2021/2022 Trapping Thread

[NoWiser]

Let's see some trapping pictures!

Years ago I trapped a few beavers that were cutting down some nice ash trees. I hadn't thought about it much after I got rid of them until last year when I was called to get rid of some for a landowner. I jumped back in and soon got completely addicted and expanded into other animals with some limited success.

This year my trapping goals are:

1. Catch a mink. They were my kryptonite last year.

2. Catch a marten. I have a hotel booked for a few days in NE MN for marten season.

3. Get better at catching coyotes.

In addition I’d love to nab my first otter and continue to catch beaver wherever they are causing problems. Beaver through the ice is still my favorite.

I set my first traps of the season over the weekend and got my first coyote this morning.

Post up your trapping pictures and stories here!

 

[MinnesotaHunter]

Jim,

If you need a spot to check a couple northern MN boxes (bobcat, fisher, fox, pine martin, etc). Let me know I've got a spot for you to check out, and I would join you for some days.

 

[Shangobango]

Good luck, I look forward to seeing pictures.

If I do any trapping I will sure post up some pics. I need to take some raccoons around the crawfish ponds and the farm for sure. I just struggle with killing them when there is not a lot I can do with them due to current market conditions. Last year our very best coon pelts brought a dollar and no one would take the rest. I can sell a few for the meat but as the older generation dies out, that market gets increasingly small.

I also sure miss the smell of otter glands in the fur shed. They are my absolute favorite animal to target.

 

[NoWiser]

Good luck, I look forward to seeing pictures.

If I do any trapping I will sure post up some pics. I need to take some raccoons around the crawfish ponds and the farm for sure. I just struggle with killing them when there is not a lot I can do with them due to current market conditions. Last year our very best coon pelts brought a dollar and no one would take the rest. I can sell a few for the meat but as the older generation dies out, that market gets increasingly small.

I also sure miss the smell of otter glands in the fur shed. They are my absolute favorite animal to target.

I struggle with coons, too. We are overrun with them. I trapped a bunch last winter and some very nice ones. The problem is that I can't get myself to waste them and you can't really sell them, so every coon I catch costs me time and money to get tanned. If I could find someone to take them for free, I'd be on it to help out the ducks, pheasants, and turkeys.

 

[MinnesotaHunter]

You don't think these guys would take them?

https://www.usafoxx.com/

 

[SilverDollars]

Howdy. I've thought about trapping many times through the years. And I would, but, furs aren't worth Jack from down here in central to south Texas! Vermin management has just evolved to see and shoot them. And, I'm sorry. I don't eat coyote cause I got some venison, etc. instead.

 

[NoWiser]

You don't think these guys would take them?

https://www.usafoxx.com/

I'm sending them some beaver pelts soon to get a hat and some mittens made. I'll ask them. That would be a good option if they'd take them. I'd even pay shipping to them just to not have them go to waste.

 

[shb]

Google USAfoxx reviews first.

 

[Shangobango]

Google USAfoxx reviews first.

Yup I have heard nightmares. You may want to look at Moyles or Zander & Sons.

 

[Shangobango]

I struggle with coons, too. We are overrun with them. I trapped a bunch last winter and some very nice ones. The problem is that I can't get myself to waste them and you can't really sell them, so every coon I catch costs me time and money to get tanned. If I could find someone to take them for free, I'd be on it to help out the ducks, pheasants, and turkeys.

Yup. The issue with tanning pelts right now is that market is reaching full saturation as well and I have only so much wall space and storage capacity.

 

[NoWiser]

Yup I have heard nightmares. You may want to look at Moyles or Zander & Sons.

I've hear Foxx & Fur is still fine for sewing but I wouldn't use them for tanning. My pelts from last year are at Moyles right now. As for coons, I'd give them to anyone if they can use them.

 

[Shangobango]

I've hear Foxx & Fur is still fine for sewing but I wouldn't use them for tanning. My pelts from last year are at Moyles right now. As for coons, I'd give them to anyone if they can use them.

I hear you. In the south, you can barely give the XL and ups away right now locally. The one FHA depot we had here was told they no longer wanted southern fur. NAFA went kaput... sad situation.

 

[wytex]

Looking to get our trap line started about Thanksgiving week. Spouse's work schedule change is going to affect our trapping time this year though.
We concentrate on bobcats. and coyotes, we should be trapping coyotes right now for the fur.

Good luck folks.

 

[brockel]

I’ll get some traps and snares out december 1st for bobcats but I’m going to focus more on coyote calling this year

 

[wytex]

Got 3 of the new MB Alpha traps, like the looks of the bigger pan . They will set nice and flat also.
They'll be out next week and we'll be calling some lopers too.
We also have some rats and coons to traps out of a barn, ugh.

Got the nice badger we caught last year back from Moyle's, they did a great job and the spouse did a nice job fleshing out the front feet. The tanned fur is really nice and the feet look great.

 

[NoWiser]

Trapping (and hunting) got put on the back burner due to my wife buying two ponies, which required me to build a stall and put up a fence the last couple weeks. My neighbor called a couple days ago pleading with me to trap some beavers killing his trees. I set aside some time to set up on a few slides. I got a pretty decent one today and also got permission to trap from the next landowner downstream, which allowed me to set some bank dens this afternoon. I expect to have at least one more beaver tomorrow morning before I go pick up the ponies.

 

[NoWiser]

First beaver on a drowning set for me this morning. Not where I expected to catch one, but I’ll take it.

 

[Shangobango]

Okey dokey, it has been a couple of years since I did enough trapping to speak of but I am going to break down and break out a pile of Duke DP's and see how many racoons I can take off of the 100 acres that I live on. Judging sign they are thick, so we will see. I will probably put out a couple of blind sets with 1.5's on drowners on the river just to see if I still remember how to put a trap pan where a coon wants to put his paw. It will be after Thanksgiving before I get a chance to set, can't believe how much I am looking forward to it...

 

[NoWiser]

I had a fun Thanksgiving. I have more to be Thankful for than I deserve. Trap checking today was just icing on the cake.

Yesterday afternoon I went with a buddy to the land he deer hunts. The landowner asked him to get rid of the beavers. It was a bit tricky finding dens on that creek with everything iced over, but we got a couple decent sets in. This morning we checked them early and found 2 beavers and a bonus muskrat. We reset traps, added a couple, and headed home.

I helped get ready for Thanksgiving and had a bit of spare time so I buzzed down to our woods to check my traps there. First trap had a big possum in it. While taking care of that I glanced down the creek to my otter set and noticed all the sticks I used as fencing were gone. I busted my way through the ice and was heartbroken to find evidence of a battle, and my wire broken that held the 330 conibear in place. I headed downstream to see if I could find the trap and what I assumed to be a dead otter. I glanced at one of my mink sets, and there was my bucket-list mink dead in the 110 I had set tight to the bank. But, I couldn’t get excited knowing I had a trap and animal missing. I looked for a bit with no luck and headed back for the Thanksgiving festivities. I felt sick about it.

By 2:00 I couldn’t take it. I had to go look more, so I buzzed back down and started searching everywhere I could up and downstream from where the trap was. Every step was breaking ice. I got to a pool downstream about 40 yards from where my set was and noticed a fair bit of air under the ice. I busted it out and tried to look around but just couldn’t see anything. It had been an hour and I figured I better get back so I started heading toward the bank when my foot hit something that didn’t quite feel like a log. I got my leg under it, lifted, and sure enough, there was my otter. What a feeling of relief! From now on I’m cabling any set for otters with a swivel or two. I didn’t think anything could survive a 330 long enough to give me that kind of trouble, but I was wrong.

So, I ended Thanksgiving with a 5 species day. The highlights definitely being the otter and mink. It’s going to be hard to top this one.

 

[Valley1320]

Google USAfoxx reviews first.

We've had USAfoxx tan quite a few furs for us over the years and never had any issues other than the wait time can be awhile it seems like. We have a batch there now maybe it will be a different story than usual when they come back