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Trapping update

Skully--I'm not a trapper, but love to see the pics. Question...what is going on with the muskrat market, I hear high demand, guys are staying in campers and trapping muskrats on large public areas here in MN??
 
Hardwood11 said:
Skully--I'm not a trapper, but love to see the pics. Question...what is going on with the muskrat market, I hear high demand, guys are staying in campers and trapping muskrats on large public areas here in MN??
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Yes its true, muskrats are in low numbers and high demand. The last few years of drought have really hurt their habitat. Most creeks in my area are bone dry. You have to hit a river or beaver dammed creek to find any rats and they are still tough to find! I have heard of guys averaging $12 on nice rats! :way:
 
Was just at a fur buyer's place yesterday and he had paid $85 for a bobcat. It seemed small and didn't have real good color to me. The buyer said he thought he paid a little much for it but was still glad he bought it.
 
gundog870 said:
What do bobcats bring?
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If they have a nice milkshake they might bring all the boys to the yard? :D

That was my attempt at being funny, sorry. :grin: Cats are graded on a HUGE curve. Color for example. Grey, blotchy cats are low money compared to a brown cat with distinct spots. A big male with a bright white belly with good spots can fetch several hundred dollars. I have heard of cats selling from $45 to $400.
 
Im new to trapping as well and had a quick question. When it gets cold like it is now and snow is on the ground, does the coon trapping success slow down? Recently bought a few dog proof duke traps and have had a little success, but didnt know what to expect as the weather cools. Thanks!
 
buckwheat10 said:
Im new to trapping as well and had a quick question. When it gets cold like it is now and snow is on the ground, does the coon trapping success slow down? Recently bought a few dog proof duke traps and have had a little success, but didnt know what to expect as the weather cools. Thanks!
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Normally, yes. But for every "rule", there are exceptions. :grin: The last few relatively warm nights have been good for coon movement, I would suspect a pretty sharp drop in coon activity over the new fews days as this big cold front hits.

Now then, I have really good success in the warmup period following a cold snap, even in late January. So, you may want to lay back a little for the next couple of days and then hit it hard when it warms back up. The coons come out hungrier too. :way:
 
buckwheat10 said:
Im new to trapping as well and had a quick question. When it gets cold like it is now and snow is on the ground, does the coon trapping success slow down? Recently bought a few dog proof duke traps and have had a little success, but didnt know what to expect as the weather cools. Thanks!
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Yeah it slows down. I like to set up next to old houses and den trees as it gets later in the year. Any warm ups from here on out will increase movement.
 
With the dog proofs you have to set on sign, trails coming out of the timber, brush piles and so on. We tried setting them like our bait buckets last year and caught nothing. This year we set trails along field edges and did really well.
 
Sold some furs Friday night and did better than expected. Averaged $16 ea. on our coon and $10 ea. on muskrats. The boys were excited to get our fur check! :grin: I think I will invest some of it into some MB-550's for yotes and cats. And maybe a few more 220's. Hopefully next years fur prices will be as competitive as the past couple years have been. I have pulled most everything but plan on getting out some snares soon. This snow cover makes it easy to find where they are crossing. :way:
 
Skully said:
Sold some furs Friday night and did better than expected. Averaged $16 ea. on our coon and $10 ea. on muskrats. The boys were excited to get our fur check! :grin: I think I will invest some of it into some MB-550's for yotes and cats. And maybe a few more 220's. Hopefully next years fur prices will be as competitive as the past couple years have been. I have pulled most everything but plan on getting out some snares soon. This snow cover makes it easy to find where they are crossing. :way:
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I just bought a dozen and a half of the mb-550's the other day. I have had nothing but bad luck with dirt hole sets so far in my life, but i am planning on all that changing.
 
jclaws said:
I just bought a dozen and a half of the mb-550's the other day. I have had nothing but bad luck with dirt hole sets so far in my life, but i am planning on all that changing.
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That's great Joe! I had the chance to fiddle with one the other day and DANG are they nice! Love the night latch feature and the heavy duty cast jaw design. Can't wait to get mine too! I have seen nothing but rave reviews on them. I may end up selling some of my other #2's so I can afford more of these. From what I've read there is no need to go 4 coil with these either. The two coil version is doing everything it needs to do. I found this article interesting too.

"We personally (along with many of our customers who have used the 550) prefer underalls instead of pan covers for this trap. The underalls increase the pan tension slightly resulting in full pad or foot catches and the number of snapped traps is reduced to near zero. We have obtained excellent results on grey fox with the 2-coiled 550 and underalls."

Good luck Joe and post up some pics of your catches! :way:
 
Skully said:
That's great Joe! I had the chance to fiddle with one the other day and DANG are they nice! Love the night latch feature and the heavy duty cast jaw design. Can't wait to get mine too! I have seen nothing but rave reviews on them. I may end up selling some of my other #2's so I can afford more of these. From what I've read there is no need to go 4 coil with these either. The two coil version is doing everything it needs to do. I found this article interesting too.

"We personally (along with many of our customers who have used the 550) prefer underalls instead of pan covers for this trap. The underalls increase the pan tension slightly resulting in full pad or foot catches and the number of snapped traps is reduced to near zero. We have obtained excellent results on grey fox with the 2-coiled 550 and underalls."

Good luck Joe and post up some pics of your catches! :way:
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Thanks Troy! I might have to get some underalls to try. Im hoping on getting some out by the weekend so i will let you know how it goes.
 
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I have only took a few pictures. First two were snares. Troy you prolly recognize the ugly dude in the last picture. Lol!
 
Fellas, this thread ROCKS!

Looking for some advice. I've tagged along on some trapping adventures but never set one myself. I would like to get me and the kiddos some traps for Christmas so we can have some fun close to home. Would like to set snares and foot-holds both. I think bucket sets would work fairly well, too. We have a ton of fox, coon and unlimited coyote to pursue.

Any advice on what I should buy? Brand and sizes would be great. Even advice on scents. Thanks!!
 
Danny Boy, that's great you want to introduce trapping to your kiddos! Every morning is exciting when you never know what you might have caught. I would suggest some dog-proof traps too. Duke makes a good one. They are simple a dependable. Just throw some cat food in them and I recommend putting a white golf ball on top of the opening to keep mice from eating your bait. A raccoon will waste little time knocking it off and digging into the bait. On a moonlit night the golf ball will also act as a visual attractant. A squirt of fish oil at the set will increase catches too! :way:With coyotes I learned early that your trap is only as good as your stake. I prefer to use the disposable "pound in" cable stakes or if a metal re-bar stake is used I like to double stake them. A coyote will flop and pull like you wouldn't believe and I lost a few traps to poor staking when I was just starting out. This time of year snares are the best bet for yotes.
Those are some great pics Joe! Glad to see Jason is still around and kicking! And an expert skunk trapper to boot! LOL! :D Keep them coming guys!
 
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