Is it the weather?

[VirginRiverTrapper]

Me and my buddy starting trapping last year and caught (1) Ringtail cat (4) coon and (3) fox. We were using Peanut Butter, Dog food, And Honey. This year we have gone out SEVEN times and have caught nothing. We are doing the exact same thing we did last year. I'm getting a little discouraged by it and so is my friend. Is it the weather? Cause we did start a little earlier this year and it's just starting to get cold.

Do you guys have any suggestions on baits, Traps, or scents? Or even other kind of sets I can try? I'm mainly on a river in utah and trying to catch Coyote, Fox, Coon, and Skunk if possible. The traps I am using right now are duke 1 1/2 Coil Sping Traps.

[NYCOYOTEHOUNDS]

As the weather gets colder, I would try a good ldc lure up high to bring them in. A good dirt hole set with clean traps and a cold weather food lure in a bait hole will help. 1.5'S MAY BEE A LITTLE SMALL FOR YOTES UNLESS MODIFIED AND SWIVELED UP GOOD.

[david]

How old are you guys? I mean, does either of you drive yet? Many thousands of coon/mink and muskrat have been caught by trapping bridges and culverts. The only fear is trap theft. But if you do not have too much competition, here is a killer set for these three that requires no bait. You will need waders though or be prepaired to get wet.

Bridges are natural funnels for these three. Find where they will be forced into the water by the bridge structure because they will be following the bank. This may be inside the "tunnel" under the bridge.

Your trap needs to be right up against the concrete or steel and just underwater an inch to three inches. If the water is too deep for this pan depth, you will need bricks and rocks to build up a bed for the trap. This is a lot of work but you can use it year after year and it is absolutely killer. It is worth it. Get the bed built up. Parts of the rocks can be sticking out of the water to help hold them close to the side, but it is not necessary, because they will travel there any way. Make sure there is a nice flow of water rushing over the trap. This will keep it from freezing for a long time.

add enough chain to your trap to make it 5 feet long. attach this to a 10 pound weight. You will find your animal drowned or tangled up near by. This is an awsome set. I actually paid a lot of money to have it taught to me. Here you go, for free. You could run your whole line with this set alone and catch numbers of these three animals.

[NYCOYOTEHOUNDS]

Drive?

[VirginRiverTrapper]

Thanks David. Yeah Im not driving yet i'm 13 going on 14. And That sounds like a really clever way to catch a coon.

There really isnt any competition here because everyone else pretty much traps in arizona, nevada, or in the higher moutains about an hour away. There is a few bridges but it has alot of cars going across it. Mainly cause they're highway bridges.

Thanks again Both of you, I'll try that technique next time i go to a ranch i go to.

[david]

The cars going over the bridge are not a problem. Those animals are going through there. You might as well have them. I used to walk about three or four miles to my trapline when I lived in Omaha as a kid. The memories of those walks and my catch are still some of my favorite memories. It was a walk to the bridge over Papio creek. It was a very long walk with a 30 pound coon! Many a trapline was worked off a bicycle also. Good luck out there you guys. God bless.

[halfbreed]

i trapped roads and bridges for years when i was young . and was very sucsesful at it till the game wardin caught me seems there was a law or somethin against it this was in texas i don't know about your laws on trapping and huntin public roadways but i'd check it out before i tryed it . good luck with it though .

[david]

Good point, Halfbreed. Know your trapping laws very well! And here is the main reason: we have a lot of well meaning law enforcement officers who do not know them. they themselves are anti trapping, and they want to impose their own private laws on you, hoping you dont know any better. Know better! Know your laws. That way when they harrass you, ask them if you are breaking a law, and exactly which law it is you are breaking. When they can not tell you. Ask them to write you a ticket and you will see them in court/ OR please stop harrasing you because there IS a law against trapper harrasment.

Every state I have trapped, (many years ago) the road ways are public property and trapping or fishing under bridges/culverts was NOT illegal.

As Halfbreed said, find out for sure.

[Bow-cephus]

Just sayin good luck bud, for bait if your tryin for that stuff, something cheap I use in a pinch is finely chopped sardines in oil. Put in a pickle jar, mix in about 50% raw eggs so it's half and half. Next mix and keep in the shop, also keep glads and urine from your catches, a little egg mixed in will make it thicker. This summer go have some fun and catch perch or carp, chop up put in a glass jar with a lid and burry it for the rest of the summer, it'll be a good base and place to start. Do you boil and wax your traps?

[VirginRiverTrapper]

I had been given four that are boiled and waxed from my dads friend. I just decided Im not gonna go out trapping til I get my duke dp's and alcatraz traps.