|
Post by trappnman on Jul 22, 2008 8:07:16 GMT -6
beav- I know for a fact, that the deep stepdown works very well pretty much right where you live, and in any decent type soil.
Soil that is good humus and thats turned regular, drains plenty fast for stepdowns unless underwater completely.
Now- if you live in florida you can't make snow cubbies, and if you live in Maine you don't catch gators, so if you live where you have a deep clay soil or it rains 2 inches a day this might not be the set for you.
I mean lets get serious- a couple of years ago, we have 3 straight weeks of rain for opener- and it was something like 7-8 inches of rain over that period, after a wet summer. Ponds that were dry for years, were full. fields had standing water, 2 tracks were impossible- farmers couldn't get into the field. and yet I was able to use stepdowns- in fact, most sets were stepdowns becasue of the high grass and having to stay off of the roads.
so don't tell me a little water or "normal" rain puts them out of commission- because it does not.
and if you can't build snow cubbies, yo ucan't.....
|
|
|
Post by bobwendt on Jul 22, 2008 8:13:47 GMT -6
you still have no grasp. you talk of 7-8 nches of rain over several weeks. lol. try in 12 hours. then no sun and more daily. set in the grass won`t work, it`s under water. and you can`t get to the grass. no travel at all off elevated pavement. gosh, it`s no wonder our wildlife is non existant here anymore. no quail or rabbits or mice or anything. like trying to tell some guy trapping the cedar river bottoms in iowa last month to " set the high spots" when the sob is 12 miles wide and a raging torrent, houses floating down it, no bridges left.
|
|
|
Post by trappnman on Jul 22, 2008 8:24:17 GMT -6
we had 17 overnight less than a year ago. 15 inches in 5-6 hours when I lived in Rochester 30 some years ago and 11 died in town.
I lived on the Mississippi in Winona in 65 and understrand flooding quite well, thanks.
|
|
|
Post by thebeav2 on Jul 22, 2008 11:28:49 GMT -6
You still didn't answer my question. Explain your step down.
|
|
|
Post by trappnman on Jul 22, 2008 14:34:39 GMT -6
3 inch deep, straight sided, roughly 18 by 12 inch triangle
|
|
|
Post by thebeav2 on Jul 22, 2008 14:46:03 GMT -6
Then your just using a hacked out depression more like a walk down set then a actual step down like the Leggets make. I never had any luck with the Legget brand step down.
|
|
|
Post by scott kimball on Jul 22, 2008 15:32:32 GMT -6
T-man this is for you and what one little storm will make a set look like.this is the third yote caught at this step down but after the storm i pulled because of the soup i would of had to set in. starting of a good step-down. results after remake. after the storm hit and it was just wet snow. notice how nasty looking and muddy this set has become. i don't mind working with a little mud or wet soil as i do cart dry dirt with me at all time for just the reason that Bob w, screams about but i don't mind carrying dry dirt for compensating for the mud and rain but i will admit that sometimes it is just time to move your set like the situation in these photos. scott
|
|
|
Post by trappnman on Jul 22, 2008 18:42:51 GMT -6
what in the world, are those pictures suppose to be proving?
|
|
|
Post by scott kimball on Jul 22, 2008 18:57:25 GMT -6
i guess nothing if you set traps in this kind of mud and water like we get in the east.
|
|
|
Post by trappnman on Jul 22, 2008 19:11:52 GMT -6
you've trapped coyotes for what- 5 years? and you think in 25 some years on canines i've never trapped mud and rain? and a pic of a muddy coyote is going to show me the error of my ways?
as I said- if you don't have snow, don't make snow cubbies. I'm not a world traveller, so can't say what works in every state- just saying what works for me. I could care less if no one ever made any coyote sets again- but that doesn't make what works for me- change.
Why would someone trap, and complain all the time about it? give yourself a break, and take up something thats less stressful.
|
|
|
Post by scott kimball on Jul 22, 2008 19:23:41 GMT -6
steve;relax a second and look at some of them photos and you will see that the dirt in them photos looks wet.
well! it is and that is because of all the ground water we have here in the east.kind of makes it hard for sifting dirt through a sifter.also takes a while for water to dry up in the bottom of step -downs and sets of that nature.
i was just trying to say that Bob W. was right about all the water we get here in the east.
|
|
|
Post by trappnman on Jul 22, 2008 19:30:23 GMT -6
no one is arguing about the water you get in the east, just like no one was arguing that winston couldn't afford to trap coon. What my point is- is that EVERY thread doesn't have to go down that "it rains in the east " pattern.
So what? It snows here, and freezes here, it rains here and we have worthless coyotes, and it floods here, and it gets 30 below, etc, etc, etc.
|
|
|
Post by thebeav2 on Jul 22, 2008 19:39:39 GMT -6
Wow you guys sure get stressed. When I looked at the pics I thought well the guy Is showing us some step down sets and a few coyotes caught In them. I didn't see where he was giving any one any crap about It. Thanks for sharing with us.
|
|
|
Post by scott kimball on Jul 22, 2008 19:49:01 GMT -6
Ok,i will get this back on track so all the bickering will stop(not that it's not fun. LOL, just kiiidddddiiinnnggg).
i was thinking of trying a step up step down type of set were it would force the coyote to almost force it foot into the trap.
the set would go like this.place a 1/2" to 1' flat rock maybe 5-6" in diameter in front of a flat set or a dirt hole placed just right as so the coyote would have to step up on the rock before it stepped down to the flat spot where your trap is buried.
anyone ever try something of this nature?
scott
|
|
|
Post by scott kimball on Jul 22, 2008 19:57:18 GMT -6
Bev; if you look through the "land archives" you can find some very good info about steve's step-down.
|
|
|
Post by trappnman on Jul 22, 2008 20:04:40 GMT -6
beav- when a post starts out..T-man this is for you and what one little storm will make a set look like '
l'll assume its directed to me. No big deal, but the assumption then is that I've never trapped rain? And don't understand rain?
|
|
|
Post by lumberjack on Jul 22, 2008 20:44:07 GMT -6
One time i had a dirthole and it rained cats and dogs. it was a big mud puddle when I checked it last and the next day had a coon. I wonder if he smelled the lure somehow or just blundered into the trap by luck? It was set along a game trail but not where you would make a blind set.
|
|
|
Post by wheelie on Jul 23, 2008 6:54:54 GMT -6
The coyotes are doomed with the info being shared here I use a DEEP trench set, but only if working around cows...cows don't like to step down in an 8" deep ankle twisting hole, but coyotes don't mind. Also "do" punch a few drain holes under the set to handle the light rain, but if its a soaker and are trapping in clay, you are screwed no matter what.... But not all is lost........If you are a serious coyote guy you adjust to keep the catch up and do what it takes to keep going even when having to trap in and around flooded fields, roadways,etc. I have different lines for yotes.......one of my lines is "The high water line"....this is a historical line that I can set when everything has went to hell.....no driving the fields or farm lanes and everything is fl;odded out.....this is when all of my buddies have pulled up and are waiting it out, etc..... The line has been used with success over the years and gets trapped the hardest (because like bob says) we get an awefull amount of poo during season making it hard to get around unless the ground is froze solid. the line gets set 2-3 different times throught the season...hey, but atleast I have traps in the ground when others are playing grab butt in the house with the O'le lady...lol These are solid farm lanes (gravel) and heavily traveled on "higher" ground...this line is where I get good citizens shooting the coyotes for me that are caught or use them for target practice with the Bow and arrows, etc..you know, just helping me out type stuff.....but its the price you must pay.... Adjust to your conditions and work it out for you......when there is a will theres a way
|
|
|
Post by trappnman on Jul 23, 2008 6:58:44 GMT -6
good post Tim.
|
|
|
Post by dabrock on Jul 23, 2008 13:18:47 GMT -6
I agree with Tim, some places I trap turns to soup after a rain and we do get our share of it. I just look for high spots to set and if I was smart enough to get a pix on here I would show yotes caught in real mud. Just adjust. Last year I make stepdowns as shown on here I like them a they worked even during our rain. When not practical to make step down, I try something else, that is the challenge that makes trapping fun and keeps old men like my self doing it.
|
|