Almost Daylight in the Swamp
Good Morning ...

All quiet up north,the last 2 cat traps were pulled today,no coyote tracks today.I did put in one otter set today,if he comes back through the MTA tanned fur project will get him/her.Hope it starts freezing up for you guys and get a little tracking snow down south and central and start seeing SPOTS.

Finished putting in the last windows in this afternoon,cutting the trim and installing tomorrow,Troy and his son asked if I had killed all the cats in the neighborhood,I said some of them....

Put in a cubby this afternoon. The low land is full of water, hoping this puts the cats on my sets.

Congratulation Rick on the cats! Hope everyone had a Merry Christmas

One Big ole Beaver caught near a otter toilet

one Rat going in a beaver hut

Picked up a small beaver and pulled as I think this may be the last of this bunch. Found a small mink in the middle of the road on the way home. Both have been put up and will be donated to tanned fur project.

Thanks K9man,it was fun to target them hard again.All caught from 2 1/2 miles to 10 miles from home,4 of the 6 counting Scott's were less than 5 miles from home.

Boys won tonight's hockey game 3 to 1.They play tomorrow at 1pm hope to go to that one also.

No cat traps to check,just a few coyote snares and a few footholds.The other cat trapper's will have to keep this thread alive for a bit longer.Good luck the weather looks like it will be cooling down now.I'll check that otter set tomorrow.Have a good day everyone.

Good Morning
yesterday I caught a L -xl beaver in an open water set...Dec 28th just Unreal to me. But Welcome.

Everyone Stay safe and have fun.

No traps out right now due to all the rain, mud and open water. I am dog sitting for a couple more days and plan to take them out scouting some new ponds today and maybe throw some shot at some grouse if they will point them.

Sounds like a Good Time 160

Looks like the sun might finally peek out today, that will be a welcome sight for sure. Will run my short line here as soon as I finish my coffee.

Hurry up Man...bring the Coffee

Coffee this morning watching the sun come up. That is a welcome sight. Probably spend most of the day outside today.

Put all the cats on the MJ36 boards,I'll take a picture later when their flipped and prepped.Measurement's are 51" thats #100 44 lb cat,47",45" on the Tom's 43" on both of the females I looked at the teeth on the beaver house cat,she was OLD 7,or 8 years old.No luck on any coyotes,saw more wolf tracks.Guessing Scott's cat should go 48" to 50" to the base of the tail also.Heading into the hockey game here shortly.Have a good day everyone.

they have been in south Eastern Manitoba for a long long time already John-nobody that I know of really goes after them. I ran into a fella at Fur Harvesters a few years ago that had 15 of them in one winter from trapping foxes in the south east corner. Guessing if a guy like Rick trapped up here he would hammer them pretty good. Manitoba's population of Bobcats is much more wide spread than most would believe-not just the southeast corner

So how do Manitoba bobcats grade? Can they be a good addition to a guys trapping income?

they are kind of a mixed bag-we don't have alot caught to really have a fair steady grade of cat. Kind of a mix of Minnesota, North Dakota and North EASTERN Ontario cats. I honestly don't know of anyone who targets them here. I have personally seen some nicer cats but nothing to get overly excited about color wise. If we had a few trappers who learned to catch them rather than incidentals/by product of fox or coyote trapping then we would get a better picture of what Manitoba Cats would look like on the color /belly pallet. Guy sent me a pic the other day of a Bobcat he caught in a marten box up in a tree( 120 Belisle)-just saying guys here don;t target them like our southern neighbors do. Because Manitoba is mostly prairie out west and our eastern border is Canadian shield like Ontario( in the southern half anyway)-we get quite a mixed bag as far as colors of all fur bearers from Fox,Coyote beavers etc..