Got asked to remove coons from one of those half round quonset barns. Had two grain hoppers in it you pull or store grain in. Chicken coop next to it. Owner walked in the other night and six coons ran out. Not good with a coop so close. KS has an extended season now for coons. There are restrictions on traps used outside of regular trapping season so put 10 dog proofs in it. Floor is dirt so staked down. 2 the first night, three the second, 4 the third and one today. So I'm sure I least thinned them out good. Little break on waiting for winter to come back.

That is how its done Danny.

Its a shame that certain groups know more about conservation than the people living where the action is at. If fur could be used at a free market price people could once again harvest in the winter at a small profit and keep the numbers manageable. There is coons literally everywhere around here. It bothers me to shoot some nuisance critter and just pitch it in a hole. I was raised not to waste resources but that is where we have evolved to. In the mean time the people at the top of the rights groups rake in the cash from their pawns sending money to them thinking they are helping a good cause!

Well done thats good trapping.

Nice work sir.
Jim

I could use you in Lafayette County, Wi..

Have coons bothering , my beehives. Using a box trap. I have caught 4 , in about a week. a skunk and a cat, let it go. It was mine. old243

Poor ole coons

Nice work on the coons. Those open barns are just magnets for the trash pandas around here.

There is a distinct difference between wanton waste and protecting a greater good. I agree its a complete waste and despicable to kill just for the sake of seeing that crimson red splattered and tossing a critter aside for the vultures. However, look at what 10 coon can do to 3 acres of standing corn. Corn that is left standing all winter to provide for deer, coon, turkeys, and so on when the snow and ice is deep and sub zero temps. For my place, that 3 acres I leave every year is just about right. Mild years, there is corn left in March and other years its nearly 100% gone by March. But 10 coon can wipe out more than 30% of it by Jan 1. Worse is they pull the stalks down and then ears of corn get buried in snow/ice when other animals need it most. Additionally, if I leave that stand of corn near my building, they get infested with them and the damage they do is $$$$$. Between coon, woodchucks, and pine (red) squirrels, I don't think twice about giving them 40gr of lead or brief detaining in a trap. The greater good for more and a variety of critters out weighs the 20 to 30 I whack to protect my equipment and food sources

#11 today.

way to help out, good job,

Strong work, Danny! Did you toss all 11 of them in a corn crib to wait until they prime up? I actually knew a guy that did that with fox in the late 70's. He'd start trapping early (no season in those days) to get the jump on the competition. When you drove in to his place the fox were bouncing around in there looking like bingo balls down at a "Home"! Funny part was, one season he had a big wad of them in there and something gave loose and near $2000 worth of Reds all vamoosed. It always tickled me because the guy was always a rule bender/breaker. Again, great job helping your farmer pal.

places like that with a coop of stinky birds and easy grain access if you go back and set every other week you pull 2-3 more out.

I was trapping around the turkey poults last year 5 my first night skipped a night then 3 , then none for a night , then 2 , then about every 3 days 1-2 more and it just kept going

While I get great enjoyment from fur trapping I have always trapped fur with the goal of being profitable. It made me a more successful trapper. Money was tight when I was growing up and when I had a family to support. In the late 80's I started doing ADC work part time as an avocation in addition to my factory job. In 1991 I went full time into doing ADC work. Did it for 15 years until my military injuries prevented me from doing some of the more profitable parts of that business. Early this summer I did some coon removal for two farmers I have known for better than forty years. They are three miles apart and needed me at two different time periods. As an experiment, I "helped" them out. I was on each job 7 days. I hammered their coon problems. My vehicle costs are approximately $0.75 per mile to operate. The shortest route to one farm was just over 14 miles or 28+ miles round trip. The other farm was just over 17 miles or 34+ miles round trip. You do the math. I did. What was my time worth to drive up there and back each day, plus the time to scout, set up and reset each day after dispatching the caught coons? Traps are not free. Especially good coon cage traps which I had to use. I can say that I saved those two farmers a lot of money when you figure out how much damage a coon does by crapping on hay bales, eating grain and crapping in the grain silos or grain bins. Not to mention the cost of lost feed when a coon tears open the side of silage loaf. Did I do it for "free"? NO! It costs me several hundred dollars just in mileage costs to "help" them out. I paid to provide them with a top valuable service. Those coon and their offspring cannot be caught again this fall even if I had permission to trap on those farms as they are dead, so that potential fur money to offset my costs is lost.

Yes, I did get permission to trap on their farms, after the fact, but due to the hunting rights being leased out I am not allowed to trap either farm until after December 1st at the earliest, unless it is an open winter. Then they will keep deer hunting and I won't be able to trap until they are finished.

The lesson here is that "free" is when you breakeven. The second lesson is your knowledge, skills, and abilities as a fur harvester, predator control specialist, or nuisance wildlife control operator are extremely valuable but they should come at a high price. No different than a plumber, electrician, or an attorney. Trapping and hunting of furbearers and fur-bearing predators is a commercial service industry. Treat it as such.

Nice job Danny.

Good Deal Danny