Question….In Northern ILL we’re I trapped as a kid we never had Muskrat huts. All muskrat trapping was done in runs or placing trap in front of Den Hole in bank of lake , rivers or creeks. We used both long springs and conibear traps. I was watching a YouTube video today about a guy trapping muskrat huts. Trapper pulled a big plug of mud from the outside of hut I wound say 8-12 inches thick make a little pocket inside hut and place a 1 or 1 1/2 long spring trap inside hut. Come back next day and has a muskrat in trap dead and Dry. Did this over and over that day. Question….. I don’t understand what keeps the muskrat from wringing out of trap ? Muskrat sure did not drown. So wondering how this trap set works so good and how every time muskrat was found dead in the trap by not drowning ? Thanks. MD

I share your skepticism.

Not sure why they would die without drowning, makes no sense.

You are supposed to give them enough chain to go back down the hole and drown. A couple wipes in the snow after for a few seconds and they are dry again. Maybe that is what he was doing.

Sounds like--a youtube miracle to me.
I have trapped my share of rats inside the huts,but always left enough chain ,so the rat could get down the plunge hole.Not all the states you have listed allow the way your youtube trapper is entering the rat house to set traps.
I don,t watch youtube videos,so I cannot give you a real answer to what this guy is really doing,but it seems to me that a large part of it may be staged for the video.
Don't believe everything you see or hear on the internet.
But then again--he may be the worlds best in hut, muskrat trapper.
Tom

I've trapped rats in the huts after freeze up. That's a lot of work. But, I preferred to trap them before freeze up on the sides of the hut. You can see where they sit by the chewings and droppings. I wired a railroad spike to a good #1 Victor long spring to drown them quickly when they jumped off the hut.

I believe they are talking about a MN trapper from up hwy 94. He uses a lot of stoploss traps. Same reason most of my foot caught rabbits are dead.

I Have a couple hundred stoploss traps and use them almost exclusively for rats. Very few in all these years,have been killed by the stoploss spring.
I guess I must have been setting them wrong all this time.
I sure wish we had the number of rats,we had in the 60's.
Tom

Unless I have a small feeder hut, or the plunge hole is right where I open the hut, I typically short chain my traps so they can't get to the hole. 99% of the time they are alive the next day. Not sure why his would be dry and dead. Makes zero sense to me, either.

Maybe trick photography for the YouTube video. Maybe cut away or stop filming and dried the muskrats off so they would look better for camera. I sure did not see a break in filming thou but I am old and don’t see that good off of cell phone video. Ha ha. There was also 2 or 3 muskrats that were dry from Nose to behind shoulder than wet and muddy from middle of Body to the tail. Strange. Maybe I just missed something. like you guys said the long spring traps must have been set in at least a foot of water. the Trapper puts plug back in hut seals hut back up. I am thinking the water inside is still warm enough that it has not frozen. Thanks for confirming I need glasses. Ha ha ha. MD

martyd, is this the video you were watching? Stu from Coon Creek Outdoors was filming 330 MaNiaC on his rat/beaver line.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tgp2IeO3ihE

Huts must be sealed with all vegetation that has been removed to set the trap.The vegetation is then rewetted so that the hole refreezes tight.I then place a good covering of snow on top of this(when available). This helps ensure the the rat house will not freeze up inside. If these steps are not taken,the rat house freezes totally and its entrance is denied to any remaining rats. If done correctly,the water inside the hut and plunge holes do not freeze up.
Tom

K-Zoo. Yes that’s the video. Did I miss something on the video ? Looks like every muskrat is dead coming out of the hut ? MD

based on what I see in that marsh on the cattail stems; the water is down 2-3 feet
everyone of those rats were wet, he sure had to dig for one with his axe
Seems that the Instragram account was suspended the following day on 330's account
so you really have to be careful what you post and how you post

I've had a few mrats dead and dry in long or coil spring inside of huts while ice trapping but not many. Either they are drowned in their holes using a long spring (#1 LS is my favorite) or they are bouncing around in inside the hut (almost all of those are dry). And yes, there can be some wring offs, as well as mink kills. I have a few Victor stop loss but never have liked them much. Maybe its just me. The lowest temp I've kept a winter inside hut trap going was -32 F. Plug 'em full!!

I caught 180 a few years ago in huts and every one of them was wet. Drowned or not.

The live ones, too?

My live ones come out dry and fluffy...which is most of them, but again I don't give most of them enough chain to get to the water if in medium to larger sized huts.

Its the cyanide in the bait.

The rats are dry because it is a poor method.

A good method is one that encourages immediate submersion and reduces live time in the trap.

There ya go!