My '19-'20 Nevada Trapping Journal

[backcountry_sassn]

Don't see many trapping Journals on this forum so I figured I would start one for my 2019-2020 season. I live in Sin City which most people dont relate to hunting or trapping, but there is plenty of it down here. I started the season with a small coyote line behind my house (yes I could see the city lights) then moved a bit further to try start my bobcat line. Believe it or not, but our Southern Nevada bobcats are some of the most sought after bobcats in the world. With high cat prices the last few seasons, there are a lot of people trapping down here. With so much public land in our great state, there's plenty of land and cats to go around. A little about how NDOW manages our cats. We have a no limit and no tag system here, but they do require the lower jaw and a bobcat harvest report. They use the reports and jaws to age the bobcats caught. With so algorithm that I can't explain, the determine the population health and that determines our season. Lots of young bobcats being caught shows good recruitment which means stronger population. It can be 4 months, 3 months, 2 months, or 1 month. We have been at 4 months most years. a few years a got we had 2 seasons with a 3 month season, but they lengthed it back out when they saw the population rebound. Anyways.......I trap with my 4 year old son. He loves trapping even more then me and can already identify poop and tracks. He's a lot smarter than his dad. In 3 weeks of trapping with only a dozen traps out we haven't done too bad.

 

[Cheesehead]

@backcountry_sassn, great post. Really nice catches (great bobcat, especially!), and most important, awesome to see you taking your young son out there to enjoy the outdoors.
I took my 1-year old on a squirrel hunt in a chest harness the other day with suppressed 22 rounds, so seeing your posts makes me excited for the years to come. As a Midwesterner, I want to tell you to please rubber band his hat bill around a coke can to avoid the temptations of consorting with Utahrd flat-brimmers going forward, but joking aside, seriously keep up the great work!
Cheesehead

 

[mevertsen]

I like seeing the trapping pictures.

 

[backcountry_sassn]

@backcountry_sassn, great post. Really nice catches (great bobcat, especially!), and most important, awesome to see you taking your young son out there to enjoy the outdoors.
I took my 1-year old on a squirrel hunt in a chest harness the other day with suppressed 22 rounds, so seeing your posts makes me excited for the years to come. As a Midwesterner, I want to tell you to please rubber band his hat bill around a coke can to avoid the temptations of consorting with Utahrd flat-brimmers going forward, but joking aside, seriously keep up the great work!
Cheesehead

hahaha I get to take him outdoors, but his mom gets to decide what’s in his dresser. It’s our compromise haha.

 

[Firedude]

I've been trapping for 12 years. I've never caught a bobcat... kinda jealous right now. Good work!

 

[elkrchr]

Love to see the young ones getting involved! Keep up the good work!

 

[Nick87]

Keep it coming! Nicely done!

 

[backcountry_sassn]

Tried getting out right before the storm to relure but the storm was bigger then the weather man said. I have a lot of traps that won’t be working for a bit till the snow melts down. I kept most of them buried since they called for another 8” of snow. Figure I’ll uncover and fix up all my sets the next check. I couldn’t get the truck all the way up the road because of the snow so I had to walk the last couple miles. And sure enough, those furthest sets are the ones that connected. Sure was happy to get a cat and 4 fox, but not happy to haul them all back to the truck. Got lucky with the cat. I thought for sure it would be rotted after hanging himself but looks like he was caught the night before and all was good. That’s a relief because the belly on this guy is amazing. He’ll be at the upper end of the cats at the sale.

Don’t get to check traps in the snow much down here, especially this much. I love the silence and solitude feeling of walking through it at night!

 

[mevertsen]

Awesome!

 

[dirtclod Az.]

Nice looking Fox'!

 

[backcountry_sassn]

Another wet and late night checking traps but instead of snow, it was rain. I was feeling pretty discouraged since all I had was one fox, but the last trap made it worth it. Big female with an awesome belly! Caught her in a Bridger #1.65 with a Wild River expanded pan. Once again, no need to bury your trap when it comes to cats.

 

[backcountry_sassn]

Another wet but fun day on the cat line. I was finally able to have my trapping partner with me again. Because of the snow and heavy rain, he had to stay home. Weather wasn’t the best for checking but he was still able to tag along. Lightly rained most the afternoon but we were able to connect on a stud cat!!!! 2 awesome cats this week.

 

[Cheesehead]

Very cool. Great cats

 

[Sask hunter]

Congrats!

 

[ashersdad]

Awesome thread!

 

[backcountry_sassn]

No cat in this last check. But I was in for a zero cat check since I’ve been lucky the last few. I was able to pick up 2 more fox. The full moon should get the cats moving at night.

 

[backcountry_sassn]

Had my best catch of the season. Caught a nice 4 year old boy haha. I hear “Dad, I’m stuck” so my reply is “well looks like I have to skin you now”. That’s when the tears started to roll haha. After I told him I was kidding, He said I need to take a picture to show mom. He got caught in a back up set we have on a big cat toilet below a tree. He was to focused on the cat in the other trap and stepped right in the trap. Another great day on the line with my best buddy.

 

[backcountry_sassn]

Pulled all the traps in this area last night. I won’t be able to check over Christmas so i figured it was the perfect time. Caught a very nice female. I’ll be setting in a new area after Christmas. Even though I’ve been consistently catching cats where I was, it’s a good time to move. I’ll scout it more in the off season and hopefully be able to pull even more cats out of it next season.

 

[MikeW217]

Thanks for sharing! I have been wanting to get into trapping. Great to see your catches.

 

[Treeshark]

Awesome thread, you guys are bobcat machines!