Anyone been out (pics added)

[GRIZ]

I just got laid off so am free to trap a bit. Not goin to over do it just a few to keep me busy while I squeeze in sometime to work on the fishhouse and bowhunting. Anyhow the other day managed to get out 38 sets and this AM had 2 mink,2 coon and one trap all stolen. The good side is that I still managed to take home 2 rats,2 coon and nine mink. Boy them thieves burn my butt, I'd like to take thiers and throw it in a patch of prickly pear cactus if I had to drag 'em to New Mexico to do it. Well I guess I'm used to having ten percent of my catch stole, it still burns my butt.




I just learned how to get pics off the new cam onto the new fuser so am puting pics up where I wanted to b4.

[GRIZ]

Today I had the boy out with me on the line. I had pulled 20 unproductive sets and put out 15 new ones hoping to have a real active day for the little fella. Well it was the same as it had been all week. We got 9 mink 2 rats and 5 coon along with a couple of mink lifted from my trap by someone else. I have been getting 9 mink a day all week and was hoping today I would get into the double digits but it was not to be. Well I haven't gotten any less either so consistency is nothin I'll complain about since it's paying the gas bill. I didn't manage to get any picture as I'd have liked today as on the way home I dropped them off at the buyer. I have a couple pics from a couple days earlier this week but can't seem to get them on the new fuser. Will keep trying to figure that out.

[Super Star!]

Yes sir i have been out in full force   Got 4 otter all in coon sets, wish i could have let them go. Just sold 52 coon 24 beaver and 12 mink was not to impressed with the prices 

Now i am gearing up for are 7 day fisher season. Is anyone else going out for them?   
 
i will try to post some pics later......

[GRIZ]

Well I managed to finally break the number 9. Glad to say it was in the positive sense as I got eleven mink. Now I expect it to drop a bit the next few days as I am going to pull a few sets and I am hoping to get some more out but I have so much going on that I don't know. If I do I'd like to get them out b4 the weather front moves in as the catch could easily go over 20 mink that day. They are really effected by the weather and the nastier it getts the more they are out, usually in a storm they are out all day and night.

[Super Star!]

Congrats on the record. its always nice to break a streak.Like a dry one.

I trap some mink. it is hard around here most streams are full of traps and even if your the first there. someone will put a trap right down from yours.

After growing up on the family mink farm i do not realy care to look at another one.

What is your main set you use? Blind sets? cubbys? you use #2 vics? fish for bait?

[GRIZ]

I use maily a baited pocket set. Bait is useally some sort if fish, Shellfish if I can find em. I use 1 1/2 nrothwoods on 3' of chain staked in deep water.

The way I build my pocket I don't miss mink but coon cause me lots of misses and lots of snapped traps. I've got a few that I've modified by removing on lever and put both springs on the other. Laminate the jaws and base plate with an enlarged pan 4' of chain on a homemade grapple. By putting both spring on one side if you don't laminate the baseplate the first firing of the trap will bend it so to the point that you won't be able to set it again. Seems to cut down on my misses of coon quit a bit but you can't use a grapple evey where either. Am going to put some on slide cables for next yr. The one draw back is they are difficult to set as ther is nothing to hold on to on the one side while depressing the spring lever.

[GRIZ]

The catch had dropped the other day down from 11. Yup ya guessed it right back down to nine. Oh well. :happy1:Today I don't expect anything near that as half my traps then I pulled as they were frozen in and with the weather we've had last night I'm certain all but a few are frozen in. This is a tough time of yr to be trappin as the ice isn't thick enough to walk on but thick enough so ur traps don't work.

I didn't have the time this summer to get fully prepared for trappin. Mostly just for mink(open water) and some under ice beaver. Now for the first time in many years I find my self needing the money to pay bills not just the expenses. Running empty traps is not an option right now. Right now at this moment I am stil trying to figure out if I'm going to pull up for a couple days and prepare a land line or move down around the border hoping it isn't froze and can trap open water till we have enough ice so I can beaver trap.

Never did get days pic just some off the line

This nice buck I had to wait over a week for which I normally don't leave traps there that long but it was so close to home.



This mink is the only female I got at this set, but have had a mink in it everyday. Well at least for the six days I trapped there. This particular spot usually produces very well.



Here is a pic of a mink that caught but was eaten by another mink



Here is the pic next day of the mink that ate her



Now I wished I could've done this earlier with the pics it's just so confusing to figure out.

[Super Star!]

Fisher trapping is under way for 7 days  can not wait to check in the morning. i am guessing i will have more fox than anything. Used some realy skunky lure. i think i will be sleeping out side tonite........

[GRIZ]

Fisher trapping is under way for 7 days  can not wait to check in the morning. i am guessing i will have more fox than anything. Used some realy skunky lure. i think i will be sleeping out side tonite........

Why is that? All trappers have a couch in the heated garage or they should.

[Super Star!]

I am  a true outdoorsman. ill sleep out side in the snow.. 

[Super Star!]

here are the traps I mainly use..nothing special.










and here is my line of lure and bait

[GRIZ]

You didn't tell me you had a supply business. Or are my observations wrong. Cool

I like that line up of traps. As I buy new traps thats about what I'm gettin. At one time I had enough traps to last me a lifetime but then after the big D(she gave them away) I managed to save about 450 or so out of the mess. Those MB and belisle are deffinitely the cadilacs and of course everyone gotta love the Griz traps for coon.

[Super Star!]

with my coon bait and the grizz getters and the egg traps the coon do not stand a chance in my area..

i have set up to 8 traps in one area and showed up and and had 8 coon. sure beats the dirt hole. can not beat the speed of those traps. (setting speed)  yes i do have some supplies mostly supply to local guys.

[Mayfly]

Griz,

where area are you from?

I want to come out on the line sometime......

[Super Star!]

Griz

what happend the coon. i thought they went to sleep, now my traps are full of them took 12 today

[GRIZ]

Only went to sleep for a few days a short little nap til it warmed. If ya set more traps today you'll have more in the AM.

[Super Star!]

temp looks like they will be going back to sleep for a while supose to be cold.

[GRIZ]

Another thing that helped them move the other night was the full moon. I don't know why but it seems to me they are more active then.

[Super Star!]

well Griz all coon today and a few mink. the fisher line is very unproductive this year do not know what is going on.(May need to move some traps im thinkin). the past years i would get fox,yotes,fisher,and even a bobcat. all i have got at this point is a very nice and prim skunk. 

[GRIZ]

That beats my day. I pulled my frozen in traps and prepared for a new line. First stop jumped out of the truck grabbed my stuff, then realized I should have some gloves. Went to my truck and the door was locked, both of em. The truck was still running and I'm in the middle of no where and can't get in my truck.

For about 2 hrs I was trying to get in my truck not a single vehicle drove by. The only thing I had to get into my rig was some trap stakes. I grabbed a couple and started to pry the door open enough so I could get one in between and pull up on the unlock button. Well murpheys law rules again, the lock switch needs to be replaced. I did manage to push down the window button which gained me access to the vehicle.

It wasn't as easy as it sounded. The trap stakes weren't enough as I had to walk down to the creek to cut some sticks big enough to wedge in the door while I snuck in with the stake.

Then I went directly to the shop and had them dissable them locks. Now it locks only when I lock the dang thing. To add insult to injury all it took was turning the key on 4 times without turning it over and then push down on the lock button. Bingo it works just like it's supposed to. Now If I'd known it was that simple I'd have done it the day I bought the thing.

Well only got 14 set out but got the door locks to work properly now, when I personnally push them down. Funny thing is my remote still locks and unlocks.

[GRIZ]

It wasn't good yesterday. Well I only had out 14 sets but was expecting at least a couple mink. Well thats all I would've had except for one thing. It hasn't happened to me since 1992 at least to my knowledge. A mink was within 10' of my trap and did not make the trip home in the back of the truck. I'm sure it's happened before but I haven't seen any sign, they are private little creatures that don't leave a bunch of sign anyhow. Yesterday I had one about 10 feet that never paid any attention to my set, I'm guessing it never even smelled the bait with the wind blowing the direction it was. Actually had 2 mink pass by that set both were males heading in the same direction and niether one even broke stride. At another set I had a female who crossed about ten feet away got a whiff of my bait and turned right to the set. It stopped about 2 feet away and pranced back and forth but never got any closer than 2 feet. I stood there and looked at the set to see where I made the mistake. I really couldn't see anything i'd done wrong. Well I didn't take either one of them home but am jusat going to wait it out and see if when they return maybe they will be a bit more confident.

[Super Star!]

you still trapping water? or you on top of the water now?  i pulled all my traps yesterday minus the 5 that someone thought they needed to barrow i have 6 out for mink as of now and 5 out for fisher.i plan on getting some more out today if i can get the motavation to do so. The motavation has realy when down the tubes for me with the cold weather and every thing froze now.

I think the fisher trapping is so poor do to it being so close to deer hunting and the increased people out hunting with muzzel loaders. the fisher find a gut pile and stay there. ill give it one last run to try for my limit.

[GRIZ]

Trappin on top of the water it sucks they got a whole new travel pattern now.

[Super Star!]

Trapping just got a whole lot harder for every thing.  I maid up some snares ganna try my luck and see if i can snare some mink, fox and yotes.

[GRIZ]

Gotta wait to use snares down here.

I realized the other day why the mink were just walking by my sets like they weren't even there. I forgot to add one thing in my lure. Worked great until everything froze up now they can't smell it. I forgot the dang salt. They can't even smell it.

[Mayfly]

Good reading guys...and thanks for the pics.

[Super Star!]

Griz same set same thing today. so that makes two for the year got sunday left.

[GRIZ]

Just tell me you had the camera with. And hopefully it had started to snow. That would be a real cool pic with the fisher against a fresh snowy background.

[Super Star!]

no the camera i had that day had no more pics left on it. and im not allowed to take the digital out with me. lost are digital last year some were on the line and that was then end of that. I did take some pics when i got it home though. it always seams when you are trapping and you have a great pic  you could take you do not have a camera to take one. Im hopeing i hook at least one or two more tonite. im thinking with all the snow cover they will go for some easy food like my bag of cherrys hangin  in the tree. I now have a new camera so i will not miss any more good pics.

 it was another male to, so there has to be some females around.
Here is a pic of him he is smaller than the other one.

[dgoulekas]

This is my first visit to this site.  I love the outdoors and miss living in North America.  Prior to '98 I was married and living in Connecticut.  I currently reside in Southwest Florida (Naples). 

I'm 53 and single, no kids . . . . I seek friendship with other people in my age bracket.  Would love to go ice fishing!  As a matter-of-fact, I wrote an artice titled "Gift ideas for the ice fisher in your life" and submitted it to Helium.com.  It was published today.

Check it out if you'd like at:  http://www.helium.com/tm/727028/fisher-consider-homemade-gifts.

You can write to me at:   greenlandroad@hotmail.com

Debby