My 2020 Appalachian mountains mini trapline

I live in the far northeast corner of Tenn in the Appalachian mountains, and trap usually from 3,000ft-6,000ft elevation mainly targeting coyotes and bobcats. I decided to give the bobcats a break this season and concentrate on coyotes. I work everyday and have 3 young kids I have to get to school so I can only run 5-10 traps a night usually. I always wait til after the first when deer and bear season closes, so I'm really just getting started good. I caught 7 coyotes and two grey fox along with a few coon and possum so far. It's been a muddy mess but we are finally getting cold weather now. I'll update as I go along, I pulled and moved yesterday so hopefully I'll get on some more in the next day or two.

Had to check in the dark a couple morning

Nice job. Keep the pics coming.
My best to you this season.

Nice looking Songdogs!!!

Keep it up. Great

Nice catches.Congrats

Great work!! Sounds like you’re on them for sure! Liking the pics too! Always great when I make weekend catches and can get some great pics.

Nicely done ... Get them all out of my neighborhood please . My neighbors chickens feel safer already lol

Yea it's 13° degrees today and spitting the snow so hopefully they'll move tonight. I put a camera out at one spot and threw so scraps out to see if there were many yotes in the area and got some pics of two then I made a couple sets right in front of the camera to see if I could get the catch on camera we'll ended up catching both coyotes but wouldn't you know it my batteries went dead before

Nice photos, I have to start carrying my camera with me, but I always loose things on the line. Good job keep at them.....jk

Good lookin dogs! Congratulations!

Nice job

Thanks guys. Hopefully I'll have plenty more pics to come. Scuba how are you liking Tennessee so far?

I am always glad to see the younger generation getting into trapping It looks like even with limited time you are doing just fine as far as catching critters . Good luck as you keep learning how to keep the coyotes in check in your trapping areas

Nice job, thanks for sharing!

Awesome man..you are hammer'n em!.reminds me of when my dad turned my first trap line over to me in my early teens..had to check in the dark before school.to this day I think it was one of the best things he ever taught me,not only the trapping but it taught me to move early and get things done.thanks for sharing!

Won’t the bobcats get caught in the coyote sets?
mt

Thanks for sharing, keep up the good work!

Yea martentrapper ill still pickup a few but im not setting specifically for bobcats. Here if you want to catch alot of bobcats you can by trapping the rocky ridges and hollers. I just caught alot out of the area I trap the past few years so I figured I'd lay off them a bit this year. I'm sure I'll end up with a few anyway

You're helping your deer population as well!

Good deal brother, keep hammering them.

Some times, I got almost half my wy cats in coyote sets

No coyotes today but did pickup a rare red fox. Here's a few pics of the area

It wasin the 60s last week and 12° this morning bit the only fresh tracks I saw were the fox I caught, maybe the coyotes will move tonight

Had a couple come within feet of two sets and stop and circle them but didn't commit, maybe tonight

X2

Appreciate that west side and muskrat

Thanks for sharing!

Caught a small female this morning. First coyote I've caught that was rubbed. Should've had a double. I caught her on a dirthole set in a logging road and 20 ft away I had a compass set, we'll they worked the set good and actually uncovered half my trap but didn't step in the right spot

Nice work RM. Takes a lot of dedication to keep a line going with the family and work responsibilities too. Appreciate the pics.

Yea jumperzee, luckily I own a small business so I don't have to be there at an exact time but getting the kids to school then checking them before work it's definitely a rush. One day I'll be able to run a actual line that covers more than a couple mile. Lol

Thanks for posting RM. You had some great post last year too!

Enjoying the thread RM. Haven't set a predator set at all and don't figure I will. Good to visit your line even from a far.

Thanks guys. I caught the female about 400 yds behind my house last night and I could tell there was at least two, and this evening I was out feeding the dogs and heard a coyote raising cane right where my sets are at. I'm not sure if he's caught or trying to locate his girlfriend. I thought about riding the 4 wheeler up to check them but figured I'd just wait til morning. We got rain and high winds moving in now

Nice

Nice pics,your doing great for a limited trapline.

I have been trapping for more than 50 years .It has always been trying to figure out how to trap and make it fit with the rest of my life . In many ways that is why I enjoyed it so much . I knew my success at catching what I got was earned through hard work and thought . Love your pictures Keep getting after the coyotes .

Well the bad weather set in around midnight and we had 40+ mph winds and rain , and unfortunately the coyote I heard yelping didn't get caught but he was within inches in 3 different sets. Maybe he'll come back tonight. I had to check in the dark so pic isn't good but you can see the tracks everywhere except on my pan. Lol. Same dirthole the female was in yesterday

Had a pretty good check today with the limited traps I have out and the weather. Caught my 9th coyote and 2nd red fox. I ended up letting the fox go since it was a female and we don't have many left

Lookin pretty muddy.

Yea 3togo it's a dang mess. I actually caught this one on a remake from the last one and it was so muddy I about didn't remake it but I'm glad I did

Also caught an old boar coon this morning, only the 4th one so far

Great thread...Love the photo's

Hopefully I'll have more to share 330. I pulled several today because of the mud and gonna reset some before church but maybe the 5 I have set tonight will produce something

Hope so for you!

Caught a big male this morning and he wasn't none to happy about it, I've caught several coyotes in the past 5 years but this was the meanest acting one I've dealt with

Also caught a big boar coon and a possum that managed to get two feet in my mb550. I only had 5 traps out last night so 3 critters wasn't bad

Yes it looks like a mess, great pictures keep them coming. RM are most of your sets in wooded areas, logging trails, wooded trails?

Yea backroadarcher I set alot of mine in old logging roads and on the edge of the timber. We don't have alot open areas except for Christmas tree farms and some pasture fields, but I set the fields when available. We just have alot more timber than fields. When I set the timber areas I usually put my sets right off the game trails. But the old logging roads probably produce better for me than anything. The coyote this morning was in a Christmas tree farm where two shrubbery roads met on top of a high knob. I put a dirthole in yesterday at the intersection and connected first night. I set a new area today that was all timber and jyst put my sets next to we'll used deer trails

Very nice. Even Tennessee dogs are prettier than Pa dogs. Lol. Congrats on some nice ones.

Thanks PA. We got some pretty dogs but we also got some butt ugly ones too. One thing I can say is I've never saw one with mange here

Thanks RM, I have a lot of similar areas here plus a lot of crop land. I just figure why not make the best of both worlds. I haven't had a lot of success in the timber, some but not as much as I would like.

great job RM ,thanks for sharing

I caught another nice male this morning. I set up a new piece of ground today so hopefully it'll produce

GREAT job !!!!!!!

I always look for level ground here, easy to find.
What's the secret to catching them on a slope like that?
Good looking coyote, I don't see any rub marks.

3togo I usually try to set the old logging roads on the steep properties but this spot a friend of mine owns and there wasn't a level spot on it so I put a dirthole in a made it like a step down, so I dug it out enough to make it semi level and put my trap only a couple inches from the hole. I have caught several on slopes but I was putting my trap 7-8" back like a normal set and was ending up with back foot catches so I started putting my trap really close to the hole on these sets on the slopes and it seemed to help

Got two new farms setup today and they both looked great and had plenty of sign so I should have some success in the next few days. They had some spectacular views too

Cool pics!

Whack' m and stack' m.

Wow that field is Beautiful

That does look like some nice country, even if it was just for a walk.

Yea most people don't think of mountains like this wben you think of Tennessee, yea 330 that field is beautiful. We don't have many level fields around here

Connected on a nice female this morning but had two other sets get robbed and missed the pan by less than an inch. Also caught two big boar coon. I was trying to figure out how to make a twelve with my hands so I can remember what number each coyote was but I look like I'm throwing some kinda gang signs. Lol

Good job Rm,,I had a friend from grandfather mountain when I lived in Gray Tn. I use to fish clarks creek

I live in between Gray TN and Grandfather Mtn west river, so you know the area I'm trapping

Caught a nice young male last night but got humbled at a couple other sets. One dirthole was about two inch diameter and when they got done with it I could stick my head in it. Lol

I also wanted to mention that I mainly run MB550s and love them, have a few of about every brand but the 550 is my favorite. My buddy recently bought a dozen of the duke 550s and everything is basically the same except the bigger square pan on the duke. He gave me a couple and I set them a couple days ago and connected with one and it preformed great just like the Mbs. Great deep catch with toes still touching the pan

Looks like it is still pretty wet out there. Do you have much problem with freezing ground at all?

Yea backroadarcher it may be 50 and raining today then 20 and snowing tomorrow then back to 50 the next so we have alot of freeze thaw conditions to deal with. I use peat moss and antifreeze or salt but still get froze in on occasion. Just made my first waxed dirt so gonna give it a try

Great thread RM!

been 40 yrs since i been back but still have friends in gray and johnson city...i graduated from etsu...im sure I wouldnt know the place now.
We use to jump off the bridge on the upper end of boone lake(about 150 ft )and i heard they started to arrest ppl for it for trying to commit suicide yrs ago.

Super nice looking area RM. Looking at the claw marks, do you think the coyote did any digging from the back side of the hole?
I also have about a dozen MB550's that I use. Most of the rest are Victor/Monty dogless. Most all have the foot completely to the pan.

West river my wife also graduated from ETSU

Yea 3togo he dug it out from the side and back, went to the same farm this morning and they'd dug 3 different sets out the same way so I turned two of them into trench sets and the other I dug up a couple big clumps of grass and made a new backing. I'll see which works better. They are pretty slick animals sometimes

Well I caught one of the diggers that has been robbing me and man was she a pretty one, first red one I've ever caught

Did you catch her in a step down?

Yea Steve I originally had a normal dirthole but they dug it out big time so I turned it into a step down set and connected

Neat looking dog right there.

I've gone to keeping a couple small rocks in the truck when I find a good spot with no backing. They don't seem to paw away a rock.
Also, I think the step down dirt hole is a better producer, at least for me.

RM,
You might want to find someone that wants that red one. I've caught one last year and this year and Groenwald doesn't want them. Maybe someone that wants a tanned hide. Mine didn't even have the long, back guard hairs.

I think im going yo just tan it and hang it next to the black one I caught a couple year ago

Well had a great check today, yesterday I caught my first red one and I pulled in to the same farm this morning and had another red female. Then at my next spot I had a ancient old male. He looked like he was about to die of old age, he also had mange and was scarred all over his face. His teeth were about gone, only had one canine left and very few others. I think I done him a favor by putting him out of his misery. Then when driving to work I found a beautiful male that had just been hit by a car and I threw him the truck as well

Man the teeth on that old one is something else! Reminds me of old bears.

Been raining here since Tuesday without stopping, I pulled most of my sets and planned to pull the rest this morning and remake everything Friday when it changes back to snow. To my surprise I pulled up on the first dirthole and had this wet female in it. Not sure if she was coming to drink water out of the hole which was full or what but either way I'll take her

After getting almost 4" of rain since Wed morning I didn't expect to have anything today, was planning on remaking everything since the temps dropped and it changed to snow. But to my surprise had a nice female in one set and missed another one at a different location

No coyotes today but several near misses

Well i had a great check this morning, with only 10 sets out I connected with a nice male and a butt ugly female. The best thing was my both my boys were with me and my oldest had a friend over to spend the night and he got to go out with us too. He'd never been trapping and really seemed to enjoy it so maybe I planted a seed for a future trapper. Also had two misses, one dirthole had the trap fired with a few hairs stuck in it

Oh and the reason the boys are holding up their fingers in the pic is this was my 20th coyote of 2020

Awesome stuff right there RM! 20 coyotes is pretty good man congrats.

Good job. Thanks for sharing. Good lord that is one ugly coyote.

Yea stinky Pete that's the ugliest colored coyote I've ever saw. Lok

We have been getting pounded with rain for the past week and it's made trapping tough but fortunately I've still been catching a few. This set had been getting a lot of coyotes coming by but not committing but this female finally got up the nerve to come in, and my MB 550 done it's job

Nice

That`s some ugly weather your trapping in.Are you using waxed dirt?Is that a dead deer that you had covered up on that last picture?

Good thread RM, thanks for sharing. Neat color variations in those coyotes.

Yea coyotesoldier you never know what color you're gonna get around here

Forestman that is part of a deer I had wired to that crabapple tree and fixed it almost like a bobcat cubby but not as much blocking

And yea forestman I am using wax dirt and peat moss and had pretty good luck. We are getting another 1-2" of rain tonight and tomorrow, then Friday the low is 13°, so it's been tough keeping stuff working

LIKE ! ! !

RM trapper you're slaying them - great job and pictures .

Well we had 30mph winds all night with gust over 50mph, and also got over an inch of rain so I didn't expect much. But pulled up on the 2nd farm and had a dandy male in a dirthole(more like a waterhole). He's all wet and muddy in the pics so it's hard to tell but he was 42# and had good fur. Probably one of the best of season

His foot was buried in my mb550

Here's a pic of the sunrise from the same farm yesterday

After catching the big male yesterday in horrible conditions, I kinda had high hopes for this morning's check, but unfortunately two sets got worked over good but the peat moss had soaked up all the rain a froze over night when the temps dropped in the teens. So I redone all my sets and tonight's low is 12 and clear so hopefully they'll be back on the move. Here's a pic of the snow capped mountains this morning

Well I had a nice surprise this morning, on the same farm I had caught the other two red ones I caught another. I've caught6 off this farm now, 3 were males all were regular colored and then the 3 females which were all red. Good thing was it been president's day I got to take my oldest son and his buddy, so they enjoyed it

To cool!

Do you ever get any odd colors in Kansas flinthill?

A very rare occasion I get a (dark) not black yote. Caught two this yr but aren't dark enough to be neat just ugly.

Great thread. That is some nice looking country!

Thanks MThunter

I didn't figure you got many off colored ones in Kansas flint hill

I had a good check this morning, had a snowstorm coming in this morning so the critters were moving last night. Only had 8 sets put but had two coyotes and two big boar coon. One of the coyotes was a big female and the other a small young male


That was #24 and #25

Been getting great full pad catches all season with 90% of them the toes were on the pan. But both of these were toe caught

Had a good check this morning, I had two nice females. One was in a dirthole set and the other was in a compass set #26

#27

Are your coyotes still looking good this late? There places I trap my started breaking down about a month ago .

Yea about all of them are still in decent shape, I've caught a few the past two weeks that are rubbed some and starting to break. But for the most part They look pretty good. I don't get to start trapping til the second week of January so I usually keep traps out until the end of Feb. Gonna try to get a few more and hit the 30 mark before this weekend

Sure has been nice to read about a guy trapping on here, go for 30.

I'm going to try fishdog, it's only my 4th year coyote trapping and it would be nice to hit the #30. Going to start earlier next season on a couple farms that don't get deer hunted or bear hunted and try to get 50

I also put a trailcam on the compass set that I caught the female in this morning, for some reason it didn't take any pics of the catch, or any nighttime pics for that matter but did get some right before I got there

Good luck , I pulled mine 4 weeks ago been trying to get beaver traps in but no luck every time I try to go the rain puts a stop to it . They are calling for a another 1 1/2” tonight and tomorrow. Last time I look we had had 19” since January 1st.

Yea it's been a wet year so far. Here's a trailcam pic of the one I caught in the compass set

Thanks RM, like I said before, that sure looks like nice country. Reminds me of back in central NYS.

Well season ends this weekend and i still have a few traps out, caught # 28 today so maybe I'll hit 30 before this weekend

Well I'm going to pull my traps tomorrow or Monday morning, I caught #29 today and it was a small female that was rubbed a bit. Also missed a couple at a different location, we had about 4" of snow overnight and they moved well. Maybe I can get #30 tonight

You are keeping busy
Good job and hoping for # 30

Have you put any steel in the ground since moving to Tenn scuba?

Nope I have not had the time but have heard some longdogs not to far away and saw some sign on a couple of my tracks on the property. The neighbor has chickens so I'll trying to put a hurting on those chicken thieves at some point. Have to buy some traps as coyotes are a first for me I'll also have to have a read up on the rules here concerning traps and wires as I am more of a wire guy than footholds. But I'll learn. I like a challenge

Well I was able to hit #30 today, gonna pull all my sets in the morning

Nice catch and congrats to a great season! We expect a nice barn shot now with them furs

Thanks. Still have several in the freezer to get worked up

RM I have followed your journey from the start Your title 2020 Appalachian 2020 mountains trap line caught my eye .I have spent many hours in the Appalachians of W VA hunting deer They have a way of making you return time after time . You did a good job of trapping throughout the year and dealing with the weather changes that always happen And I think you did even better showing and teaching the things you encountered . I like to have goals as you do .I find that the number is not so important .But having a number in mind helps to keep you going when things go bad or just slow down for a day or so.Good job

Thanks west side. I'm going to try to actually start sooner next season instead of waiting til Jan. I enjoyed every minute of it and my kids have too. It's amazing how much my boys (8, 9yr old) have learned. They are recognizing sign and picking good spots for sets now. Probably the most rewarding was taking my 9yr olds best friend who had never been and getting him so interested that he talked his father into buying a half dozen traps and putting them out on their 200 acres and after two weeks they caught their first coyote today. Now they are hooked, here's a pic of their first catch

That is the icing on the cake for a really great season for you .The way to keep trapping alive is show others how much fun it is and how much skill it takes Fine job

Well I pulled all my traps except four sets I left out on my friends property, his 76 yr old dad has been checking them for me and he has really enjoyed it. Said it gave him a reason to look forward to the morning. We'd caught 5 off the farm so far but I hadn't been up there in 12 days to rebait or lure anything and was planning on doing that today. To my surprise he called this morning and said we had a big one. It's amazing that they still worked the dirthole after 12 days of rain and snow. Biggest coyote I've caught this year. 47#
#31

Well im done for the season except I left 5 sets out on my buddies hunting property for and this morning he called and I had connected on two coyotes out of the 5 traps so that put me at #33. One surprisingly was still furred nice but the other was a mangy looking dog

Thanks for the ride along.
Looks like you had a great season.
Nice country you trap in,RM.

My bet is your boys aren't going to let you wait until January to start trapping.

Trapped very similar country when I lived in Boone, NC. I second the thanks for the ride along.

Appreciate it gray dog and boco. I'm still learning everytime out, and the kids are already talking about next year. They are wanting to hit the bobcats hard next season after giving them a pass this year. Gray dog I'm only 40 minutes from Boone