Well, just to pass the time we decided to run a small trapline this month. It's a mixed line focusing on otter and bobcat. The first day we put out a whopping 10 sets... 7 220s in otter crossovers and 3 cat sets.




The first check day started, not unsurprisingly with our recent luck, with my truck overheating not 3 miles from the house. Off to the mechanic's we went, then into our emergency vechile to run traps. To add insult to injury, the first run was a dry one.

Check two, yesterday, yielded our first (unwanted!!!) catch. For some reason this guy just had to stick his head in that 220....



Set 4 more otter sets yesterday so now up to 14 sets.

Today we had to be home by noon since an internet repairman was supposed to be coming so we just ran the traps and didn't add anything new. But we did have one catch. Also in an otter crossover.




Tomorrow I'll be setting up a new otter location and filling in some spots where I don't feel i have the crossovers adequately covered. Drifter said he wants to make some cat sets so I suppose I'll make some of those as well.

Good luck Yote. I'm glad you're catching something, even if it isn't the otters that you're after.

Cool glad you were able to scratch the itch as they say.
Nice to catch cat.


Mac

Noice!

Im assuming ya'll have power again and back to living semi civilized. Otter's are zipping around right now, your being set up for a long day of skinning if you keep 'filling in' sets, lol. Have a 5 or 6 otter day and wonder why you have so many traps out.

Nice

That is awesome!! Great catches and Thanks for sharing the pics.

Oh they'll come. Otter are always a waiting game. Like Jackie said, one of these days I'll probably end up with more than I want lol.

I just set that trap the cat was in yesterday. Sure wasn't expecting to see him there this morning.

Nice !!

Nice work. Skinnin’ is winnin’!

Get 'em guys!

At least ya'll trapping and not adding to the toilet paper thread.

People on here actually trap?

Nice furish!

…. Good luck to yall

… glad things are getting back to normal

Yote....yinz can put a 220 on land ?

Yup. Can put a 330 on land too if it's private land. Nothing bigger than a 220 on land on public ground.

Nessy, can you believe we can use 220s on land here in Illinois?

Glad you guys are out catching some fur. Our land season ends in 2 days

Good luck out there

I am shocked !!

160 here

looks like a darn good time in really good weather!!

Well yesterday we had a dry run. Today we caught some critters but still not the target species. Shocked we've not caught any otter yet!

That beaver has a nice guard hair covering. About this time of year our beaver start getting rubbed backs/or thinned out backs from all the blackberries that line our waters.

Very good, come on Otters

Maybe the floods today will wash some in.

Just a dinky coon today. The otters must have been abducted by space aliens.

They quit on my end to not sure if it’s the warmer weather

Maybe they were (otter) illegal immigrants and we sent back home.

Warm weather brings the crawfish back out once they find them they stall out in those sloughs/ponds.

Pete are you wearing your pink bibs trapping?

Well.... we found one. Along with the only muskrat in the state of Mississippi. It was actually a double.

Hey, that is one in a row! Nice work.

Nice one !

Awesome

A double...meaning both the otter and rat were caught in one trap ??

Where the heck did that 'rat come from? lol.

Good job!


Have any nutes in your area?

Just so you know our luck is holding we were going to town as we found a flat through the side wall. Not all peaches and cream.

No, just both in the same crossover.



No idea, lol. There's a lake on one side and a marshy area on the other side with a crossover on the levee in between. The marshy area looks like great rat habitat so I guess he must have came from there.



We do. But there does not seem to be an overabundance of them. I've only ever caught a few.

Nice looking otter. I always love catching a rat!

That looks like a big otter or maybe its the camera angle

Nice action.

Maybe they'll increase South Dakota's otter quota for this fall. Maybe not.

He just seemed average size to me. I'll measure him tomorrow.

I'm curious about catching a cat in a 220 on a crossover.

You may be thinking "beaver dam crossover" which isn't what I am referring to. Down here, every lake or pond has a levee, where the crick runs into the lake. They run concrete overflow units in the lakes as opposed to culverts. So, to get from the lake to the creek, the otters and other critters have beaten down trails (almost always by the overflow dealy) that we refer to as crossovers. You can see what I am calling a "crossover" in the very first pic I posted on this thread. It's not a dam crossover, it's a levee crossover. The crossover in that pic is not the one I caught the cat in this year, but I did catch a cat in that very same crossover another year. (It's also the one that yielded both the otter and muskrat today).

Here is perhaps a better pic of what I am calling a crossover.... You can see here the beaten down trail coming from the lake... up across the levee, and down the other side to the crick. The otters often have toilets at the top of these levees at these crossovers.



All high and dry... I hate soggy critters. These sets cut down somewhat on incidental beavers, which I do not want. I hate everything about beaver. But sometimes the idiots still shove their heads through the 220s....

Here is the actual set the cat was caught in. You cannot really see a pronounced trail/crossover in this pic, but it was there....



Since we moved here 12 or so years ago, my small trapline has yielded I believe 3 cats in these type of sets, otters, nutria, beaver, muskrat and once a very ticked off leg-caught coyote lol.

Strange those cats were swimming in the lake then going to swim in the crick.

We can use round 280's and square 220's on dry land here. The round 280's are great for otter on a crossover.

Otters are coming....

Good deal, Yote!

Nice

Heck Yeah !!!!!!

Very nice, I like the dark one.

41" nose to base of tail.

Look like dang kangaroos! Good job guys.

Doing great!!!!

That's a cool double

Thanks for sharing.
Mac

I guess that WASN'T the only muskrat in Mississippi.

lol … good deal

Keep on you will have enough 'rats to make you a pair of socks, lol.

You cook that coon for Drifter's supper?

Good sized rat, or small coon

You 2 are doing great. Keep at it. I have to ask, though the years, how much fur has hit the tail gate of that truck ??

Not much considering I only got that truck this year, LOL.

Today produced just a dinky coon and an even dinkier beaver. But, it was an interesting day all the same. I got to the last location, and the first thing I noticed was that I had a sprung land set. Figured I'd reset it on the way back. Went to check the bodygrips. Noticed right off a set of fresh cat tracks in the mud. Got to my first set and my trap is gone! Just vanished. I'm looking around trying to figure out what happened... I spot the stabilizer... it was sorta bent over... so I looked in the direction it was bent towards and notice just the spring eye of my trap. At that point I thought it was sprung and empty so I started to pull on it and up comes a pile of guts! It finally dawned on me what had happened. I had caught the tiniest beaver I've ever caught in the trap. The rat I caught yesterday was bigger. And the cat had eaten the beaver and buried the rest of it under a mound of grass!

That cat be back tonight!

…. Make a set for that cat yote

Surprise waiting on it.

Added another to the pile today.

Nice pale one

Hand cramper there!

Today's contribution to the pile.

Beautiful!!!

Nice !!

… another good one

Kinda dark and looks a little singed to me.

… yeah it’s absolute garbage

… I was just trying to be supportive lol

they catching them high and dry in the sunlight, do they even down grade for singe now?

LOL

This was the first one that was singed much. Others looked good.

That otter haul is impressive !

This was it for today.

Nice job yote trapper

Are them otters hard to skin or flesh?

That’s not on the board, correct?

No hobbie, on the board.



Not the easiest critters. Skinning them isn't too bad, fleshing them sucks a bit more. Still rather do either with an otter than a freaking beaver though!

I really worry about you

Pete always had beaver pelts that had 8 legs, lol. He use to catch them on the 'installment plan' as well , lol. I don't think he's lost any love for beaver either in other words, lol. Id rather do 4 beaver than 1 otter!

Don't go giving away my trade secrets

I've had the same thing happen with cats covering nutria or beaver in conibears. The cat will be back for seconds.

Those otters look well fed. Kind of like our fish hatchery otters out here.

Lol

Well I wasn't overjoyed to come upon our first catch of the day!



But the second catch took some of the sting out, lol.

Yote, you appear to be a pretty fair beaver trapper. And Emmett thinks that cat is pretty dang cool.

You reckon that's the beaver eating cat you had?

Good deal … is that the cat that had covered the beaver?

Nope. Or at least i doubt it. Couple miles away.

Here's the tailgate shot...

Nice !! ...I see spots

Nice catch you two. A good day.

Your doing great and having fun. that is the way to do it........jk

Looks like your having a hoot. Cool cat

You must really hate the beaver. Looks like he is in the corner for the tailgate shot!

LOL

Nice catch!

wish we was closer i could sit in my high backed bar stool and put up the beaver

I put up the first beaver..... the rest are being sold green lol.

The shame of it all

Remember..her claim is "yotetrapper"...not "beaver trapper". Even though she does seem to be doing fairly well at it this year

Great catches, looks fun.

Another nice follow along Post. thanks for taking us with you.......jk

Nice tailgate shot. Pretty cat.

Another otter today. Dark one.

This was it for today....




Cut a wee bit too deep when skinning the little beaver...did NOT want to deal with guts lol. Redneck ingenuity right here LOL.

A day without smelling beaver guts is like a day without sunshine!

How many legs did that one end up with? haha

You can inspect my fur handling tomorrow to see if it's up to your standards or not, lol. Probably not...I suck at putting up fur lol.

Ive got 100 uses for zip ties....now 101
That had me almost spit my coffee laughing this morning, great redneck ingenuity!

just caught up on this post , good job and thanks for taking us along