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Re: TYT's 2022-2023 Trapping Season [Re: TheYouthTrapper] #7733105
12/02/22 11:05 PM
12/02/22 11:05 PM
Joined: Apr 2010
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Ohio
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stinkypete Offline
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stinkypete  Offline
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7 more rats. Your a high roller now. Good deal. Your hard work is paying off. Good day for you and your dad out there. I bet your dad is proud. Keep it up. Looking forward to see tomorrows catch

Re: TYT's 2022-2023 Trapping Season [Re: TheYouthTrapper] #7733185
12/03/22 12:36 AM
12/03/22 12:36 AM
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South Dakota
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TheYouthTrapper Offline OP
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Put up some rats and hung out in the fur shed tonight. Finally got the noses to stay on the faces! I only had one slip of the blade where I missed the right cheek of the rat but that was the worst of it. I had another trapper sharpen my knives while he was teaching me about coyote trapping and they're very nice now. Just need to get it figured out on my sharpener.

[video:youtube]https://youtube.com/shorts/EnElGfFIwBk?feature=share[/video]

Re: TYT's 2022-2023 Trapping Season [Re: TheYouthTrapper] #7733676
12/03/22 04:38 PM
12/03/22 04:38 PM
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Ohio
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stinkypete Offline
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Your put up is looking good. Liked the video. Good job.

Re: TYT's 2022-2023 Trapping Season [Re: TheYouthTrapper] #7733990
12/03/22 11:44 PM
12/03/22 11:44 PM
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TheYouthTrapper Offline OP
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Well, today was a day. Woke up at 9:30 am after not falling asleep until 3 am. Helped dad put some new flooring in our guest bedroom. Went out to the fur shed and got some more wood on the fire, took the dry rats off the wall, and moved the wetter ones where they would dry better. Started burning some of the old bamboo wood in the fire pit, which happened all day. Split some more wood for my wood stove, and put that in the cabin. It was about 16-20" wide by 2' tall so a decent amount. Then went and ran the line. Reset the conibears that wouldn't stay set yesterday and while I was working on getting the first trap of the day set, I hear a bloop, imagine surface tension is broken and then something going back under. So I quickly look and there was nothing so I assumed it must have been a chunk of ice, and as I'm getting the conibear set to put into the hole in the ice, I see the face of this muskrat right up by the farthest edge of ice watching me. It was a cool experience, I was a little scared to put my fingers back in the water to put the conibear in but I did check the conibear on the way through and he was not in it. So I continue down the line and come up to my second hut set and go about breaking it back open to get to my trap, and I realized the hut was really fluffy inside I thought it was weird but wasn't too concerned. I got the hole opened up enough and pulled the chain and here comes out this muskrat screeching and clawing. I drop the trap and run back to the sled, I luckily keep an axe handle in there because of hearing about this and gave him a couple of whacks on the head, he was out in seconds. I caught 8 rats today out of 14 sets since 3 out of the 17 weren't working. I also set one more hut today. Then I got home and had 2 small rats that would have had no difference in price if I skinned them or kept them on carcass so I froze them. I luckily had 6 more to dry. I hung those by the tail to dry and set out on skinning the 2 rats that were fully dry while the others from yesterday got finished out and the 1 rat from today that had to get bopped with the axe handle. I was doing really good and got those 3 skinned with a breeze and the other rats from yesterday had finally dried out. I felt the knife was a little dull so touched it up on my work sharp belt sharpener and felt I had done a good job. So I pulled out the biggest of the few since I was all warmed up and ready to go. I was doing fantastic on the opening cuts and everything and got it down the front legs where I had a bit of an issue but got it figured out. I got to the ears and got them cut then got to the eyes and it struggled cutting but I got it and moved onto the face and it was going good but then it wouldn't cut at all so I ended up leaving the lower jaw fur and the front of the cheeks. It hurt a lot because that was the biggest rat of the season. It still turned out good enough to be sold but doesn't look very good. But the good news is that the 4 rats that I skinned out yesterday were ready to be taken off the stretchers and they all look to be 2$ rats so that's nice. Anyways, sorry for the long read but I will post pictures now.


This is a #1 Sleepy creek stretcher by the way and it almost filled it out, almost had to grab my Victor 1.5 stretchers. This is the big rat.

[Linked Image]

Re: TYT's 2022-2023 Trapping Season [Re: TheYouthTrapper] #7734018
12/04/22 12:37 AM
12/04/22 12:37 AM
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South Dakota
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TheYouthTrapper Offline OP
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Here are the videos from today.

[video:youtube]https://www.youtube.com/shorts/GND36ELPsDg[/video]

[video:youtube]https://www.youtube.com/shorts/dSKj8w8_vq4[/video]

Re: TYT's 2022-2023 Trapping Season [Re: TheYouthTrapper] #7734325
12/04/22 11:49 AM
12/04/22 11:49 AM
Joined: Apr 2010
Posts: 3,912
Ohio
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stinkypete Offline
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stinkypete  Offline
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Ohio
Good job. Your catching those muskrats. Your put up is much better for sure. You’ll get the hang of the heads. It takes time. Just keep plugging away. Your muskrat count is piling up for sure.

Re: TYT's 2022-2023 Trapping Season [Re: TheYouthTrapper] #7734826
12/04/22 10:00 PM
12/04/22 10:00 PM
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Posts: 1,295
South Dakota
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TheYouthTrapper Offline OP
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Well, today was a big day. Didn't wake up until noon, tried getting up at 9 but fell back asleep. Got up finally and sent a text to the guy who was going to help fix my knife. He said he would be around in an hour or so. I went to the fur shed and made sure it was still running and made sure the fan was blowing. Went to the garage and started putting together my conibears with spring clips on them. Took the chains off and made sure they were all set. By the time I was done with that dozen I went back to the fur shed and stoked the stove, grabbed my knife, and started heading to the guy's house. Got there and dropped the knife off, came back home, and loaded the sled up to go check traps. Checked the traps and put 2 more conibears in. Got 9 rats today, would have had 10 but I'm pretty sure I ripped one's leg off while trying to get it out of the hut, couldn't find it and I tried everything to get it out. Started heading home and texted the guy who was fixing my knife to see if it was done and he didn't respond so I drove around for a bit hoping he would text me while I was still up in that area. Headed home and as I'm about 100 feet from the driveway I hear my phone go, bing, so I pulled into the driveway. I checked the stove and threw some more wood in and got back in the truck. I drove back to the guy's house, picked up the knife, and headed back to the house. Got home and got all 5 of my rats skinned with no problem. Won't check the line tomorrow but will put up these 7 rats. Up to 61 for the season, one fifth of the way to my goal.


Last edited by TheYouthTrapper; 12/04/22 10:00 PM.
Re: TYT's 2022-2023 Trapping Season [Re: TheYouthTrapper] #7734833
12/04/22 10:05 PM
12/04/22 10:05 PM
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Posts: 1,295
South Dakota
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TheYouthTrapper Offline OP
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Here's the video for today.

[video:youtube]https://www.youtube.com/shorts/xU7EAQhMhZc[/video]

Re: TYT's 2022-2023 Trapping Season [Re: TheYouthTrapper] #7734904
12/04/22 11:26 PM
12/04/22 11:26 PM
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Ohio
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stinkypete Offline
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stinkypete  Offline
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Good job Your catching. I saw your temperature on you thermostat. Drying muskrats and mink you want it really no warmer then 60 degrees. The animals don’t have a lot of grease. If you dry to warm to fast. The leather can crack and tear easy. Try it you will see the difference. Raccoon on the other hand 80 is a great temperature. Doing a great job though. Keep up the good work. Enjoying your videos as well

Re: TYT's 2022-2023 Trapping Season [Re: stinkypete] #7734953
12/05/22 12:04 AM
12/05/22 12:04 AM
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Originally Posted by stinkypete
Good job Your catching. I saw your temperature on you thermostat. Drying muskrats and mink you want it really no warmer then 60 degrees. The animals don’t have a lot of grease. If you dry to warm to fast. The leather can crack and tear easy. Try it you will see the difference. Raccoon on the other hand 80 is a great temperature. Doing a great job though. Keep up the good work. Enjoying your videos as well


Yeah, the wood stove is kind of go hot or go slow, haven't found an in-between yet where I can keep it cooler. It's usually only 80 for about 10-15 minutes after stoking the stove then it's about 65-75. It's still plenty hot but like I said the stove is a little overkill for that small of a building.

Re: TYT's 2022-2023 Trapping Season [Re: TheYouthTrapper] #7734977
12/05/22 01:00 AM
12/05/22 01:00 AM
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minn
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fossil2 Offline
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if youre busting huts for rats, you need shoulder length gloves. open the hut, make sure the rats not sitting in there waiting for you. pull the chain tight with your left hand, and follow it down the hole with your right, til you feel the rat. pull him out by the head, not the trap. front leg bones are like tooth picks and will snap off easily. always pull up the rat, never the trap. rats are great at tangling the trap/chain around anything thats under the hut.

Re: TYT's 2022-2023 Trapping Season [Re: fossil2] #7735744
12/06/22 01:47 AM
12/06/22 01:47 AM
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Originally Posted by fossil2
if youre busting huts for rats, you need shoulder length gloves. open the hut, make sure the rats not sitting in there waiting for you. pull the chain tight with your left hand, and follow it down the hole with your right, til you feel the rat. pull him out by the head, not the trap. front leg bones are like tooth picks and will snap off easily. always pull up the rat, never the trap. rats are great at tangling the trap/chain around anything thats under the hut.


Yeah, I've figured that out.

Re: TYT's 2022-2023 Trapping Season [Re: TheYouthTrapper] #7735746
12/06/22 01:53 AM
12/06/22 01:53 AM
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Pretty chill day today. I got home from school, did a few chores in the house, and then went out to the fur shed. I emptied the ash out of the wood stove and dumped that in our fire pit. I built up a new fire and got that rolling. Then I took the rug and my piece of cardboard out of there so I could sweep. I swept the floor really clean so I got all of the mud and pieces of shrapnel from the wood. Put in a new sheet of cardboard and the rug after shaking it off. Then stoked the fire some more and split a whole bunch more firewood. Started skinning and it went quickly on 7 rats. Got 4 of them fleshed then I got called in for dinner so I went in and ate. Got back out and fleshed the next 3 and started boarding them. I took the others from yesterday night off the stretchers and put them in the postal box since I don't have a fur hanger. So I came inside after that and ended up falling asleep after making cookies. Posting a video in a little bit after I do my homework.

Re: TYT's 2022-2023 Trapping Season [Re: TheYouthTrapper] #7735767
12/06/22 03:10 AM
12/06/22 03:10 AM
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Re: TYT's 2022-2023 Trapping Season [Re: TheYouthTrapper] #7736393
12/06/22 08:47 PM
12/06/22 08:47 PM
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Ohio
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stinkypete Offline
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Nice. Sent PM

Re: TYT's 2022-2023 Trapping Season [Re: TheYouthTrapper] #7736398
12/06/22 08:50 PM
12/06/22 08:50 PM
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stinkypete Offline
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Fossil2. Good advice Tim. Punching out a couple hundred houses a day. A guy learns real quick. I also wore chest waders. The trick is to stay clean and dry as well. Amazing how wet and dirty a guy can get ice trapping rat houses. But fun. YouthTrapper. I really am enjoying your muskrat trapping thread.

Re: TYT's 2022-2023 Trapping Season [Re: stinkypete] #7736636
12/07/22 01:22 AM
12/07/22 01:22 AM
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Originally Posted by stinkypete
Fossil2. Good advice Tim. Punching out a couple hundred houses a day. A guy learns real quick. I also wore chest waders. The trick is to stay clean and dry as well. Amazing how wet and dirty a guy can get ice trapping rat houses. But fun. YouthTrapper. I really am enjoying your muskrat trapping thread.


Yeah, I do get a little dirty but even with my normal length gloves it's still clean and that Stika jacket I have stays really warm and dry.

Re: TYT's 2022-2023 Trapping Season [Re: TheYouthTrapper] #7736641
12/07/22 01:33 AM
12/07/22 01:33 AM
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I checked my traps today and got 7 rats, could have had 9 but they wrung out somehow. I got home and put them in the shed, and cranked the wood stove up. Took the other rats off the stretchers and did some rough grading. I figured in the 20 rats I have put up, I have about a 2$ average. Put up a couple of the rats from today's check and they looked small hanging but they look to be medium on the stretchers so maybe my mind is playing tricks on me or something. I may as well put up the other 5 rats tomorrow and get it done with then check the line Thursday. It's really hard for me to determine which one to freeze and which ones to skin but I'll get better. It has been a good couple of days on the line though. Going to try and make a video of me skinning this weekend but I need to get a gopro or phone mount figured out first.


Here's the video from today:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R1dcdCOtGKc

Re: TYT's 2022-2023 Trapping Season [Re: TheYouthTrapper] #7736666
12/07/22 03:17 AM
12/07/22 03:17 AM
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fossil2 Offline
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youre getting way too many wring outs. when you open the hut, clean out any loose material first, then widen out the plunge hole to as big as possible. reach down the hole and push any debris away from the underside of the hut. when the trap fires, the rat should dive immediately without anything hindering its trip down the hole. a rat can often times climb back into the hut with a #1 sized trap, but a 1 1/2 coil usually holds them down, after they dive. some huts will have a plunge hole thats actually too small for the trap to fit through. either widen the hole or skip that hut.

Re: TYT's 2022-2023 Trapping Season [Re: TheYouthTrapper] #7736669
12/07/22 03:37 AM
12/07/22 03:37 AM
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stinky pete,,,hey wayne,,,hope you and the family are all doing well. i miss busting huts too,,,its been a while. we always wore waders too, neoprene. dont know how many times we fell through the early ice. brent and i were cracking huts years back, on a lake with around 800-1000 huts of all sizes. no competition. we had a blast, and were catching so fast that we couldnt afford to take a day off. one day a blizzard hit, and occasionally we had to hunker down behind a big hut and warm up. bad winter and very deep snow, and the deer were starving. when we'd crack a feeder hut, the deer would come and paw out the wet vegetation we plugged the hole with. a farm a mile away had about 200 bedded in their yard all winter til the snow melted off. on another lake the carp were winter killing, and they would swim up in a hut and suck air. we pulled dozens of them out of the huts. another spot we found a carp floating but still alive. an otter had eaten the tail end up to the stomach, and the poor thing was just floating around and couldnt swim w/o a tail. ive seen alot of strange things trapping winter rats. hope our rats come back someday. this drought has really hurt them bad.

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