Damage control 2022

[fishinwrench]

Listening to y'all talk, you'd think that furbearers just fell out of the trees like acorns.  

How can any picnic even happen ? 😂

[tjm]

Trees ain't really very productive. Ponds, streams, prairies, crop fields are all better for fur than trees. But, no, the critters aren't that concentrated and the successful trappers move frequently. And only put sets where they will produce, kinda like fishing brush piles. The need to move constantly is why most trappers stay hobby trappers, any section of land can only support profitable trapping for  a few days.

Then since most wildlife activity  is nocturnal or crepuscular and  picnics are mostly diurnal, they seldom overlap.

There is work to trapping if you want to make it profitable, but not really any more work than pouring concrete or logging. I suspect that even boat repair requires some effort, and a strong work ethic if you want to make it a business rather than a hobby?

In today's markets only ADC trappers are making any money and much of that work is repair and exclusion. However that wasn't always the case as the guy in the coyote picture said in a forum discussion several years ago about when  an old photo of his catches was taken- " right in the boom, when 40 red fox bought a brand spanking new full size 4 by 4 truck. "  40 fox would pay for a 4X4 about 1980 and he took about 5-600 per year in Indiana back then. This guy paid for his DVM degree bought a farm and planted it in Christmas trees with trapping money.

 

[Johnsfolly]

Some helpful tips for taking some coyotes.

https://www.fieldandstream.com/hunting/late-winter-coyote-tips/

[fishinwrench]

9 hours ago, tjm said:

Trees ain't really very productive. Ponds, streams, prairies, crop fields are all better for fur than trees. But, no, the critters aren't that concentrated and the successful trappers move frequently. And only put sets where they will produce, kinda like fishing brush piles. The need to move constantly is why most trappers stay hobby trappers, any section of land can only support profitable trapping for  a few days.

Then since most wildlife activity  is nocturnal or crepuscular and  picnics are mostly diurnal, they seldom overlap.

There is work to trapping if you want to make it profitable, but not really any more work than pouring concrete or logging. I suspect that even boat repair requires some effort, and a strong work ethic if you want to make it a business rather than a hobby?

In today's markets only ADC trappers are making any money and much of that work is repair and exclusion. However that wasn't always the case as the guy in the coyote picture said in a forum discussion several years ago about when  an old photo of his catches was taken- " right in the boom, when 40 red fox bought a brand spanking new full size 4 by 4 truck. "  40 fox would pay for a 4X4 about 1980 and he took about 5-600 per year in Indiana back then. This guy paid for his DVM degree bought a farm and planted it in Christmas trees with trapping money.

 

That's impressive.     I never did any trapping myself, but I did go through a period of rather serious predator hunting with a couple buddies when we had access to a lot of farming and strip mining land.  

To think that someone could have done far better by estimating where a critter would put its foot......than we ever did by glassing from ridgetops with high powered rifles, using bait and calls, ect......is rather insulting. 

Although we screwed ourselves routinely because after sitting for hours it was impossible for any of us to pass up a 250 yard shot on a crow. 😅

[tjm]

Guessing where a critter will step in the next 48 hours is a lot easier than guessing where it will be standing for a clear shot in the next hour. and the traps work while you are someplace else doing something else. I can set traps in 40 or 50  guess spots but I can only watch one calling spot. 

Although to be fair  the guys in those pics were using very effective lures that drew the predators in and subtly guiding where the foot would be placed. Animals often step in exactly the same spot each time they walk or run a path and with some thought and practice traps can be set "blind" and be  very effective. If you walk with the same stride from house to shop every day you likely step in the same foot prints each time, because your steps start in the same place and each is just like the yesterday's. Study coyote tracks in the snow and you will find that three or more animals running together form a single file and each steps exactly in the leader's foot prints, so that only a single line of tracks cross a field but several lines of tracks separate from it when they spread out to hunt.

For fur sales the hunted coyotes or 'coons are almost always near worthless because of the  shot holes, I can sew a hole up on a green hide and it will look fine as a dry  fur out pelt but when it's tanned the holes may tear out and when the tanned pelt is cut into strips for use  half of it is wasted. Think about coats as being made by sewing wide zonker strips together, that's how you get a garment that has the same texture and color throughout. The same coyote taken by trap should have no hole any where.

[oneshot]

10 hours ago, tjm said:

Trees ain't really very productive. Ponds, streams, prairies, crop fields are all better for fur than trees. But, no, the critters aren't that concentrated and the successful trappers move frequently. And only put sets where they will produce, kinda like fishing brush piles. The need to move constantly is why most trappers stay hobby trappers, any section of land can only support profitable trapping for  a few days.

Then since most wildlife activity  is nocturnal or crepuscular and  picnics are mostly diurnal, they seldom overlap.

There is work to trapping if you want to make it profitable, but not really any more work than pouring concrete or logging. I suspect that even boat repair requires some effort, and a strong work ethic if you want to make it a business rather than a hobby?

In today's markets only ADC trappers are making any money and much of that work is repair and exclusion. However that wasn't always the case as the guy in the coyote picture said in a forum discussion several years ago about when  an old photo of his catches was taken- " right in the boom, when 40 red fox bought a brand spanking new full size 4 by 4 truck. "  40 fox would pay for a 4X4 about 1980 and he took about 5-600 per year in Indiana back then. This guy paid for his DVM degree bought a farm and planted it in Christmas trees with trapping money.

 

This was back in early’70’s.

I lived on 350 acres after the first year it wasn’t worth trapping. I killed the crap out of critters.

You figure catch over 50 Coons a day adds up not counting other.

So I trapped and hunted in other areas.

oneshot

[fishinwrench]

6 minutes ago, tjm said:

Guessing where a critter will step in the next 48 hours is a lot easier than guessing where it will be standing for a clear shot in the next hour.

Seriously?    Even when you've got an effective zone that ranges a 400 yard square, and have bait out and calls going?   

You're one badass indian !  👍

[fishinwrench]

3 minutes ago, oneshot said:

 

You figure catch over 50 Coons a day adds up not counting other.

If you fetched and skinned 50 coons a day then it's no wonder your arm is shot.   

I wouldn't even wanna fillet 50 crappie a day. 

You're one badass indian too !  

[fishinwrench]

Y'all need to support my buddy, Dale on the Hickbilly Outdoors YouTube channel.     

He's the best trapper I know personally.  Even teaches classes on it.   

Like & Subscribe ! 

https://youtu.be/gjrVH5MGw4U

[snagged in outlet 3]

10 hours ago, tjm said:

Then since most wildlife activity  is nocturnal or crepuscular and  picnics are mostly diurnal, they seldom overlap.

I've never seen a racoon in my neighborhood in daylight.  But at night on my camera system, my yard is a dam party zone of animals.  Coons, possum, fox, yotes, cats, deer and some things blur by so quickly I don't what they are.  I have videos of 5-6 coons at a time cutting through the yard.  They have a dirt trail worn down between the culvert stand pipe and my neighbors house.  It's crazy how much wildlife is out at night in my neighborhood....  Guy in the other cul de sac said the old lady next to him feeds the coons and she has dozens at a time in her yard at night.