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The June team is laying steel again

Posted By: Anonymous

The June team is laying steel again - 12/21/19 12:22 AM

It's been quite a few years since Donna and I trapped together as a team, but because we stopped selling retail this year, she now has time to go trapping! She hasn't forgot how to put fur in the buggy or truck. She say's it's like; "Riding a bike."

First night dog and bobcat and then another nice bobcat today.

Plus, boy do I eat better in the evenings when we return to the bunkhouses. No more microwave cuisine!

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Posted By: jarentz

Re: The June team is laying steel again - 12/21/19 12:43 AM

Good luck to you both!
Posted By: Flint Hill fur

Re: The June team is laying steel again - 12/21/19 12:47 AM

Getem Mark an Donna!
Posted By: adam m

Re: The June team is laying steel again - 12/21/19 12:47 AM

Awesome
Posted By: rick olson

Re: The June team is laying steel again - 12/21/19 01:02 AM

Thank's for sharing some of your adventure's enjoy,but i know you are,tight chains my friend.You guy's must have a couple weeks off!
Posted By: Anonymous

Re: The June team is laying steel again - 12/21/19 01:08 AM

Rick,

Thank you sir. I have 4 weeks off from Seminary studies and the Mrs. and I are spending quality time together like any couple does = trapping!
We have 3 ranches lined up during this time and we're just hoping for clear weather, cooler temps, and a spiff of wind (nothing crazy).

Merry Christmas Rick!
Mark
Posted By: rick olson

Re: The June team is laying steel again - 12/21/19 01:14 AM

Merry Christmas to you and Donna also.
Posted By: Hodagtrapper

Re: The June team is laying steel again - 12/21/19 01:17 AM

To God be the glory! Best wishes as the line and your life unfolds!

Chris
Posted By: Tactical.20

Re: The June team is laying steel again - 12/21/19 02:10 AM

Looks cold there, lol good luck!
Posted By: Anonymous

Re: The June team is laying steel again - 12/21/19 02:15 AM

Hodagtrapper, thank you for the kind words of blessing. Merry Christmas brother.

Tac20 - typical south Texas weather this time of year. Freeze in the morning with high humidity to boot (100% today) and fry your bacon and dry in the afternoon. You bring layers for the daily clothing ritual of "peeling" as you go. Plus we work out of a Kawasaki mule and that's a bit nippier than a truck as you might expect.
Thanks for the good luck! To you as well in the heartland.

Mark
Posted By: upstateNY

Re: The June team is laying steel again - 12/21/19 02:29 AM

Merry Christmas to you both,,and Im glad your eating better now! LOL laugh
Posted By: bandy

Re: The June team is laying steel again - 12/21/19 03:02 AM

Nice just started here in Virginia today
Posted By: Maddog47

Re: The June team is laying steel again - 12/21/19 03:49 AM

Great photos Mark. Have fun you both deserve it.
Posted By: Trapper Dahlgren

Re: The June team is laying steel again - 12/21/19 11:37 AM

way to go guys ,nice to see you both out havening fun , maybe we can get you guys back to the u. p. again , keep posting what you catch
Posted By: wheelers

Re: The June team is laying steel again - 12/21/19 11:42 AM

Good Luck Mark and Donna
Posted By: pcr2

Re: The June team is laying steel again - 12/21/19 11:46 AM

very nice folks
Posted By: Anonymous

Re: The June team is laying steel again - 12/21/19 12:25 PM

Thanks y'all. I'll keep posting a bit as Donna reels 'em in. I gotta admit, she made her first few sets after not having steel in the ground in a few years and it was pretty cool. She asked, "what do you think, does it look ok?" and I just smiled with hubby pride. "Yah babe" I told her, "that'll work just fine." She got the set in the ground quick too.

A few sets down the road, she's looking at my set as I finish up and she mentions, "you might want to grab that little piece of grass and open that up a bit." Good eye Billy! Good eye!
She's got an eye for fencing that it seems you either have or you don't... she does and that's a good thing. Showing the critter where to step is critical.
So we'll continue today and for the next three and a half weeks on this and two more ranches after we pull here.

Dahlgren, man we might make it make up to the UP. We love you folks. Feels like home when we're there, let me tell ya brother. Let's do some FISHING!

Wheelers, thank you and happy birthday, you old beaver trapper you.
Posted By: la4wd54

Re: The June team is laying steel again - 12/21/19 12:45 PM

That's great Mark, my wife goes w me every chance she gets. Sure is nice to have her along
Bet your Windwalker is still killing the cats too huh? Merry Christmas to yall, tight chains.
Posted By: Anonymous

Re: The June team is laying steel again - 12/22/19 01:26 AM

As Ma weather can do sometimes, we got enough hard rain during the night to bugger the sets/dirt, so we had coyotes and bobcats standing "firm" on the sets.
So today we got busy busy and relured the line as necessary, pulled all traps from their trap beds, shook the Texas cement out of them... and put in another dozen sets to boot.

Donna was having fun working on sets!"

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Posted By: Michael Lippold

Re: The June team is laying steel again - 12/22/19 03:56 AM

Nice work Miss Donna! Glad you got some time off and get to spend it with the boss doing some trapping. Merry Christmas to your family from mine!
Posted By: Birdman382

Re: The June team is laying steel again - 12/22/19 04:10 AM

My goosh Donna this trapping thing makes you younger every day. By the way TEACH mark a thing or to. Mark you are a Lucky man to have the time off and a trapping buddy. Merry Christmas to you and your family. i sure do miss seeing you both at Marsfield Wi convention. Bless you both. Till we meet again!
Posted By: Anonymous

Re: The June team is laying steel again - 12/22/19 11:35 AM

Michael,

Merry Christmas to you and yours sir. Donna is having a blast laying steel again and it's fun watching her get sets in fast, efficient, and deadly. I was actually laughing out loud a few times when I came up to peek at her set after I finished and A. She was about done B. Dang the set was top notch! She redid a couple yesterday I liked better than mine. I do drive the stake for her to save us time as this ranch has a layer of hard pan down 4 inches that is REAL!

Birdman - She is very competitive and we don't need to egg her on brother! grin We miss the fine folks in WI for sure.
Posted By: Grandpa

Re: The June team is laying steel again - 12/22/19 12:30 PM

your windwalker lure is the one that should be named widow maker WOW looking for new sleeping quarters!~~
Posted By: Matt28

Re: The June team is laying steel again - 12/22/19 02:16 PM

Wind walker is one heck of a lure!
Originally Posted by Grandpa
your windwalker lure is the one that should be named widow maker WOW looking for new sleeping quarters!~~
Posted By: SD Coon Catcher

Re: The June team is laying steel again - 12/22/19 04:42 PM

Good post!
Posted By: Flint Hill fur

Re: The June team is laying steel again - 12/22/19 05:23 PM

Big fan of wind walker myself. Good early yote lure and works wonders on the kitties
Posted By: Ranger109

Re: The June team is laying steel again - 12/22/19 11:29 PM

Look forward to following along with you this season, stack em up! Post lots of pix of your set.
Posted By: Anonymous

Re: The June team is laying steel again - 12/23/19 01:01 AM

Because of the Christmas Holiday time frame, the ranch we're on is hosting a bunch of folks, and we all knew the situation coming into this week. It be a bit frantic with folks hunting, riding the ranch, and having fun on their time off at their ranch.

We're just trapping a week (6 checks) on this 720 acre high fence and then we pull traps on Tuesday, celebrate Christmas with kids and grandkids, and then off Donna and I go to another ranch to set traps for a week on Thursday. This ranch I trapped last year, so I knew a bit about it, but the one of Thursday is a new predator contract for us. A week not quite time enough to hammer predators lock, stock and barrel, but we're doing real well.

A week here and there is all we could carve out this time of year for our ranchers - we're trying to help as many as we can as best we can.

Donna is doing fine on bobcats especially and this nice Tommy she caught on Blackie's Spotted Fury. Years ago, when Blackie was still alive, he gave her a bottle or two to try, and it works well for Donna and I see her putting in a little Spotted Fury from time to time when she wants to change up a bit. Good lure for sure on the bobcats and fox.

She found this nice little funnel point on an auxiliary road yesterday - we looked in "quiet" spots since the main roads were busy with people on 'em. First night kitty for Ms. Donna.

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Posted By: stumper

Re: The June team is laying steel again - 12/23/19 01:14 AM

Awesome!!! Great to see your out!!! Say hi to Doc for me from Adrian At Sodak Sports in Mitchell SD!!
Posted By: Anonymous

Re: The June team is laying steel again - 12/23/19 01:24 AM

Hey Stumper, good to here from you and I will say hi to Doc. He's a great guy to work for and with! None finer and we're on a lot of places. They said they were pheasant hunting and saw our products at a store in SD. He keeps us laughing so hard, we're hardly able to function, but he's got a wonderful slice of Texas here and he's busy, busy improving this, that, and the other. He's especially got beautiful young Gemsbok on his ranch.

Merry Christmas!

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Posted By: strike2x

Re: The June team is laying steel again - 12/23/19 02:43 AM

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Nice to see the lady's getting it done. My niece asked me to help her learn a little about trapping. She is really excited to learn and is willing to get dirty for it. This is her first catch ever. Been trying to get some fox but no luck on them yet. December 10th was our first day in the field.
Posted By: Anonymous

Re: The June team is laying steel again - 12/23/19 02:47 AM

strike2x, awesome photo that I predict you will pullout in years to come and get all mushy about.
Posted By: Wild_Idaho

Re: The June team is laying steel again - 12/23/19 03:39 AM

Very nice, sir. That is time well spent. Great pics.
Posted By: Anonymous

Re: The June team is laying steel again - 12/23/19 10:34 PM

I had to run the line by my lonesome today because Donna had to jet for home last night to get multiple dealer orders shipped today. She wants to nab another coyote real bad but it was only my turn today.

She'll resume trapping with me after Christmas up in the hill country of south central Texas on a new 1100 acre high fence ranch. Only a 7 day gig (all I can spare for this new place) so we'll get zipping and zagging and get traps out as best we can, as quick as we can. I download Google Earth to give me an advantage right from the start.

Stay tuned for more Texas fur from the Mrs. shortly.

Merry Christmas from the land of 74 degrees today.
30 at day break with 100% humidity and 74 at 5:00 pm with 22% humidity. Good old south Texas weather!
Posted By: Ron Marsh

Re: The June team is laying steel again - 12/24/19 01:43 PM

Merry Christmas to all of you. It is good to see you out and about.
No snow for Christmas here.
Posted By: Anonymous

Re: The June team is laying steel again - 12/24/19 11:39 PM

I had to run the line by my lonesome today, but fair is fair... Donna gets credit for catching this dandy bellied Tommie on a game trail bisecting the middle of the property. She just made the set a couple days ago and bingo... good location.

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Posted By: Anonymous

Re: The June team is laying steel again - 12/24/19 11:50 PM

Originally Posted by Ron Marsh
Merry Christmas to all of you. It is good to see you out and about.
No snow for Christmas here.


Merry Christmas Ron. Donna and I wish you many blessings in this season celebrating the birth of our Lord.

Mark
Posted By: Tom cat

Re: The June team is laying steel again - 12/24/19 11:55 PM

Merry Christmas and God bless y'all. Great job on the line btw.
Posted By: Pawnee

Re: The June team is laying steel again - 12/25/19 12:01 AM

If she traps as good as she cooks you might be in trouble Mark!!! Lol Merry Christmas to you and your family. Good luck and God bless.
Posted By: strike2x

Re: The June team is laying steel again - 12/25/19 12:37 AM

Mr. June if you should ever want a hand on one of your jobs you can message me and I would be there. I work cheap. Have a Blessed Christmas.
Posted By: GotFur3

Re: The June team is laying steel again - 12/25/19 02:03 AM

Glad to see you are back at it!!! Merry Christmas!!!
Posted By: Anonymous

Re: The June team is laying steel again - 12/25/19 01:05 PM

Originally Posted by strike2x
Mr. June if you should ever want a hand on one of your jobs you can message me and I would be there. I work cheap. Have a Blessed Christmas.


PM sent strike2x
Posted By: Anonymous

Re: The June team is laying steel again - 12/25/19 01:13 PM

Originally Posted by GotFur3
Glad to see you are back at it!!! Merry Christmas!!!


Merry Christmas to you as well GotFur3. May your Got Fur be full of beautiful fur this season brother!
Posted By: Hodagtrapper

Re: The June team is laying steel again - 12/25/19 02:04 PM

Merry Christmas and daily blessings in the upcoming New Year!

Chris
Posted By: Anonymous

Re: The June team is laying steel again - 12/28/19 07:58 PM

Well, you give Donna coyote scat and some Predator Frenzy and the walk through set she makes with them is working. Since the Predator Frenzy is made with red fox, coyote, and bobcat glands... she's ready for any and all!

Here's a nice female that will not be having more litters on this beautiful hunting ranch in south central Texas!
First night catch is a bonus.

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Posted By: Flipper 56

Re: The June team is laying steel again - 12/28/19 08:10 PM

grin
Posted By: Anonymous

Re: The June team is laying steel again - 12/30/19 11:39 PM

Well today my partner was tossing critters with sharp teeth in the buggy pretty much all day.
She caught a BIG old female coyote with worn teeth on a bone set with some good bait, and then she says she wasn't able to catch many more yotes because the fox were wanting to be caught. Three greys and something I've never done in this area (or even close to this area)... she caught a red fox! We couldn't believe it because I've never caught a red in south Texas and this smaller female was this years's litter, so we would expect that there's maybe more around. But the greys are diving in for the FF, our fav lure. Red fox also.
The rancher is loving his trappers!
I'm loving the deep pad catches laugh

Here's another good day for Donna.
Got down to 26 degrees so they ran well.

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Posted By: dustytinner

Re: The June team is laying steel again - 12/30/19 11:47 PM

Very nice! Keep up the fun!(&hard work) thanks for the inspiration!
Posted By: Wanna Be

Re: The June team is laying steel again - 12/30/19 11:55 PM

Very nice! Living the Dream!!
Posted By: rionueces

Re: The June team is laying steel again - 12/31/19 12:25 AM

Looks like Central TX scenery somewhere...
We don't get many fox down here in deep south TX.
Nice pics.
Posted By: Anonymous

Re: The June team is laying steel again - 12/31/19 12:35 AM

Originally Posted by rionueces
Looks like Central TX scenery somewhere...
We don't get many fox down here in deep south TX.
Nice pics.


SW of San Antonio so we'll label it south central Tejas. On the edge of the hill country.
Posted By: Anonymous

Re: The June team is laying steel again - 01/04/20 01:57 AM

New ranch 100 miles south of where we were day before yesterday. Day one check and the Mrs. continues her bobcat catching ways. She's got them stepping right on the MB 550 pan!

We set traps all day today so tomorrow may be a bit of excitement shocked

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Posted By: Hodagtrapper

Re: The June team is laying steel again - 01/04/20 01:59 AM

Nice cat and nice traps those MB 450's!

Chris
Posted By: la4wd54

Re: The June team is laying steel again - 01/04/20 02:04 AM

Nice going guys, yall ever get up here to San Saba area holler at me. We'll have a cup of joe somewhere.
Posted By: Anonymous

Re: The June team is laying steel again - 01/04/20 02:05 AM

She is really good at finding tracks and scat also. Here she is smiling as she found the coyote tracks in the soft dirt and she gets to work!
I asked here, "Where are you going to set?" and she said, "Silly boy. I'm setting off the trail here where the coyotes are running back and forth."

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Posted By: rick olson

Re: The June team is laying steel again - 01/04/20 02:10 AM

Great pic's great thread thanks for letting us ride along.
Posted By: Anonymous

Re: The June team is laying steel again - 01/04/20 02:16 AM

Rick, we were fist pumping (and smooching) today a bunch of times because we set up on some great spots. I've worked this ranch hard the past several years so it's not overrun with predators to speak of, but some of their perimeter high fences were compromised this spring with heavy rains and I believe some coyotes got in to the interior areas because of it.

Makes for some FUN trapping when, as you know, when you cut active tracks and scat. Texas bobcats are turd machines and we are picking up scat as we pass it on the road and tossing it in the "cookie jar" in the back of the Kawasaki Mule (my office).

I find myself often deferring the "honey hole" spot to my lovely Polish bride!

Mark

Posted By: etxwoods

Re: The June team is laying steel again - 01/04/20 02:21 AM

Love them rosette markings! I catch one occasionly up in the NE corner. Have fun. DH
Posted By: Anonymous

Re: The June team is laying steel again - 01/04/20 02:44 AM

Hey there Mr. DH. Happy New Year sir!
Hope all is well in your neck of the Texas piney woods.
We're back down here where the day time temps are 70's most often this time of year. (nice!!!)
Take Care!

Mark
Posted By: Cope23

Re: The June team is laying steel again - 01/04/20 03:04 AM

Mark, if i remember right, you said you had a job awhile back where you had a damage job where other trapper were after a specific coyote that was coming around every couple weeks or somthing like that....how did you make out? Just curious, it was a post that stuck in my mind.
Posted By: countrygun

Re: The June team is laying steel again - 01/04/20 03:56 AM

I think I-35 is kind of a boundary line for those rosettes. I catch them on occasion east of 35 (along the Red), but catch more west of 35 (I only get as far as Montague county though). Sure are pretty though, beats a rabbit back anyday.lol
Posted By: countrygun

Re: The June team is laying steel again - 01/04/20 03:59 AM

This thread reminded me I need to pay my dues, thank you gentlemen.
Posted By: Anonymous

Re: The June team is laying steel again - 01/04/20 11:15 AM

Cope23,

Good morning sir. As far as that coyote, we did not catch him in 13 days. I saw his track 6 times during that 13 days in a 640 acre fenced ranch that has real good dirt for finding sign. He's the laziest coyote I may have ever gone after. At least while I was there, he didn't kill anything, but the day I pulled traps, he killed a Rhea bird in a hay meadow.

It was a tough go. There was also another trapper there during my stay. His traps were not routinely checked, so most were snapped and laying atop the ground. Talk about telling the lazy efficient coyote what was going on!

I tried a bunch of methods and a number of off the wall smells, but he just wasn't moving. We had game cameras in all major corridors and we'd pick him up from about 2am until 5am only. He was sticking to heavy brush also which was rough on a trapper.

I tried snaring him a bit, with 285# break aways but because the ranch has 1,000's of grazing exotics and whitetails (it has more animals per square mile than anywhere I've ever been) the critters routinely hit the snared spots first and messed them up.

I haven't had a coyote that I couldn't catch until this one. I was straight up honest with the owner and he paid me with a hearty "thank you" for trying. I may go back and try again for this lazy booger if I get a chance... no charge. But I think it's a lone old dog that doesn't care about territorial because nothing else his species is in the mile, and who doesn't work hard because things to eat are grazing past him all week and who is really on to trappers because the hired man has # 3 Bridgers set everywhere and this other trapper has MB 650's set willy nilly also.

But I gave it 110% and me and that coyote kinda know each others name now.
I call him LAZY.

Mark
Posted By: Trapper Dahlgren

Re: The June team is laying steel again - 01/04/20 11:26 AM

great to see you guys back at it mark ,hope today catch is good , lots of pic. please , for us guys that can get out right now smile
Posted By: Anonymous

Re: The June team is laying steel again - 01/04/20 11:35 AM

Roger dodger TD.
How you holding up? Hope all is pretty well anyway. Happy New Year!

It's 41 here in south Texas this morning, which is just about the temperature I like for hammering both cats and dogs. We have 80 sets out so we should have a good day. I've been picking up most of the coyotes and I don't post my pictures. This thread is just to have some fun show casing the Mrs. She'll catch a couple doggies today I'm sure. She hadn't set traps in a major way since we lived in Michigan which was 2004 and prior. She used to sometimes run the line by herself if I had lure orders to get to, so she is used to the grind of a daily trap line.

But she's back in the saddle now. Just these last couple days putting in sets on this ranch has her hitting her old stride and I'd say even some better. She watches me and learns really quick too as she really wants to load the critters in the buggy so we can have fun with our rancher telling this Texas fella that "yep, a lady can get 'er done!"

I'll post later after the check and getting more traps out. Oh... and skinning!
I've got to get Donna doing that as I rehydrate!

Mark
Posted By: 330-Trapper

Re: The June team is laying steel again - 01/04/20 01:42 PM

Awesome pictures and Thread
Posted By: Anonymous

Re: The June team is laying steel again - 01/05/20 01:32 AM

Today was fun. Multiple doubles on coyotes and it's kinda cool.... no, it's pretty darn cool when the hubby and wife catch one a piece at locations. We are just setting up this ranch, but they know the new sheriff (Ms. Donna) is in town now for sure. Heck, she even had me keep the gun in the front instead of tucked in the back as we just got into them today.

The glands on turds are whooping doggies, more than baited sets so far, but it's day two (early). Often times, new smells (turds) get investigated right off the get go.
The turds came from 100 miles north. The lures came from us and Blackie. Donna has always done well with Carroll's lures and we use them with confidence along with our own stuff.

Couple more big Toms today also, plus we got about 35 more sets out today, so we earned our $$$$. It was a long hard day, that was a bunch of trapping FUN!

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Posted By: strike2x

Re: The June team is laying steel again - 01/05/20 01:40 AM

Looks like fun, I spent the day in the woods with snow rain mix. Did a lot of walking scouting and setting for the first time in a few weeks. Had a blast in the snow here although I like the looks of your trapping condition better. Rain, snow mix here in Michigan today. With Donna doing so well I was wondering if she would be giving instructions and you cooking at next session? Lol.
Posted By: Anonymous

Re: The June team is laying steel again - 01/06/20 11:16 AM

Got a bit too warm at 78 degrees early afternoon yesterday, so we had to bring the coyotes back and drop them off after lunch even though we were still checking traps. The rancher requires we show them ALL animals caught (except raccoons). It's a booger to have to do that mid-day while still checking the line, but the darn things get to smelling "different" after a couple hours in the full sun if we don't get them under a mesquite for shade.

Donna is posing with her stack of dogs, while I'm putting bobcats in the cooler to keep till skinning time. When you're in a buggy in this weather, 35-45 at dawn and 70-80 in the afternoon, the clothes are layered for a reason! Because we ran 65 miles on the buggy yesterday, the wind chill in the am requires a nice gator to keep the wind from finding your underwear smirk.

Because the dirt here is crusty and dry, we can't auger a dirt hole, so we use flat sets and turds sets of various kinds. We don't use just a couple simple sets but rather we vary up the presentation. High fence ranches are much different than a low fence or no fence effort as the dogs get wise real quick as you catch some of them, and they move on you...
to areas you may not have traps in. Quiet zones so to speak. They don't like us and try to get away from us as best they can without leaving the ranch. We have the perimeter set with a couple snares, but there are no holes on the perimeter to speak of, but we monitor to see that every now and again a coyote on the "inside" will try and dig out and get away from the trapper.

Makes you wonder how many times on a fur line, they just get away from us for a bit, and come back when the trapper leaves.

The MB550's are doing all that what we ask them to do; most often full pad catches and lightening fast for the light footed bobcats. Thanks you MTP for a wonderful working machine.
The previous crew of 4 from other states that trapped this ranch before I got a call, was asked to pack up and leave asap, as they were using bigger #3's and #4's that were catching (and holding) high dollar deer above the hooves. Not good. The type and size trap you use must fit the overall situation, not just the animal you're trapping. If it were just us and the coyotes, heck I'd use a #8! Food for thought.

Catching the guys domestics is not a good outcome.

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Posted By: Trapper Dahlgren

Re: The June team is laying steel again - 01/06/20 11:22 AM

great pic keep them coming , thanks for your nice comment, I have been falling alone every post smile
Posted By: Anonymous

Re: The June team is laying steel again - 01/06/20 11:38 AM

TD,
Society tells us to spend quality time together. We're not exactly sure what that means? Sounds attractive, doesn't it.
We say, as a married couple, that we try to spend time, (any time) with each other in a world that distracts us all from purpose and each other.
How better to do that than on a trap line in an area where cell phones don't work - the weather can be brutal (boy, those Comanches were rugged) - and the time Donna and I spend together is good for both of us as man and wife.

Here's the line we're checking today. We've spent three full days, dawn until dusk, getting the line out and now the fun begins. Christmas every turn in the road kinda stuff. You're a trapper. I'm preaching to the choir! Gonna be a good day.

The parenthesis are around the sets where Donna and I both have traps grin
Each night I sit and write out the line so we can drive it in the most efficient manner possible.
It varies as we set and pull and set and pull traps each day in response to where the coyotes are - and are not.

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Posted By: Trapper Dahlgren

Re: The June team is laying steel again - 01/06/20 11:43 AM

looks like a busy day ,I will check later to see what the catch was , stay safe
Posted By: 8117 Steve R

Re: The June team is laying steel again - 01/06/20 11:44 AM

Mark, do you mark those traps on a map as well as the list?
Posted By: Anonymous

Re: The June team is laying steel again - 01/06/20 11:48 AM

8117Steve,

Yessir. I use a Garmin 64ST and log them every time. All these roads look so similar here that you can't visually remember them all the time.
In the years gone by, we flagged them, but every wonder why you sometimes find an old trappers traps still out and about?
He or she forgot where they were.

Modern technology is a good thing when it comes to GPS units and what we do. I had my unit fizzle one time on me during the trap line and it was rough. Thankfully I could remember where those 160 traps where!!

Mark


Posted By: Anonymous

Re: The June team is laying steel again - 01/06/20 12:51 PM

We find native points in catch circles, so we almost prefer hind foot catches. Almost.

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Posted By: Pawnee

Re: The June team is laying steel again - 01/06/20 01:02 PM

Looks like you two are having a great time. Nice finds on the points!!! What percentage of dirt holes do you usually run when ground conditions warrant it. There have also been a lot of post on urine and urine quality on other threads. Your thoughts please. Thanks
Posted By: Anonymous

Re: The June team is laying steel again - 01/07/20 01:50 AM

Pawnee,

I use about 50% dirt holes when I can but honestly each area and each population of coyotes seems to have a preference and that can change with the seasons. I keep notes on all sets and go "more" with what's working after a few days and a bunch of coyotes harvested. On this project I drill holes about 2-5% of the time because the dirt caves in terribly. We can't use visual attractants too much because the Mexican eagles are notorious for working a dirt hole! The multitude of rodents (rats) haul off our turds and the ants never stop working the baits. So, it's not easy as pie. We are using flat sets and small punch sets and as many turd sets as the rats and eagles will allow to work. We're forever freshening up sets but that's the biz we're in!

Urine - that's a whole other thread brother. We use good quality urines collected from the multitudes and we're not opposed to single animal anything, but I've caught 1,000's of coyotes over my 40 years. 1,000's. And I can count on two hands and two feet the number of coyotes I've had to use single coyote urine on. But perhaps I'd have done better if I had? Not sure. But those who've ridden along with me can tell you not many keep notes on sets like I do. It's a disease but a good affliction, because it helps me to adjust as necessary in a game where that helps most often.

Today, Ms. Donna caught a dandy as the sun was coming up and ended the day with a mean bogger on a main road that hired hands had been riding by all day. T-bone set with bait and a touch of FF, and the the other set was a turd with PF on it.

I caught an interesting one today that leaped into a trap and because we don't catch many in remakes here... Donna and I each caught a coyote as a double on Saturday at a spot.
Then we pulled traps and went east and west of those two circles in opposite directions to see if others would come back (we cut tracks leaving the double catch) and I caught another coyote down the road 30 feet east of the two circles yesterday. I pulled that set and went another 30 feet further east of that and today.... bang another coyote by both front feet. I pulled that set, and remade a set another 30 feet further east yet. The ranchers hired hand asked what in blue blazes was going on over a "Q" road as they call it. We'll see what tomorrow brings!

Ain't trapping fun!

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Posted By: Pawnee

Re: The June team is laying steel again - 01/08/20 03:32 AM

Thanks for the response mark
Posted By: 330-Trapper

Re: The June team is laying steel again - 01/08/20 03:45 AM

Originally Posted by Mark June
TD,
Society tells us to spend quality time together. We're not exactly sure what that means? Sounds attractive, doesn't it.
We say, as a married couple, that we try to spend time, (any time) with each other in a world that distracts us all from purpose and each other.
How better to do that than on a trap line in an area where cell phones don't work - the weather can be brutal (boy, those Comanches were rugged) - and the time Donna and I spend together is good for both of us as man and wife.

Here's the line we're checking today. We've spent three full days, dawn until dusk, getting the line out and now the fun begins. Christmas every turn in the road kinda stuff. You're a trapper. I'm preaching to the choir! Gonna be a good day.

The parenthesis are around the sets where Donna and I both have traps grin
Each night I sit and write out the line so we can drive it in the most efficient manner possible.
It varies as we set and pull and set and pull traps each day in response to where the coyotes are - and are not.

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The types of Quality time together changes sa we Age grin
Posted By: Cope23

Re: The June team is laying steel again - 01/08/20 11:28 PM

Originally Posted by Mark June
Cope23,

Good morning sir. As far as that coyote, we did not catch him in 13 days. I saw his track 6 times during that 13 days in a 640 acre fenced ranch that has real good dirt for finding sign. He's the laziest coyote I may have ever gone after. At least while I was there, he didn't kill anything, but the day I pulled traps, he killed a Rhea bird in a hay meadow.

It was a tough go. There was also another trapper there during my stay. His traps were not routinely checked, so most were snapped and laying atop the ground. Talk about telling the lazy efficient coyote what was going on!

I tried a bunch of methods and a number of off the wall smells, but he just wasn't moving. We had game cameras in all major corridors and we'd pick him up from about 2am until 5am only. He was sticking to heavy brush also which was rough on a trapper.

I tried snaring him a bit, with 285# break aways but because the ranch has 1,000's of grazing exotics and whitetails (it has more animals per square mile than anywhere I've ever been) the critters routinely hit the snared spots first and messed them up.

I haven't had a coyote that I couldn't catch until this one. I was straight up honest with the owner and he paid me with a hearty "thank you" for trying. I may go back and try again for this lazy booger if I get a chance... no charge. But I think it's a lone old dog that doesn't care about territorial because nothing else his species is in the mile, and who doesn't work hard because things to eat are grazing past him all week and who is really on to trappers because the hired man has # 3 Bridgers set everywhere and this other trapper has MB 650's set willy nilly also.

But I gave it 110% and me and that coyote kinda know each others name now.
I call him LAZY.

Mark



Thats pretty cool...odds were definitely against you....its gunna be interesting to see how you fair when you match wits with him again..good luck
Posted By: Anonymous

Re: The June team is laying steel again - 01/08/20 11:42 PM

Thanks Cope. He's a REAL coyote. I'll get him sooner or later or he'll die of old age or get heart worm and croak!

No updates last couple days on Mrs. June. We got several dealers orders and she had to run home to package and ship those out asap. Tiss prime time. She'll be back in the buggy again tomorrow, ready to rock, ready to roll. 65 miles of traps out now, all from a Kawasaki Mule.
Her sets did catch a bobcat and a coyote today.

I caught one of the largest south Texas coyotes I've ever caught today - 42 lbs. That's a hog in the land of 20 pounders. He was up closer to the main buildings and he turded so I set it. Caught him on a 2 turd with coyote P on one turd, bobcat P on the other and Smokey Post (few drops) on both turds. Mean, mean set up. Then I caught the female running with him 30 yards away in a set with bait and FF.

Here's a picture of the difference in weight between the two.

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Posted By: dustytinner

Re: The June team is laying steel again - 01/08/20 11:47 PM

Wow! Nice catch! Thanks for the ride along and sharing your story!
Posted By: Hodagtrapper

Re: The June team is laying steel again - 01/08/20 11:48 PM

Way to go Mark and Donna!! Living the dream!

Chris
Posted By: Anonymous

Re: The June team is laying steel again - 01/10/20 11:35 AM

It was another solid day in south Texas yesterday, 50 target animals first seven days (dogs and cats) which is far above last year's pace after a week. Anyone who's trapped a high fence enclosure knows it's different in that you don't have incoming "newbies" like you have on a general fur line. Each time you catch a coyote it seems to put others on alert and they move on you within the confines of the fence. They scatter! And this ranch has predator skirting supreme so there's no holes in or out. Thus they now know (if they're still alive).... game on.
Weather has certainly been on our side this year and that helps - but Donna getting it done is really the most important reason we're stacking 'em in the Kawasaki.

Yesterday started off just like all trappers like... a target in one of the first few traps. Donna scored on a pretty bobbie cat in the middle of the road in her fav baited walk through set. She catches 'em and she puts the noose on 'em too. She does say she might like the 5 foot Ketch-All but I assure her the 4 footer is best. Says you have to watch out for the bobcats hind feet when they get to flying around the catch circle!

She is putting the coyote paw directly on the pan most often and that always helps.

Big winds moved in for a few days but it sure beats cold/rain/ice.

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Posted By: Rcates

Re: The June team is laying steel again - 01/10/20 01:42 PM

Cool stuff Mark!
Posted By: Anonymous

Re: The June team is laying steel again - 01/12/20 01:25 AM

Many of you may have had some wicked storms move through last night. We thought we would be hammered but we were spared from the rain, but not from the wind. Rugged.
Today, we had coyote tracks on numerous sets but one dog to show for the trouble as they did move - but they the wind was HARSH NW and we set primarily for a SE wind.

So;
Donna had dogs (so did I) walking across her "walk throughs" and they walked on out the other side also.
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Me, as I was making turd sets today, I was setting rocks on the turds to keep them from flying away! Besides, only smart coyotes can figure out that the rock is supposed to be under the turd, not on it!
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All in all, it was one of those days that isn't easy peasy on the trapline. We took a few minutes to laugh at the gale force winds and smell some roses as hubby and wife.
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Posted By: rick olson

Re: The June team is laying steel again - 01/12/20 01:35 AM

Thanks for sharing,i miss dirt!!!!!!!!!!!!!!It was -30 this morning,making ice I guess is one way to look at it lol.I have 4 bobcat sets still out,we have a warm up for the next 4 days above zero for highs lol,i think i'll see SPOTS in the next few checks,next Sunday I pulling the plug,it's been a great season up here in the frozen tundra.
Posted By: Anonymous

Re: The June team is laying steel again - 01/12/20 01:38 AM

Rick,

Good luck on the kitties brother. We were busy ourselves re-doing about 150 sets. Gotta love that wind.
But tonight it has settled down to a gentle breeze, and all sets are ready for action Jackson. The critters will be moving big time after 2 full days of lock down 40 mph wind with gusts to 60.
Especially the cats...
Posted By: Mitch L

Re: The June team is laying steel again - 01/12/20 03:54 AM

Looks like fun! Thanks for sharing!
Posted By: Pawnee

Re: The June team is laying steel again - 01/12/20 04:23 AM

Great post Mark glad you two are having fun. The two turd is a killer set! Hope the wind goes down for you. It’s been blowing like heck up here. What is your preference on urine on them? Cat/coyote, fox/bobcat, etc.. I’m assuming your notes tell you, but just wondering what you usually start with in new territory. Thanks
Posted By: Anonymous

Re: The June team is laying steel again - 01/12/20 11:57 AM

Originally Posted by Pawnee
Great post Mark glad you two are having fun. The two turd is a killer set! Hope the wind goes down for you. It’s been blowing like heck up here. What is your preference on urine on them? Cat/coyote, fox/bobcat, etc.. I’m assuming your notes tell you, but just wondering what you usually start with in new territory. Thanks


Good to hear from ya brother! Good question on the urine. You know, when I'm on a fur trap line, I'm more "cookie cutter" and use red fox quite often in so many areas. Coyote is good and bobcat is awesome but red fox outproduces quite often for me or so my notes tell me. There are exceptions. Louisiana had coyote working better. I trapped OK and the bobcat was crazy hot. So I go with what they like. I start out with red fox often though.

On a high fence predator project, we vary it up as the dogs get crafty quick when it's you and them playing in the playground together day after day. I start out with coyote and bobcat on my two turd in TX. Red fox works but coyote works better. I use red fox and some change ups after a week into the two week contracts as the remaining survivors can be shy as I mentioned. We had a pair come down a bladed road yesterday and we could see their tracks after the wind had everything glazed... they walked and walked and BING.... 30 feet from our sets, they beat feet into the brush. Do they know the sets are there? My guess is yes. These boogers don't get smarter of course but they don't get dumber either.

Varying the sets and smells is an option we use with success as this happens.

Take care and be safe out there.
Mark
Posted By: Trapper Dahlgren

Re: The June team is laying steel again - 01/12/20 12:33 PM

great to see you guys having fun catching animals , I told Kim [my wife] if we can go south an trap in winter I will go with her , she always wants to go south In winter
Posted By: Anonymous

Re: The June team is laying steel again - 01/13/20 03:21 AM

TD,

Trust me, it's different than our homeland of Michigan, but it's pretty darn fun trapping down here where fur is not so pretty but the trapping is abundantly easier for most of the year. I didn't say easy. I said easier.

Seasons are extremely liberal here because the 250,000 ranchers carry a load of political clout!

Mark
Posted By: bacatrapper

Re: The June team is laying steel again - 01/13/20 03:38 AM

Good job, your braces look great.

I esp admire the way neither of you get dirty.
Posted By: Anonymous

Re: The June team is laying steel again - 01/13/20 05:13 AM

Originally Posted by bacatrapper
Good job, your braces look great.

I esp admire the way neither of you get dirty.


bacatrapper,

We don't get dirty, we get dusty on the buggy in ground that hasn't seen but a few inches of rain this entire year. Large stock ponds of 80-100 acres are now about 2 acres of mud. South Texas is in a drought in this area that hit hard for over a decade not that long ago. Plus, I'll admit having the Mrs. along makes for our dudes getting "wershed" about every other day. Can't beat that.

When it rains here, you hole up anyway. Ruts last 1,000 years so we don't run the bladed roads, even in a UTV as the owner would not be happy.
I'm from the land of rain and freeze/thaw = Michigan... so I kinda like this non-mudster version of trapping!

MJ
Posted By: Trapper Dahlgren

Re: The June team is laying steel again - 01/13/20 11:36 AM

so how is the fur down there ,is there a sale for it , I know your cats are nice ,
Posted By: Anonymous

Re: The June team is laying steel again - 01/14/20 12:30 AM

TD, the coyotes are not worth much here but the cats are quite nice further south you go.
Posted By: Anonymous

Re: The June team is laying steel again - 01/14/20 12:40 AM

So, Donna likes those nights when it's foggy and damp when the critters move, but she decided she doesn't really care to use a buggy with no windshield in the misty/rainy/spit. I tell her, I can't see the tracks and scat when the windshield is wetted up!

She had a nice day;
She caught coyote #1 today at the entrance gate so they see it on the video camera! Always a good thing. Bait and FF in a dirt hole.
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She caught bobcat #1 on a toilet set.
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She caught coyote # 2 on a couple piles of turd with PF.
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She caught bobcat # 2 on a toilet set with our lure and Blackie's lures
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She caught coyote 3# today on bait and WW.
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She caught bobcat #3 today on SS and bait.
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She likes equipment to be a bit drier and the dirt a little less sticky too!
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She's a woman to ride the rapids with!
Oh, and we like middle of the road sets when we see tracks as you can prolly tell.
Posted By: Gulo

Re: The June team is laying steel again - 01/14/20 12:45 AM

Mark June - "She's a woman to ride the rapids with!"

Looks like a great time Mark. Thanks for the ride-along. Am I detecting some old Louis L'Amour there in your final words? I think every one of the thousand books he wrote, he used that line.


Jack
Posted By: Anonymous

Re: The June team is laying steel again - 01/14/20 01:36 AM

Jack,

Yes sir! I grew up reading every Louis L'Amour book my dad would "lend" me. My dad loved 'em, I did too, and so does my son. Reminds me, I need to get a few to the grandson in a few years.

Donna is doing very well. Fast, efficient sets. I drive the stake most often is all since the ground is gosh awful hard, what with so little rain this year.
Posted By: ottertrapper

Re: The June team is laying steel again - 01/15/20 02:46 PM

Great thread Mark been fun following along. How much longer do you two have?
Posted By: Anonymous

Re: The June team is laying steel again - 01/16/20 03:42 AM

otter - We're pulling traps on this ranch Sunday if the weather allows. Then, because I'm back to seminary studies, we're pushing our other ranches back to mid-spring and May/June during the fawn drop season. All of our ranches have just been so supportive of our scheduling and I guess at the end of the day, when we as trappers deliver, folks appreciate our day in day bust hump hard work and results and are happy to have a trapper they can bank on.

Donna is slamming it! 2 more cats today = 11 on this ranch in that many days + she got 5 last job = 16 bobcats the last two and a half weeks. She caught a taxidermy grade cat today. We love those kind because they really help with tuition!

She's getting it done. All walk-throughs. All Widowmaker bait + either Blackie's Spotted Fury or our Windwalker or Fox Frenzy. She's hooked on the catch pole portion of this show, let me tell ya and it's super fun for hubby for sure.

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Posted By: rick olson

Re: The June team is laying steel again - 01/16/20 04:11 AM

You and Donna are getting it done,thanks for letting us ride along with you,i needed to apply sun screen some days lol.Tomorrow morning it will be around -30 with a high of -7 for the high,no flip flops tomorrow.God bless and look forward to your early spring fawn control trapping,Rick.
Posted By: Anonymous

Re: The June team is laying steel again - 01/16/20 04:35 AM

Originally Posted by rick olson
You and Donna are getting it done,thanks for letting us ride along with you,i needed to apply sun screen some days lol.Tomorrow morning it will be around -30 with a high of -7 for the high,no flip flops tomorrow.God bless and look forward to your early spring fawn control trapping,Rick.


So you're saying we shouldn't send you any sun tan/UV block Rick?
To be honest, trapping in temps from 30-90 is actually not as cushy as it may seem. First of all, you have to hustle to get to animals as early as possible which is tough when you have a line out that takes all day to run. By mid-afternoon, buzzards are literally circling critters.

Also, big swing in animal movement as in - they move heavy twice a week or so because they just don't burn fat. They don't have any and they don't need any. So "hungry" animals after baits in the holes here is no where as fun as say Nebraska, Iowa, Missouri or Kansas. I've trapped those and those dogs have to eat!

Then, the country just doesn't get much rain down here and the soil is weird because of it. You're done when it rains. Gumbo is bad. This stuff ruts and the cement last on your rig a million years and the ruts on the ranch last 1,000 years so you don't move until it dries up a bit.

But, that being said, I'd rather splash on bug spray and sun oil than deal with -7 brother!
Posted By: 330-Trapper

Re: The June team is laying steel again - 01/16/20 04:40 AM

Awesome Trip!!! Thanks for posting!!!!

Beautiful spots on that last cat!
Posted By: Trapper Dahlgren

Re: The June team is laying steel again - 01/16/20 10:29 AM

thanks mark an donna for letting us ride along ,you guys sure got it done down there , what were your final number
Posted By: Anonymous

Re: The June team is laying steel again - 01/18/20 01:57 AM

Donna is gaining momentum as we head into the final turn race fans....

We have two more days to check traps and today she was on fire! 3 bobcats and 3 coyotes.
One of the coyotes in particular was particularly interesting in that we saw it run in front of the buggy,
A few more traps were checked and then maybe 15 minutes later we rounded the circle and BANG a coyote was dancing and Donna yelled, "I got that one we saw a minute ago!"
You know, I think she was right. We were maybe 400 yards away from where it ran in front of the buggy, and there was nada for a catch circle mid day???
Turd set in the middle of the bladed road.
After 14 days of catching dogs on this high fence.
They still like to sniff each other's _____!
Gotta love it.

Oh and the smile in the photo is authentic! I didn't say "smile!"

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Posted By: silkyplainscoyot

Re: The June team is laying steel again - 01/18/20 02:28 AM

Hello Mark,

You talked about the ranch having predator skirting around the fence. With skirting in place, do predators still get in if it is compromised by the weather or some other means? Or is the skirting just not effective at keeping the critters from finding some way in?
Posted By: Anonymous

Re: The June team is laying steel again - 01/18/20 10:43 AM

silky,

The skirting is placed on the inside and it is helpful. But coyotes, especially younger ones can get through the 6" portion of the fence on occasion. I've done this long enough to know that coyotes are pretty ingenious at getting where they want to go. But the bigger ones (20 lbs plus) need a bigger hole to shimmy through and those are the dogs they try to keep out.

Now, rain is when they erosion happens, creeks wash out, and coyotes get in before repairs can be made.
It's all "attempts" to keep them at low tide is all. Fence + trapping + shooting + whatever = minimal coyotes.
That's the plan.

But I'll tell you, I've always held, as a biologist trained in the 1980's with canids, that coyotes are density specific breeders = nature instills in them genetically the RNA of the DNA to throw more females to populate fast when the population density is low. Some say nope. That's not true. And to be fair there are studies for both directions on this, so only God knows how He designed them. But;

Population here is low. I've worked them over on 20 square miles of this high fence ranch for this, the 5th year.
This year we are catching just under 75% females. No mange. They've shot two is all this year (usually males and humans impact the males the most. Nature devastates females more). So I'm factoring in my head, all the variables.

And so the population here is very low to start with and...
We got another female, female, female, male, female, female, female, female, male. That's how it's going.
Ton of girls!

Interesting I think that they can breed back into "thick" given the chance!

Mark





Posted By: Wanna Be

Re: The June team is laying steel again - 01/26/20 02:15 AM

Had to look way back to find this...are y’all still trapping? I looked forward to the updates.
Posted By: Anonymous

Re: The June team is laying steel again - 01/27/20 04:29 AM

Wanna Be. We pulled traps a couple days after my last post here as I had to get back for the start of Seminary studies. We had a record haul this year with 90 target animals in 18 days, 46 more than last year. She just really aided me and I got to see what a particular system did that was very effective on the coyotes. We didn't hammer them with loud lures much. A bit of skunk, but high fence areas are funny in that dogs get on to you. They get pressured and they get cautious quick. But yet you need to catch them. So we kept glands and fresh bait working on 'em. Bunch of turd sets. Never stopped connecting. As coyotes move around the 20 square miles on this ranch, they sniff the "piles" and get in trouble. We have our Trapping Academy starting March 8th for a week (I'm on spring break), and then I just got off the phone today with another nice ranch of 7,000 acres in south Texas, and we sealed the deal on Donna and I trapping that starting end of March time line for 2-3 weeks. Once again, Donna will have to run much of that line daily by herself, but she is getting it done and while it's grueling work, she loves it. I out kicked my coverage as they say when I married her!

Meanwhile, I'm taking 15 credit hours here at DTS, and boy-oh-boy, we don't sit around much.

Mark
Posted By: Anonymous

Re: The June team is laying steel again - 01/27/20 04:45 AM

I do have a couple more pics of Donna in action Jackson mode. Dogs and cats. Cats and dogs. Dogs and cats.

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Posted By: wheelers

Re: The June team is laying steel again - 01/27/20 02:24 PM

Awesome pictures Mark. Looks like you and Donna are having a great time.
Posted By: Anonymous

Re: The June team is laying steel again - 01/27/20 06:43 PM

One thing is FOR SURE Wheelers. You see Donna using that Ketch-All.
When she says, "Jump!"
I say, "How high?"
Posted By: ottertrapper

Re: The June team is laying steel again - 01/28/20 01:12 AM

Oh man that cat is a dandy!! Thanks for sharing have fun back in seminary that’s awesome you are doing that. Great pics
Posted By: Gulo

Re: The June team is laying steel again - 01/28/20 01:16 AM

Originally Posted by Mark June

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Mark -

Looks to me from this photo that you posted that you need to get bigger, more agressive drags. That cat went just too far. grin
Posted By: Wanna Be

Re: The June team is laying steel again - 01/28/20 01:30 AM

Great thread and post. Thanks for taking us along. Can’t wait to see what March brings.
Posted By: Anonymous

Re: The June team is laying steel again - 01/28/20 04:33 AM

Gulo,
I'll be a jack-in-the-box if it doesn't look like the cat drug across the hard gravel. Donna was just having too much fun with the "selfies." But, the critters stopped laughing real quick once she got her wheels and got rolling. She hadn't trapped like this since about 2003-4. She is ready for the ranch in March, when we'll pal up again and hit 'em a lick at another ranch.

We had a good system going. She figures the spot, the wind, the location as they say, and I pound in her stake. By the time I walk over and get my set into the ground (and I'm pretty fast after all these years of fine tuning the process), I grab my gear, stand up and look over.... and she's finishing up too. Yes!

She got a good dose of sun too.
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