Crossing log sets with bodygrips

[mustelameister]

'Coon catch is way off down here. Earlier in the season I found at least two dozen dead 'coon snagged up along the river banks in a short mile or so of the local river. Whole stretches with few or no fresh 'coon tracks. Couple that with the 'rats being few and far between due to the drought, there's been some extra time to experiment.

So, I've decided it's tinker time. MB screw-ins and mostly BMI #120s and misc #220s.



Nothing so far on this log.





Picked up two grey squirrels and a weasel on this one.



This has been an excellent 'coon producer this fall on the mud flat on the left. Stuck a #120 in there.



This one produced a small female mink.



#220s on top, #120s below.



10' of cable allows the #220 to fall off either side of the log and comply with 4-day drowning check. Also #220s 5' off a hard surface unguarded comply with #220 rules we have now.



A nice sight to see when we pulled up. There are two dogproofs on drowners on the bank in the background.





My goal is to have at least 50 each of these set up to check over the next two months on the walk-in sets over the open streams and creeks down here.

For what it's worth.

[trappnman]

will be interesting to see how you end up for the year on these sets.

I used to make those sets, and occasionally still do, but I found out that for me, they were very low % sets

I thought that for mink esp they would be hot- so most of my setups were with 110s or 120s

but they weren't- what finally convinced me was when it snowed- very few of the logs actually ever had tracks on them-

there were however a few major crossing logs, and those were good producers- but I found snares did the trick better and used the same criteria to make them legal extended check sets

I'll be interested in your final results. esp wth 220s on coon

thanks for the pics-

[RdFx]

Dang if retiring dont make the ol Muskrat look younger with dat white beard...lol..... I found results same as Steve, low percentage of takes with bodygrips on logs and like Steve some were hotspots.... Remember the old trapping phamplets showing those sets and a couple years really tried them when bodygrip first come out and then later on my long line mink runs....low %. Hope it works better for you Muskrat, maybe in your situation it will and i hope so , so you have to sharpen yr skinning knife once in awhile....

[GaTrapper]

Great post. Very interested in how those sets work out. Keep us updated.

[mustelameister]

Nov 18, 2012 7:48:18 GMT -6 RdFx said:

.... Remember the old trapping phamplets showing those sets and a couple years really tried them when bodygrip first come out and then later on my long line mink runs....low %.

Yup, I'm sure the percentages will be low. But low percentages are better than no percentages, eh?

When I set up an open, running stream for the winter walk-in line I usually plant at least 6-12 sets in the water. Pockets & blind sets mostly. I give "gang setting" a whole new meaning at some spots. The older fella that goes with me occasionally commented on my 4 bodygrips and 6 dogproofs at that one location above, but I'm always figuring . . . why not? Now what if I could add 2-4 bodygrips on crossing logs at each walk-in site?

Say I do have 40-some #120s and 30-some #220s active bodygrips on crossing logs. Heck, make it 40 and 40. That's 80 bodygrips working for me once they're set out. So what's a low percentage? Let's go with 10%. Is that low enough?

10% checking twice a week. So that's 4 catches in the #120s and 4 catches in the #220s.

And these checks will be "on the side" while checking the regular sets I would have had out anyway.

Of the 4 #120s, let's say 3 are squirrels and weasels, and 1 is a mink.

Of the 4 #220s, 3 are possum and 1 is a 'coon.

So . . . December and January has 8 weeks. That's 16 checks. 16 times 1 mink a check is 16 mink. And the same goes for the 16 'coon.

Yea, that's not many. But they're 16 mink and 16 'coon I may not have scored before, or maybe they would have wound up in the drink on the drowner cables anyway.

So I waste initial time setting up, and time later taking down. The work involved in checking and resetting is minimal. And who knows, might score an occasional fox walking the log, or maybe a fisher, and they are down here, and yuppers, did score a tag this year.

Scored a small 8-point yesterday so I'm about done with screwing that time away. Thinking I'll start setting these out after gun deer season bigtime along with the other sets. Right now the 10-day forecast looks balmy enough to keep the boat in the river so I'll keep running those sets 'till pushed to the walk-in lines.

I'll post a score card as the winter progresses.

Steve, I do believe the snares would work well, but they're not legal here. Besides, I've got several tubs of these traps I've kept for some odd reason, and the #220s I tried to sell off before but then kept. They're either stored in the garage or on the trapline.

So, we'll see.

[thebeav2]

So what If some of those body grips make a catch and the trap hangs up on the stabilizer? Now your 2 or 3 day check Is going to make your system Illegal.

I wish you luck but I think your time would be better spent trapping the high bank trails. I know that has you checking traps every day but I think your percentages are going to be a lot higher then those log and limb sets.
Now I can see setting actually crossing logs but those smaller limbs I'm not to sure about. A covered bait set between two body grips might help. The critter has to have a reason to use those dead end logs and limbs. Now If those larger logs have a toilet on them so much the better.
A little skim ice and snow Is going to put those sets out business real quick.

It might also help to put some smaller forked branches around those body grips to help blend them In a bit. A cordless drill works wonders to add a little guiding and blending.

Go for It Rat nothing ventured nothing gained.

[mustelameister]

Nov 18, 2012 12:34:17 GMT -6 @thebeav2 said:

So what If some of those body grips make a catch and the trap hangs up on the stabilizer? Now your 2 or 3 day check Is going to make your system Illegal.

if

A covered bait set between two body grips might help.

----------Have considered it

The critter has to have a reason to use those dead end logs and limbs.

----------None of these sets or future sets will be dead ends. All are crossing logs & limbs.

A little skim ice and snow Is going to put those sets out business real quick.

--------------All future sets for the walk-in lines will be set above moving water.

It might also help to put some smaller forked branches around those body grips to help blend them In a bit. A cordless drill works wonders to add a little guiding and blending.

--------------have considered this also, good tip

Go for It Rat nothing ventured nothing gained.

yuppers . . how was the North Dakota trip Gary?

[blackhammer]

A 220 on a log is just a flat out bad coon set.

[thebeav2]

Question.
Why are your screw In stabilizers postioned at the out side edge of the trap jaws and not In the middle?

[mustelameister]

Ah . . the Beav is getting long in the tooth, but the eyes are still sharp!

The #220s are dead center.

The #120s are off to the side because they "lock onto" the MB screw-in stabilizer better when you slide 'em off to that bend at the corners. Therefore the stabilizer is also screwed in off center.

These traps are dyed and waxed; the wax has been melted off and rubbed clean where dog meets metal. Also, all triggers have been "started". I would like to think when the mink initiates contact with the triggers, he'll continue moving through if they swing with him.

How many weasels do you catch in #120s?

[thebeav2]

The #120s are off to the side because they "lock onto" the MB screw-in stabilizer better when you slide 'em off to that bend at the corners. Therefore the stabilizer is also screwed in off center.

That's the bad side of a fixed jaw type stabilizer. I'll have to try that On my 160s some just are to loose on the stabilizer and some are so tight you can't get to the next notch.
My kingdom for a adjustable body grip stabilizer.

[mustelameister]

Nov 18, 2012 20:32:46 GMT -6 @thebeav2 said:

My kingdom for a adjustable body grip stabilizer.

Gary, have you tried wrapping something around the interior of the stabilizer? Maybe a thick, long rubber band? You could wrap that around, tie it off, then squeeze the body grip onto the stabilizer and it would snug into the rubber band.

Hmmmm . . .

[mustelameister]

Gary, when I used to run #220s on dryland I made my own stabilizers. Charlie Dobbins took some time to chat about stabilizers with me at the 1988 NTA rondy in Peoria. I experimented with his design and came up with this:



Nothing more than lath that's been glued, screwed, tossed in the dye bath, then run carriage bolts through.

And inside the enclosure:





I was prepared to make some for the crossing log sets, but was pleased to discover the MB Conibracket allowed the #220 to lock on just right.

I'm still thinking about making something up with the lath and skinny carriage bolts for the #120s. Not entirely pleased with the MB conibrackets for these smaller bodygrips.

[thebeav2]

Ah yes
I first started out with a single threaded rod through a hard wood block. I used my router to cut one groove then placed the trap set In that groove then marked the other jaw then proceeded to do the other groove. Fit like a glove. So I proceeded to make 60 more. Comes opening day, some fit some didn't let me tell you It was a very frustrating day.

Yep I tied those deals but found that even the traps out of the same box locked up at different points. And different brands of traps were all different as to lock up on the fixed stabilizer. Some were loose and some were so tight you couldn't get them to the next notch to get them set. MB clips are the same way. I hate a loose floppy trap on the stabilizer. And those lath things are just to much baggage to haul around.
In cages they worked Ok but then you had the coon comitted and It didn't mak emuch differnce how high the trap was. And the springs touching the ground helped a lot In stabilizing the trap. Now use those same stabilizers In a non cage 160 situation In atrail and they don't work so good.
So far It's H stands all the way. I welded a 18" piece of smooth rod to them so I have a stake attached to each stabilizer.
The KB stabilizer with the coil spring attached works to a point but there to low and to cumbersome for real body grip work. The Killer clips have a some give to them but they aren't the answer either. Like I say my kingdom for a adjustable body grip clip.