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Post by Traveler on Aug 16, 2007 18:26:03 GMT -6
Here's how I bed in peat.I dig the trap bed small and with a small shelf for both of the trap levers to rest on.Throw some peat in the bottom of the bed,then push the trap down until the levers are resting on the shelves.Now.....I take a small corn cobb and wedge it in at the 8,10,2 and 4 o'clock postion under the jaws.Trap is solid and it only takes a minute.Sounds silly but it works !!
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Post by bobwendt on Aug 16, 2007 18:28:39 GMT -6
it does sound silly. have you ever tried it without the cobs? I basically do the balancing act, and no I don`t like it ,relative to dry thawed dirt naturally, but daggone it works most of the time.
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Post by Traveler on Aug 16, 2007 18:35:42 GMT -6
I tried it without the cobbs Bob,but it was so shakey I just didn't feel comfortable.I know they don't have to be like they're in concrete,but when I pushed on a jaw and the other side popped up half an inch.......I just didn't trust it.
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Post by CoonDuke on Aug 16, 2007 18:37:56 GMT -6
This doesn't work in frozen ground, but I first twist the trap in the bed till it is pretty solid...one or two twists. Then I use my hammer and beat the side of the bed against each lever and the dog post. 5 or 6 quick whacks with the hammer and it is done. PSB taught me how to do this with my fingers, and I evolved to using the hammer to keep my fingers from getting sore. No packing dirt around the jaws whatsoever...
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Post by Richard Nelson on Aug 16, 2007 18:51:32 GMT -6
I need to buy my peat sooner, Hang it from rafters in a sack....
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Post by bobwendt on Aug 17, 2007 4:42:30 GMT -6
I`ve done the hammer in on accasion on a regular set rather than dig a bed, on a coyote that I believed to be alerted by fresh dirt orsifted dirt smell. make the usual shiny set and then hammer in my bed and cover witrh weeds/grass o a blind set leading to the sucker set. nothing to do with peat or mud, just something I do on occasion that has worked to hook the rare smarty.
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Post by scott kimball on Aug 17, 2007 5:20:30 GMT -6
if one was to mist the top layer of dirt used to keep peat in place,with one of the anti=freeze mentioned is this a wise move or???
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Post by bobwendt on Aug 17, 2007 6:30:18 GMT -6
I don`t know, I`ve always just sprinkled my top dress with salt, or if way sub zero just tote in a handfull only of bone dry dirt.
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Post by trappnman on Aug 18, 2007 13:10:20 GMT -6
I tried peat once years ago, and didn't like it.
But- I hear so many good things, I bought a couple of bales back in April to try again. I have heard from a few, that the odor can be a problem with coyotes. I'll give it a fair try, and appriecate the hints given so far.
should a waxed barrier be used in rain/cold situations?
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Post by bobwendt on Aug 18, 2007 13:46:28 GMT -6
no, it won`t take up water if truly dry.
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Post by scott kimball on Aug 18, 2007 13:58:58 GMT -6
bob :when i opened my bail it seemed dry to the touch,is this normal?or should it be dryer than this.you mentioned earlier that you open your bail in early summer and let air dry. my question is will it or does it dry all the way through even with the plastic wrap around it?
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Post by bobwendt on Aug 18, 2007 14:07:17 GMT -6
yes, if bought early enough, like spring , and kept up in a hot loft.
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Rod17
Demoman...
Posts: 229
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Post by Rod17 on Aug 18, 2007 15:33:36 GMT -6
Just emptied a bale of peat from last year into a big clean rubbermaid garbage can. The peat was bone dry.
Trapperman - you mentioned smells assoc with peat - Do you mean it just smells different or do you think it picks up odors?
Randy
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Post by trappnman on Aug 18, 2007 15:35:32 GMT -6
Simple question........coyote walks up steps on the edge of your traps......you want the trap to shift, move around?
no- to me, rock solid means not having it move around.
but theres a little bit of difference in twisting your trap as you bed it, which I assume is standard, packing a little dirt around the jaws then covering... compared to spending 20 minutes tamping.
Experienced trappers can bed a trap "rock solid" enough in secs- a beginner can't. Why discourage them by saying a trap doesn't have to be solid. For us, we know what solid needs to be, for a beginner its dig a 12" bed, set the trap down and cover. I think its wise to go by the book when learning- but on 1.75s, you better have the insides packed rock solid, or you will be whining about "all those misses in a 1.75"
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Post by ohiyotee on Aug 18, 2007 15:58:36 GMT -6
I use long springs only for my trapping , don't even own a coil any more . Winter conditions are just one of the area's where i feel the long spring is superior to the coils. Look at the design differences between a coil and a long spring . when you set a coil the top of the lever , the part that has to do the most traveling in order for the trap to operate is one of the parts that is the lowest in the bed . The possibility of it getting frozen down is enormous. A long spring on the other hand can be set so that the top of the spring could never be in contact with soil and never freeze down. And this can be accomplished with no bed side effects. I bed them in freezing conditions the same as i would in early season. Now this fact lends itself to the use of peat moss with no antifreeze requirements. I just bed my trap as usual and lay the peat in until i feel it is covered well. If i have a rain and or sleet i just pluck the frozen top off and add some new and move on. If you ask me peat in combination with a long spring is the way to go. Cost effective , fast application, lightweight, and above all it works consistently. greg
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Post by Wright Brothers on Aug 18, 2007 16:51:41 GMT -6
I use peat in our bad weather, My traps don't shift or move around. If I dug a 7 inch round bed, for a 5 1/2 inch round trap, then I'm sure it would shift and move around. Answers are in this thread, by more than one poster.
Read in the other thread were 660 said, "it's only a trap", To add to that, they are only tools, hammer, trap, wrench, level,,,,peat.
WD is another Nice tool.
I sure do know the merits of the LS in bad weather. I also know if praised it will be poopooed as old and not "modern".
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Post by trappnman on Aug 18, 2007 16:58:11 GMT -6
again, it all comes back to what you prefer...
the answer is always d) all of the above.....
we develop preferences 2 ways
1) its what we were taught, and we take that teaching as gospel
2) its what we learned, and we take our learnings as gospel
once again- if it works for you- IT WORKS. I'll never say that your methods, traps aren't 100% perfect for you...at the same time, I smile when I'm told what I do, doesn't work.
the motto of this forum spiritually is "different strokes for different folks, and so on and so forth and scoobie doobie doo... "
there is no right and wrong is success is there-
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Post by Wright Brothers on Aug 18, 2007 17:01:58 GMT -6
Right on, if our traps (tools) worked 100%,,,,,
You know ;D
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Post by scott kimball on Aug 18, 2007 21:24:41 GMT -6
steve; i by far havn't caught the numbers of coyote you may have,but if i bed the trap solid on the outside of the trap only, that is on a ( 1.75 ) i find no need to pack inside the jaws of the trap. i guess i dont understand what packing the inside of the trap jaws does for it's bedding. and why will it create misses if you dont ?
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Post by trappnman on Aug 19, 2007 6:55:39 GMT -6
scott- I found out in using my 1.75s, that I had very few losses- that is, pullouts, etc but did have misses. OGorman says the same thing. On the Dukes, the only 1.75 I own more than a few of, the pan is too big for the trap size in my opinion. The Beav replaces all the pans on his with 1.5 pans. Look at the coyotes foot in relation to the pan. Almost anywhere, if the coyote has less than 1/2 of his foot on the pan the rest of his paw is going to be on a jaw. And thats what causes misses i my opinion. Or more exact- the couple of hairs and a snapped trap that others call losses. Not a loss because you never had him. You could really crank up the tension, but I want fox and I want coon and if yo make your tension enough- over 4 lbs at least to make that pan tight enough so a coyote has to have just about all of its foot to fire it, you are gong to for sure miss the incidentals. And if its 100% coyotes...what are you doing using a 1.75... ;D By having loose dirt inside the jaw space, you allow the dirt to compress before hes really on the pan. To stop that, I pack the inside of the jaws tight. Not over the jaws, or on that small of a trap, tight packing will really slow it down. And I never use a pan cover, always something under the pan in my case polyfil. If you aren't getting any snapped traps and misses, then I wouldn't worry about it. Lots of people have problems with snapped traps and misses- I don't . This is in my opinion why. Plus of course I guide....
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