My 2020-2021 Season

QuietButDeadly

Old Mossy Horns
Contributor
Was raining and water standing on Nov. 1 so I did not get any traps out on the opener. Did manage to get a few out at the home place the next day. I can check this short line between wood goat hunts and hopefully thin down the predators a little bit.

Not surprising, first catch though.....the infamous Carolina Silver Sable
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Followed up the next day by this fella in the remake from the possum catch..... Since he lives in Chapel Hill County, he gets a pass, no fox season here.
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Next customer was a big fat stinker. I do wish they did not get the red dirt mineral stain so bad. If the stripes were bright white, the pelts would be so much nicer. A novelty item on the fur market but the interest and demand for them is pretty steady. And the most valuable part of them is the smell.
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And the Silver Sables come in a wide range of colors too......
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To be continued.......
 

QuietButDeadly

Old Mossy Horns
Contributor
And finally a prime target specie. Not much fur value for our typical eastern yotes but one less appetite and set of teeth in the woods. This was a 33 lb. male that had a run in with something that took a bunch of hide of of a rear flank but was healing up nicely. Always something interesting on the trap line.
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BTW, this one was caught under a small persimmon tree near the edge of a picked corn field. Yotes like persimmons too!
 

QuietButDeadly

Old Mossy Horns
Contributor
Things are slow on the short line but it is still checked daily.

But I am making up for it while deer hunting. I have smoked 1 female coyote with the muzzle loader and 2 females with my .270, one yesterday morning and one this morning. My youngest son, QBD2 has taken out a female with the bow on 2 more females with his muzzle loader. A couple of them were in thick stuff but most were in big open woods. No rhyme or reason for where they were and not somewhere I would be setting a trap. The woods have 4 wheeler paths but they are not using them.

The only male taken so far was the one I trapped.
 

QuietButDeadly

Old Mossy Horns
Contributor
The short line has been dead a few days but it woke up big time last night. Rounded the corner to check the first trap and could see something bouncing from 150 yds away. Coyote on a pre hooked 10 ft. drag. While I started taking care of business, Firedog walked down the wood line to check the next trap. I looked up and he was coming back with a thumb up. Had another coyote about 50 yds away. Close enough to call it a double but could not get both in one camera shot. Umlike all the one we have shot, these were both males. Two less in the woods!
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QuietButDeadly

Old Mossy Horns
Contributor
A little skim of ice on the mud puddles this morning as I headed out but not cold enough to make a crust over the trap. This is #4 from this set, another male @ 38 lbs. He had that look of shame for getting caught and he was a bit unlucky as he was foul hooked but hooked none the less. This is an MB 550 cast offset jaw trap on a 10' pre-hooked drag so the trap bed is not destroyed. I just rebed the trap and bury the trap chain and ready to go again. I included a pic of the remake for reference.
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Hunterreed

Twelve Pointer
Nice work! I got to do what you're doing for no other reason than to save some deer mortality. One out of four does here with a fawn at best come fall every year. I started a thread with a lot of trap questions earlier before I seen yours,I hope you can give me some advice especially on drags. That seems to be the way in high traffic areas to keep site active
 

PPosey

Twelve Pointer
In that double dirt hole set, do you have your trap offset from between the holes,, and how far out from the holes?

I've always used a short chain and solid anchor but the sets do get trashed for sure.
 

QuietButDeadly

Old Mossy Horns
Contributor
I just put it where it feels right. No attempt to offset the trap and I am guessing the pan is somewhere around 9" from the double holes. About the only thing I do consistently with the double dirt hole is to angle the holes toward the trap pan.
 
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QuietButDeadly

Old Mossy Horns
Contributor
I have dodged the bullet several times on these damp rainy nights but it finally caught up to me this morning. A stinking possum in my top producing coyote set. With the freezing rain, I did not take time for pictures. Wet possum is not very photogenic anyway. Another set of teeth that the small game will not have to worry about. Foggy or rainy nights are prime time for possum movement.

I did not even bother to remake the set as the trap bed was full of standing water.
 

QuietButDeadly

Old Mossy Horns
Contributor
Another double today in the same two traps I doubled in earlier this year. Traps about 40 yds apart but can not get both catches in the same pic due to the shape of the field. That makes #6 for one trap and #2 for the other. Reset both of them again.
32 lb. female and 28 lb. male. The male was blind in one eye.
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Reset after catch #2
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Hunterreed

Twelve Pointer
I have dodged the bullet several times on these damp rainy nights but it finally caught up to me this morning. A stinking possum in my top producing coyote set. With the freezing rain, I did not take time for pictures. Wet possum is not very photogenic anyway. Another set of teeth that the small game will not have to worry about. Foggy or rainy nights are prime time for possum movement.

I did not even bother to remake the set as the trap bed was full of standing water.
I have lost more chickens on rainy nights to possums than any other ways combined. Rain really puts them on the prowl, there's an endless supply of possum here. Noticed the rock in your latest post. Is that all it takes to direct a coyote around to the trap placement?
 

QuietButDeadly

Old Mossy Horns
Contributor
Had made a catch at this set but it did not seem to be getting much attention in the edge of the woods. It probably should be moved out into the edge of the field now that it has been reseeded and will not have tractor traffic. So rather than move the trap, I added the rock to add to visual appeal and put some red fox gland lure under the rock and a squirt of coyote urine on the rock, and it worked.
 

Hunterreed

Twelve Pointer
A light colored or quartz rock does stand out. I trapped some foxes when I was a teenager and always made my set next to some kind obstacle like a log or a big rock to direct the fox into the set so the trap would catch the front paw. Used a dirt hole set with a few feathers half buried for visual plus there was probably some scent to the feathers. I like the looks of your set with the mouse holes,soon as I'm through with deer hunting I'm trying that approach to coyotes hear. Your pics done give me the trapping bug again
 

QuietButDeadly

Old Mossy Horns
Contributor
Coyotes took the night off or maybe I am starting to run short on supply at the home farm. I have already caught or killed a lot more than I expected in the area where I have traps out.

But big momma did show up last night on the beaver job. Always nice to get the big female before they turn in to mission impossible. She was swimming around on her new leash (snare) and was not real happy to see me show up to give her a ride. Not the biggest I have caught but it is still all up hill to the truck.
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YanceyGreenhorn

Still Not a Moderator
Only have 4 foot hold sets out right now but do have a few sets for some nuisance beaver. Leashed a couple of them last night.
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I remember at the beginning of my first season, Mr Dwayne told me he loved setting snares for beaver. I didn’t really understand what the buzz was all about. All I wanted to set was 330s. Last season I started using snares and increased my catch ratio big time . Especially on a property where there were trap shy beavers. It’s my favorite way to catch em if I’m gonna eat the meat. Can’t get any fresher!
 
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