UP Convention

[trappnman]

Really had a good time- sales were quite brisk at times and had one of our best years sales wise if not our best. Very well run convention and the UP trappers did a great job as always. Escanaba in the moonlight.....

As expected, anything related to coyote trapping (and fox to a lesser degree) sold well, and what was very interesting was that so many of those at the booth were new to canine trapper, but not water- and for multiple reasons, including price I am sure, they want to learn how to trap coyotes.

Whats fun, is they have no preconceived notions about coyotes and all the various myths and misinformation out there, and were willing to listen to common sense advice, and instead of seeing heads disagreeing, I'd see heads nodding and hearing "that makes sense" concerning such things as pattern size, to lure and urine use, to human scent, to just simple stuff like coyotes aren't fox.

Its like seeing phase 2 of coyote trapping coming to the area- those that have hunted or called now becoming intrigued with trapping, and willing to take behaviors into account.

[blackhammer]

Good to hear sales were good. Bet some of the big supply guys will struggle for a few years. One thing about canine trapping it cost to get started a lot more than just trapping a few coon or rats. That will help dealers keep their heads above water. Escanaba is a nice area. Was over their for the nta last summer should have took some time and did some fishing.

[braveheart]

That sounds Good no rain outs like everyone I went to this year.Glad you had a safe trip.
Marty

[skidway]

With the locals starting to chase coyote permission could be a little tougher to get but that's OK. Plenty of room for everybody. The majority of my yearly catch comes from that area. That farm country sure beats trapping in the woods.

[trappnman]

that's is nice country- I'd be knocking on the doors as well if I lived up there. but the thing that surprised me- is just about all I talked to said places like that were too far (30-50)away to trap

[Deleted]

Jul 27, 2015 6:20:24 GMT -6 trappnman said:

 but the thing that surprised me- is just about all I talked to said places like that were too far (30-50)away to trap

  I don't find that strange at all because I have the same mindset.  So, your question would be to them and myself is why not drive 30-50 miles away to trap.  The answer is really quite simple, we don't want to or we don't need to in order to enjoy trapping coyote.  My coyote loops are all within a 15-20 mile radius of my house.  Sure, I could stretch that radius out another 5 miles or more and extend my coyote catch numbers BUT it would also extend my day, my time and I think the value of killing extra coyote doesn't/wouldn't equal the enjoyment and loss of time.   

Time is probably the big reason which is most of mine and the balance is I don't want or need to turn my coyote trapping into a job, into work. Heck, you could find me in mid-morning sitting in my truck with one foot sticking out between the door and frqme with a cup of coffee listening to the woods.  Or, taking the time to wander down to a beaver swamp to see what's going on if anything, etc.  Those things are all time-eaters BUT they are all part of my enjoyment of coyote trapping!  Secondary to those reasons would be numbers, sure, I like to catch all I can but within a given time-frame(yup, time again) so I have no numbers goal.  A half day for me in the field and part of the afternoon in the shed and I can go every single day for 4 months.  

[trappnman]

While I understand exactly what you mean about enjoying the day- and trust me I get enough ball busting from some because I trap "bankers" hours, but I too like to enjoy the day and am not a dark to dark guy.

and consider also I'm talking about guys that haven't caught a coyote, or taken just a few, but want to take more. You have the knowledge and experience.

but I'm not talking that here so much- nor am talking about expanding the line in general....more that someone would tell me they just can't catch coyotes ,they take 2-3 weeks to come back through (which to me is evidence that trapping site is at the fringe of range, and they simply don't come through much or have much of a reason to stay).

And my answer is 20-50 miles away, I was seeing prime coyote ground- and plenty of woods if you wanted to include that into your routes- but big dairy, lots of hay bordered by treelines and small woods. By travelling 1/2- to an hour- and check traps all the way- they get into ground that 1) has coyotes and 2) have a reason to be regulars. Guys setting a doz traps, if that- more often 1/2 doz and to me, why not increase your odds with those traps where coyotes ARE regular. Esp in snow country- dang it Never I know oyu love the stuff...but for me its a real trial.

[Deleted]

OK, now I understand what you were talking about and you're certainly right, ya gotta be where there's coyote!!  My fall density generally brings them back through in 5-7 nights whereas winter(a month into cold) densities may be a few nights longer BUT may be almost every other night for a short period of time because they and I have found a great rabbit patch OR a deer carcass.

I've meet two fellas over the years who trap coyote in IN, one a cousin of Larry Hall's in fact.  He was working for MDOT here and rented a house right in the middle of my west loop.  I ask him if he was going to be my competition that year since he was hearing coyotes at night and he laughed himself silly!  He said "you ain't got no yotes around here for me to bother with!"  He ask me if I'd ever trapped in another State such as IN and of course I hadn't and he said I'd be in for a huge surprise to see the difference in coyote densities!  "You folks think you have a lot of yotes but really you haven't got a trappable population in my opinion."  

We all live and work with what we've got available and I see on forums where this fact is often overlooked or maybe inadvertently taken for granted that all locals are the same.  Knowing this, maybe what those folks were really saying to you was the same.  You saw the difference BUT they being inexperienced weren't able to me a logical or experienced comparison of locals not unlike myself as I explained above.

[skidway]

I have to run 50-70 miles a day just to find decent places to trap around home but I don't do it for long before the enjoyment wears thin. I deer hunt for 2 weeks in the UP near Escanaba and trap at the same time. Good density usually,not many miles between sets and little or no competition for coyotes. Sounds like that may change. And depending on where you are in the UP will determine how far you have to travel to find good numbers. Escanaba is in the banana belt: farm country; you go much farther north you're in the woods and deep snow, east is woods and swamp, and west is a mix of everything so what you see can around the convention can drastically change within 50 miles. It's the only place I've trapped where you can often see coyote moving in the middle of the day. Unheard of where I live.Pretty good cat population too.

[trappnman]

my longest route is about 175 miles- and my shortest about 75- running in at least somewhat of a rough circle. I can honestly say- the enjoyment of the route, is almost 100% determined by the number of coyotes caught (and weather, but that and #s are intertwined).

I'd truly like to know the densities of coyotes in my area-

[Deleted]

Jul 28, 2015 12:19:32 GMT -6 trappnman said:

I'd truly like to know the densities of coyotes in my area-

Hells-Bells, I don't think you're anywhere long enough or with any frequency throughout the rest of the year to get a chance to study density! 
When I use the term "density" I'm talking about having a general idea of how many coyote are using the property I have permission to trap and are available for me to catch at any given time.  Just today I was checking a two scent test plot on a property I've trapped for 8-9 years.  

Some years I may only have 1-2 coyote coming through on such an irregular basis that I won't set.  Other years I have an abundance of activity that isn't completely family/group related and may catch 8-9 coyote in as many nights.  My test plot had been there 7 nights showed two different coyotes had come through in opposing directions whereas when I made the plot I only could find sign of one large, mature coyote.  If these two coyote continue to use the property I'll set for them in the fall.

My test holes were about 5' apart and dead-on both coyotes travel lanes.  I used about a 1/2 tsp of lure in each hole but we did have a 1/2" of rain right after I made the plots but even in sand the holes were still noticeable.  One coyote walked within 8"-10" of one lure and was downwind of the other hole and it never changed stride.  The other coyote actually stepped on the rain-flattened excavated dirt beside the little test hole and never changed stride and kept on trucking!  I had 8 test plots out on 5 properties and on 2 I had identical instances of no interest shown and a 3rd with minor scratching of one lure, so 2 more lures going in the "no-go" bucket!  When I put in the test plots I had either one fresh track or two of different ages(times coming through).  Today a couple properties had no sign and others had a single or as described previously, two the similar to when I put the plots in a week ago.