Post by trappnman on Feb 4, 2004 9:52:56 GMT -6
Remakes are perhaps one of the biggest concerns for canine trappers.
After a day of making fresh sets, its disheartening to find a possum in your "best" ones the next day. That perfect, subtle location is gone- those weed clumps or color lines are no longer there- your perfect set is just a circle in the dirt.
Some people as a matter of course just pull that trap and make a fresh set nearby. Others remake the set exactly as it was, some remake it into a different type of set and some pull and use the same trap at the edge of the circle.
What people do, it seems to me, is related to where and when they are trapping.
So- since we posters from a wide variety of locations here- Alberta to Quebec to NY to MN to WY to NM and everywhere in between- I'd like to know the various remake methods you use.
Mine are simple. I generally make 2 main types of fresh sets- flat and stepdowns. I also use the Mafia trail set a little- but all that is is just a flat set made in a trail, as far as I can see.
Stepdowns: I have found and others report the same, that they have a lot of success in stepdowns remade back into stepdowns. My best three remakes over the years have been in stepdowns- one set took 7 canines in 10 days, and two others have taken 5 coyotes in a season (plus incidentals like badgers, coon, etc in between). Many other stepdowns have taken 3-4 coyotes in them over the years, so I always make my stepdowns back into stepdowns.
First of all, I clear out the stepdown bed, its usually pretty easy to do. I just scoop out the duff and use it as guides or if too much duff, toss it to the side. Almost without exception, the roof of the lure hole is gone, so I have to import a new roof. I don't waste too much time looking- a flat rock, a dirt clump from a plowed field, a dug up weed clump turned upside down- all work well.
I relure every remake- but make no effort to use the same lures. I like the hodgepodge of smells- I bleive it adds to the set. So- you have a stepdown, much like the original, in the middle of the catch circle. I mist the stepdown pattern, and also give where I was kneeling a few squirts too. Don't know if this last is neded- but it takes less than a sec so why not- it MIGHT help.
Flat sets- my flat sets are pretty natural. Occasionally, I forget the EXACT location of the set- I know within a few yards- but until a catch or I pull them, they often blend in so well that I'm not QUITE sure where the trap is set. Soundfs slipshod- but its really not. In a field with a bunch of bare spots, dust circles- blending is much easier- and I am of the belief "make the set look like it has been there 100 years or an hour ago- nothing inbetween".
Most of my flat sets take advantage of color lines of dirt, grass, etc. Subtle guides and subtle locations. No way can they be made back naturally. So- I don't even try.
What I do is take all the duff in the circle and use that to make a walkthrough. I take 2/3 or so of the duff, and make a pile about 2-3 feet long and maybe 4-5 inches high. I do this so that it is in a "bow" shape- think of the bow with the handgrip by the trap and the tips curving back away from the trap. I put this where the original backing (or color line, etc) was.
The other 1/3 of the duff I put where the trap guard was. I make this pile much smaller and less defined. A opposite bow like shape- but more blurred and "sloppy".
I then relure the bigger loaf at two of the corners.
The area between the two duff piles is smoothed out creating a walkway through the set. The rest of the circle is left as is. Where the trap is set, I like to crowd the duff piles in tight, so the width of the walkway is about 1 1/2 times the width of the trap.
If droppings are present from canines, I might use one by the trap dog- but usually leave then scattered around the set. If I have another trap close by, I sometimes add a fresh dropping to it- but I seldom pick up and take droppings of the site.
On these sets- for reason explained in the Urine thread, I mist the entire walk through set with urine and agian give where I am kneeling a shot or two.
This type of walkthrough is very effective for me in remaking a badger catch circle. I just push as much dirt as I can back into the hole and do the best I can. Badger diggings are very attractive to coyotes here.
If a set is too muddy or impossibly beat up, I'll pull the trap and make a fresh set using the same trap. In this case I use the edge of the catch circle as a backing and make a sort of fresh remake LOL.
I very seldom pull a trap- but next year will be doing so on the "3 day rule" that many of you have told me you do with success. That is- if no catch after 3 days, replace the trap. I'm planning on using quick links and using the same stakes, trap location, etc.
THE 3 DAY RULE: to clarify- since rust is such a problem after coon, etc- I decided I'm going to change a lot of traps next year. Rather than change them right away after a catch (too much work!), I'm taking the advice of stef and others. That advice is that on a remake, if no new catch within 3 days, to replace the trap. The only reason for doing so is the rust. I don't want to make fresh sets, so am going to add quick links to all my yote traps and use the same bed and stakes and just replace the rusty trap. If I get a catch within 3 days, the I'll remake the set and wait another 3 days.
After a day of making fresh sets, its disheartening to find a possum in your "best" ones the next day. That perfect, subtle location is gone- those weed clumps or color lines are no longer there- your perfect set is just a circle in the dirt.
Some people as a matter of course just pull that trap and make a fresh set nearby. Others remake the set exactly as it was, some remake it into a different type of set and some pull and use the same trap at the edge of the circle.
What people do, it seems to me, is related to where and when they are trapping.
So- since we posters from a wide variety of locations here- Alberta to Quebec to NY to MN to WY to NM and everywhere in between- I'd like to know the various remake methods you use.
Mine are simple. I generally make 2 main types of fresh sets- flat and stepdowns. I also use the Mafia trail set a little- but all that is is just a flat set made in a trail, as far as I can see.
Stepdowns: I have found and others report the same, that they have a lot of success in stepdowns remade back into stepdowns. My best three remakes over the years have been in stepdowns- one set took 7 canines in 10 days, and two others have taken 5 coyotes in a season (plus incidentals like badgers, coon, etc in between). Many other stepdowns have taken 3-4 coyotes in them over the years, so I always make my stepdowns back into stepdowns.
First of all, I clear out the stepdown bed, its usually pretty easy to do. I just scoop out the duff and use it as guides or if too much duff, toss it to the side. Almost without exception, the roof of the lure hole is gone, so I have to import a new roof. I don't waste too much time looking- a flat rock, a dirt clump from a plowed field, a dug up weed clump turned upside down- all work well.
I relure every remake- but make no effort to use the same lures. I like the hodgepodge of smells- I bleive it adds to the set. So- you have a stepdown, much like the original, in the middle of the catch circle. I mist the stepdown pattern, and also give where I was kneeling a few squirts too. Don't know if this last is neded- but it takes less than a sec so why not- it MIGHT help.
Flat sets- my flat sets are pretty natural. Occasionally, I forget the EXACT location of the set- I know within a few yards- but until a catch or I pull them, they often blend in so well that I'm not QUITE sure where the trap is set. Soundfs slipshod- but its really not. In a field with a bunch of bare spots, dust circles- blending is much easier- and I am of the belief "make the set look like it has been there 100 years or an hour ago- nothing inbetween".
Most of my flat sets take advantage of color lines of dirt, grass, etc. Subtle guides and subtle locations. No way can they be made back naturally. So- I don't even try.
What I do is take all the duff in the circle and use that to make a walkthrough. I take 2/3 or so of the duff, and make a pile about 2-3 feet long and maybe 4-5 inches high. I do this so that it is in a "bow" shape- think of the bow with the handgrip by the trap and the tips curving back away from the trap. I put this where the original backing (or color line, etc) was.
The other 1/3 of the duff I put where the trap guard was. I make this pile much smaller and less defined. A opposite bow like shape- but more blurred and "sloppy".
I then relure the bigger loaf at two of the corners.
The area between the two duff piles is smoothed out creating a walkway through the set. The rest of the circle is left as is. Where the trap is set, I like to crowd the duff piles in tight, so the width of the walkway is about 1 1/2 times the width of the trap.
If droppings are present from canines, I might use one by the trap dog- but usually leave then scattered around the set. If I have another trap close by, I sometimes add a fresh dropping to it- but I seldom pick up and take droppings of the site.
On these sets- for reason explained in the Urine thread, I mist the entire walk through set with urine and agian give where I am kneeling a shot or two.
This type of walkthrough is very effective for me in remaking a badger catch circle. I just push as much dirt as I can back into the hole and do the best I can. Badger diggings are very attractive to coyotes here.
If a set is too muddy or impossibly beat up, I'll pull the trap and make a fresh set using the same trap. In this case I use the edge of the catch circle as a backing and make a sort of fresh remake LOL.
I very seldom pull a trap- but next year will be doing so on the "3 day rule" that many of you have told me you do with success. That is- if no catch after 3 days, replace the trap. I'm planning on using quick links and using the same stakes, trap location, etc.
THE 3 DAY RULE: to clarify- since rust is such a problem after coon, etc- I decided I'm going to change a lot of traps next year. Rather than change them right away after a catch (too much work!), I'm taking the advice of stef and others. That advice is that on a remake, if no new catch within 3 days, to replace the trap. The only reason for doing so is the rust. I don't want to make fresh sets, so am going to add quick links to all my yote traps and use the same bed and stakes and just replace the rusty trap. If I get a catch within 3 days, the I'll remake the set and wait another 3 days.
