No Profanity *** No Flaming *** No Advertising *** No Anti Trappers ***NO POLITICS
No Non-Target Catches *** No Links to Anti-trapping Sites *** No Avoiding Profanity Filter


Home~Trap Talk~ADC Forum~Trap Shed~Wilderness Trapping~International Trappers~Fur Handling

Auction Forum~Trapper Tips~Links~Gallery~Basic Sets~Convention Calendar~Chat~ Trap Collecting Forum

Trapper's Humor~Strictly Trapping~Fur Buyers Directory~Mugshots~Fur Sale Directory~Wildcrafting~The Pen and Quill

Trapper's Tales~Words From The Past~Legends~Archives~Kids Forum~Lure Formulators Forum~ Fermenter's Forum


~~~ Dobbins' Products Catalog ~~~


Minnesota Trapline Products
Please support our sponsor for the Trappers Talk Page - Minnesota Trapline Products


Print Thread
Hop To
Page 2 of 3 1 2 3
Re: So Far This Season... [Re: Actor] #7717168
11/14/22 06:21 AM
11/14/22 06:21 AM
Joined: Jun 2016
Posts: 13,958
Michigan
T
Trapper Dahlgren Offline
trapper
Trapper Dahlgren  Offline
trapper
T

Joined: Jun 2016
Posts: 13,958
Michigan
great post , my dad love to ice fish and he would watch barometer has to when the fish would be biting

Re: So Far This Season... [Re: Actor] #7717283
11/14/22 09:43 AM
11/14/22 09:43 AM
Joined: Jul 2017
Posts: 2,665
PA
W
w side rd 151 Offline
trapper
w side rd 151  Offline
trapper
W

Joined: Jul 2017
Posts: 2,665
PA
When I began trapping as a kid ,muskrats where my main target Once in awhile I might get a con or possum. Mink where scarce .Over about 50 years that has changed by quite a lot .Coon are plentiful .Skunks and possum also can be found everywhere .And I have learned enough some things about mink habits to be able to catch a few nearly every year .Muskrats are less common than ever for me Over the last dozen years or so when I see brown fur in the water I automatically think mink .It is a great surprise to catch a muskrat anymore .I would love to have several locations that I could run a decent muskrat line for 2 or 3 weeks Actor keep posting as that will be my way of running a muskrat line anytime in the near future .

Re: So Far This Season... [Re: Actor] #7717639
11/14/22 07:19 PM
11/14/22 07:19 PM
Joined: Sep 2008
Posts: 6,679
Newark, Ohio 83 years
Actor Offline OP
trapper
Actor  Offline OP
trapper

Joined: Sep 2008
Posts: 6,679
Newark, Ohio 83 years
151... Muskrats in our part of the world are being very hard to find. Ohio DNR did a study and found the main cause, as they believe, is toxic heavy metals found in muskrats. I believe that may be part of the problem, but definitely not all of the problem. I wrote and published an article last year (Fur, Fish & Game), stating the reasons I believe is as much or more of a reason than the heavy metals. But that is another completely different can of worms. For years I kept track of when and where I got rats and their sex. For many years my catch was always 3 females to 1 male. Last years I caught 27 rats, 22 males and 5 females. So far this I have caught 8 rats, 2 female and 6 males. You can't have a lot of rats when you have so few females.

Enough of that... I caught 1 rat this morning. It was x-large at a little of 2 pounds. I have never seen so much fat on the rats this early. Usually, they don't get a lot of fat until about 3rd week in December. I think this may be a double long-johns winter. About every night this week it is forecast down in the mid to low 20s.

I hate to tell the owners of the golf course I am trapping, but there aren't nearly as many rats as they think there are in their ponds. I set out a coon trap today. Maybe get one to test to see if they are prime enough to set extra traps.

This time change has me going a little bit crazy... can't get orientated to the change. I was awake at 5:15 AM this morning and no nap.

Keep on keeping on guys and gals...

Garry-


“Don't pick a fight with an old man. If he is too old to fight, he'll just kill you.”

Have been trapping 77 years…
Re: So Far This Season... [Re: Actor] #7718464
11/15/22 06:48 PM
11/15/22 06:48 PM
Joined: Sep 2008
Posts: 6,679
Newark, Ohio 83 years
Actor Offline OP
trapper
Actor  Offline OP
trapper

Joined: Sep 2008
Posts: 6,679
Newark, Ohio 83 years
Well... Another miserable rainy, spitting snow pellets, but not much wind and 36 degrees. I only got one (1) rat today. (AGAIN). It was another male good size, probably 2x and 3 right on 3 pounds. He must have been an old dude, because was tough and didn't want to give up his hide without an extra amount tugging. Some of these dudes are sure hard on my old about wore out hands.

I think a couple more days at this location and I will move on to my coon place.

Has anyone that is trapping in Ohio caught any coon yet. I am thinking the coon have holed up for a while. The daytime highs have been in high 30s or low 40s and nights at or just above freezing. The next week is showing 40s during day and mid 20s at night for the next week. The barometer is still on its crazy roller coaster ride.

I hope others a fairing better this old man. Tight chains to you all.

Garry-

Last edited by Actor; 11/16/22 10:00 AM.

“Don't pick a fight with an old man. If he is too old to fight, he'll just kill you.”

Have been trapping 77 years…
Re: So Far This Season... [Re: Actor] #7718854
11/16/22 08:12 AM
11/16/22 08:12 AM
Joined: Jul 2017
Posts: 2,665
PA
W
w side rd 151 Offline
trapper
w side rd 151  Offline
trapper
W

Joined: Jul 2017
Posts: 2,665
PA
Actor You are providing some excellent insight as far as how to go about running a trapline .And by explaining some of your thoughts others can experiment with some new methods and ideas .You mention keeping track of your catch as far as male or female .I started doing that with coon many years ago .And very quickly I realized that about 67% of the coons I caught where males And many of the females where caught in Nov. and Feb. Where I trap in PA most early Nov coon are not completely prime . I try to hold off on trapping for them until the third week of Nov ,Our deer season is the 2 weeks following Thanksgiving So I do not start to really get after them until mid Dec .By then it can be cold .I trapped for years in known denning areas Places where I know there are lots of hollow trees,, rocky .outcroppings wooded areas that have spring seeps etc .And I have had good success catching the large old males coons on some very cold mornings Or if the low temps are in the single numbers for several days and then it warms enough that the lows are now 20 degrees warmer than what it had been . My theory is the males do more traveling than the females .And if the are looking for a mate will sek out denning areas And while traveling will try to find food in those wet spring seeps I doubt that the male to female ratio for coon is 2 out of every three coons born are male .But the male part on the population moves more even on the very cold nights due to the mating season starting to happen in Jan. kEEP POSTING YOUR ADVENTURES , We may not be able to get after them as we did years ago .But the thrill of having some sets to check is still as good a reason as any to get out of bed and see if we caught anything

Last edited by w side rd 151; 11/16/22 08:16 AM.
Re: So Far This Season... [Re: Actor] #7719170
11/16/22 03:04 PM
11/16/22 03:04 PM
Joined: Sep 2008
Posts: 6,679
Newark, Ohio 83 years
Actor Offline OP
trapper
Actor  Offline OP
trapper

Joined: Sep 2008
Posts: 6,679
Newark, Ohio 83 years
I woke up with a start in the middle of the night... I dreamed I heard a trap snap and a mink squealing, caught in the trap. Guess what I found when I got out on my line this morning... NOT A DARN THING! It had just been a dream. No rats and no mink.

I walked down the little stream that borders the golf course to check the one live trap I had set for coon yesterday. There certainly were a lot of fresh coon and possum traps tracks along both side of the stream. I could see my trap from a distance, but because of undergrowth between me and the trap I couldn't tell for sure but thought I could see something moving around. The closer I got, all I could see was black. First, I thought it was a melanistic coon, but the closer I got I feared it was a skunk. So, I changed my direction of travel, climbed up out the stream and approached the trap with a large, downed tree between me and the trap. When I looked over the l tree... there it was, a feral cat. I was a bit relieved but also disgusted... I picked up the trap and shook the trap as hard as I could, set back down, rocked it good with my foot, then rolled it over so the door would open. The cat didn't even look where it was going and shot out of the cage and ran smack into the log. I got to laughing so hard, I was about to cry.

This might be of interest to some of you about the place I am presently trapping... notice, I said trapping, not catching much.

Burning Tree Mastodon Excavation Site in Licking County, Ohio, 1989

The Burning Tree Mastodon (Mammut americanum) excavation site at the Burning Tree Golf Course south of Heath in Licking Township, Licking County, Ohio. The Burning Tree Mastodon is one of the most complete specimens of a mastodon found to date. It was discovered on December 12, 1989, during excavation for a pond on the course. Most of the skeleton had been recovered within three days of the initial find in what was probably a peat bog formed from a small kettle lake. Five casts were made from the original specimen skeleton before it was sold to a museum in Japan.

[Linked Image]

Ironically, the pond that they were digging is there... nice pond, but I have never caught anything from it. It has a couple banks that are high enough, but they don't seem to like it for some reason.
I think the fact it was originally a bog, there may still be a considerable amount of methane gas in the soil.

Tight Chains my friends...

Garry-


“Don't pick a fight with an old man. If he is too old to fight, he'll just kill you.”

Have been trapping 77 years…
Re: So Far This Season... [Re: Actor] #7720076
11/17/22 03:05 PM
11/17/22 03:05 PM
Joined: Sep 2008
Posts: 6,679
Newark, Ohio 83 years
Actor Offline OP
trapper
Actor  Offline OP
trapper

Joined: Sep 2008
Posts: 6,679
Newark, Ohio 83 years
Today is another day. Weather about the same... not terrible, but not great, but what you would expect if you want to be a trapper.

I hope some of you enjoyed the info about the Mastodon I included yesterday. I know I did.... I enjoyed it so much I went in the club house today and talked with the manager about the whole story behind it. The guy that found it was digging a pond and was the owner of the property. He wouldn't give the archeologist time to search for any more or anything else... so there may be more or other prehistoric critters there.

I do have a couple more photos I took of the skull and tusks and other bones. Hope you enjoy them.

[Linked Image]

[Linked Image]


Oh yes... and the REAL PRIZE


[Linked Image]

Caught this critter in a #110, in the tile set I had for mink. That is all I got today. Two more days here and will be moving on. I was kind of hoping for a saber-toothed tiger.

Tight chains my friends.

Garry-


“Don't pick a fight with an old man. If he is too old to fight, he'll just kill you.”

Have been trapping 77 years…
Re: So Far This Season... [Re: Actor] #7720910
11/18/22 02:18 PM
11/18/22 02:18 PM
Joined: Sep 2008
Posts: 6,679
Newark, Ohio 83 years
Actor Offline OP
trapper
Actor  Offline OP
trapper

Joined: Sep 2008
Posts: 6,679
Newark, Ohio 83 years
Well.... for now, all traps have been pulled and waiting for a warmup... HA! The ponds are starting to make ice and temps supposed to be daytime in low 30s and nighttime in low 20s high teens, for the next 4 or 5 days. All I caught today, was a really small possum in a live trap. Tossed him out and sent him on his way.

I found 2 coon dead about 25 feet apart. check them over good and could find no marks from a weapon or dogs. This leads me to believe, from experience when I was a Game Warden, it is probably distemper. They have been there several days as the fur was beginning to slip. I came into my live trap from a different direction today or wouldn't have found them at all. This may be the reason I didn't catch any coon, which surprised me. I set the live trap between what appeared to be 2 den trees, nice big cavities, one on each side of the stream with a sizable, downed tree across the stream, loaded with coon scat.

Well, it has been fun and maybe I will be able to set a few more traps in a few days. In the meantime...

Tight chains my friends.

Garry-


“Don't pick a fight with an old man. If he is too old to fight, he'll just kill you.”

Have been trapping 77 years…
Re: So Far This Season... [Re: Actor] #7720914
11/18/22 02:31 PM
11/18/22 02:31 PM
Joined: Dec 2006
Posts: 21,536
Sandhills Nebraska
G
Gary Benson Offline
trapper
Gary Benson  Offline
trapper
G

Joined: Dec 2006
Posts: 21,536
Sandhills Nebraska
Thank you Actor! I'm enjoying following your posts as well. I feel your pain as I get older too.


Life ain't supposed to be easy.
Re: So Far This Season... [Re: Actor] #7720916
11/18/22 02:35 PM
11/18/22 02:35 PM
Joined: Nov 2015
Posts: 16,951
OH
Catch22 Offline
trapper
Catch22  Offline
trapper

Joined: Nov 2015
Posts: 16,951
OH
Yep, thanks for taking us along, it's been fun!


I wonder if tap dancers walk into a room, look at the floor, and think, I'd tap that. I wonder about things.....
Re: So Far This Season... [Re: Actor] #7721472
11/19/22 08:17 AM
11/19/22 08:17 AM
Joined: Sep 2008
Posts: 6,679
Newark, Ohio 83 years
Actor Offline OP
trapper
Actor  Offline OP
trapper

Joined: Sep 2008
Posts: 6,679
Newark, Ohio 83 years
It was fun, but think this the last year I will trap out there. I don't consider being overrun with muskrats mean catching nine (9) rats. I will put my skills against anyone when it comes to catching muskrats and they just aren't there.

I hope I made it interesting for those that read my day-to-day update, and the other than trapping info I threw in, that was somewhat educational. I enjoyed the interaction with others on here that I don't normally get in my average daily life. I go for a week at a time not speaking to another living human.... so this was a pleasure.

If the Lord willing, I will try again for some coon and if it goes well or even if don't may run another blow-by-blow account.

Tight chains my friends.

Garry-


“Don't pick a fight with an old man. If he is too old to fight, he'll just kill you.”

Have been trapping 77 years…
Re: So Far This Season... [Re: Actor] #7721517
11/19/22 09:16 AM
11/19/22 09:16 AM
Joined: Jul 2017
Posts: 2,665
PA
W
w side rd 151 Offline
trapper
w side rd 151  Offline
trapper
W

Joined: Jul 2017
Posts: 2,665
PA
Actor One of the reasons I have remained a trapper for almost 60 years is because no matter how much I know about all that is part of trapping the amount I DO NOT KNOW will always exceed the amount I do know There is always more to learn and better ways to do something you have been doing all those years .So it never get boring .And checking traps is always a possible surprise waiting in the next set .I like you post and your ideas about the reasons for your thoughts .I have often wondered what and why I was out in the nasty weather and cold wet conditions trying to catch fur that would barely paid the gas you used to check the iine . But as least for me and many others we where born with the trapping gene in our DNA no amount of reasoning will ever change that .

Re: So Far This Season... [Re: Actor] #7721519
11/19/22 09:20 AM
11/19/22 09:20 AM
Joined: Dec 2006
Posts: 9,729
Northern Illinois
M
MChewk Offline
trapper
MChewk  Offline
trapper
M

Joined: Dec 2006
Posts: 9,729
Northern Illinois
Thanks Garry...it was a nice ride along.

Re: So Far This Season... [Re: Actor] #7721532
11/19/22 09:37 AM
11/19/22 09:37 AM
Joined: Apr 2010
Posts: 3,912
Ohio
S
stinkypete Offline
trapper
stinkypete  Offline
trapper
S

Joined: Apr 2010
Posts: 3,912
Ohio
Thank you Gary. I really enjoyed the thread. Very educational.

Re: So Far This Season... [Re: Actor] #7721662
11/19/22 12:50 PM
11/19/22 12:50 PM
Joined: Apr 2018
Posts: 835
NE KS
B
bowhunterks Offline
trapper
bowhunterks  Offline
trapper
B

Joined: Apr 2018
Posts: 835
NE KS
Thanks for the ride a along Actor, keep posting.

Re: So Far This Season... [Re: Actor] #7721671
11/19/22 01:05 PM
11/19/22 01:05 PM
Joined: May 2009
Posts: 15,520
Champaign County, Ohio.
K
KeithC Offline
trapper
KeithC  Offline
trapper
K

Joined: May 2009
Posts: 15,520
Champaign County, Ohio.
Garry, it is supposed to be back up into the forties by Monday and fifties by Wednesday. I hope you can get some more sets out in the warmer weather and share your results with us.

Keith

Re: So Far This Season... [Re: Actor] #7721684
11/19/22 01:30 PM
11/19/22 01:30 PM
Joined: Aug 2011
Posts: 45,261
james bay frontierOnt.
B
Boco Offline
trapper
Boco  Offline
trapper
B

Joined: Aug 2011
Posts: 45,261
james bay frontierOnt.
Great post Garry-enjoyed reading.
As we get older we cant run like we used to,but we can still go out get some exercise,set a few traps catch some fur to tan and use,and have a reason to get out and enjoy the outdoors to whatever extent we are able.
Being able to share on a trapping forum like T-man with like minded people makes it even more enjoyable.


Forget that fear of gravity-get a little savagery in your life.
Re: So Far This Season... [Re: Actor] #7721910
11/19/22 07:59 PM
11/19/22 07:59 PM
Joined: Sep 2008
Posts: 6,679
Newark, Ohio 83 years
Actor Offline OP
trapper
Actor  Offline OP
trapper

Joined: Sep 2008
Posts: 6,679
Newark, Ohio 83 years
Thank you guys... I saw where we might get a couple of warm days. I will try and get a few coon sets made and some live traps set out I have two more golf courses, but neither of them have many if any rats left. I will give them a look-see. I will keep everyone informed as to my progress.

Garry-


“Don't pick a fight with an old man. If he is too old to fight, he'll just kill you.”

Have been trapping 77 years…
Re: So Far This Season... [Re: Actor] #7721951
11/19/22 08:31 PM
11/19/22 08:31 PM
Joined: Mar 2020
Posts: 7,211
W NY
Turtledale Offline
trapper
Turtledale  Offline
trapper

Joined: Mar 2020
Posts: 7,211
W NY
I enjoy your posts and the variety from Mastodon to muskrat made it even more interesting. I hope that as I age I can keep trapping a few just like you. Take care and thank you for an enjoyable read


NYSTA, NTA, FTA, life member Erie county trappers assn.,life member Catt.county trappers
Re: So Far This Season... [Re: Actor] #7722010
11/19/22 09:23 PM
11/19/22 09:23 PM
Joined: Apr 2016
Posts: 3,444
South Alabama
Boy Named Sue Offline
trapper
Boy Named Sue  Offline
trapper

Joined: Apr 2016
Posts: 3,444
South Alabama
Actor, thank you for the ride along.
Do you have an opinion as to the current high ratio of male rats to female?
If you continue having trouble catching coon, try putting in your best coyote sit. grin


"Common sense is always the least common of sense."
Page 2 of 3 1 2 3
Previous Thread
Index
Next Thread