Jack Mackerel ?

[ChrisM]

I found 15oz. cans today for one dollar each at the Dollar store. Im sure that's just a coincidence tho! lol

Beav...you "fill" the tube with bait?

[thebeav2]

You bet, make It a smorgasbord.
Or just stuff a cotton ball In the jack swish It around a bit and stuff It under the trigger.
Cotton balls can be a bugger to clean out but most of the tim ethey get removed by some critter.

Go down to the feed mill and see If they have any powdered molasses. Pour that down on top of the jack and sprinkle some around the trap.
They also make a powered fish meal that I got at our feed mill. The stuff has a real penetrating odor and It works.
Here's another tip. Get a bag of those large orange circus peanuts. Crush them up you might even chew them up a bit then jam them down In the DP They also work.

[trappincoyotes39]

the reason I bought 25lbs of fish feed should make a great coon chum in and around those DP's as well.

[calvin]

TC, I was looking at the fish feed and saw there was quite a difference from one product to another. The cheaper stuff's main ingredient was wheat...then poultry came in about 3rd on the list. The more spendy stuff had fish in the first few ingredients. I assume a different smell to each.

[trappincoyotes39]

the stuff I have has corn, fish meal and blood meal and is 36% protein and smells like fish for sure. I'm betting the coons will have a hard time letting it be with corn and fish meal in it? Come mid november this should be a good food choice for them. Time will tell how well it works out as I plan on pre baiting a few place with it to see what they think of it.

[trappnman]

about a buck a can plus or minus depending on where you get it- 12 oz maybe? not sure on that. When I used it, I used a tablespoon in the pipe or pocket. Lure added to mackeral.

[coalking1]

Here in southern Iowa the Dollar Tree stores are the cheapest. $1 a can. Dollar General and Fareway also have it . But much higher. Coalking

[mustelameister]

Wow . . . table salt, corn starch, jerky shooter, XL cotton balls, styrofoam/plastic cups, powdered molasses, and ORANGE CIRCUS PEANUTS!!!

[trappincoyotes39]

hey muste at least I stopped at the XL cotton balls LOL. I like them better as they take up more room and hard to yank from under the trigger without the trap going off.

I stand my ground at a jerky shooter though LOL...........

All in good fun and info guys!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[calvin]

For those who have it locally, Fleet Farm has fish catfood on sale this week. 59 cents for the 13 oz can. Other than water, Salmon is the first ingredient...then "fish" then Chicken. Many people never bother with cat food but get the right stuff and it works very well...and cheap. The consistency is real nice too and gets stickier with time... if you feel like adding other stuff to it. A cheap base or used alone.

[CoonDuke]

www.orientaltrading.com/gummy-eyeballs-a2-25_5801.fltr

I think these would look interesting in the bottom of a DP...

[crichards]

These were caught with the Hanzel and Gretal set.....you know plain jackmack in the traps.....and a few crumbles scattered around the traps......seemed to work.....well at least 3 out of 4 times.

[packerfan]

Wow......and I thought I was overthinking bowhunting. Take several cans of JM (drained/good trail scent). Put in container (i use 5gal bucket) seal lid and SHAKE untill mushy. Blending makes liquid JM(messy). Put JM "mush" in freezer bags. Cut lower tip of bag to fit in DP........SQUEEZE out mush.Catch coon. Anything beyond that is silly. Freeze bags untill needed.

[trappincoyotes39]

yep silly.............. WE just need to all "pipe" JM LOL.

[trappnman]

trouble with pure JM, is it gives out very little odor in temps much below freezing, so if you want it as your main "call lure" you will be disappointed.

[thebeav2]

Pure DP trapping Is where you put the DP In THE COONS FACE.

It's kind of like trail setting with body grips. You wouldn't place your body grip ten feet off the trail and then use a strong lure to move the coon from the trail to your traps location.

And It's the same with a DP set on location and give the coon something edible. A strong odor Is not necessary to draw them any great distance since that Isn't what we are trying to accomplish.

It's like any type of trapping set on LOCATION and your odds will Improve 10 fold. If your NOT on location then you will need to come up with something to Improve your odds.

Most of the coon trappers In this neck of the woods have most If not all their coon caught before we have any prolonged days of freezing weather.

When conditions change then we as trappers change with those conditions. Add some freeze proof Ingredients to your jack and your good to go. And If your off location add a call lure In the vicinity of your trap.



Plastic bags and JM ? If I tried that It would be a disaster waiting to happen.
I loaded my jerky shooter yesterday with JM. I placed a 4" section of plastic tubing to the original spout. Stick that tube down Into the bottom of the DP one squeeze on the trigger and your good to go. Back off the push rod and wipe the end on the ground next to the trap and your on your way. No muss no fuss.

[trappnman]

been there, tried that with JM- it just does not have any "carry out" odor when the air gets cold. But true, I do trap when most coon trappers are done for the year. I should quit talking about how successful it can be, as I like the solitude LOL

yes, I know most coon trappers quit after a few weeks. but even though the trapper is not there, the coon still are.

40 years ago, and I don't know if its the weather or the coon himself, you have very little movement in snow and cold.

Part of that, was we had very low coon populations back in the day, so chances of observation were lower- but for whatever reason, I see coon moving in weather now, that would have shocked me back then. And the patterns to that movement vis a vis true warm ups, surprised me as well. Most trappers miss the peak of warm up weather movement in those little "warm spells"-

I routinely take 200-300 coon, in dec and jan- running less than 50 coon traps. And thats not setting old barns or denning areas.

when our rat/mink season closed dec 31, I never gave much of a thought to winter coon- but once it opened to end of feb- and I saw what was and wasn't occurring over the years my thoughts on what coon do at certain times of the year vs others, gave me coon.

and as coyotes, a light snow shows you many things. and one thing becomes more and more clear to me on both coyotes and coon- much of what you see happening in snow (a light walking around in snow) occurs on bare ground as well.

you talk about being on location beav- and of course, thats good advice- but there is, at least in my country, often not such concise locations to be had-

and in large populaiton areas, any place that offers anything a coon wants, is a good location, witness the 7-8 guys under one bridge we often hear about. the populations are so high, that its a constant flow.

but many, and I include much of my line in this- don't have that luxury of smaller location areas within larger habitats.

upland coon, or even woodside stream coon, are much more linear, and much more scattered.

There can be 10 "coon" trials all leading to the same general location- and you could, if you desired, set all them up with 220s or whatver- but going to the likely common areas, even if not quite on location, with a good call lure (which works anythime of the year- not just when hungry) and oyu will draw far more coon to your sets than with bait alone.

my advice, to new coon trappers, serious as heart attack- is that for coon, to consistently draw them to your sets, often on water to where you NEED to set- lure double what you think you need- and that if YOU can't smell it as you approach the set - its a poor lure or not enough

seldom- don't you have something to say about "edible" baits.....?

[thebeav2]

my advice, to new coon trappers, serious as heart attack- is that for coon, to consistently draw them to your sets, often on water to where you NEED to set- lure double what you think you need- and that if YOU can't smell it as you approach the set - its a poor lure or not enough.

And maybe the wind has switched so the lure Isn't viable any more.

But you could set on location and not even worry about doubling your lure costs.

I think most trappers fail to realize that In the later part of the season and for that matter any time of the season a lot of your coon are traveling those high bank trails. They may be 3 feet off the water course or It may be 10 to 20 yards off the water coarse. If you have these situations you can just about forget about trying to keep water sets operational In cold weather. Stick to the high banks and set body grips or place your DP s along these trails.
No need to dump a bunch of lure since the coon Is already On LOCATION. Remember those trails just didn't happen, coon made those trails and they made them for a reason.

Same with the hot spots on the creek the coon Is going there for a reason you don't have to change his mind. Tracks will tell you If It's a location you should set.

To many Individuals think of lure as the magic bullet. When In fact setting where the coon are naturally going Is the magic. A little scouting and understanding coon behavior will out produce the magic bullet In the bottle every time.

[trappnman]

I think most trappers fail to realize that In the later part of the season and for that matter any time of the season a lot of your coon are traveling those high bank trails. They may be 3 feet off the water course or It may be 10 to 20 yards off the water coarse. If you have these situations you can just about forget about trying to keep water sets operational In cold weather. Stick to the high banks and set body grips or place your DP s along these trails.
No need to dump a bunch of lure since the coon Is already On LOCATION. Remember those trails just didn't happen, coon made those trails and they made them for a reason.


add any amount of snow, and the above is simply not true. In my experience of course- #1- they aren't making trials per se- they are walking ON the snow- and those tracks go everywhich way.

the only constant, is the water.

no one is saying lure is the magic bullet- but if you don't understand the value of a good call lure in colder weather, you haven't trapped much i nsuch. No offense, just an observation.

and in cold weather- the coon is NOT going anywhere for a reason.

have you ever spent much time following coon tracks in snow during mid winter?

cause if you have, and come to the conclusions you do based on miles, your coon must be 100% different acting than the coon I trap here each winter. and they well might be- its defintely warmer where you are, and it might just be warmer enough to change patterns.

[thebeav2]

Well Come this winter I will get you some pictures and post them and show the beat down trails running along water courses. And those trails start some place and end someplace. And the coon very seldom leave that trail unless It's to go down to the water.

In my opinion It's a total waste of time running around the woods following helter skelter coon tracks and try to lure them Into your set when they may never come back to that area. But If that's the way to trap coon In your area then go for It.