Nice muskrat.

Haven't seen any putup yet, got any to show?

Here's one from a few days ago.




Here's a mink I did earlier this year.

Lookin good, you still out there?

I'm still here, pulled the line a week or so ago and just haven't been able to get back out again. Might go out and set some Wednesday.

Nothing wrong with a break, keep us posted!

Well, I finally got to do something trapping related. I picked up some fur, dropped some off, and sold some yesterday. I sold 8 beavers that were skinned and froze for $72, 4 were $10 a piece and 4 were $8 a piece. I also picked up 2 weasels and a beaver from 2 years ago, the beaver is my buddy's that I skinned for him and sent in. Then I dropped off my fox from last year, my 28lb coon, my coyote from this year, a weasel I did for another buddy, and a coyote for my dad that I skinned out. Hopefully I'll get it back around spring time. Anyway, that's all I got for you guys as of now. I'll probably be setting some more traps within a week or 2 here.

What tannery are you using?

No clue, my fur buyer sends them all in for me. Maybe he'll chime in here.

Well, I figured with spring float season fast approaching, I better get back in here, start posting again, and give some updates. The weather this winter was less than ideal for any trapping, it would stay -20 and maybe get up to 0 in a day with the wind blowing, and then there would be a day where it would be 20 out, then more -20. So, I figured I better stay in and not get frostbite. Now the last week, it has been 50s during the day and just barely freezing at night. The ice in some spots on sloughs is already opening where there are springs. I have been prepping for the season so I will go ahead and list what I have done so far. I have hauled my float trailer home and checked it over, it needs some little things here and there. I built 15 more floats out of 3/4" plywood and got them ready. I went through all of my fiberglass poles and inspected them and replaced my marking tape. I have started to clean the fur shed up some, it needs a lot more work but I still have a couple of weeks. I need to find another clothes dryer to use as a tumbler as mine took a crap in December. I plan to build another dozen or 2 dozen floats and get them ready. I will also be running hagz brackets and Hangman brackets this year to try them out more. So far that's all I have though, I need to go do a dry run on the line and make sure roads are all good still and make sure everything is ready to go and scout around a bit more. The goal is to hit 500 rats and I have 31 muskrats so far. Here's the new floats I built.

Looks like your set and ready. Good luck TYT

I have another update for you folks. I went and checked out my line again on Sunday, it's starting to open up, and I will check it again this weekend sometime. We're supposed to get a snow storm on Saturday so going to hold off setting until after that but I think next week is when I'll be setting traps. I got rid of my broken dryer and got another one, I'm just waiting for the silicone to dry and then it will get put into the shed. I also finished up the last 4 of the floats that I'm going to make this season. I think I have around 100 floats, I will have a better number when I go and pre set them all. I also have around 2 dozen colony traps to run and then I'm going to be running hagz and hangman brackets for the rest of the traps. I'm hoping to have around 250-300 traps total out on this line. The fur shed needs a bit more cleaning up but other than that I'm ready to go.

Go get 'em, YTT! Looking forward to some pictures.

Well, I went to work today and made some money for the upcoming float season and decided to run my route from work back home and it's only about 25% open right now, I'd assume 50% open by Friday and then hopefully 75% open by next Friday. I think I have till the 28th before I have to start setting. I might set up a small 20 mile route just for fun and to hit some of the spots where I don't trap on my normal route. I need to keep cleaning the fur shed up for sure though.

Good luck to you Youth trapper , I hope you pass your goal by 100.

Looking forward to pics

Having some rough weather up there to start the rat season. Hope it settles down for you soon!

Well, I figured with my season being done for the most part, except for the 30 or so raccoons I need for the tail bounty, I should update you guys on how it all went. So I trapped in total for under 3 weeks, I think it was. We had a week in the middle where I didn't trap due to having some snow move in and cold weather. I ended the season out with 417 muskrats. It was a little short of my goal of 500, but it was a rough year due to a decreased population and the weather. The water was low this year. I had in total 110 floats out and only a few colony traps, as most of the culverts were too deep or too shallow. If I had been able to trap harder this winter, I think I would have hit my goal. But I also learned a lot of lessons this year. Mark Steck also came out again and recorded me running all of my floats, and that episode/episodes should be out later in the year. I learned a lot about my fur shed and what I need to do differently. I have quite a few changes that need to be done, but nothing a little extra time spent in there can't fix. I averaged $1.70 on my rats, which was a little less than I would have liked, but my fur buyer gave me every penny he could out of them. I also sold 3 of my mink for $10 a piece and 1 of them for $5. I do think that next year, I will run a mixed line like I did this year or run a water line. It honestly depends on how the summer goes as far as rainfall. I will say, though, that having a bigger fur shed was worth every penny and hour that I put into it this year; it was nice to finally be able to sit down and flesh. Also, having the freezer inside made a big difference. I did run into one issue, though, with my dryer after I got that new one, and the problem was that it kept breaking the spines of the rats when I dried them, so I ended up having to air dry them again. The plan is to make a tumbler this year with a shorter fall and geared differently. All in all though, the season was very successful despite the problems that did arise and the weather that I had. It was one of my best seasons so far.

Here's the catch count for this year:
3 opossums
3 skunks
7 coons
4 beaver
1 coyote
417 muskrats
4 mink

It was a big year for me, and I got to catch some species that I normally wouldn't have been able to catch in the quantities I did. It's currently not letting me upload pictures so I will have to try again tomorrow.

Thanks for sharing. I wish we still had rats like that. Consider yourself lucky. Lots of us had them before the population crash now were outside looking in.
A lot of hard work to catch and put up over 400. Good for you. If I were you I would spend some more time this year looking for another couple of buyers. It's well worth the effort.
Can't wait to see some of your photos.
Keep up the good work. And all my compliments on a good season

Great job! Sounds like you put the fur shed to good use this year. Happy that you use critical thinking and learn from your experiences, that is what makes you a better trapper.