drowning coon

[trappnman]

jim, if you have only 2 feet of water, you will have a a good % of live coon held in water, even on 3 day checks. 2 feet is only kneee high. While I occasionally set in 2 when absolutely no choice- it can be iffy- 3 or more preferred for sure

[thebeav2]

I have drowned coon In 6" of water.
So many things can go wrong with a drowning set. That's why I don't even worry about drowning any coon. If their dead great if there not, as long as their still there that's all I care about.
I set on sign no matter what.

[trappnman]

me too- and we have discussed this before-

if you goal is to hold coon in water with a good portion dead, any water will do-

if your goal is to get as close to 100% dead as possible- 2 feet won't do it.

How anyone wants to look at the 3 day is up to them. but thats not the point-

[jimb]

Steve, I do have coon alive on every check, 3 to 5 a day. If the water is greater than knee deep I cant reach my lock to slide It back up the chain. The 2007 season I averaged 58.625 coon per check. I checked each line 8 times. Season take was 938 coon. Thats about 5 to 8 % per. check. At stops that I cant get a pogo in and use weights I will go deeper. But your right deeper is better.

Jim

[Bristleback]

Jim, I fully agree "deeper is better."

.......trouble drowning coon in 2' of water? ummm short chain, front foot=DEAD COON, VERY HIGH % of the time, especially if set up correctly, down current, where there's current.

[garman]

never had much issue out of 2' of water but 1 foot see it a bit more, but I use heavy traps, short chain and front foot catch 90%+. Issue I have is when the river drops, and the zumbro can drop quick I am sure both steve and jimb can attest to that

[trappnman]

thats sounds about right Jim-

[jimb]

95% of my coon are taken in grizz traps on drowners. So front feet are the norm. All the live coon are in shallower water .

[Bristleback]

I'm sure others do it too, adds a bit more expense in building drowners, but performance-wise, I sure like them:

I attach a swiveled snap on my slide......allows me to "short chain" if necessary....traps are pre snapped/attached......adj if necessary.

[rk660]

i pretty much figure, if I got 2 ft of water to work with, on 2 day check, at least 95% are DOA. Current helps, pushing water against them. Good current, I find about all can be dead in 1 ft water, once they get about all their fur wet, pretty much done deal. I like 2 ft, but wont hesistate to set 1 ft if I have to.

Another thing, I dont think chain lenght means diddly, as long as they cant reach real shallow water or bank. On my newest rigs, im running 12-14" chain.

I m about the opeinion, that more chain kills them quicker, they paddle around more and lose body heat quicker, stress themselves out quicker or whatever.

[trappnman]

RK- it amazes me about hypothermia- I trap in as cold a weather as anyone for coon- and it just doesn't happen for me-


Hamilton thought it might be the denser undercoat on belly-

[foxtail]

I always try for 1 foot or greater. The funny thing is that most of the time, when I have a live one in the water, it is deep in the water.

If I can get a stake to hold, I can consistantly kill them in 6 inches of fast water.

[Bristleback]

My theory is the closer the foot/head is to the bottom the better, thus the shortest chain possible.

[jimb]

Ive always Thought My live coon Were taken on the last night of a three day check and maybe were taken within a few hours of the check. If Ive got 2 feet of water the coon is always dead. Ive had lots of coon dead in 1 foot.

Jim

[coonhangman1]

I've seen your set up Jim, you dont' leave much room from the bottom of your drowner to the trap itself. I can't imagine a front foot caught coon lasting very long at all with your set up in 2' of water.

[trappnman]

with lil griz, so a front foot is usually the option, is a little different from footholds when even if you are God, a front foot catch doesn't always happen and with pipes front foot is FAR from the norm.

and yet Nick-- 5-8% alive in grizs in water

we can debate this all day- but it comes down to this:

1) if you want most coon dead, but don;t care if they are alive or not- use any water depth-

2) if you want 100% (or as close as possible) dead- use deeper water than 2 feet.

[coonhangman1]

1) is the multi line, multi check, road longliner that can't wade around all day for 100% DOA drowner depth water, so he settles for 1 out of every 20 coon to be dead

2) the hobby guy, who has the time to find 100% drowner depth water, so his 1 or 200 coon are all dead

I think it all comes down to the motives of the trapper.

[trappnman]

bulshit- I disagree 100%- you think oyu know what Im saying, but you are 180 degrees wrong- so lwet me clarify it.

it has absolutely zero to do with being a hobby trapper or a longliner-

what it has to do with is this- I have talked to my wardens, I know their feelings on the law, I know what the law was meant to do- and that is this:

that on sets that use conibears or drown animals, you do not have to check them once each calandar day, you may check them every three days.

I have a portion of sets that I cannot drown them close to home- those I check every day-

but on those sets that I want to check every 3 days, I want to have those coon DEAD and not sitting on the bank for 3 days so every trout fisherman and duckhunter and looky loo can see them- I want NO problems form the public, no theft and certianly NO problems from the wardens.

if you are trapping creeks averaging under 2 feet- then do whatever you feel is right-

I trap creeks where I wear have to wear waders, not knee or thigh boots- deep water isn't a problem-

so back to MY orignal point, since I started the thread- and that is this- and its fact Jim and its a fact beav and its a fact rk have all stated as FACT-

2' will not drown all the coon like SOME say elsewhere- correcting FALSE info-

will it drown most? of course-

and, since you always seem to disparge my trapping- I've had a lot of years with 600-800 coon- and still take 3-400 most years- so, when I speak- and I speak over decades- I'm speaking from experience- not what i've read or heard-

but thats still besides the point- and that point is this-

2 feet will not drown all coon.

[thebeav2]

#1 for me.
I look at it this way what's the difference If the coon Is alive In the water or alive on dry land.
I know, It's length of check your trying to comply with.

I think Rich makes a good point on water depth and current. I trap a area that normally runs about 6" to 10" of water depth but It has a very fast current. Most of my coon are dead even with out the use of a drowner. And It can't be the water temp since this stream NEVER freezes no matter what the temp.
My partner runs drowner cables in this situation and all his coon are dead. That Is if they aren't all choked up with debris that floats down this creek. And at times the debris will build up so much that It will pull the lower end of the drowner. Gravel bottom.

So every situation Is different and you need to adapt to that situation to put fur In the shed.

[trappnman]

beav- its doesn't matter their is no motivation factor involved, it has nothing to do with check times, I posted pictures of special sets to hold coon 100% in water so no chewing, I leave coon alive all the time in water- but its not the point and it doesnt matter in anyway, its has nothing to do with anything-

and no, every situation is not different-

it gets so frustrating trying to say the same ting over and over and over and how much more clear can I be than in my post to nick, and now here- NONE OF THAT MATTERS ITS ALL THE SAME

it takes more than 2 feet of water to be ensure drowning coon.

no more no less no motivation no nothing but:

it takes more than 2 feet of water to ensure coon drowning-