My 2020-2021 Season

Going Coastal

Eight Pointer
When I was a teenager (long time ago) just getting started trapping, my first double on red fox came from using a can of out of date blueberries for bait. Good memories!


Sent from my LGL164VL using Tapatalk
 

QuietButDeadly

Old Mossy Horns
Contributor
Scaled back to only 2 of my most productive traps at home and they appear to finally be slowing down. It is time for them to slow down after, matter of fact, I am shocked at the number of coyotes we have taken out around the home place.

Have another place set now with good sign but have only caught speedy possums so far. The full moon is not helping either but I believe it is just a matter of time until the butt sniffers start working sets. And I usually pick up a couple of bobcats at this location also.
 

QuietButDeadly

Old Mossy Horns
Contributor
Well, in spite of the full moon, had a 38 lb. male get so amped up that he just had to try to figure out why that rock smelled so good to him. But I would be willing to bet that he forgot all about that smelly rock when he put his paw on the sweet spot. He probably fought the trap harder than any other one I have caught. Only one I have ever had to bend the levers on an MB 550 but I guarantee he will not do that again.

Hopefully the overcast tonight will contribute to some more pictures tomorrow. And the light drizzle is pretty much a guarantee for a grinner or three.

IMG_20201230_110350.jpg
 

Helium

Old Mossy Horns
Another customer on the short line at home today. An old warrior, 43 1/2 lbs. worth. That is #3 for that trap location. A long chain or a pre-hooked drag sure helps preserve a location and make resets easy. View attachment 56111

Lots of tooth wear on this old boy!
View attachment 56112
Nice looking and Yotes isn’t what usually comes to mind BUT that’s a good looking one. His face just has that “face of many stories” look
 

QuietButDeadly

Old Mossy Horns
Contributor
Closed out 2020 with a trash panda and 20121 did not start much better with a lone possum and a catch and release coyote. The good news was that the rain held off so I was able to complete the first check of the new year in the dry. But catch and release coyote is never good news! This is only the second time I have ever witnessed one pulling out of a trap and they both seriously sucked. Must have been toe caught and while it was bouncing around as I approached, it hooked one of the trap levers on a limb in a brush pile and released enough pressure to pull out. I heard the lever snap back as the yote disappeared around the brush pile.

Nothing to do but reset the trap. Tomorrow is another day, hopefully better than today.
 
Last edited:

QuietButDeadly

Old Mossy Horns
Contributor
Well, the grinners ran during the rain last night and plugged up some perfectly good coyote sets. One was such a muddy mess, I did not even try to reset it. Maybe tomorrow. One slightly muddy coon to go with the possums. Only one fresh set of coyote tracks.

Such is the life of a trapper this time of year!

IMG_20210102_105738.jpg
IMG_20210102_102145.jpg
 

QuietButDeadly

Old Mossy Horns
Contributor
The yo-yo continues.....Yesterday was a down day with nothing but a possum and a coon. No fresh tracks of yotes or cats moving anywhere that I could see.

Last night, that all changed and the coyotes moved. Three of them stopped and waited for me. Two females and one male. One had mange and the other two both had lice and missing guard hair so none of them got a ride home with me but there are less left to catch now. Hoping for another day or two like this on this property but you never know. No coons or possums last night.
IMG_20210105_102319.jpg
IMG_20210105_113756.jpg
IMG_20210105_120202.jpg

Trapping in mud is tough. Notice the mud ball caked to the trap, especially on the last one. At least it was not cold enough to be frozen. I have had that happen and that really make it a pain to even get the trap off the critters foot.

Everything is reset and we shall see what surprises are in store tomorrow.
 

QuietButDeadly

Old Mossy Horns
Contributor
Another decent run this morning. Got my first cat of the season in a set I made because there was fresh cat tracks in the mud. Put in a big, flashy dirt hole but had not seen any fresh tracks until today. Sometimes it takes cats a while to come back around.
IMG_20210106_091046.jpg

35 lb. male coyote was caught on a ridge that the landowner had cleared last summer. Nothing but a narrow strip of bare dirt and brush piles for about 1/2 mile. I had transplanted a clump of broom straw for a visual and put a little gland lure and a squirt of urine on it. Took a few days before one worked it but he ended up riding home with me. I transplanted another clump of broom straw for the remake.
IMG_20210106_102054.jpg
IMG_20210106_104615.jpg
 

QuietButDeadly

Old Mossy Horns
Contributor
Time for an update such as it is. The possums have not slowed down but everything else has. I have only seen one fresh set of coyote tracks in the last 3 checks. Probably going to start pulling this location tomorrow unless I see something to change my mind.
 

MJ74

Old Mossy Horns
Man you are getting it done!

I know jack about trapping so I have questions...lol

1. Do you kill all the ones you trap? If so do ya just pop em with a pistol or something like that,and can you sell all species you catch?
2. Are all these on the same farm?
 

QuietButDeadly

Old Mossy Horns
Contributor
The early catches were from the home place with just a few traps out. Between trapping and shooting what we saw while deer hunting, 16 coyotes have been removed for within a mile of my house. Still have a couple traps out were responsible for 9 coyotes.

The later catches are from another farm in Caswell Co. Getting ready to pull and move somewhere else as no fresh tracks since the last catch.

I will send you a PM about dispatch as it is not a good idea to discuss specifics on an open forum.
 

MJ74

Old Mossy Horns
16 yotes from within a mile radius, makes me wonder how many are actually around they people never see....good job!
 

NCST8GUY

Frozen H20 Guy
Quite honestly, this is one of my favorite threads to keep up with! It really hits home just how many yotes are around, how tricky it can be to get just once, much less double digits, and how patient trappers must be. I can't fathom what the learning curve from newbie to advanced must be like.

Please keep em coming!
 

QuietButDeadly

Old Mossy Horns
Contributor
Always heard that variety was the spice of life and I have spiced it up pretty good this season. Set a pond for muskrats yesterday and went back to check and set some canine and coon traps today. Rat traps all just like I left them when I got there so I started setting other traps until the rain started. But before I called it a day, I decided to check the rat traps again. Had one in a body grip trying to get in a hole I had blocked. It was raining so I just reset the trap and took the pic after I got home. Got it hanging in front of a fan and will take it's PJs off when it gets dry. Might fry up some rear quarters for supper tonight.
IMG_20210115_162701.jpgIt
 

QuietButDeadly

Old Mossy Horns
Contributor
Checked traps in light snow flurries this morning. Started cleaning out the trash on the new line with a couple of grinners, a coon and another rat out of the pond. The light rain and fog last night was prime grinner weather and I was surprised there was only two of them.
 

QuietButDeadly

Old Mossy Horns
Contributor
Three fat coons today and zero possums. At least they were all in DPs and not plugging up canine sets.
IMG_20210117_104030.jpg
IMG_20210117_111546.jpg
One of them acted like he wanted me to rub his belly but I ain't falling for that trick!
 

Duckmauler dhc

Old Mossy Horns
Man, we need to clone you and send you to every county in the state. First time visiting this thread for me but I can see it might be my favorite now. You sir are a bad dude.
 

QuietButDeadly

Old Mossy Horns
Contributor
Coyotes are playing hard to get at the new location apparently. Have traps on location where trail camera pics show coyotes travel but zero physical sign of them coming through. May be one of those areas where they only pass through once in 5 or 6 days. The traps are ready!

Did pick up a gray this morning along with another rat from the pond.
IMG_20210118_095337.jpg
 

QuietButDeadly

Old Mossy Horns
Contributor
Some days you are the windshield and some days you are the bug. Yesterday was a bug day for me and today was not a whole lot better. Just a stink cat and another possum.
IMG_20210120_104357.jpg
 

PG2

Ten Pointer
When they get caught do they spray or wait for you to get there?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 

QuietButDeadly

Old Mossy Horns
Contributor
They rarely ever spray when caught in any kind of trap. You would think the trap closing would startle them and cause them to spray but that does not seem to be the case. I have caught them in foot holds, DPs and cages and do not remember the last time I found one stinking when I got there.

Now, all bets are off if there is a free ranging dog around to get them agitated.
 

QuietButDeadly

Old Mossy Horns
Contributor
Been a slow spell for the last few days with only a possum and 3 more raccoons at the location I was on. No sign of canines at all so I pulled all of the daily check traps and only left the completely submerged body grips for muskrats in the pond. Will check them a couple more times on a 3 day check before I declare victory.

But I did pick up another coyote at home. Only have a couple traps out but they have been productive. This female pup is the 7th caught in that trap this season. The other trap only about 50 yds away has had 3 catches.
IMG_20210123_114451.jpg
 
Top