Buckets: Yes, No, Maybe...

[trappnman]

I'm not a bucket man. Bought a bunch, tried them out, caughht some coon, missed some coon, chalked it up to "now I know" and haven't used a bucket for many years.

For me, in winter conditions, I found buckets (and/or the way I used them) to not be satisfactory for me. Main reason: Too many refusals.

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Yet- many people are using buckets. Rod mentions in another thread using boxes with mesh rather than buckets. Others suggest camoflage around the bucket.

So- if yo uare a confrimed bucket or box man- I'd like to hear your methods. Also your problems and weak points in the system. Is the success rate tied to weather?

Inquiring minds want to know.

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Incidently, the best success I found with buckets was to cut off 1 side and turn the bucket over so the cutout was on the bottom- with the other side making a roof . I then would bed a 1.5 under the cutout- making a fairly efficient weather proof cubby.

[coonwhacker]

I use buckets with great success. They successfully hold my gear.
mike

[BK]

N.L. uses buckets.

[iowafurbuyer]

Steve, hows come I feel like im being followed? Bucket sets are great, but theres more to it than throwing some lure in and a trap. Use buckets where its hard to put in other sets. You want to conceal the bucket, dont just throw it on the side of a trail. Throw some branches or grass over it, make it look natural, like its been there forever. Next, put stuff in it, weather it be, grass, trash, corn stalks, rat carcasses, anything. I think a book could be made on bucket sets, there is so many different ways to use them. Oh, and my secret, castor works awesome in these, even with other baits and lures, use castor. Ray

[musher]

I use buckets - guarded with an m-15 for bear! I don't necessarily get refusals but a "slappy" bear can be a real pain.

I tried them for marten and fisher. I decided that I prefer something more natural. Like C-W I now use them for gear and bait.

[a1foxhopper]

Buckets in my area are just an invitation to trap theives and not worth the trouble.

[vttrapper]

Same as foxhopper, too many 220s have gone to others using buckets. they did work for me , but a 220 in a coon run works well too.

frank

[foxtail]

Iowafurbuyer is right, an entire book could be written on this set. I am currently writing it. Writing a book is hard work, I never would have guessed. Just figuring out the format is a pain.

I use lots of this set. I use them where the setting is tough as a result of low grade conditions such as sand that will not alow digging, or where there is not enough water to drown a critter. It works well also where a live critter would attract unwanted attention.
I also use them where I "need" another set to make a stop worthwhile. I hate setting one or two traps in a location. I prefer 4.

There are some disadvantages to this set. One is that you can kill a dog if you hook into it. I have done it one time and the dog was on private property where it was not welcome anyway. If people find your set, they may start to look at all buckets they see along their route.
I do not reccomend this set to those not experienced with body grippers already.

Here is a billet statement I wrote up for questions about the set.
I use the buckets more than any other set with the exception of the pocket set. It is the bread and butter to my trapping along with the pockets. I use buckets and boxes, and the buckets are much easier to haul around. The boxes are real nice, but they have to be stored with a little more care. The buckets can be tossed almost anywhere during the off-season except that they have to stay out of the sun. The boxes will rot unless you make them out of real good wood. Then they are too heavy to be practical.
I don't subscribe to the false belief that the slots on the buckets should be 2 inches wide and 6 inches long. I make most of my slots with a chainsaw and the notches are only as wide as the chain. They are only as deep as the ring that goes to the top of the handle bracket.
I use whole sheephead and/or bullheads as bait. I also usually give them a small squirt of fish oil. I usually place them in spots that I can't easily put another type of set in. An example of this is where the bank is so shallow sloped, that you can't put a pocket in there. Often the water table there is shallow enough that there can't have a dirthole either. Another ideal spot is where the coon trail goes through lots of brush. A coon in a coni is not going to power out of the trap with the help of the brush.
Wooded areas where there are coon trails going all over are another great place to put a bucket, especially where two or more trails intersect. In many of these places, two sets will pay off often.
I also place the trigger on the bottom. This is to allow the mink to give up the ghost as well as the coon, possums, and cats that frequently end up in my sets. I also believe that the coon will go over the wires faster than it will go under them.
Make no mistake, I am not trying to put anyone off of the boxes, they do work great, but they have some disadvantages that the buckets don't have. I use them too, but use many time more buckets.

Here is another one I use to explain how to make the set up.
Step one, make sure it is legal.

Step two, find a clean bucket and cut two groves into the rim about 3 inches deep on opposite sides and about 1/2 inch wide. ( I only cut the groove to the last ring)

3. Make sure you have a safety on the 220 and make sure that it fits correctly.

4. Place the bucket with a good sized chunk of fish or muskrat meat in a spot where there is evidence of target animal activity.

5. Place set trap in the groves with the trigger on the bottom(this is so that the mink will get caught also) and the safety hooks released.

6. Stake the trap so that nothing can steal your catch.

7. MOST IMPORTANT, DO NOT PUT WHERE YOU ARE GONNA GET SOMEONE'S PET!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (or kid)

There is a certain amount of responsibility involved when you choose to use this set. You have to really think before you use it. One bad incident and you can give all trappers a black eye.

I have only ever got one person's dog in over ten years, It was a few miles from home and tresspassing on my friend's land. This was the owner's fault. But it cost me some of the best possible trapping land I could ever have had.

[briankroberts]

Where I'm at bait and 220's is a bad deal.


I can get by with trail sets and not have a problem.....B.....

[PAMINK]

Like Steve I have had refusals with buckets and boxes. Some coon bust right in and others play around and do everything but stick their head in. I tried coni-pans and the refusals improved but still had some. So I guess I'm a maybe. Terry

[woody]

;D So when Ya'll going to get that book wrote? ;D

Steve, I like the idea of cutting the bucket and using it for a cubby. I think I'll try it this season. I have farm that I am the only one on and don't have to worry about theft Whats some of the baits you guys use in your buckets??? woody

[dj88ryr]

I don't do a lot of bucket trapping, but I did take some coon with Stef's Procoon on a cotton ball in the back of the bucket. Quick, easy, and it worked, not saying it is the best way, but it put some hides on the stretchers.

[Clefus]

I use about a dozen or two spread out on my line for spots that are difficult to set with regular sets...

I use wooden boxes , solid back, stained black, with a bait cup in the back and run a stake thru the added swivel and thru the box.....

Traps are set with the triggers on the bottom and only about an inch and a half high and the box top is blended in with local debris....

Over the years they have produced fairly well and the bottom triggers take an occasional mink....

[rk660]

Like Edge says, putting hardware cloth in the back makes all the difference, I put a bracket on them that props the front of bucket up and stablizes it. After opening up the back end, I can get maybe 15% catch ratio in nov with thick coon population, if they are thin and not hungry forget it. I dont run many in november because of the dog issue. theres a few places here and there i cant drown coon and want them dead. I run trigger on the bottom spread in a v with trigger wires angled back into buckets about 45 degrees. I grass in the trap so to break up the outline of it. I dont worry much abour camo-ing the bucket itself, but i like them to have that "grew there" look. Stuck into brushpiles or at least have a big 6" log on top of it. in small ditchs with a trickle of water, I like to carve the bank 90 degrees and run the bucket paralell to edge, so back end of bucket is exposed. lots of guys feel opening the back of the bucket lets more scent thru it. i feel its more about them being able to see thru it and not feeling they are entering a confined space. I dont buy they aint smelling a grapefruit sized hunk of bait set in the middle of a coon trail that looks like 6 coon a night roll thru. then the bucket sets there for a week w/o a catch! Well, not a coon anyways. ;D Open the back end up and ya start catching a few. A pocket set dont have air flow thru it or an opening in back end and i can kill 100's of coon in them, they smell it just fine. I use more in late dec and january when cat and coyote snaring. If the coon have been holed up and real hungry, they can work quite well at this time of year. sometimes can even get 50%. Last year they worked great in january and this year they were so so. Its seems to be different every year. they seem to work better in pastures than on the creeks that border corn fields. i suppose them pasture coons are a little hungryer than the ones next to cornfields. seems the farther north you go, the better they work. Around here in Nov if ya had the guts to run a 100 buckets, youd be looking at about 10-12 coon a day and a lot of sleepless nights. I prefer a few more than 10 a day and like to sleep at night. Without cutting the back of the bucket out youd be hard pressed to get 5 a day. I did come into a method that works about 3x as effective as a bucket in Nov. It requires a lot of work and 2 traps, but boy does it ever work! i hate to say the inventor of this method asked me not to repeat it so I have to respect that.

[a1foxhopper]

You big super duper ultimate coon set tease...LOL

[RodManning]

My opinion is that if a critter can look through, around are over, you will have less refusals. Try both ways and see what you think.

[MChewk]

Use both buckets and boxes prefer boxes...more stable and easier to hide from theives. I leave my boxes in the field in the same hot spots year after year. Will occasionally prebait if I have time with a good edible bait like apples or old donuts,etc. For me boxes/buckets shine in late season for big coon I like skinned skunk carcasses
Forgot to mention my boxes have mesh on backing or are built to have a slot of space positioned in back of box to allow odors to disapate.

[thebeav2]

No buckets for me,I can do a lot better with a trail set or a foot hold at a dirt hole.
But like stated by several They do seem to work a little better later In the season when things get tough.

Beav