Nebraska Line 2018

It's been a busy year for me working two jobs, and going back to school full time. Can't keep the trapping out of me though I have been dabbling a little bit. Five degrees this morning and not much moving gave me a little time to post before I go to clinical today. I've got a handful of traps going to keep me happy as I wait for the 26th when I'll have 10 days to go crazy trapping. I'm back working night shifts in the emergency department which has been nice for day time checking for the first time in a number of years while working.

Here's a few sets which show how I generally run dirtholes all together. Same song same dance probably 90% of the time.

Here's a quick look at locations for me. This is a narrow strip that runs between two hog units. Definitely a lot of coyote traffic. I hear them howling almost nightly in this section. The strip runs an entire mile long, and connects the two in a low spot making it easy for the coyotes to travel along the highway.



Problem this year is the true supreme diggers have decided they want to be active before the coyotes get there.




Here's my favorite helper standing in front of the remake.

I've got a few coon sets in some problem locations. I do have an elevator they've been seeing up to 8 in the daylight. The boss can't get the workers to go work on the elevator because there's constantly coons crawling through the equipment. Really haven't hit much for size on the coons this year like I was hoping there have been a lot of late litters and dinks. None the less I take them when they need them gone to hold permissions.



Someone forgot to tell this coyote that he wasn't a racoon. Nothing but bacon grease in the tube. Trap exposed 1.5. You can see it reset in the picture.

I have noticed that fox numbers have been increasing in areas where I really have put the pressure on the coyotes. It's always nice to see them in the traps. At dismal prices I am currently releasing all of them that I am able to without damage. The kids were at my parents one weekend and my wife decided to come check with me. She doesn't go often but her favorite thing to see is the fox. Well she got her wish. She also got to watch him run off untouched.



I'm not much to look at.... but never afraid to rock my Nebraska Fur Harvester hat.


Haven't caught all the coyotes on the place just yet though.

Remakes typically look like this for me until they are ground down to where I have to start adding dirt behind to guide them.



This woodpile has been a magnet on this location for years. If you've followed me in the past you've likely seen me posting catch pictures at this very spot. Over and over I'll catch coyotes in this draw throughout the year.



I call this one the calm before the storm. This coyote was caught a couple days before the first snow of the year for us.

I've got nine traps in right now just enough to keep me satisfied until I can go crazy on them. Been a fun week. We have deer season going on now which always makes things interesting. I actually had a guy drive out to me doing a remake and thought oh boy here we go, but he then proceeded to ask who's ground it was we were on....one of those moments like if you're out here driving around on it why are you asking me? I think he was a little nervous as I came in the only way out, and he was there before me....got a chuckle out of it.

We've had some good Nebraska weather over the last week or so. We went from 50 high's with 20 lows with light rain, to around 3 inches of snow which has melted off, and this morning it's currently five degrees. It's been a good test run for keeping sets working which I think is the biggest hurdle to catching animals personally. So far I've been able to pretty well keep everything popping without an issue. Gives me a little confidence for what's to come. Matt is coming from Indiana to trap with me for 10 days for his third time, and he seems to always bring the weather with him. My truck's heater went out so I have just enough motor heat to keep the windows from fogging, and I really don't have time to get it in the shop....I've decided it's become an expensive wind block and that's about it. Overall though, it' been a good start to the season and I'm enjoying every second out there and especially in the daylight.

This coyote had visited a set in the snow but had not found the pan, I sat back and was patient even though my instincts were to go rough it up and make it noticeable. Patience does pay off. He was caught and his mate was standing with him when I pulled up. There is a second trap there but she hadn't worked it. I let the 270 bark when I pulled up, and she's laying dead in the grass draw directly over his back. The only thing not froze in this picture is the trap bed. Just the way it's supposed to be.

Very nice.


Dan

Good to see you back in action Wade. I’ll be looking forward to your post from vacation time. Good luck out there

Awesome pics Wade!
Getting me fired up to go soon. Waiting until end of the month yet and man it can't get here fast enough!
Good job and keep those pics coming Wade!
Jim

Great Post

Great pictures Wade. Betcha your glad it ain't raining anymore. Enjoy the rest of the season.

Nice job....like the badger..

Thanks for sharing

You have the touch!! Did you filter some of your pixs? The sky is so interesting in a couple of them!! Enjoy your 10 days of running wild and best wishes for finishing your school degree.

Love the pics, and story. 270 double...

Good job!

Great pics Wade! Always enjoy your threads...

Thanks for sharing, Wade. Will be setting as soon as deer season ends. Having a hard time holding off.

Very nice! Great pics

Nice pics and catches.

Yep little touch up on the phone makes the skies look a little more interesting. The farmer can’t believe the coyotes run out in the middle of nowhere. I’m trying to get a couple good ones to blow up for him. He let me on an awfully large stretch of ground this season.

Well it's been a grind of a week. I pulled two extra shifts at the prison I work at in the beginning of the week. I've been making sure everything is ready for this next week's adventures. I snapped off the few traps I had out last week as things were getting pretty busy. I have two finals left to take this semester I wish I could hammer them out right now, but they don't open until next Monday. It looks as though Matt and I are going to get a little rain then 1-3 inches of snow with high's in the 30s for our first week. Could be better but it definitely could be worse. Either way I'll be out doing what I love for 10 days straight.

I got out and pre-dug dirtholes and trap beds prior to the freeze up that's coming. I figured I may as well get some sets in the ground ready. I have all but 20 traps out now just waiting to be baited and set. I've got three locations that have really trumped me in the past regarding travel routes. Last year prime locations went dead for the entire vacation, and I am really not sure why. I'm hoping with the snow on the ground I'll be able to get right on top of them or if they aren't there use those traps at different properties. One thing that's really stuck in my mind from talking with the guys that hammer those coyotes is the fact you can't catch them if they aren't there. The other two locations I didn't pre-dig are new to me, and have some real potential but once again I'm going to let the snow show me where the coyotes are going.


Here's a shot the other morning I went out and hit them in as fast as I could racing the sun and the freeze. As soon as it came across the horizon things got pretty slick out there mud wise. It'll likely be something we'll have to battle the entire time. I had 40 sets in generally two traps per square mile by about 1030 am.




The plan is to get all 60 sets running which is all I really want to keep running on the first day. It's pretty much going to be a grind, but traps in the back of my truck don't catch coyotes. I've got four 12 hour night shifts ahead of me left starting tonight, and Monday I'll be running with 0 sleep like a zombie but I'm going to get them in the ground. You can always sleep when you're dead right? My plan is to get all 60 foot holds in the first day, and the second day drop snares on travel routes I've found in the snow. I'll be letting loose on cats on the 1st so I'll add those traps on drags when the time comes. Matt will fill in the holes I miss as always and hopefully we can get a good run on them.


Here's a shot of another badger I caught the morning before I popped the few sets off I had out. These things are absolutely everywhere this year. Holes in almost every field. Matt's excited he calls them the silver gorillas. To someone that doesn't have them they're pretty cool. To me they are a pain but do have their place in bringing the yotes my direction. Sun was just hitting the horizon made for a nice picture.

Wade,
Always enjoy your posts. Great pictures. Always nice to get the family to come along.
If it ain't too noisy, what are you going back to school on? It takes a lot of hard work and determination to work, go to college and trap some. I know.
Keep up the good work and keep the pictures and posts coming.
mac

Hey Mac,
I work full time in the emergency room which I have for almost 10 years, and I work part time in medical in a prison for nursing. I'll have my nurse practitioner degree in a little over a year. The schooling isn't so bad as most of it is online, but I do have around 120 hours of clinical per semester (over 16 weeks) on top of working full time, and generally 12 hours a week at the prison. I've averaged around 48 hours a week over the last 7 years total. So I just really wasn't able to ever really get much going besides a few traps to keep me happy. That'll change Monday but the weather just gets rougher and rougher. We're looking at rain, snow, and then down in the teens followed by a half of inch of rain turning to freezing rain late next week. I hope the weathermen are wrong as always. Either way we are going to be out in it giving it our best. Matt's coming over 8 hours to trap so there's no saying no. I still have two finals to take for courses, but those are going to have to wait for a slow day on the line. I plan to set from the time I get off at 7 am on Monday until dark.

go get 'em wade!
I'm starting next Thursday and am watching weather like a hawk this weekend and rest of next week.
I'm ready, got everything sorted and ready to lock and load the night before. Been on horn with all of the landowners and got a green light on all across the board, even picked up 3 new farms I haven't seen before. neighbors of existing landowner relationships, got to love word of mouth!
starting to wonder if I put up enough waxed dirt now. Next year I bet I double down on what I did this year for sure.
Going to be some short nights each week for sure. by our family schedules I can't go some nights until well after 8:00PM, or get up at 3:00AM and run them before school and work, but hey season only comes once a year.
keep us posted!
Jim

Son that's the work ethnic that built this country. Go get um!!! Wish more of your generation had it.

Just how I was raised I guess...problem with my generation starts with their parents in my opinion. As usual Matt brought a pretty good string of weather with him to Nebraska. Matt made it in tonight finally after quite some time on the road. Guy drove thru a blizzard to come kill coyotes so I guess I don't have any room to complain. Once I get off at 7 we're going to go see what the country has to offer us. We got about an inch of slush, 6-8 inches of snow, and from what I've heard from people in the country I've got 5-6 foot drifts to dig through in the morning. Don't know how fast we'll get em out but we're going to get something out.

Here's a picture Matt sent before his departure, I bet his truck looks amazing now.


Here's a shot out the back door of the ambulance bay tonight. Picture doesn't do it a whole lot of justice, but I'll snap some in the morning. There were trucks getting stuck in the parking lot this morning in the drifts from what I've been told. One thing about Matt and I out trapping even a horrible day trapping is better than one in the office.

Good Luck Wade!

Have a little down time so I thought I'd fill you guys in on our little adventure. First of all I've realized I shouldn't have present around 40 traps. I still have 15 or so that are under 5-6 foot snow drifts, and there's no recovering them at this point. That being said Matt and I are having a ball and giving those critters everything we have. We pretty much have all of the line set out now that we are able to access. I've got about 8 locations that we just can't even get in the fields due to snow drifts, and we have rain coming soon. Maybe it'll knock some of it down for us. One good thing about snow is we've been able to set right on top of the coyotes, and there seems to be plenty. We will be dropping in cat sets in a couple days as our season opens the 1st. Until then it's sit back and let them work.

Here's a shot of Matt on the first day snow drifts or not he's a happy camper.


Here is the man out getting a set in to catch us a dog. He looks pretty lonesome out there with all that white stuff.


This is what happens when you let an Indiana guy at the wheel for a while. Just kidding in his defense I told him to follow my old tracks. That was before the storm, and neither of us were paying much attention. We had snow up to the door, and that's a hill we're going down. I was standing and walking on the drift. That's the only time we've been stuck, but I had to call in a favor. We dug the tires out enough to get pulled out backwards, but never touched the ground. I'd say it's at least 6 feet at the lowest point about where I am.

Anyways enough snow right? We've dug out twice, and pulled out once over the last couple days. The good news is I let a couple farms go on fox last year, and boy did they fill up. I know it's hard to see but you're looking at multiple sets of tracks on snow drifts at least 10 sets or so.



Here's a couple of what our sets are turning into. It's down right work, but I'm loving it. Hopefully the coyotes don't mind the small bombs that have went off all over the place.

We aren't breaking records but we're on location and the animals are starting to show up. We've got most of them on fresh tracks following the snow so we might have to wait for them to come back through. We did set some areas blind on location which we hope start to connect.

We've continued to battle the elements, and had a couple good days. Unfortunately just as the snow drifts were beginning to melt down it has now just began to down pour. We're expecting an inch or more tonight, and then continued rain changing to snow for the next three days. Highs following the rain will be 27 starting Sunday. Will sure find out just how well we have our sets freeze proofed. With the snow melting and the extra rain I'm not sure much is going to save us we might have a long day of remakes coming Sunday. Even our waxed dirt will likely be completely under water in some places by Sunday morning. It isn't going to freeze tonight so we'll be checking for mud covered dogs in the morning. On a good note cat season opens on the 1st and nothing makes us happier than chasing bobcats. Anyways here's a few shots of us out and about.

Matt caught the pair on the first fox of the year for our vacation line. She came back the next night.


We were beginning to wonder if we were just fox trappers. I had this guy on camera along with a number of coyotes, but he showed up first. We had a coyote move through that night luckily he didn't want the fox. Little warmer by afternoon here he was a mess.


With the warm weather came the bandits and grinners. Stopped to snap a quick one of Matt with one of his coons.

It's really too bad coons aren't worth much the muddy prints bouncing all over the snow drifts are amazing right now with the warm up. We could easily blind set them or snare about as many as we'd like to handle in a day.



Finally we aren't fox trappers anymore.

It’s been a adventure this year no doubt...

Nice.

thanks for posting the pics and telling about your catches. Keep on hammering them but finish up your education.

Good job wade!
I snuck out and got a few sets in, picked up a lone coyote and a possum.
It started raining late yesterday afternoon and has not stopped for last 14 hours. Supposed to keep raining today then change over to all snow tonight and through Monday. Not as much snow here but north central part of state could see 15" and with wind that will be serious.
Stay after them wade!
Jim


Bridger 1.75 and dirthole set with Carmen's bushwacker bait and dobbins backbreaker lure

Really love following this thread!!!!!! I'm standing in line waiting in the wings if Matt decides he can't make it one year!!!!!! LOL!!

Wade these are some very tough conditions! We had two inches of rain then nonstop snow and wind all weekend.
Every creek is flooded, the fields are a sloppy mess, have to walk every inch of our line.
Noah and I managed another coyote and a pair of muddy DP coon, plus possums.
Good luck everyone and stay safe.
Will be repacking a lot of traps this week after I get the mudballs chipped out of the ground first.
Jim
Coyote in #2 Montana round jaw, dirthole with hiawatha valley.


Coon in DP with homemade bait


Another muddy coon in DP with homemade bait

Jim I hear you I like a challenge but this weather has been really giving it to us. I've dropped 12 pounds so far. I'm working overnight tonight, and we'll do it all over again in the morning. Probably be 36 or so hours of no sleep. Did take my last final today just before my night shift and for those worried about me finishing school I passed all courses for the semester above 94% so now I can go crazy trapping until January. That's a pretty big relief.

I haven't taken any pictures of the coons as we've went this week, but they have been out in full force. This is the first time I can honestly say I've seen coon drown/succumb to water on supposed to be dryland sets overnight. We have a 24 hour check here, and even then we are finding them done by the time we arrive and some have even been hit by birds of prey. Today was the first day we were able to get back around with the truck which was a nice change. Don't realize how much you miss that heater until you're riding around on those UTV's with snow slapping you in the face. It doesn't appear we will get above freezing the remainder of the time Matt is here which is also a relief. No freeze thaw to fight.

This is one of the better maintained roads we have been on. Once we got the 2 inches of rain, and the drifts began to melt. Water appeared where water generally never is. Here's a melting snow pack which came over the road, and this was happening almost everywhere. All the creeks are at their peak or over the top.


We've been getting a little snow off and on most of the time since the big one. The good news is we are setting right on top of cat tracks. The bad news is we don't have any control whether they will return while we are out. We have four checks left. Most of my typical cat locations are looking promising for sign, and even after Matt leaves I'll probably continue on with the cats. These make us happy.

Just my typical luck as you can see I'm in the middle of nowhere. Surrounded by icy snowy ground on the end of a pivot. Open bean field with no timber for 100's of yards, but I found myself a skunk. Matt thought it would be appropriate to take a picture as I was doing the remake. I had a member of Tman make that hat in Alaska. I don't wear that thing unless it's super cold as it'll make your ears sweat at 20 degrees.


Nothing makes me happier than catching these guys. I've already had one person tell me I should have been shooting instead of snapping pictures. Yes I know it was toe caught, and no I didn't care. I'd much rather have a picture of it and have it run off then worry about the monetary value (for the record it didn't run off and I didn't shoot it). Today was the first day we were able to access the 40 acres that I caught 7 cats off last season in a couple weeks time. It still has cats and one big tom I'd like to see up close man they were some tracks. I'm pretty happy about where we are sitting on cats just have to come back through the area which is always the challenge with them. They are definitely there. We spent the whole day taking 1-2 inches of now frozen water off most of our sets. Wax dirt below was good, but some of them they couldn't even get to the trap with the ice. Last night was the first hard freeze we've had. We're back online for coyotes.

Nice cat!

Thanks, it was a nice sight to see with the pummeling we've been getting. Hoping we are on location for a couple more, and I know we're in position to hit some coyotes pretty hard the next couple days. They sure are moving. Can't wait to get off work here in a few hours, and get back out there.

Good job wade! I managed to develope a nice sinus infection to help me walk our line more effectively i guess.
Ha ha
My butt is dragging but the going is getting better as the ground freezes and can walk on the mud easier. I have to fish out a mink box sometime whenever the creek I set it along goes back to normal flow. Its staked down to prevent coon from moving it to get the fish inside.
Starting realize I didn't put up nearly enough waxed dirt, too. Have rebedded the whole line at least once already and am starting it over again tonight. Ugh. Open bean field sets in a downpour for 15 straight hours. It's not the wax dirt that fails as much as the oozing in of the surrounding dirt from the field then hard freeze at night. Snow melt creating caps on any low spots. I don't think I found one single operable trap last night. I was beat and pressed for time but could clearly see what I needed to do tonight.
Good luck and thanks for the update! Good job on the cat!
Jim

Congrats passing the exams too, wade.
Jim

Enjoy following your posts. I'm resetting my K-9 sets, pulled them all because of the blizzard. We only ended up with 4 inches of snow, but received 1.45in. of rain If that rain had been snow, it would have been ugly.

I hear you Larry, we trapped right through it. We got around 2 inches on top of the snow drifts we already had it was quite a nightmare. Weather has been good the last couple days.

Been loving life on the line the last couple days. Matt is set to lift off tomorrow. We'll be leaving around 3-4 a.m as I've got to work tomorrow night, and I'd like a little sleep. Finally we are getting into the yotes a bit. I will likely keep a small cat line going while I work with a few coyote sets mixed in as long as I can keep it up while working. It's been probably the hardest out of the three vacations we've trapped together, and we have worked for everything we caught. If I could have read the future this would have been a good 10 day stretch to really hammer them. They are moving and we have sign on almost every stop at least every 1-2 days. With the conditions I've been running straight wax dirt, and I know people will swear you can run it straight with little issue but the snow doesn't lie. It's frustrating watching coyotes charge your set only to stop short of your dirt pattern over and over again. We've began to blend the sets now that we aren't getting anymore snow or rain and the results are amazing catching coyotes on sets redone yesterday with simple blending. Found a couple traps we couldn't get to for a while under 4-5 inches of shelf ice on the bottom of terraces, what a week it's been.

Here's a cat set I put in yesterday. That's Tracy's cat magic. We'll see if it's the ticket or not. The first cat I caught had it at the set. I put my housecat into a trance with it for Matt. She literally laid on the living room floor for a good 15 minutes in euphoria. It's pretty neat stuff.



Big female dog that Matt picked up. Early morning runs make it hard to get pics.



We're the only people crazy enough to be out roaming the country side in this weather. We took advantage. Yes that's a coyote just over my truck. She was amazingly well hid until we got close.


She wouldn't move from this position no matter how much I tried to get her to.

I ran into some cat ground last season thanks to a tip from a bowhunter. He said he'd seen more bobcats then he ever had in his life there. I set that 40 acres last year and took 7 cats off it. We couldn't access it until two days ago due to the weather. It's okay I was still able to get Matt on a cat before he left.


Speaking of cats. That's my Bridger #3 hanging about four feet off the ground (in between the two trees) from the tree, and me trying to get my drag down. Matt likes to take pictures of me when I'm doing something he finds funny. This cat shredded the original tree I had the drag wrapped around, then took the 10 foot of chain up the tree and jumped out when he hit the end of the chain. It was quite the scene as the tree was covered in scratching up and down, and he left me a little hair as he must have pulled out when he hit the end. His tracks went quite quickly up the hill side. I'll try again soon.

Here's a few more pictures of us with what we were hoping to get a lot more of this week, but we still had a much better time than we would have at work....

Been back at work. I'm running a little line to keep myself happy. The weather sure has improved but it looks like rain soon. Can't win them all. Had a chance to get my family out on the line. This is the first live coon my son has seen and he was sure excited, my daughter has seen just about everything caught.



Finally took out a digger coon on a feedlot. Things are looking up there. Counted 7 sets of tracks on the first day in the snow here, so I have been patient. I'm getting closer to knocking them down. Unfortunately as most feedlots mange has been an issue. Only one made the ride home..

Haven't targeted the coons much until yesterday I set up a farm place. Now that I am getting in some cat country and in the thick stuff and the warm weather I've been pulling them pretty well unfortunately. A number of them aren't coming home with me on top of grinners. Two days ago I realized I now don't have a trap out that doesn't have some type of catch circle.



Closest thing to a possum coon I've seen. Lady is upset the raccoons keep eating her cat food. Guess I'll see how many I can catch here. I only set 4 traps.



I'm okay seeing these pluggers. Totally exposed cat set. They just stumble right in.

Been nice being the only one out in the country side. Watched coyotes cross the road, but didn't have it in me to set the place until yesterday. Glad I did. Looked like some coon hounds found their way to this coyote last night, but apparently he was more than they could handle. See if I can double up here on the remake. I'm not far off the road and he's totally visible but I'm rolling the dice.



I purchased some Wolf Creek #2 dogless last year from Glen W. and I have been nothing short of impressed with the deep catches. If this trap goes off almost everything is buried beyond the pan.



Did have a cat pull out this morning right as I pulled up, and stepped out of the truck. Was a nice one to boot. Oh well you can't catch them all.

Haven't had a whole lot of time to update as life has gotten a bit busy. Patience paid off on the cats. Had a two cat check which is always a good thing.

This tom is probably one of the larger cats I've caught to date. This picture doesn't do him justice. He was crouched down. He had my tinsel down which was about four feet in the air. I never did find it I think he ate it. I can only hope getting him off the ground will open up the ability of the cats to keep a few more alive till they are adults. He definitely didn't have any fear of me. He was on location where I caught 5 cats from the one trap previously last year. For whatever reason they funnel down this small creek from a larger creek leading to a rock pile. The cat I had pull out a few days before was definitely not this cat. Crazy how many cats seem to populate this property. I took a total of seven off of it last season. This is the third cat caught there this year. It's only about 40 acres.





Committed to the #2 dogless on an exposed set.

This cat was at the location I caught the one while Matt was here. I sure wish I had her belly on that tom's outline. She was also caught on an exposed set with Lazarus's silvervine in a tea bag. I fought coons here multiple times/days. I even had a deer step on the pan one day, and a cat follow through the same night and drop on the pan. Felt good to see another one bouncing around.





Had one more coyote thrown in there on the feedlot too. Mangiest one I caught there yet. Not a hair on it's tail.

Nice cat. I wish we had cats like you have. I've only ever caught 1 and only have seen 3 or 4 in my life. I did have 1 on a trail camera where I hunt deer.

I'm glad you finally beat the weather for while!! Nice action!! I hope all your yotes grad high!!

It was definitely a year of learning. Mother nature humbled me pretty well. That's for sure. It was still a blast I'm hoping to sneak out for 10 days late this year for some cats...

Good job wade!
Jim