Post by Steve Gappa on Apr 5, 2004 6:59:58 GMT -6
(Reprinted from Oct 2003, T & PC)
Dry Land Coon Trapping using footholds By Steve Gappa
When talking to fellow coon trappers, I find that most of them fall into one of two groups- they set up for dryland coon with 220s in trails and boxes or use footholds in water. Rarely do I talk to anyone that uses footholds extensively on land for coon. It has become almost a lost art. And to my way of thinking that is a shame, because some of the biggest coon can only be harvested using footholds far away from the water back up into the hills and hollers. While conibears are a good tools, they are limited in at least two ways- 1) legal and ethical restrictions and 2) a coon refusal problem. I know many believe that few coon reject and refuse going into boxes and trails where conibears have been set- to them I say you have never run such a line in snow. As a coon man, I of course tried 220s, hoping that they would allow me to extend my line into areas that I normally couldn’t trap. In my case 220s would allow extended checks- so they would be a big advantage to me on a winter line. I was sorely disappointed when I saw all the refusals and the avoidance caused with the 220s. I realize many trappers use 220s with good results- but not for me, on my line
And land-trapping coon with footholds isn’t that difficult, it just takes a little different technique and mindset. That is -you are trapping coon, not canines. A lot of trappers that are proficient at water trapping for coon and mink, and do well on fox, have a hard time catching coon in numbers on land. This can be frustrating, especially to the trapper the feels that since he can trap fox without problems, why then can’t he catch coon? The answer to this is simple- coon are not fox. No, wait a minute you say- we know that. Yes of course you do, but the problem is that trappers new to upland coon trapping try to trap coon as if they were trapping fox. While as all canine trappers know, the best way to catch a coon is to make a nice canine set, to catch coon in numbers you have to both understand how a coon operates and have to change your trapping methods.
First lets take a brief look at the coon and his habits when he resides in the ridges and fields far from the waterways. If we look at the type of coon that are in the uplands, we find that there are two main types of populations- bachelor males (and barren females) that occupy these areas year round and a transient population of family groups that come and go with the food supply. The family groups usually occupy the uplands and woods during the summer season with emerging crops, and then as berries and crops become depleted in late September and early October, move to new areas- in many cases moving in mass to nearby waterways- changing over to a more aquatic food source. This works out good for the upland coon trapper, for when the coon season opens in late October, most of remaining coon that are still in the uplands seem to be males, and mature males prime up much quicker than the younger animals. The big coon are wanderers, and forage for whatever they can find and eat- which at times seems to be just about anything.
I also want to touch briefly on coon and weather patterns. All furbearers react to weather patterns and fronts to some degree. Coon are no different, and a coon trapper that pays attention to weather forecasts and sets traps accordingly will have a much better success ratio. While I do believe that some animals move 1-2 nights before a front- coon react more to what the immediate weather is doing. Temperature, precipitation, moon phases and cloud cover are to me four of the primary factors to consider. Lets look at each one. I find maximum coon activity occurs when temps are between 35 and 50 degrees at night. If the temperature drops suddenly to below freezing- coon will shut down right now- but as they get used to it, they will begin moving again. High humidity is good, a slight mist, fog or even light rain is a bonus. Contrary to popular belief, coon do a lot of moving on snow- and once a snow has settled, coon will be moving. Concerning moon phases and cloud cover, coon move better on darker nights. Clear nights with or without a moon show less activity. In a full moon, coon activity decreases. A perfect night for coon here in Minnesota would be a 40 degree high, cloudy with a slight mist with no moon. On a night like that, you could expect maximum coon movements and good success the next day.
When trapping coon on land, it will come as no surprise that location is important. Coon follow definite travel patterns and routes, so some pre-season scouting pays dividends. Actually, late spring when there is snow or otherwise easier tracking conditions is an excellent time to prospect for upland coon. The dens, food sources and travel patterns that are evident now will generally be the same as when you are trapping in the fall. I look for general types of travel locations- ravines going into woods, projections of trees from a woods, brush rows, drainage ditches, etc. Since upland coon are usually solitary travelers, you want to be on the ‘spokes of the wheel” so to speak, to target the maximum number of coons. Coon will follow points and projections when traveling- preferring to stay in cover as long as possible. Also remember that a coon is a low slung, bulky long furred animal- he is going to stay out of the heavy thick cover and travel where it is easiest for him.
To trap coon you will need traps, wire, lure, a good pliers and a long handled trowel. Optional equipment would be a trappers cap. For traps, I prefer to use #1.5 coil springs. To reduce chewing from a trapped coon, several modifications can be made to the trap. First of all, double jawed traps can be purchased, and existing traps can have laminated strips added to widen the jaw width. Both prevent chewing. One needed modification is to add several swivels to the chain- this keeps the trap chain from being kinked up, which causes both pullouts and possible foot damage to the coon. I prefer to anchor my dry land coon traps with wire rather than stakes (this will be explained later). For wire I like to use #14 wire that I double up. I will use #11, but find #14 to be easier to use and it works just as good. For lure- I feel for upland trapping you need a good strong, sweet lure- one that slaps the coon on the side of the head and says hey buddy, over here. I have found a few coon lures that work well. The ones that seem to do the job consistently have a couple of things in common. A good coon lure has to be above the common attractants. I find that the ones that have an intense unique smells- a smell that has the ability to give the coon that slap in the head are the ones that work consistently throughout the season. Most importantly, the lure must work well during frosty fall nights as well as the occasional hot spell we always seem to get each fall. In addition, the lure should be able to spark a coon’s interest and keep up its good performance in colder weather conditions. You are just not going to catch a lot of coon using a drop or two of lure- you need a goodly amount. That’s why I recommend mixing your coon lure with fish oil or shellfish oil. I mix 1 oz of lure to 1 quart of fish oil. You can add an antifreeze if you like. I give each set a good squirt- at least an oz of the mixture to each set. Coon trapping is not the place to be frugal with your lure. After lure, the only other equipment you need is a good trowel and heavy-duty wire. For a trowel, I like a narrow bladed D handled fox trapping trowel- but any trowel that you have will do the job. If you are setting many sets- the D handle says a lot of time and more importantly a lot of effort. For wire, I prefer #14 wire. Always double up your wire when using it to fasten coon traps. A good linesman pliers rounds out the needed items. That’s about it for equipment. I wear gloves more to keep my hands clean than anything. If you are in a good fox area, it pays to be a little more of a “clean trapper” but just for coon I don’t worry about scent or disturbances.
(cont' below)
Dry Land Coon Trapping using footholds By Steve Gappa
When talking to fellow coon trappers, I find that most of them fall into one of two groups- they set up for dryland coon with 220s in trails and boxes or use footholds in water. Rarely do I talk to anyone that uses footholds extensively on land for coon. It has become almost a lost art. And to my way of thinking that is a shame, because some of the biggest coon can only be harvested using footholds far away from the water back up into the hills and hollers. While conibears are a good tools, they are limited in at least two ways- 1) legal and ethical restrictions and 2) a coon refusal problem. I know many believe that few coon reject and refuse going into boxes and trails where conibears have been set- to them I say you have never run such a line in snow. As a coon man, I of course tried 220s, hoping that they would allow me to extend my line into areas that I normally couldn’t trap. In my case 220s would allow extended checks- so they would be a big advantage to me on a winter line. I was sorely disappointed when I saw all the refusals and the avoidance caused with the 220s. I realize many trappers use 220s with good results- but not for me, on my line
And land-trapping coon with footholds isn’t that difficult, it just takes a little different technique and mindset. That is -you are trapping coon, not canines. A lot of trappers that are proficient at water trapping for coon and mink, and do well on fox, have a hard time catching coon in numbers on land. This can be frustrating, especially to the trapper the feels that since he can trap fox without problems, why then can’t he catch coon? The answer to this is simple- coon are not fox. No, wait a minute you say- we know that. Yes of course you do, but the problem is that trappers new to upland coon trapping try to trap coon as if they were trapping fox. While as all canine trappers know, the best way to catch a coon is to make a nice canine set, to catch coon in numbers you have to both understand how a coon operates and have to change your trapping methods.
First lets take a brief look at the coon and his habits when he resides in the ridges and fields far from the waterways. If we look at the type of coon that are in the uplands, we find that there are two main types of populations- bachelor males (and barren females) that occupy these areas year round and a transient population of family groups that come and go with the food supply. The family groups usually occupy the uplands and woods during the summer season with emerging crops, and then as berries and crops become depleted in late September and early October, move to new areas- in many cases moving in mass to nearby waterways- changing over to a more aquatic food source. This works out good for the upland coon trapper, for when the coon season opens in late October, most of remaining coon that are still in the uplands seem to be males, and mature males prime up much quicker than the younger animals. The big coon are wanderers, and forage for whatever they can find and eat- which at times seems to be just about anything.
I also want to touch briefly on coon and weather patterns. All furbearers react to weather patterns and fronts to some degree. Coon are no different, and a coon trapper that pays attention to weather forecasts and sets traps accordingly will have a much better success ratio. While I do believe that some animals move 1-2 nights before a front- coon react more to what the immediate weather is doing. Temperature, precipitation, moon phases and cloud cover are to me four of the primary factors to consider. Lets look at each one. I find maximum coon activity occurs when temps are between 35 and 50 degrees at night. If the temperature drops suddenly to below freezing- coon will shut down right now- but as they get used to it, they will begin moving again. High humidity is good, a slight mist, fog or even light rain is a bonus. Contrary to popular belief, coon do a lot of moving on snow- and once a snow has settled, coon will be moving. Concerning moon phases and cloud cover, coon move better on darker nights. Clear nights with or without a moon show less activity. In a full moon, coon activity decreases. A perfect night for coon here in Minnesota would be a 40 degree high, cloudy with a slight mist with no moon. On a night like that, you could expect maximum coon movements and good success the next day.
When trapping coon on land, it will come as no surprise that location is important. Coon follow definite travel patterns and routes, so some pre-season scouting pays dividends. Actually, late spring when there is snow or otherwise easier tracking conditions is an excellent time to prospect for upland coon. The dens, food sources and travel patterns that are evident now will generally be the same as when you are trapping in the fall. I look for general types of travel locations- ravines going into woods, projections of trees from a woods, brush rows, drainage ditches, etc. Since upland coon are usually solitary travelers, you want to be on the ‘spokes of the wheel” so to speak, to target the maximum number of coons. Coon will follow points and projections when traveling- preferring to stay in cover as long as possible. Also remember that a coon is a low slung, bulky long furred animal- he is going to stay out of the heavy thick cover and travel where it is easiest for him.
To trap coon you will need traps, wire, lure, a good pliers and a long handled trowel. Optional equipment would be a trappers cap. For traps, I prefer to use #1.5 coil springs. To reduce chewing from a trapped coon, several modifications can be made to the trap. First of all, double jawed traps can be purchased, and existing traps can have laminated strips added to widen the jaw width. Both prevent chewing. One needed modification is to add several swivels to the chain- this keeps the trap chain from being kinked up, which causes both pullouts and possible foot damage to the coon. I prefer to anchor my dry land coon traps with wire rather than stakes (this will be explained later). For wire I like to use #14 wire that I double up. I will use #11, but find #14 to be easier to use and it works just as good. For lure- I feel for upland trapping you need a good strong, sweet lure- one that slaps the coon on the side of the head and says hey buddy, over here. I have found a few coon lures that work well. The ones that seem to do the job consistently have a couple of things in common. A good coon lure has to be above the common attractants. I find that the ones that have an intense unique smells- a smell that has the ability to give the coon that slap in the head are the ones that work consistently throughout the season. Most importantly, the lure must work well during frosty fall nights as well as the occasional hot spell we always seem to get each fall. In addition, the lure should be able to spark a coon’s interest and keep up its good performance in colder weather conditions. You are just not going to catch a lot of coon using a drop or two of lure- you need a goodly amount. That’s why I recommend mixing your coon lure with fish oil or shellfish oil. I mix 1 oz of lure to 1 quart of fish oil. You can add an antifreeze if you like. I give each set a good squirt- at least an oz of the mixture to each set. Coon trapping is not the place to be frugal with your lure. After lure, the only other equipment you need is a good trowel and heavy-duty wire. For a trowel, I like a narrow bladed D handled fox trapping trowel- but any trowel that you have will do the job. If you are setting many sets- the D handle says a lot of time and more importantly a lot of effort. For wire, I prefer #14 wire. Always double up your wire when using it to fasten coon traps. A good linesman pliers rounds out the needed items. That’s about it for equipment. I wear gloves more to keep my hands clean than anything. If you are in a good fox area, it pays to be a little more of a “clean trapper” but just for coon I don’t worry about scent or disturbances.
(cont' below)