Found where this old tree fell across a ravine. Mental note to myself: put some coyote sets with drags in here next year.

Great spot. Thanks for sharing.

Mac

Stay back a few yards from the log ends and gang set those areas.

Trail cameras prove that many different furbearers cross these logs. Great places for sets nearby

I found one just like that last year and when I went back this fall someone had cut up the log for firewood....

Go for it

JC Conner shows how to notch out a log and make a blind set in one of his videos. Awesome set.

Seems that would sorta ruin the log. I haven’t found anything like that yet, but I’d probably set something at either end away from the log if there was a trail. It would be the only trail I’d guess the deer weren’t using.

Nah. He would use a drag and put the trap right back and catch the next critter.

But then you would have to climb down In the ravine to get your catch. And you don't what a critter hanging off of the log If the drag got hung up.

Back when 'coon were worth trapping I had many of these crossing logs scattered up and down the river that were "honey spots" for sure; Mostly 'coon, but an occasional fox or clumsy mink, and of course 'possum. Benefits: easy to check, critter was dispatched, multiple day check, weather proof. #220s on short screw ins. After a couple of hangups I experimented with making holders that incorporated a small diameter dowel with wood bodygrip holder. Cheap. Drill a hole in the log and insert the dowel/holder. 'Coon would get into the #220, break off the dowel, and the whole shootin' match would drop into the drink below. Had a 5-gallon bucket in the boat with replacement #220 holders. That solved the problem.

This was the sweetest stop. Double log crossing.



Spreading the triggers apart and elevating the bodygrip helped reduce squirrel catches, though I'd get a few and an occasional weasel.





Easy enough to come running by the crossing and pull the boat up on the bank if a #220 was missing.



Always nice to see a trap missing . . .





Rule of thumb, for me anyway, larger the log, the more often critters used 'em.

This cluster crossing produced just enough to make it worthwhile to set up. Again, easy enough to check.

Two traps here, see 'em?







Always a few "been there, done thats" who dismiss these sets for a variety of reasons. Whatever. You find a couple/three dozen good log crossings on the river line, gang set the daylights out of 'em, and you'll have a mess of #220s working for you 24/7 that used to hang in the garage.

So now it's a waiting game. Which will come first? Price of 'coon goes up and away we go again, or do I die before that happens?

Nice post Muskrat, thanks.

Yup!
There is much to be said about the log crossing hub. Muskrat covered most of it. It’s a coveted location, subtle.

We have a 6' height minimum from land for BG's of greater than 8" here. So years ago I used 330's on logs as long as it was set above that minimum to the bottom of the gully (or bottom of the stream bed). Did/do the same for dozer piles that have predators hunting the tops. Don't like snares here UNLESS I can get the loop high enough to eliminate coons when setting for coyotes/bobcats. When coons are worth more than current prices and you are snaring, I will use them on trees spanning a creek. Once a caught coon falls off the tree there is little fur damage from the snare and he expires quickly. 220 size BG's are a good choice with the trigger on the top in the shape of a 7 for me to reduce the squirrel hits. Could write a book on 220 size BG's at brushpiles LOL. ............................ the mike

Wasn't much of a ravine where he was setting it up. I'm just sharing a pretty cool set I saw. I've never personally tried it. He's caught quadruple the canines than 98% of people on Trapperman ever will so when he speaks I listen. Take that how you want it.

Muskrat, Thanks for sharing

Mac

Nice pics and explanations Muskrat. I hope we all live to see coon go up again.

I run a handful of 150’s on logs for mink. Works well once the squirrels are thinned out a bit. I love squirrel gumbo!

Squirrels will get into 'em! I tinkered with bodygrips on crossing logs, caught a few mink, but never really pushed myself. I'm still fartin' with variations on occasion, especially when I see mink tracks on a log.

Here's a set location that did score mink enough to set it up until one year the flood took the log away.



Seemed like a good spot and it was.



I added the log up to the bank for aesthetic value . . .



Anyway, for what it's worth. I 'spose if I blended these in a bit with grass they'd look better, but they scored naked like this.

Looks Very Minky!!! I’ve found that at logs that work, work every year until gone.