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Post by dblcoil on Sept 1, 2007 14:54:27 GMT -6
does anyone keep a journal troughout the season and if so, do you know where i could buy one. i know that cabelas sells hunting/ fishing journals but i havent seen one for trappers. id like something that looks decent, maybe with a leather cover. thanks.
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Post by mountainman on Sept 1, 2007 17:34:18 GMT -6
There was a free program for a computer trapping journal. I lost the link when my mother board croaked a while back. You might try a web search for "trapping" and find it. Best I can remember some of the supply dealers have had journals in the book section from time to time. Its easy to make your own out of a notebook and bind it in leather if you can't find one to buy.
I carry a zip up organizer with pockets for pens and permission slips. All my contacts for trapping including the phone numbers of game wardens and landowners is in a notebook. It makes keeping up with maps and other things like that easy. I keep a plastic clipboard in there to make it easier for the landowners to sign permission slips. Extra maps are in an army mapcase or one made out of pvc that is water resistant and can roll around in the floor of the truck with no damage to the maps.
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Post by Stanley on Sept 1, 2007 19:12:36 GMT -6
I use a plain ole, hard cover note book.Couple bucks is all. I have 4 + years of notes, sets, catches/ weather, contacts and #'s, Some short stories at the end of the day. About one more season left on this one.
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Post by garman on Sept 1, 2007 19:16:01 GMT -6
try www.hitechtrappers.com if that is not right just google it. good luck never used their's just know they sell them
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Post by mountainman on Sept 1, 2007 19:27:59 GMT -6
I tried to keep one several times and just used a regular note book. The longest I stayed with it was about 1 month. I was just too tired after skinning and needed the sleep. It would be cool to go back and remember more about those long ago days and having a record of what happened, catches, weather etc.
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Post by bblwi on Sept 1, 2007 21:29:58 GMT -6
Every fall I start out with one and it goes well for about the first 10 days or for some reason about my 3rd big change up or route and then the wheels fall off and I record little.
From my experience to have one that you might get good long term data from is to make a spreadsheet on a computer with several categories all ready in column and then one can add data by just filling in the box. One can save areas for text, but anything for me that takes a lot of writing when I am in a hurry soon gets ignored.
Bryce
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Post by mountainman on Sept 1, 2007 22:43:53 GMT -6
Bryce, it would have to be something like that for me to do it. Maybe a pocket size cassette recorder would help until the data could be put down. I tried one for scouting and immediately liked it.
David
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Post by trappnman on Sept 2, 2007 8:04:14 GMT -6
I used to keep a journel.
And kept track of everything. But it got to be too time comsuming, and lot of the stuff I was recording, didn't matter in any practical way.
I did go to the computer, and while that was less time consuming, it still took up time.
What I do now, is this: I keep a daily list of animals caught. I note the temp, and the main weather feature of that day.
And I make a map on setups.
On canines, I write down the set (flat or stepdown) and the original lures used at the set. This is just a simple map of each location, showing the main features, with the notes written by the X.
On water, I write the set (C for coon, M for mink/rats, B for beaver) and most importantly, make sure the map is accurate as to bank side and traps relation to the other traps. This has saved me when we get a big snow or high water before the first check.
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Griz
Demoman...
Posts: 240
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Post by Griz on Sept 2, 2007 13:44:47 GMT -6
I just use a 3-ring binder to keep everything together. Contacts, addresses, and phone numbers are handy when needed. For each farm I print off an aerial photo of the area. Each time I get back to the truck after setting traps, I mark locations of traps put in with an X. When traps are pulled, I circle the X. This makes it easy for me to remember which traps have been previously pulled, and also provides a record so someone else could pull traps if I got run over by a truck or something. Before I leave the farm, I just make simple journal entries on notebook paper. After the season is over the journal notes are transferred to the computer (It can remember longer than I can ;D).
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Post by Stanley on Sept 2, 2007 14:02:53 GMT -6
trappnman? so what is your definition of a "journal". You gave a good one . lol
maps, lures, C, M, B, snow, water, temp.
I do the same , and add a little storie at the end of the day. I figure the "boys" will like it when my hair is as long as yours.
STANLEY
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Post by cameron2 on Sept 2, 2007 17:36:10 GMT -6
I think the key is making the journal serve you, rather than you serving the journal.
Mine is pretty simple, but it's been invaluable. I have a form with a few simple boxes to record where the set is generally (i.e. first ravine on the left of the Jones Road), what type of set, the lure or bait used, and if a catch was made. I have also taken to jotting down the sex of each catch, because my line has a lot of gray fox and I've developed some indicators that will tell me whether a repeat catch is possible, depending on the sex and age of the catch.
I have started using a "three strike" rule for checking traps (talkiing gray fox here)/. If a trap is empty, it gets a strike. If it gets three strikes in a row, it gets pulled. The journal helps keep me straight on where I catch the bulk of the critters, and what lure or bait has been the most successful.
My journal has become invaluable in assessiing what lures and baits work best, what locations are the best, etc.
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Post by trappnman on Sept 2, 2007 17:41:40 GMT -6
stanley- heres hoping you still HAVE hair at my age.....
Well, I guess oyu have a point. What I should say, is I used to keep a very detailed journal- recording everything at everyset. And it served its purpose in the formative years, but most of that really didn't matter.
A story for the boys is a good idea.....
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Post by mountainman on Sept 2, 2007 20:27:08 GMT -6
Trappnman, I like your system. It'll work just fine here. I've been working on topos and aerials to set up new predator lines and pinpoint terrain features for new locations on old lines. Maps and aerials do a lot for me on the water.
There used to be an old German here that trapped the water and panned for gold. I've trapped and panned gold on a lot of the same water and have seen some of his mining holes in the creek banks. He used Newhouse and old style B&L #1s and 1 1/2s for mink and rats. I still have some of his old wooden rat boards the fur buyer who bought him out gave me. His system for marking and keeping count of sets was to carry a stick along and cut a notch in the side of the stick for which side and in order of how his sets were laid out. He would leave a counter stick at the mouth of side creeks and put a marker stick on the bank at each set. I don't know what he did on the long stretches of the larger creek. I guess he used a counter stick and carried it back and forth for each stretch there.
I'm getting pretty thin on top myself and my red beard turned gray a good while back.
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Post by trappnman on Sept 2, 2007 20:41:44 GMT -6
Was running a last of the seaosn rat line a few years ago. I trap this creek every other year or so, and it consists o nLori dropping me off at a bridge, and me walking home along the creek. I pakc 30 or so traps in a back pack, and set as I go. Very hard to remember each set- Seems every year I end up having ot back track to find a lost set.
that year, had the brighth idea of painting a red circel o nthe snow by each set, so took nothing to map or mark with except a can of red paint- that promptly froze up on me, so had paint all over from shaking the heck out of that can, and putting into my waders ot thaw- which didn't work. My usual plan was white flags, but of course didn't have any after my paint idea.
I too did the old place a stick in the middle of the stream to mark sets.
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Post by FWS on Sept 2, 2007 21:02:17 GMT -6
I use a Rite-in-the-Rain notebook, they're made to be abused in the field. They've got different sizes and page patterns.
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Post by trappnman on Sept 2, 2007 21:04:41 GMT -6
nice tip
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Post by mountainman on Sept 3, 2007 4:19:05 GMT -6
Ditto on the nice tip. Sometimes it gets tough to remember where I switched sides on the big river.
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Post by MarkAlexander on Sept 3, 2007 21:54:17 GMT -6
I sell trapping journal software if you want to keep it on computer. Sample screens and reports are on the website www.traplinejournal.com. You can also download a free demo limited to 15 sets and no interface to Google Earth. Tech support is info@traplinejournal.com. Comments and suggestions are welcome. Here's a sample field notes report:
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Post by tmalone on Sept 4, 2007 23:30:59 GMT -6
I use a Rite-in-the-Rain notebook, they're made to be abused in the field. They've got different sizes and page patterns. Never thought of such a thing, thanks!! Soggy notes has been a problem for me every year. I think I'll check with Staples and see if they sell such critters.
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Post by FWS on Sept 5, 2007 15:46:35 GMT -6
I get those in an engineering supply place, kinda like a store for geologists, surveyers, biologists, etc.
They cost more but they last forever almost.
I take notes while trapping, hunting, commercial fishing, recreational fishing, etc, etc.
Kinda neat to go back and read through em'. And it was useful in setting up a fun project using GPS points on old traplines where I'd had sets made catches and then lay those points over aerial pics using a GIS program. ;D
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