Scouting
#7364142
09/25/21 06:17 PM
09/25/21 06:17 PM
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Joined: Dec 2010
Posts: 1,678 Wisconsin
Green Bay
OP
trapper
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OP
trapper
Joined: Dec 2010
Posts: 1,678
Wisconsin
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I know a lot of us scout year round and have a general idea of what is going on in the areas we trap. My question - when do you start to get really serious about scouting? It seems to me that I don't really get serious until two weeks before because so many variables can change and the quarry can move based on those conditions.
I am interested in what you think.
Brian
Author of The Lure Hunter: A Guide to Finding Fishing Lures
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Re: Scouting
[Re: Green Bay]
#7364428
09/26/21 06:47 AM
09/26/21 06:47 AM
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Joined: Dec 2010
Posts: 1,678 Wisconsin
Green Bay
OP
trapper
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OP
trapper
Joined: Dec 2010
Posts: 1,678
Wisconsin
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Thank you. That sounds like what I do to.
Author of The Lure Hunter: A Guide to Finding Fishing Lures
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Re: Scouting
[Re: Green Bay]
#7366080
09/28/21 01:07 AM
09/28/21 01:07 AM
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Joined: Aug 2011
Posts: 45,491 james bay frontierOnt.
Boco
trapper
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trapper
Joined: Aug 2011
Posts: 45,491
james bay frontierOnt.
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I start scouting for beaver when I'm out bird hunting and getting trails and camps ready for the season,around late September-early October where I am.This is when the beaver start to cut feed and mud the house and dam.I scout for other furbearers when scouting for beaver.I also scout for other furbearers while trapping beaver and start to re-inforce the snares at the jackpots and repair any marten boxes that are down or damaged. I dump gut buckets at the jackpots as soon as I start catching beaver around the second or third week of October right up until I start trapping land fur in November,and also hang the gutted beaver carcasses in the wood shed at the cabins to cure for trapping later on.I start trapping all the animals visiting the baitsheds when season opens then set up the rest of the line while still trapping some beaver.i scout new country every day I can while trapping so I can hopscotch traps to extend the line as season progresses and keep the catch up.
Forget that fear of gravity-get a little savagery in your life.
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Re: Scouting
[Re: Green Bay]
#7366133
09/28/21 06:59 AM
09/28/21 06:59 AM
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Joined: Jan 2015
Posts: 3,446 Houghton Lake, MI
strike2x
trapper
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trapper
Joined: Jan 2015
Posts: 3,446
Houghton Lake, MI
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Beaver just starting nto cut here and ferns are wilting. Now is when I start really looking although I am aware of critters any time I go to the woods. Which is often.
Wish I had more time to trap....
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Re: Scouting
[Re: Green Bay]
#7366144
09/28/21 07:09 AM
09/28/21 07:09 AM
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Joined: Aug 2014
Posts: 191 Austin Minnesota
Suchlike2
trapper
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trapper
Joined: Aug 2014
Posts: 191
Austin Minnesota
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Corn and beans are coming out right now. Pre-season scouting on my line is on like donkey kong right now
Life is short, tomorrow is promised to none of us. Make the best of every day you have
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Re: Scouting
[Re: Green Bay]
#7366164
09/28/21 07:37 AM
09/28/21 07:37 AM
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Joined: Aug 2013
Posts: 8,346 Firth, Nebraska
jabNE
trapper
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trapper
Joined: Aug 2013
Posts: 8,346
Firth, Nebraska
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I used to go early and look around, especially if I had a brand new spot to trap and knew nothing about it. Now I wait until after the corn and beans are out and go check the usual spots I trap to see if any changes in track patterns and other sign. Beaver and coon I have to check each season to look for new sign. Coyotes here pretty much same spots and areas year after year in certain locations. Others I have to look for tracks and trails to see what they are doing. Farmers change stuff up on me sometimes. One year I trapped a great big brushpile in middle of a corn field Next year the farmer burned it to ground and it still was an awesome coyote spot. After that he worked the dirt there and farmed right over it and you couldnt find a track there at all but they moved back out to the edge again. Does pay to go on foot and not from truck or four wheeler I think. I like to hoof it and take my time to really pay attention to details. See a lot more stuff on foot. Its slower but if you have time enjoy the looking around. Pack water and a lunch, have a picnic out in middle of a quiet section while looking around. One of my favorite things to do. Nothing like planning the line while looking around and enjoying lunch in the woods or out in the field.
Last edited by jabNE; 09/28/21 07:43 AM.
Money cannot buy you happiness, but it can buy you a trapping license and that's pretty close.
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Re: Scouting
[Re: Green Bay]
#7366172
09/28/21 07:46 AM
09/28/21 07:46 AM
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Joined: Aug 2013
Posts: 8,346 Firth, Nebraska
jabNE
trapper
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trapper
Joined: Aug 2013
Posts: 8,346
Firth, Nebraska
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Good points too, Iowatrapper. Same with corn and bean harvest. Some corn on ground and its a whole new food source. Rifle deer season here can really change coyote patterns. Trucks everywhere but also gut piles. I start the very first day after rifle season and go until mid january. Hot coon trails early turn cold later.
Money cannot buy you happiness, but it can buy you a trapping license and that's pretty close.
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Re: Scouting
[Re: Green Bay]
#7366274
09/28/21 09:54 AM
09/28/21 09:54 AM
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Joined: Dec 2006
Posts: 759 U.P. Michigan
Spade
trapper
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trapper
Joined: Dec 2006
Posts: 759
U.P. Michigan
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I started late last month (aug), start putting out my cubby boxes, so they weather good and the critters start getting used to them being there, I'm pre-baiting now. I've already got my bobcat cubbies built, because I use pine limbs to build them they will be brown when the season opens, and the snowshoes wouldn't be chewing on them, messing up my sets. I leave my game cameras out all year, and check them month to month, so I can see game patterns and what if anything is changing, and for populations of critters. Since I also hunt deer, birds, etc, it really seems to help. I'm always surprised how critter movement changes from one season to the next. But heck I'm retired so it keeps me busy, and I enjoy being in the woods.
Last edited by Spade; 09/28/21 09:55 AM.
24 years Army Medical Corps
I only want to be known as:
A great husband, a good trapper, and a great steward of the land.
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