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Post by thebeav2 on May 24, 2007 18:15:50 GMT -6
No big secret about late winter coon trapping. Find the denning areas and set close to them. Coon don't move far from these areas In late winter. And If there Is a food source close by like open water set up these locations. The best late winter coon trapping I ever had was when I located about 20 abandoned lime stone quarry's. These quarry's produced about 12 to 15 coon each. But all quarry's aren't created equal so you need to do some scouting. Around here all quarry's are marked on our plat maps with a crossed shovel and pick symbol.
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Post by trappnman on May 24, 2007 18:45:39 GMT -6
You nailed it beav. coon denning deep in rocks- move in extreme cold. I've been a firm believer in coon moving in cold and snow- but was absolutely astounded at coon moving in 20-25 below weather.
my "secret" is that I think I've found the common demoninator to the good quarries.
However- you missed one point- late winter coon in most wooded, tree type locations do indeed travel far- literally miles in jan-march unless extreme cold or deep snow.
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Post by thebeav2 on May 24, 2007 19:44:37 GMT -6
I think the snow depth Is more critical to NON movement then the cold. And yes they do move great distances In Feb and March but It's not food their thinking about. But by this time the season Is closed or their not worth the time to catch them. I found that these late winter early spring boars very unpredictable In their travels. But It would be the time to be out scouting and tacking It's time consuming but with a gps you can mark all the denning sites and will be good to go next winter. and If you don't over do It they will produce for many years.
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Post by trappnman on May 24, 2007 19:51:22 GMT -6
I disagree beav- we've had bare ground for most of the winter past ..any years. Snow restricts movement in any weather if too deep and not crusted over.
but don't underrate cold. cold in all my locations EXCEPT concentrated denning areas is critical to movement.
locations where the coon come to you, so to speak.
and its not just feb/mar coon. the same patterns exist in late Dec and Jan during "normal" weather.
I believe 100%- that semi hibernating coon do a lot of wandering for the sake of wandering- not food, not sex- not at that time of the year and under the semi hiberbnating conditions.
Years ago- we never had coon moving during winter.
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Post by mustelameister on May 25, 2007 5:39:42 GMT -6
Steve: Years ago- we never had coon moving during winter.
When I was a kid back in the 60s, I became a very good mid-winter self-taught red fox trapper on the marsh. The red fox would establish trails walking the perimeter of the cattails in the snow on the ice. Sneaking through the cattails, I would make blind sets right in the trail, using wax paper. Must've read that in Fur-Fish-Game back at the time. Did well for a kid working a line around wrestling practice.
Anyway, I never did catch a 'coon once things froze up tight and snow covered the swamp. Don't ever recall seeing a 'coon sunning himself up in a tree, or seeing tracks. But that was a while ago, and who knows.
The old school books say 'coon den up for the winter. Has the bubble of warm climate change some call global warming caused this new behavior? Or did I never notice 'coon moving back then?
Interesting.
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Post by trappnman on May 25, 2007 6:00:20 GMT -6
back in the day, I was rasing and training a lot of beagles very year, and we hunted literally every chance we got from Sept- Mar 1.
Once the snow came- it stayed.
And the old school books did seem to be right- coon hibernated and that was that. While we knew that in milder climes it wa a semi hibernation at best, for us it was no different than bear.
A Jan thaw that lasted more than a few days, would get a few out..... but now...
I've thought about it and come to a couple possible conclusions:
1) has a new strain of coon emergered? that is- did the coon that had the rtendency to not hibrnate as hard, get an advantage during the mild weather, enough so so that this "strain" became dominate over the past 10-12 years?
plenty of time- studies have shown that small game, after being hunterd for the same time periods, DOES change their habits. For example- pheasants. Studies (in NE idf I remember right) show that areas hunted hard (public hunting) developed a strain of bird that tended ot run rather than fly as a reaction to danger. So- after realatively a short time, the breeding birds were the oens that preferred to run- so much so, that a "strain" of runners was developed.
Same thing occurs in rabbits. Some are more nocturnal, some mire active during the day. When hunted, the ones above ground during the day, were the ones hunted. So- again, a strain is developed of bunnies that are more nocturnal. I used to go to places that we would get lotsdo f bunnies each hunr- and over the years, the sign never changed -tracks, cuttings, droppings everywhere- but it was very rare to strike a trail and run a few. Those tracks, etc were all made at night.
so- somehow- did this happen to the coon?
could the coon wanderers be healthier, breed better, etc?
2) just the warm weather? Yet, the temps I see coon in nowadays, are so extreme that it makes this seem odd.
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Post by SteveCraig on May 25, 2007 7:24:45 GMT -6
In Indiana they were only in a semi-hibernation, not a full hibernation like a bear , and always in the month of Dec. Whereever they were, be it den tree of ground den, they would come out, take a leak, stretch or whatever they do, and then back in they go. Never leave the area of the den very far. Good coon hunters would only use a still mouthed dog in Dec as he would have the coon up a bush sometimes very near the den tree. The dog would simply be on them too fast for them to make it back to the tree. My dad and granddad were bigtime coon hunters and we did this every year. Only used ONE still mouthed dog. It was the only way we could catch coons in Dec. I was able to take advantage of this trait, and started snaring poles leaning up against the tree. I knew ,and still do know of every den tree in the area. I would go out and lean poles about 3-4 inches in diameter against the den trees. Could snare them real easy and didnt have to worry about catching a dog. Then come Jan, we would just about always get a good thaw and those big old boars would be everywhere. Traveling all over, looking for females. You could catch them again just like you did in the fall. Snares, 220's were and are the ticket. Usually had the are to yourself as all other trappers were home with mama. Just my experience. Steve
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Post by trappnman on May 25, 2007 7:35:04 GMT -6
you are correct on the silent dogs Steve.
My dad always said "you run hounds for pleasure, airdales for money".
howhat you describe, sounds very typical of lower Iowa, northern Missouri type coon. Short periods if any hibernation periods.
up here, they used to hibernate all winter. Not so anymore. I also was just thinking- perhaps its the delayed start to winter that has produced the "long term" changes in coon here.
That is, as MM mentioned once, we just aren't getting the early snows and the staying snows early. I can count on the fingers of one hand, the snow days we now get during Decmember- almost nil.
So this means coon are feeding longer- instead of a good snow coming and staying in early Nov, they have bare ground for another month or two. Perhaps this increased food, keeps them more active, longer?
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Post by packerfan on May 25, 2007 20:28:03 GMT -6
Steve/Mike..........I think you guys are "dead on". MAJOR climate shifts have caused coon to change winter routines up north. Walking creeks (Dec. through Feb.) in my t-shirt seems unreal some days. But, 50-60 (even freak 70) degree days have happened over the last several years. I personally love fall extending to New Years Eve. The last couple of years I can't seem to keep the coons out of my rat/mink sets in JAN/FEB (when I prefer rats and mink over coon). They seem to evolve very quickly.
-Dan
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