I pulled traps today, looks like more freeze and thaw conditions which doesn't help my trapping. Got 3 rats, and caught one in that pocket set in the side of the hut, was hoping for a mink but I'll take it. I also skinned out a coyote that my dad shot today, going to take it to the fur buyer's at some point so he can teach me how to flesh and board coyotes. Only put a couple of holes in it which is partly due to the fact that my shed is not set up for anything bigger than a beaver. I'm still looking for a property to trap coyotes on since I'm having to wait till after deer season to trap most of mine now so hopefully the snow will hold off. But anyways here are some pictures of the rats and my fur shed bench.

Nice looking set up, TYT. I need to be more organized.

Thank you, I redid my whole fur shed this year but am still very low on space.

I picked up 22 more dogproofs today, 1 z trap, 1 sterling, and 20 dukes. Soaking them in vinegar now since they're super rusty, only paid 85$ so that's good. And I said that I wouldn't buy any more traps...

"And I said that I wouldn't buy any more traps..." I think we've all said that a time or two....

Yeah, I say it a lot. But if they're cheap and I know I can make them pay themselves off I usually have no regrets.

Just an update, found 2 spots and a 3rd if I need it to trap coyotes on. One has a field bordering an irrigation ditch and sloughs with trees, and the other is pastures with field and fence lines with tree belts. So hope that I can find some good sign when I go scout them out tomorrow. Also going to hopefully have someone join me on the line to give me some pointers.

Traps are like cash. Ya can’t have too much! Keep up the good work.

Very true, especially if they're cheap, thank you.

Well got the 2 coyote properties scouted yesterday, found a few set spots on the one 2 miles from town and seems like a good spot to run some. And the spot about 10 miles out of town is in my mind one of the best looking places i've seen. Lots of coon sign so going to be taking out all of my dogproofs since I found 30 or more beat down paths. Hoping that it will produce. Going to set it on Wednesday. Got the last batch of those new dogproofs soaking in vinegar, going to take them to the car wash next and pressure wash them off. Now I'm up to 4 dozen dogproofs so that should keep me content this spring for the bounty.

First check of the season, only laid a few traps out for lack of equipment (on order as of yesterday)....caught a sheep, sad trombone moment.

Yep have said that myself. And then a friend called me and said he had a dozen new duke 110s and 2 new duke 220s and said he would take half of the retail price for them. Couldnt help myself had to buy them.

I won't even look at a 110 now that I'm running 159s. But I do like my 220s.

It's been a good few days, I got 18 dogproofs out on Monday with 3 different baits, 2 of which are a mix that I made on my own. So I'm doing a bit of testing to see if I can find something that produces better for my area. I'm going out tomorrow with one of our state trappers who's going to teach me how to trap coyotes so that'll be fun. It's also going to be my first check on my dogproofs. I did order a new trapping bag and that should be here on Saturday so that's exciting. That's all I know for now, starting tomorrow it's supposed to get cold and freeze up good.

well I went out and checked traps yesterday and put in 3 coyote sets. I caught 1 raccoon out of 18 dogproofs and it was caught on my 2nd homemade bait. I also put in another dogproof right by this one in hopes of a double, both baited with the same bait. Got really cold today, hoping it'll warm up a little bit. The new bag should be here either tomorrow or Saturday so then I'll be able to get to a few more different spots.

Another day another check. Where do I even start? I had a couple of robbed DPS today, I have goofballs but I forgot to put them on the traps today, going to do 9 with and 9 without and see which produces more, etc. I'm really enjoying doing this mediocre testing. I haven't caught anything in the 9 traps near the junk pile which is really surprising considering there's coon poop everywhere. I started on the 9 down the tree row and on the third one I caught a large coon, it was 23 pounds 14 ounces. One of if not my biggest to date. And then on the last dogproof where I caught that little coon the other day, I caught a skunk. Well, I had my skunk sleeper in the truck and I went about my business using it and it broke off right where it connects so I had to end up giving him a couple of trigger pulls. Well, I went in to retrieve my syringe and I didn't realize it smelled like skunk so bad so I threw it in the truck, well to come to find out about 5 miles down the road, it smelled like skunk bad and so did the bucket with all the spare parts and ammo. So I ended up having to air out the trapping truck today since I keep that bucket in the cab. Now I need to run to the vet on Monday since they were closed today. I'm going to let him air off until at least Sunday and then reset, luckily I set an extra dp there on Wednesday. I checked all 3 yote sets and my flat set/walk through set had a flipped over and snapped trap from deer. So I had to rebuild that set. I ended up only having 5 gallons of dry dirt left so I went and picked up about another 40 gallons of dirt from a barn that I got it all from. I need to set my jet sled up in the back with a heat lamp on it so I can dry it a little more since there's a bit of moisture in it. The new bag should be here tomorrow, I'm super excited, I'm already thinking of getting the muskrat bag for setting dps and small things like that. Anyways here's the picture of today's coon. All 3 animals at this location were caught on my 2nd rendition of my raccoon bait so it's safe to say it works well.

The cheapest dry cat food in a 40# bag will last all season and catch coons. You can add either grape or cherry koolaide flavor to it for more scent.
I don’t worry about rusted DP’s, a coon will clean it up after the first catch. Rats and flying squirrels are notorious bait stealers around here, but with those Dukes just set them with a hair trigger and you’ll have fresh coyote bait, lol.
Good luck!

[quote



[/quote]

Cool,it looks like a Kangaroo.

First one of the year!!!

At least you didn't leave that bucket in the ol man's shed! Lol