|
Post by mostinterestingmanintheworld on Jul 22, 2010 16:20:12 GMT -6
One problem with too big of an ear is that you risk losing cats in heavy brush. I lost one once in the willows. I could see where he squeezed between two stems and pulled out.
I heard someone say he saw a coyote get two hind feet on a traps levers while pulling and let itself out.
Probably once in a blue moon but something to consider.
|
|
|
Post by mostinterestingmanintheworld on Jul 21, 2010 11:31:55 GMT -6
My flat sets have no visual attraction. In fact they are the opposite of visual attraction. I like to set up next to a little tuft of bunch grass, maybe 4-5 inches high, no more than a foot. Then squirt a liquid lure or urine or get a little lure on a stick and stuff it down in the clump.
I like to blend it with some anthill gravel or some other kind of ground cover so the fresh soil isn't evident.
Remember I don't have a sod environment like a lot of you guys do.
|
|
|
Post by mostinterestingmanintheworld on Jul 21, 2010 9:51:36 GMT -6
Yeah my definition of a flat set is no hole, just an invisible set next to backing with some goo or urine on the backing.
|
|
|
Post by mostinterestingmanintheworld on Jul 21, 2010 0:20:47 GMT -6
Anything that stinks will catch a coyote. Some better than others but anything that stinks.
|
|
|
Post by mostinterestingmanintheworld on Jul 20, 2010 18:24:03 GMT -6
When I trapped coyotes I liked my hole straight down so he had to get right up there to get a nose or an eyeball in there.
I like DHoles just fine but got to where I preferred a flat set. Most of the western old timers used just flat sets until guys like Dailey and Butcher and such started writing books.
If I were going to trap coyotes again I'd run 80% flats, using dirt holes where I had "dirt". Around here sand and rock or hardpan comprise most of what I have for soil.
I think if I'd have quit spending time grinding dirtholes out of hard pan I'd have done better. Sure wouldn't be using yoho trowels either. I'd get out there with a pulaski and open some ground up fast.
|
|
|
Post by mostinterestingmanintheworld on Jul 20, 2010 18:14:13 GMT -6
I like deer the best either rotted to paste or fresh.
I got a deer from a guy one fall that the butcher had rendered inedible.
I'd chop a pkg. in half and just bury it in the paper behind a trap, caught 103 in 3 weeks. That was in country I'd never seen before or I'd have had more.
There were plenty of coyotes but they sure liked that deer meat. Another of my best years was a jug of rotted down deer scraps that I stopped when the top got brown and the rest pink. I had thrown in some real anchovies I got from somebody and added some salt. Don't know if the salt did anything but it sure caught the coyotes.
Oh yeah the way I remember it, I was trapping where deer meat was legal. Long time ago.
|
|
|
Post by mostinterestingmanintheworld on Jul 18, 2010 11:44:14 GMT -6
Wonder if those coyotes and cat are stuffed or frozen?
|
|
|
Post by mostinterestingmanintheworld on Jul 18, 2010 9:29:18 GMT -6
I know a guy that has caught close to 40 cats under one tree since I showed him how to trap 20 years ago. Another guy that has well over a hundred off of one ridge in the past 30 years.
|
|
|
Post by mostinterestingmanintheworld on Jul 18, 2010 7:34:16 GMT -6
We trap cats like you describe Bob. Twenty miles between sets many times, usually at least a couple. Roads like petrified watermelon patches make a couple of miles seem like 20.
|
|
|
Post by mostinterestingmanintheworld on Jul 17, 2010 14:42:48 GMT -6
I caught 19 in two sets over about a 3 week period once. Caught 58 out of a 3 square mile pasture surrounded by several thousand additional acres over about a month. Caught 70+ in a 10 mile stretch of creek bottom once in 3 weeks. Knew another guy I was camping with that did about the same.
|
|
|
Post by mostinterestingmanintheworld on Jul 16, 2010 8:16:37 GMT -6
Using lure at a walkthrough changes the cats behavior from "walking through" to stopping and smelling and poking around. Tracy has videos of them crawling all over everything trying to locate the lure and not getting caught.
I don't want him to stop and fool around I want him to keep traveling and not break stride.
Lure down the trail aways has some value but at the set it is more harmful than beneficial IMO.
Flags are another story, I think that they have some value above a walkthrough as they keep his attention up in the air.
Also they keep most of the coyotes away.
|
|
|
Post by mostinterestingmanintheworld on Jul 15, 2010 22:56:22 GMT -6
Interesting point R, I use flagging to purposely repel coyotes. If using a covered set usually.
|
|
|
Post by mostinterestingmanintheworld on Jul 15, 2010 16:27:56 GMT -6
I'm the same way, caught hundreds on flags of one sort or the other. More and more I've quit using flags and scent as well. Pinch them in to where they're going anyway.
|
|
|
Post by mostinterestingmanintheworld on Jul 15, 2010 10:17:00 GMT -6
Burying cat traps for debumking. Next thing to come is to quit using scent at walkthroughs for cats.
Rolling out groundcloths, wearing facemasks and hipboots, stuff like that for coyotes.
|
|
|
Post by mostinterestingmanintheworld on Jul 13, 2010 14:39:28 GMT -6
The only time I've had jaws pulled out is with lions. Can't say I've ever seen anything smaller do it.
|
|
|
Post by mostinterestingmanintheworld on Jul 9, 2010 16:54:03 GMT -6
I'd put Utah in the top 4 western states for bobcat habitat. If you went by landmass and took California out I'd put it in the top 3.
Yet they have these seasons and regulations. I just shake my head.
|
|
|
Post by mostinterestingmanintheworld on Jul 5, 2010 18:57:16 GMT -6
Bridger dogs get mangled often. I ran longsprings for coyotes when I was after them, never saw a bent dog. The dogs are upside down on most coil springs.
I've always done extended checks, you'd go broke out in this sterile country running 24 hours.
|
|
|
Post by mostinterestingmanintheworld on Jul 5, 2010 18:40:02 GMT -6
I think they are just extra weight on my traps. I don't stake anything. Drags create their own shock spring in most cases when they tangle in a bush.
|
|
|
Post by mostinterestingmanintheworld on Jul 5, 2010 9:37:05 GMT -6
I've never liked lanolin much because it got so hard in cold temperatures.
I got some cod liver oil the other day for health purposes and thought it would make a nice base?
|
|
|
Post by mostinterestingmanintheworld on Jul 3, 2010 4:26:31 GMT -6
I use the big traps if trapping snow country like Zagman does. I learned that in Alaska where they use 114 jumps for fox coming up through the snow. I've caught cats in 3-4 inches of dry powder with an uncovered set. I prefer a #4 dogless Monty to a Bridger however. Jakes are fine. Sleepy Creek longsprings are a good snow trap. I know two 30-50 cat year guys that use them. I have a couple and really like them for snow.
Another problem with the big coils is lions. I prefer a catch and release instrument when they are around which is all the time. With that said the smaller ones aren't that hard to hold.
Proper swiveling for cats doesn't always work, they have a way of getting tangled up in the thick brush and trees where they are often taken. lighter traps are easier on them in those situations.
|
|