Well done! Love seeing that Smith show up to work!
Trapping Thread 2024/2025
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I was rushing today, but got two more.
Found a little trail they were using under that junk and did a double blind set out from one of the areas they go under the building.
This land owner is very happy!
Found a little trail they were using under that junk and did a double blind set out from one of the areas they go under the building.
This land owner is very happy!
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MDC proposes expanding furbearer hunting and trapping
Proposed changes include increasing number of days allowed for use of artificial light, night vision, and thermal imagery equipment when harvesting coyotes, and adding trapping tools.
cross your fingers something comes from this. I’d be one happy guy.
I’ve never seen so many turkey (as mentioned before) and now another one of the farms I’m trapping on has more bob white quail than they have ever seen. If I get longer seasons this will only get better.
That said -
Friday went well.
These 1.5s are so much fun.
I really like 1.5cs traps, maybe I’ve mentioned this before, but I’m going to try doing a bit more dryland trapping this year. A beefed up 1.5cs like the MB450 has a lot of allure to me in this venture. Something that can hold coyotes but will not be so big that chewing is a huge issue on coons.
Keep at those groundhogs! A perfect critter to win landowner’s favor and keep you trapping through the year!
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I’m excited to hear your feedback on the 450s. I have a lot of travel routes I’ve always wanted to run blind sets on. The majority of tracks look like raccoons and possums, but I’ve had the occasional cat and coyote too. I feel like your idea of the 450 on those sets would be better than 1.5s (too small for some) or my 650s (too big for some)
That 450 seems like the perfect medium.
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I’m not sure it gets any better.
This was yesterday before we got some nasty storms
This was yesterday before we got some nasty storms
Still at the ground hogs?!
We went to check our shared garden on a different property last night and there are coon tracks in the mud. This is an area where there are a lot of pets nearby so I have to be specific about traps and placement. Live traps are the safe answer but I might throw some DP’s out too.
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I have been, I’ve just been doing a poor job at taking pictures.
I’m up to 10 groundhogs so far!
I’ve got another house I’m going to this weekend to go after some more. It’s been a ton of fun.
I’ll tell you one thing that’s tough. Running cams to watch deer grow and seeing so many predators and nest predators that I could be sorting out……
I love the dog proofs with cap options for heavily pet filled areas. Go get him!
Good deal!
This is an area that is probably filled with coons as it’s near a wooded neighborhood with an irrigation canal nearby. I’ll keep busy with them I’m sure.
I hate cage traps, but I should have invested in some better ones. Local store was running a deal on these cheap. Came with the raccoon size and a squirrel size cage trap for $35. This is the first coon this held and already it bent up the door. Just trying to protect the garden a bit if I can.
Last edited:
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Well done!
Nope, but thinking about trying it this year.
Just got back from re-setting traps from this morning. Growing up on our family’s dairy we always had a cage trap set for something. Spent a ton of time getting outsmarted by raccoons especially. Thought I’d share my methods for open critiques and hopefully pass on a bit of knowledge to be more efficient.
First, if you know you’re trapping coons, I’d recommend setting a minimum of two traps but if you can swing it, three or four is really nice. Bait each one differently if you can. I used to toss bait in the trap, but now I dig a depression underneath the “bait end” of the cage. I like a bait holder of some kind and found to really like a PVC cap. The white color has some eye appeal, and holds any liquids from draining. Use a small can or even the bottom of a pop/beer can. Dig hole to fit bait cup, bait cup, set cup in hole, slide trap over cup. The theory here is you can get them to investigate the bait/bait cup, and they will spend more time in the trap trying to grab it, moving around inside and hopefully stepping on the trigger plate.
I tried this method a few times and just had them push the trap over, tip the trap over, sometimes triggering the trap in the process. That was no good, so I started staking the trap down. My stakes are 24” rebar stakes with a 5/8” hex-nut welded about a half inch down from the top. Usually I run the stake diagonally in the back of the trap from top corner to opposite bottom corner in some way. This prevents the trap from being pushed or tipped over. It also stabilizes the trap to the ground. I will use a second stake if one doesn’t hold it tight enough. Usually midway in the trap, along the side of the cage.
I used some game cams for awhile to watch my traps and I had a lot of coons step in the trap and when it moved they’d back out. The staking helps this tremendously.
If the ground is soft enough to do it, I’ll use a hand-hoe or the back blade of my trapping hammer to break up the ground for the whole footprint of the cage trap when I dig the hole for the bait cup. Breaking up the ground allows you to kind of shake/settle/sift the trap into the dirt. This helps stabilize the trap on a softer surface as well as hide the wire mesh from paws that would rather walk on dirt.
Once trap is staked, I set the trap, adding a bit more bait/lure to the entrance and trailing it back to where the coons are traveling since I try and set on trails. I’m out of my favorite trapping lures/bait right now so I’m improvising with grocery store goodies. Normally I try to use fishy, oily, and/or sweet in some combination. Right now I’m using anise oil soaked dry cat food for the bait cup, with a little bit of fish/shellfish oil. And then either trailing the oil back out the entrance or using a small stream of strawberry ice cream syrup instead. I like the fish/shellfish/fryer oil as it withstands the weather better than the rest of it. I use the same combination in the dog-proof traps as well. If I know it’ll be dry for a few days I might change out the cat food with some mini-marshmallows. I try to use more sweet stuff than fishy stuff so I can avoid catching cats when around people who care about their cats.
Picture included but I can try to take some other picture later on if this one isn’t clear. You can see the two stakes used as well as the buried bait cup.
First, if you know you’re trapping coons, I’d recommend setting a minimum of two traps but if you can swing it, three or four is really nice. Bait each one differently if you can. I used to toss bait in the trap, but now I dig a depression underneath the “bait end” of the cage. I like a bait holder of some kind and found to really like a PVC cap. The white color has some eye appeal, and holds any liquids from draining. Use a small can or even the bottom of a pop/beer can. Dig hole to fit bait cup, bait cup, set cup in hole, slide trap over cup. The theory here is you can get them to investigate the bait/bait cup, and they will spend more time in the trap trying to grab it, moving around inside and hopefully stepping on the trigger plate.
I tried this method a few times and just had them push the trap over, tip the trap over, sometimes triggering the trap in the process. That was no good, so I started staking the trap down. My stakes are 24” rebar stakes with a 5/8” hex-nut welded about a half inch down from the top. Usually I run the stake diagonally in the back of the trap from top corner to opposite bottom corner in some way. This prevents the trap from being pushed or tipped over. It also stabilizes the trap to the ground. I will use a second stake if one doesn’t hold it tight enough. Usually midway in the trap, along the side of the cage.
I used some game cams for awhile to watch my traps and I had a lot of coons step in the trap and when it moved they’d back out. The staking helps this tremendously.
If the ground is soft enough to do it, I’ll use a hand-hoe or the back blade of my trapping hammer to break up the ground for the whole footprint of the cage trap when I dig the hole for the bait cup. Breaking up the ground allows you to kind of shake/settle/sift the trap into the dirt. This helps stabilize the trap on a softer surface as well as hide the wire mesh from paws that would rather walk on dirt.
Once trap is staked, I set the trap, adding a bit more bait/lure to the entrance and trailing it back to where the coons are traveling since I try and set on trails. I’m out of my favorite trapping lures/bait right now so I’m improvising with grocery store goodies. Normally I try to use fishy, oily, and/or sweet in some combination. Right now I’m using anise oil soaked dry cat food for the bait cup, with a little bit of fish/shellfish oil. And then either trailing the oil back out the entrance or using a small stream of strawberry ice cream syrup instead. I like the fish/shellfish/fryer oil as it withstands the weather better than the rest of it. I use the same combination in the dog-proof traps as well. If I know it’ll be dry for a few days I might change out the cat food with some mini-marshmallows. I try to use more sweet stuff than fishy stuff so I can avoid catching cats when around people who care about their cats.
Picture included but I can try to take some other picture later on if this one isn’t clear. You can see the two stakes used as well as the buried bait cup.
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I started this year to save on costs!
Sask hunter
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Anyone have fur at FHA auction next week? I have 55 beaver there some coyotes and a few fox. My beavers usually grade eastern with a handful going western and it’s been that way for 15 years. This sale a little over half is western. That won’t help their cause
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I've been foaming at the mouth to get back out. Work has been for a lack of a better word F'ing insane. I need some woods time!
In addition to armadillos, possums, and raccoons, this guy popped up on camera in Missouri. Not saying it’s the reason for it, but didn’t exactly see much for turkeys this year. Think he’d look pretty good mounted.
Also had this show up. There’s some debate on what it is, so I’ll open it up to the internet opinion, as dangerous as that can be. I have my thoughts, but let’s see everyone else weigh in.
Also had this show up. There’s some debate on what it is, so I’ll open it up to the internet opinion, as dangerous as that can be. I have my thoughts, but let’s see everyone else weigh in.
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Get after him. I'm on a full blown mission to kill as many raccoons, possums, bobcats, and coyotes as I can here in Pettis and Henry county, MO.
It's been having great ROI so far.
