Question for rat trappers?

[ColdSteel]

How do you boys stabilize your traps on logs.Do you notch out with a hatchet or use small nails or have a another good method.I plan on setting logs this year while I am beaver trapping and I have never done a lot of rat trapping other than setting den holes and feed beds.Has anyone ever tried the coni clips nailed into logs and set up with 110's?

[trappnman]

never had much luck with those 110 clips on logs for rats and mink. Now beaver dam crossovers- thats another story and I like them very well there.

I always found logs and rocks hard to set up for rats, and prefer to make other sets close by. But have done it many times in the past, and in some areas, its really the only option.

Chopping a bed is the best...AFTER its chopped LOL. But its usually a wet mess trying to do so. If a guy wants to chop beds, I'd suggest some good saw and a chisel- cut out both sides and chisel out the middle. Less splashing for sure.

If you can do it, a slice cut into the log works superb. In fact, a standby rat set on a marsh is to take a large willow, and slice it lengthwise and wedge the trap into that. This is one set where lure and bait does help. then just shove the willow stick into the mud at about a 45. with the trap just under water.

Overall, you probably will find a nail or to to wedge in the trap is the easist way, and once you get your system, the quickest.

[thebeav2]

The problem with logs Is the rat can climb on In many different spots so trap placement can be tricky.
I have had very little if no luck trying to get rats to go through a exposed 110 and perched up on a log might even be tougher.

Chopping notches under water for trap placement Is wet city LOL But a large wood chisel welded to a piece of pipe will keep you dry and get the job done. It's still time consuming and not real effective.
Floats work In some situations but are a real pain to haul around. Pre setting the floats with bait and no traps just might give you a clue If they will work.

The good old pocket set and feed bed sets are probably your best choices and If you can find the den holes set them up.

Gary

[trappnman]

see you 've been there also beav.....wet city for sure!

[ColdSteel]

Thanks for the replies the reason I want to try these logs is the river I am trapping has some current and I watched the rats the other evening right at dark seems like every muskrat that swims the bank climbs up on these logs to rest from the current.This river is right beside the mill I work at and there are also 2 large stumps in the river I know I will set up because every time it seems I ride by there day or night there is a rat setting on each of these large stumps.They are about 14 inches in diameter and barely sticking out the water.Guess I will have to get wet because they will get a trap or 2 if possible ;D

[lumberjack]

Why not just cut a sod and lay it on the approach with a foothold ? Even above the waterline if you have to.
Setting up logs with bodygrippers for rats is pretty much lookin up a dead horses a$$ around my area.

[bussro]

"take a large willow and slice it, then wedge the trap into it".
I'm having a hard time following you there Steve. Are you splitting a 2" to 3" diameter stick lengthways and wedging the trap frame into the split?

[thebeav2]

Here's what we use to do.
We used a piece of wood about 3/4" thick and about 8" long and about 6" wide. We drilled a hole through long end close to the edge. The hole size Is fairly Important. You want It large enough so the board will move with any fluction of water levels and will swing Into the current. But you also want the hole small enough so that when the rat climbs up the the board It will lock up on the pole when downward pressure Is put on the platform. This action stablizes the platform.
We just used green willow poles, the willow bark was the bait. One the bark was gone from the rats eating It we just tied on a cobb of corn onto the pole.

We drove a small finising nail (no Head) into the platform to hold the trap from being dragged off when the rat climbed on. In most cases theres a hole In the trap frame so you can place the trap on the nail If not drill one. The trap was wired to the pole. If you have beaver In your area they may cut your pole so you will have to deal with that situation and use dry ploes and bait

Good luck.

[bussro]

Gary I saw some of those platforms for sale the other day at a meet. For some reason they had holesawed about a 2" to 2-1/2" hole in the center of the platform. Maybe to reduce buoyancy. I should've asked, but didn't.
When I was a kid I cut plywood squares, screwed a piece of 1"x2" to the bottom of the platform, and then screwed another piece of 1" x 2" vertically to the platform. The vertical 1"x2" was wired to a stake and could be adjusted up or down. It worked well in open water and even better below ice.

[fishadict]

Back to setting the logs... I prefer feedbeds or dens. But, when I want to set a log I take a bunch of mud from the bottom and form it on the log just above the waterline, bed trap, then place aquatic vegetation around the trap and slightly over it to make everything level. Works OK.

fa

[shagnasty]

tony, use longsprings. you can tell where they are climbing up most places. the trap needs to be just below water surface. it is a little wet sometimes to chop a small notch or I think in the future i will take a small piece of wire and barely twist around log through spring to hold in place, the rat will pull the trap free after being caught. i have driven a few nails in log before just to keep trap from sliding off, it holds enough to allow rat to land on it. now the wire thing likely wont work on big logs but a possible option for the small ones. set a few traps on those stumps and staple to stump if not too rotten. i agree that 110s on these logs do not seem like a good plan and i have had near zero luck, now a path under a root system with a 110 is a different story.

[Steve Gappa]

interesting that few have had luck with 110s on logs. Wonder why? Rats certainly aren't trap shy- but they do seem to avoid going through those squares set in the open on logs.

[ColdSteel]

I have never tried the log set with 110's for rats myself,but I have set 220's on log crossings and caught coons as well as grey fox.I even caught a bobcat a few years ago.Seems like the log set would catch a rat maybe its like Beav said they just crawl up in one spot and setting a conibear would be a guessing game

[lumberjack]

I wouldnt go as far to say rats arent trap shy moreso it seems in pond situations.
Especially on a half or less submerged 110s.
Seems like id catch one or two in that situation, then they got spooked.
Of course,with nowadays populations maybe one or two was all there was.
Ive had rats pack 110s full of mud and debris several times, I think they saw it as an obstruction of sorts.

[foxcatcher1]

Here is how I set them up. I use longspring traps and find a log that is not too big, maybe 4 " in diameter. I want one I can move if possible as I like to face the log down stream. I wire trap chain to the log and set the trap. Now I light wire the trap to the log right at the waters edge. Just like martin trapper I only wire the trap enough to hold until a catch is made. During the brief struggle the rat will pull the trap free and sink to his demise. I like 1 1/2 longs for this due to wieght, but have used #1's in moving water. Remeber in most instances the rat will work the log from the down stream side in moving water (or so I have found).

Don

[thebeav2]

Here's a little trick you can try,It will keep you dry and you can still create a spot for your trap.

Take a piece of wood and cut It so your trap can sit on It, coil springs work best for this. Drive two small staples on the under side of the wood platform. Place one close to each edge. Drive them In just enough so you can slide a nail through each one.

I use those 10" pole barn spikes. Drive the spikes in at a angle so you are not hammering In the water. Drive them In just far enough so they hold not to deep. Now just push down on the nail ends until your platform Is under water. You want your platform under water far enough so your trap when placed will have about 1" of water over It. I drive a small head less nail In the platform to set the trap on. I like the trap to be set so the rat will be coming up between the jaws . Some lure will help In directing the rat to the platform. Even some small branches stuck In around the log will help direct the rat.

Gary

[ColdSteel]

Beav I like that idea I will give that a try if I hit the big river .I had plans on trapping rats on this river because its the only one around here that has a descent population of rats but I have already heard through the grapevine that at leats 4 more trappers plan on hitting the river starting opening day.I love it when people tell me they don't trap for the money nobody has rat trapped this river over 6 years.At least I tell the truth I do trap for the money ;D

[NattyBumpo]

Tony, the fastest way is to use cable ties to fasten a KB stabilizer to the log.

[oldmink]

My muskrat trapping has always been pretty plain and straightforward. Den sets, slides and an occassional feedbed. The streams I trapped as a kid were too small and shallow to float much more than a stick so log sets were out. We had a big creek but the current was too strong for any logs to be floating unless they were racing downstream. So to make a long story short I have no experience with log type sets for 'rats.

Perhaps there are situtations where the log sets, like floats, would be the only way to go. But where ever I've trapped I've always been able to readily find the dens, and if not the dens the slides and feedbeds. It just seems to me that log sets are secondary sets, only to be used when no other sets are available.

In my not-so-humble-opinion even the previously discussed bottom edge set is a much better 'rat set than log sets.

[thebeav2]

In this part of the country we have tons of downed trees laying partly on the banks and partly In the water. These logs are used as resting places/ toilets.
Most of the streams I trap the den holes are just about Impossible to find. I think Tony Is In the same boat.

The Kb stabilizer Is just OK but would be cost prohibitive for serious rat trapping and they don't work worth a darn to stabilize foot holds LOL.

Would I make 100s of these sets ? Probably not If I could find better more productive ones. But they do have their place.

Gary