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On Track
features structured discussions on topics and questions relative to
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results are published under the "Closed Topics".
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Recently Closed Topics:
Favorite Muskrat
Set. Muskrat Trappers: What is your favorite set for Muskrats? Please
explain. Review This Topic
Favorite Mink Set. Mink Trappers: What is your
favorite set for mink? Please explain. Review
This Topic
Learning to Trap. All Trappers: Where and how did you learn trapping?
Review This Topic
First Traps. All Trappers: Of the first 24 traps you owned, what type
or types and sizes were they? Review This Topic
Favorite Beaver Set. Beaver Trappers: What's your
favorite set for beaver and how do you make it?
Review This Topic
Stretching Beaver. Beaver Trappers: How do you stretch your
beaver, or do you sell them in the round, or just skinned out?
Review This Topic
Replies:
Favorite Muskrat
Set. Muskrat Trappers: What is your favorite set for Muskrats? Please
explain.
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Name: Haf2sell
It's a tie, with Feedbed, and den entrance. Depends on jurisdiction. :-(
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Name: Jake
The bulk of my 'rats are taken by blind sets. I like a blind set on the
waters edge on a vertical bank using a 1.5 coil or longspring staked to deep
water. Also I like to put bodygrips in their den entrances or runs. Make
sure you stabilize the bodygrips or they may fall over.
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Name: Matthew L
My favorite is my imatation of a feed bed. I pocket 6" deep or so at water
level back into the bank next I make it high enough were a muskrat could
swim into it. I have even went so far as to put two sticks over top of the
hole and put dry grass accross them to make a roof. Next I put fresh green
grass and roots into the pocket and set a trap in front tied to a brick in
deeper water. Almost a garentee muskrat. This set works good if there is no
real muskrat sign or if I want to take the access rats I might have missed.
I showed my 10 year old cusin this set and He had one yeild a rat a day for
4 or 5 days strait. He caught a dozen in 5 days of trapping with me last
year in just five sets. He had never trapped before and I think it made him
fell good doing something to make the muskrat come to him..
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Name: Mark
I use mainly den entrance sets with 110's and feedbed sets with 1 1/2
coilsprings.
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Name: Dale Frank
Pinch points in current runs with 110 or 220 bodygrips.
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Name: cooder
As with mink, there are so many good sets for taking muskrats it's hard to
pick a favorite. Screen colony traps, where legal, can pile up the rats real
fast. I think my favorite way to catch rats is in #1 1/2 longsprings set on
logs the rats are climbing up on to eat or have a toilet. Look for droppings
on logs at or near the water surface, with some overhead or nearby escape
cover, usually connected to shore.In good rat habitat most will show some
use.Use a hatchet if necessary to chop a "bed" so the trap is fairly stable.
If using staples to fasten to logs, add a length of wire to the trap chain
so you don't have to pull the staple when you pull your trap. Make sure to
set only on logs in deep enough water that the rat can quickly drown. A 1
1/2 is heavy enough to keep a rat submerged if the water is deep enough.
Bait such as apple or carrot is discouraged as it can attract waterfowl.
Good logs will produce rats nightly until they are thinned out. Hope this
helps.
*******************************************************************************
Name: Ed Schneider
110 conibear set in muskrat run. The set is simple and fast to put in.
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Name: skipper
dig an artifical den. and they will come.
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Name: cooder
Like mink,there are so many fun ways to trap rats, it's hard to pick a
favorite.I particularly enjoy catching them in 1 1/2 longsprings set on
their toilet logs. I use 1 1/2's only for this set as they are heavy enough
to keep a rat submerged without a slidewire. Most logs, at or near the water
level,will show some use in good rat habitat. A crude trap bed can be
chopped in the log if the trap is wobbly.Make certain the water around the
log is deep enough to drown the rat. For numbers of rats, colony traps,
where legal, will pile em up in a hurry.
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Name: Creekwalker
Not too fancy, but the good old pocket set seems to work the best for me.
*******************************************************************************
Name: Rick B
The most effective way I found was to take a slice of apple and stick i in
the trigger of a 110 conibear half submerged in water.
Favorite Mink Set. Mink Trappers: What is your
favorite set for mink? Please explain.
******************************************************************************
Name: Haf2sell
Blind set, forced water situation. Close tie with tight to a culvert, bridge
abutement. Similar, but different.
*******************************************************************************
Name: Jake
My favorite set is a simple pocket set lured with fish oil. put a wad of
grass back in the pocket, squirt some fish oil, and guard with a number 1 or
1.5 foothold on a slide wire. Also i like to make a shelf beside it and put
a foothold here as a blind set also.
*******************************************************************************
Name: Matthew L
My favorite mink set is setting up on pinch points. And my favorite is a
bridge wing wall. I put the loose jaw up against the side of the wall and
stake in deep water. If the water is too deep I use a cinder block to get my
trap up just under water level. PINCH POINTS...
*******************************************************************************
Name: Mark
I only use blind sets when mink trapping. One of my favorites is a
coilspring 1 1/2 hugged tight against a vertical wall with no more than an
inch of water over the pan. I also like setting wingwalls on culverts.
*******************************************************************************
Name: dale frank
what few mink sets I make, my favorite is the inside edges of culverts. The
wide irrigation ditches here these culverts to me seem like the best chance
narrowing down their path.
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Name: cooder
there are so many good mink sets. My favorite way to trap mink is to set
220-size bodygrips, blind, in small trickles near the main stream. I look
for places that fit the trap and offers some natural cover to hide the trap
a bit. This set also catches otter, muskrat and wayward beaver. Baited
cubbies guarded with 120-size BGs also produce a lot of mink for me. In my
experience fish bait outproduces beaver or muskrat. I would say that my
catch with cubbies has doubled since I changed to pan triggers.
*******************************************************************************
Name: Ed Schneider
Along a creek you will notice leaves pressed up against vines and the like.
Punch a hole in the leaves at the waters edge and set a 110 conibear there.
This has been a reliable blind trail set for me.
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Name: Skipper
when you can find a small spring seep higher than the creek level. punch a
hole into the bank about 6" - 12" in Dia. and keep working till the spring
is entering the creek through the wall of the bank. and lead this down to
the ambient water level. You will have a primo mink set for years to come.
and it doesn't freeze till you get in to the single digets.
*******************************************************************************
Name: Jesse
Any blind set that forces the mink into the water. By means of a rock or
bridge abutment.
*******************************************************************************
Name: Creekwalker
I like using snares set in trails or likely pass-through spots on the creek
bank. I start at the water and go up the bank, trying to cover any path a
mink might take. They're very quick and easy to set. Since they're suspended
over the trail, they keep working better than bodygrippers or footholds in
the freeze-thaw conditions we typically have. They are hard to see and cheap
to lose. They won't catch coons or other bigger critters, which is an
advantage after Jan 31.
*******************************************************************************
Name: Rick B
My favorite set is along a stream with a hole about the size of a fist dug
deep with a blue gill inside and a dab of Sullivan's mink gland lure on the
outside guarded with a 1.5 coil spring.
Learning to Trap. All Trappers:
Where and how did you learn trapping?
*******************************************************************************
Name: muskey
i leanered to trap muskrat on a creek that ran through our farm. i learned
by trial and error. more error then seccues. only 6yrs.old nobody around
trapped or would show a kid anything. 51yrs. now
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Name: Hardy
As a young man I was fortunate to have met up with a man in New Mexico named
Homer C. Pickens who taught me how to catch coyotes. After moving back to
Louisiana, in the late 80's I took lessons from James Lucero up in Kansas.
And have never looked anywhere else.
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Name: Wis Trapper
I got my feet wet by going with my Dad on his trapline when I was about 5
years old in south west Wisconsin creeks and fields. He is the one who
really go me started and instilled in me ethical trapping. I also read ALOT
of articles, books, and every topic on this forum wheather I trap for a
given furbearer or not. The rest is by trial and error which is probably one
of the best trapping resources there is.
*******************************************************************************
Name: Rick B
I started trapping in 1978 when I was 12 years old. My dad trapped muskrats
as a kid but fell out of it and had no intentions of going back. So my
education mostly came from articles in Fur-Fish-Game and a neighbor who
reluctantly gave me some instruction. (he didn't want or need any more
competition after all it was the fur boom )
*******************************************************************************
Name: Alec
Besides talking to a few local trappers I had to learn on my own. I did a
ton of reading before I got the hang of it. I think it was most helpful when
I went out on another trappers line to see how he trapped.
*******************************************************************************
Name: seaman
youth trapper camp in Havre, Montana. I went 4 consecutive years. these were
the best weekends of my life.
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Name: tuff
As kids, my brothers and I started trapping when a neighbor lent us a cage
trap to catch coon out of the farm buildings at home, in northern Illinois.
After that we tagged along on his small water line, where we learned to
catch coon and rats. Since learning the basics, I have learned from this
forum, Fur-Fish-Game magazine, books and videos by Hal, Charles Dobbins, and
Russ Carman, and a little bit of trial and error, so far. I am sure there is
much more to be learned.
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Name: tommypaul
Started trapping muskrats in high school in Ohio. We taught ourselves
through trisl & error. That said, learning by trial & error, reading
trapping magazines & books, later videos & dvd's has been the major source
of learning. Some help from other trappers along the way. 35 years later &
I'm still learning by experience.
*******************************************************************************
Name: Skipper
I started trapping the woods where I lived for coon and an ocasional Grey
fox. There was no Muskrats or Mink . Mostly on my own till I bought a copy
of Malcolm Locke's book THE DETAILS OF FOX TRAPPING I bought this book in
1968 and didn't catch a fox till about 1973
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Name: Hal
I started by trapping muskrats in the drainage ditches in northwestern Ohio.
My dad trapped muskrats as a kid, and he got me started. From there, I had
to learn on my own.
First Traps. All Trappers: Of the first 24 traps you owned, what
type or types and sizes were they.
*******************************************************************************
Name: muskey
#1 vicktor long spring
*******************************************************************************
Name: Matt, AKA Haf2sell
1st purchase- #0 Victor longspring.
2nd purchase- a dozen #1 Victor longsprings.
3rd purchase (and remainer of the first 24)- a dozen #1 B&L longsprings.
*******************************************************************************
Name: Hardy
3n Victors, Newhouse #3.
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Name: dodgetrapper
Victor No. 2 square jaw, old traps and a few 1 1/2 montgumery, still love
them.
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Name: Wis Trapper
My first traps consisted of 110 BG, #11 long springs, 1.5 coil springs, and
1.75 coil springs
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Name: Alec
The first ten were Duke 1-1/2's for coon and the other's were a mix of Duke
#2's and Bridger #11's and #1's and Duke 220's.
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Name: tuff
My first traps were hand me downs from my father, and the neighbor kid
contributed with his father's hand me downs. We started with about a dozon
110 bodygrips, 2-3 220 bodygrips, and some old victor 1 1/5s. After 2
seasons with those traps we sold enough fur to buy our own brand new traps.
We went for the cheap stuff, we bought a dozen Duke 1.5, 6 Duke #2, 6 Duke
220s. We still use most the old 110s and some of the others, but our trap
supply is much larger.
*******************************************************************************
Name: Skipper
My first traps were 1 doz. 1 1/2 jump traps. (There still in service)
then I bought a dozen #2 Victor Square Jaws at the prompting of a book I
bought. These traps have since been moved to my Mink line.
*******************************************************************************
Name: Hal
My first traps were a few #1 longsprings that belonged to my dad. I used
them on muskrats. Next I acquired a few colony traps.
Favorite Beaver Set. Beaver Trappers: What's your
favorite set for beaver and how do you make it?
*******************************************************************************
Name: Flandrax
Dam Crossover. I look for where the beaver(s) are crossing over dam. I set a
330 on flooded side and on the other side of the dam. I have caught many a
beaver that way. For some reason, for me,the beavers never spook this set.
Maybe the beavers I have trapped are not very smart.
*******************************************************************************
Name: Dan
The underwater channel set. Find a well used channel and set a 330 or snare
on the bottom right in the middle. I then float a long stick over the set to
force them to dive. It is really fast and very effective. I took 10 beaver
in 4 days out of one flowage and 6 of them came out of 2 channel sets.
*******************************************************************************
Name: FLSH ETR
I guess I'm a 330 man. The flowages and ponds I trap do not get deep quick
enough, so I'll set a 330 bodygrip in the small sloughs they use to exit the
water for food. I'll place the bodygrip on a stablizer with the entire trap
under water. I'll use a cable to secure the trap to some live vegetation,
first passing the cable through the stabilizer, so it doesn't get lost when
the trap captures my critter. A stick from bank to bank across the water
above the trap will force the beaver to dive under, right through my
bodygrip. The cable, being six to eight feet long, will enable the captured
beaver to float clear of the passageway for other beavers to utilize it.
*******************************************************************************
Name: muskey
caster mound set,rig your trap to a drowner.pile up abunch of mud leaves
twigs, then put some caster lure on top of pile. also i put a touch of lure
at waters edge. also i set the trap back away from the mound for the back
foot.
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Name: jackson
I use body grips entirely, the 330 is my 'go-to' trap for quick and clean
kills. I search for crossings, put fencing materials[usually dry sticks] to
guide beaver to the center and, as our body grips must be completely
submerged here in Missouri, I put a dive stick [somewhat larger than fencing
material] across top of trap. Beaver will dive under firing the BG.
*******************************************************************************
Name: wabi
My favorite beaver set is a 3/32" 7x7 snare placed on dry land near the
water on an obvious trail the beaver are using to enter/exit the water.
I use a drowning slide whenever possible, but when drowning isn't an option
a well swiveled (swiveled at the loop and also at the anchor point) snare in
a non-entanglement situation works well for me. I make an 8-10" loop and
hang it from 2-4" off the ground (depending on the location).
*******************************************************************************
Name: Charles Sanders
My favorite is a 330 bodygrip in front of a dam crossover. Its also good for
an occasional otter slipping through. I also like 330's in runs. They're
good beaver sets and also take an occasional otter. When I make these I
simply set my trap, stabalize it (sometimes with commercial stabalizers,
often just with sticks from the dam, and then hide it good (small wax myrtle
branches work good for this).
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Name: Hal
The dam crossover is one of my favorite sets for beaver. On the upper side
of the dam, I'll hide a foothold trap rigged to a slide out into the pool to
drown the beaver. Below the dam, in the spillway, I'll use a bodygrip trap.
My second favorite set is a castor mound. I use a foothold for that set.
Make the mound with a shovel full of mud about 18 inches from the water
line. To measure trap placement, put your elbow against the bank just below
the water level, and reach out with your hand. Where your knuckles fall, is
where the trap goes. Offset it a few inches to one side. The trap should be
rigged to drown the beaver in deep water.
Stretching Beaver. Beaver Trappers: How do you stretch your
beaver, or do you sell them in the round, or just skinned out?
*******************************************************************************
Name: Paul Gingras
I use hoops. I don't have the luxury of being able to dry the beaver before
I skin and flesh so this helps tremendously.
*******************************************************************************
Name: FLSH ETR
Email: ftc12000@yahoo.com
Topic: Stretching Beaver
I stretch my beaver pelts on the typical beaver board made from a four by
eight sheet of 5/8ths plywood. Cut into thirds, three pieces will stretch
six pelts, utilizing both of sides of the board. After painting all of the
boards white, I used the paper pattern available from fur companies to draw
the different size ovals on the board, using alternate red and black colors.
I'll use beaver nails, or 8d box nails to secure the pelt to the board,
choosing the closest size oval. After all nails have been installed,
including those used to close the leg holes, I'll lift the pelt up from the
board surface to the nail heads using a long screw driver, to ensure proper
air circulation. I'll use borax on areas of the pelt where the fleshing
knife didn't do its job sucessfully.
*******************************************************************************
Name: muskey
I STRETCH my beavers on plywood that marked with nafa demenison.
*******************************************************************************
Name: jackson
I sell mostly in the round, larger 40#plus beaver I will skin out, sell as
is. Beaver meat and castors sometimes worth more than skins.
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Name: wabi
I'm fortunate to have a local buyer who pays well for beaver "in the round".
I have skinned beaver in the past, but the option of selling "in the round"
at a loss of only a few dollars per beaver is my usual choice when I'm
limited on time (and I usually am limited).
*******************************************************************************
Name: Charles Sanders
I stretch mine on a board with a Canadian (oval) stretch.
*******************************************************************************
Name: Hal
I stretch on specially made 48" X 32" boards. (I used to use plywood
stretchers in the
same size.) I have my boards marked with oval patterns in alternating red,
blue, and black line. I use four-penny nails. They drive easily because the
are slender.
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