Wire screens

[bobCATching]

Thank you for the nice comments on the bobCATching DVD. Makes a guy feel good when he finally does something kinda' right! hehe

I guess the two things I didn't like about the wire screen was the visibility of it when it became slightly exposed due to wind, rodents etc in exposed trap sets for bobcats. Secondly I had to work at it more to get it to lay flat as Joel stated. Not as much of an issue when using dirt as a pan cover since dirt is heavy and its weight helped lay the cover down but juniper duff is very lightweight and wouldn't do that to a pan cover that fluffed up.

[HappyPlumber]

Some great posts here, but I have a question. Who sells this type of shelf liner that was discussed? We have early freeze ups with rain and thaw conditions. I made a bunch of waxed sand for this but the sand goes through the screen and the waxpaper gets mushy after the rain and don't support the sand. HP

[cameron2]

HP:

You can buy it anywhere, Lowes, Home Depot, WalMart, KMart, pretty much anywhere. I buy all mine at the Dollar Store. Look in the shelving department of any of the big home improvement stores.

By the way, LOVE THOSE STRETCHERS!!!!!!

[bobCATching]

Yes, all the above. I get the heavy duty black shelf liner at wal-mart in the tool department right by the tool boxes. They sell it there to line, imagine this,,, tool boxes!

[Bristleback]

I should add that I've not yet tried Hollywood's, Joel's and Bill's method of "walk through", once you see Hollywood's DVD you, go duh and lots of things click as to why a walk through and the types of sets they use. Which makes sense as to the pan cover material they use vs wire screen.

I'll give the "tool box" liner material a go, and will see it first hand no doubt on Cameron2's line in a few weeks.

[mostinterestingmanintheworld]

Bristleback for the record I've hardly ever used Steve's liner material.

I've gotten away from the pan cover and just filling in around the inside of the jaws. If I'm using a pan cover I just bury the whole thing.

I like a 3.5 inch pan brazed on a longspring with no pan cover or a roof shingle clipped on the coilsprings.

It gives them a perfect target for their foot. I've had cats step on the jaws and try to get two steps inside the bigger traps with the pan covers.


I start out burying some and pretty soon the ground will freeze and I remember why I don't do it much anymore.

Joel

[edge]

**They sell it there to line, imagine this,,, tool boxes! **

Well,I suppose it could work for that too........

Edge

[billcat]

Set a trap and turn it upsidedown on a sheet of paper. Trace around the inside of the jaws. Transfer this pattern to a piece of 1/8" aluminum. Cut to size and you can use as a template to cut the screen to size. Cut a notch for the dog. Clip the screen to the pan with a bobbypin. There'll be a small gap close to the jaws, but it won't matter for cats and won't be much of a problem, even on a full burried set for coys.

How do you guys carry them so they don't get all bent out of shape?

Bill

[cameron2]

Bill:

I got a plastic container that some sort of detergent came in, almost looks like a quart of oil container -- sort of flat, about 2 inches thick, and about 5-6 inches wide. I cut the spout part off of it so it's rectangle shape, then I riveted (is that a word) it to the inside of my plastic pail. The pan covers just slide into it real nice, and don't get bent up. It carries 20-30 of the heavy shelf liner types that Hollywood shows on his DVD.

Been talking to Ray Timm. He says you've been feeding those lions some pretty expensive dinners. . . .

[Jeffrey]

I don't mess with any of that stuff any more, caused me more problems than it was worth. I bed the trap then fill the inside with cover hulls scrape off the pan sift dirt over the set , pack jaws and levers sift again lightly then done. In this mud this year that's all that has saved my sets.

[Bristleback]

My trapping basket/bag is an oversized too bag, has a sleeve on the outside I can put in a doz or so screens, works great.

[billcat]

Yeah Tracy, a lion already ate one big tom.

Hunters have stolen a couple of G. Fox and a cat. A guy's got to become a better Indian, I guess. The thing is: they seem to find the best hidden sets and miss the ones that are more visible. Go figure?

Bill

[cameron2]

Same here, Bill.

We've had 4 traps stolen so far. 2 of them had fox in them, and one had caught a fox before so I guess they saw the catch circle. But like you said, the traps visible from the road or in other obvious places seem to be charmed, while those that I can't seem to find myself are the ones that get picked off.

Just once, I'd like to hook a trap up to a shotgun trigger with a load of confetti, just to know that some guy and his laundry lady would get a surprise.

[Clefus]

This is my second year using the black og screen...
A statement made by Bristleback sums up how well mine is to use..
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------"The height of you pan can also play havoc.......I run 100% all fully modified Bridger #3..........so when modifying mine, I want as low a pan that will allow, this will also help with the screen laying flat. Along with what has already been stated"... Bristleback
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I use it on #3 Montanas and found that by lowering the pan...I mean low....makes a world of difference....
Traps with a pan height that before would be considered low before...now are too high....I was adjusting pans while setting last year....also I cut a v notch and slide in after set on the dogless traps...fwiw...

[HappyPlumber]

I picked up some of that rubberized shelf liner that you guys were talking about and I can't believe it would work. It smells bad and I would think that the yotes would shy away from it. I'm sure you could use it, but what is the success rate. HP

[mmwb (Andrew Parker)]

"I would think that the yotes would shy away from it"

That would be considered a plus to some.

[HappyPlumber]

So in other words, this shelf liner discussion was to be used strictly for cats? HP

[johnthomas]

perhaps joel blakeslee you are gettin on in years a bit, i know i am, the older i get and the older other trappers i know get it seems the less we like stuff like wire screen, im always thinking i should go back to usin it like i did for years, but i remember all the problems i had and i just forget it, ive used og heavy screen and several other types and all were good and bad, super trap cover on coyotes, but coon just loved to set at the trap set and play with it, light covered set and some cats would play with it sometimes, dirty traps and coyotes would dig the screen out and bend it all up, walkin thru briars and sure as heck the screens would get hooked out of the bag and be way back there when i got to the place to set, stiff old fingers popped in traps cuz i was to clumsy to get the loose jaw down like i wanted, mistakes made when trying to mass produce them in the summer months , falling down on some rocks and a nice bunch of them bent up, i just got sick of it and went back to wax paper on big traps, polyfill on small traps or no cover like you are talking on cat traps and a light covering, i to this day can see no way it increases the kill area on a trap, looking at it yes it seems to, but catches i never could see the difference.

[mostinterestingmanintheworld]

I've decided to put it away. Anybody wants a roll and your around Reno let me know.

Joel

[cameron2]

HP:

I don't have a lot of experience with the shelf lining material on coyotes, but the season is just 2 weeks old, and I've been trying to avoid coyotes in my area, and I've caught 5, all with the shelf liner material. I've also caught 40+ grey fox with them on small traps. I wondered about the smell when I first cut the pan covers, but I didn't really worry about it. I cut mine in advance and left them in a plastic tote container. I guess you could boil them, or give them a shot of urine, but from what I've seen, coyotes and fox don't seem to mind the smell. Don't know if that helps you or not.

By the way, did I mention I was real happy with the stretchers?