So tomorrow being the water opener, it occurred to me that I should start getting some water sets along with my land line. Then I realized what a major pain it is to do both at the same time, and I wondered why I ever fooled with water trapping the first place. The water gear is so much more, bigger, bulkier and expensive than land gear. That's without a boat.

The answer is easy why I got into it: when living in NC trapping on Camp Lejeune, there is no fox season, but there are many fox. There were also dog hunters, base regs and many other obstacles that I did not care to deal with. So I just hit the coon hard, then drifted into beaver and otter. It's not to bad when you are doing just one or the other. And otter is my favorite critter to trap. A lot of fun.

Now trapping VA....it is tempting to just switch over to land. But what would I do with all that gear? And yesterday when I stumbled on some beaver sign, I knew I'd be setting it come Saturday.

good luck neill on what ever you decide. i was going to set some mink set out tomorrow. but, i am not sure if they are prime yet or not. so , i may wait a week or so. thanks, denny

Well I busted my tail the last couple days and think I pretty much got my line out. This warm snap will be good for coons, not so good for k9's. Here's a few pics:

From yesterday, nice big Tom:



first coon in a cubby, 18#:



Bottom edge set with 330, can't see in the pic but caught a muskrat, lol:



beaver slide, connected w/ 34# beaver


Got this guy in a yote set on a drag and the set didn't get ruined

today's haul

Now time to go skin!

great job neill. i got 2 muskrats today and started my steel planting. i got 7 sets out. congrats on the catches..
thanks, denny

Good luck with your line Denny and post up some pics! I guess that 18# boar removes the lingering doubt I had whether a big coon would go in the little opening. I got all 12 of my boxes out, eager to see how they do tonight. I also have a handful of 5x5 boxes out and I wonder how they will do. I set my 660 superbear for the first time today, in a channel coming of the otter river. Something should hit before the end of the week.

I like the cat. I always thought they would make a nice coat. Don't see them in coats anymore. What do you get for a prime cat fur?

Now I know what the boxes are for, using them with conibear type traps. I probably should think about using some of those around my house. Got some muskrat and coon. Will the muskrats come up and get caught on ground too? I use to set them in front of their holes. What kind of bait do you use?

Very cool thread.

Vic

vic i would use dog proofs around your house. i don't know if rats come out of the water or not. i know minks do. them little chicken killing @$#$$#$$...had one little mink kill 15 chickens in one night...thanks, denny

Vic, last time I sold a cat I netted under $30 after fees, etc. The next year the same cat would have brought close to $100. In other words, it's highly variable but the trend lately seems to be upward. I will probably get $50-75, and would be surprised to get more than that.

I agree with bronco that you're probably better of using dog proofs to catch the coon in you neighborhood.

A few more pics from last week:

I had the bright idea to move this guy away from the set and then shoot him to keep from getting blood all over a good set. I put the catch pole over his head and as soon as the trap was off his foot the rodeo was on. He bucked out of the loop...luckily my pistol was ready and I was able to shoot him on the fly.


It took three sets to catch this coon. He reached into a 155 cubby, set the trap off and was caught high ont he arm. Pulled out as evidenced by the rub on in his arm. Walked 10 feet over to a dog proof, pulled it out of the ground but didn't reach in. Went up the bank 30 feet and caught in a dirt hole.

Love these cubbies.

Weren't coming easy last week. That's not my truck. A hunter beat me to her, I think he was going to shoot her if I didn't pull up. 30# female.

Bottom edge set

very nice neill. thanks for the pictures. i put out 15 more water sets today and i got a big nice male yote. yesterday. so far. i got 3 coons. 2 opossums 2 rats 1 gray fox and the yote...thanks, denny

congrats on the yote....they sure are fun to catch

Hey thanks guys for the pics and posts. I dont post on here much but I sure enjoy the posts and pictures of your lines, thanks for taking the time to post them.

Denny,

What do you consider a dog proof set? Just wondering. We have some fox around and muskrats and such. What kind of sets would you do?

Vic

Nice work boys. Is that an otter in that bottom edge set? With deer seasons winding down i'm itching to get steel back in the ground.

Yeah that's an otter...19#, tickled to death to get him.

Vic, the dogproof's are just good for coon and possums. I won't speak to the muskrat, but if you want to try for fox in a neighborhood setting, I would use an MB 450 fox....they are easy on the non-targets.