anytime soon.I also use coyote urine from BW.So atleast I`m doing half of it right.lol

Lol see you are younger than you thought lol

Thank you Robert for sharing this experience and being willing to help fellow trappers out. You da man!!!

I picked up that majority of people put to much thought in trying to catch coyotes. If you stick with the Basics and set on sign , use a good bait , good equipment and a good quality urine you should catch coyotes. My question is do you think lure will draw a lot of non target animals like raccoons , opossum and skunks. I was also wondering out of all the coyotes he caught how many was worth putting up? Thanks again for letting us follow you around on this adventure. I’m looking forward for next years quest.

He is guesstimating that he has 650-700 coyotes to put up...

Most non-targets are eliminated by cranking the pan tension up a little bit..

You are definitely on the right track...

All that map tells me is you drove right by my place and didnt stop to say hi....Lol

At what point does adding ingredients to your bait turn it into a food based lure?