# The Trapping Withdrawal is still tough!



## Beaverhunter2 (Jan 22, 2005)

Well, I've had all my traps out of the woods (for the first time since November 1) for 72 hours now. It was a little shaky at first but I think I'll make it. Putting up beaver hides should help me keep it together. I've got 47 left to go. 

All in all, it was a pretty good season. Emily and I took a total of 227 muskrats, 71 beaver, 29 raccoons, 8 mink, 5 otter, 2 opossums, and a skunk. Not bad for a couple of weekenders. And most importantly- we had a great time. Now if we can just get a winter 'rat season with safe ice....

John


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## bbi-smoke (Feb 21, 2010)

Hang in there John, your almost over the hump, it will get better soon! The first step is admitting your a trapaholic!  

Congrats on some great numbers for the season! 

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## Fur-minator (Nov 28, 2007)

No Coyotes?  :lol:


Seriously I understand the withdrawal. I have been eyeing some mole runs in the yard. The fun is about to start again! :woohoo1:


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## David G Duncan (Mar 26, 2000)

Congratulations John and Emily on a great season!

You two make a great team!

Any chance we will be seeing a photo of the beaver pelts before you sell them?

I am sure you could cover the side of a large barn with your beaver pelts alone!


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## Beaverhunter2 (Jan 22, 2005)

Fur-minator said:


> No Coyotes?  :lol:


I don't set for them. At least not for several years. Of course, if one ever stumbles into one of my beaver sets you can have him. I hate fleas and the smell of a wet dog that's been rolling in rotten meat. 

Dave, if I can get them all together at once. Haven't done a fur pic in years but I'll try.

John


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## Beavermeadow trapper (Jan 15, 2011)

Great season to the both of you ,I feel your pain my sons and I started to set traps for mice for next year bait.


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## U.P. trappermark (Jul 4, 2010)

John, I feel your pain buddy, I pulled the rest of my beaver traps on Saturday. 
It sounds like you had a busy and exciting season. Congrats to the both of you.
That is alot of beavers to put up & I do have to agree with you, them yotes can sure stink up the place in a hurry, its a smell that stays with you for a while.


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## Dog-Catcher (Oct 29, 2010)

Beaverhunter2 said:


> I don't set for them. At least not for several years. Of course, if one ever stumbles into one of my beaver sets you can have him. I hate fleas and the smell of a wet dog that's been rolling in rotten meat.
> 
> Dave, if I can get them all together at once. Haven't done a fur pic in years but I'll try.
> 
> John


Sounds like an excuse by someone that can't catch a yote...:lol:


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## Seaarkshooter (Nov 5, 2009)

Dog-Catcher said:


> Sounds like an excuse by someone that can't catch a yote...:lol:


Cool, i'm not the only one. Lol

No offense, John, but i've heard otherwise.

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## Beaverhunter2 (Jan 22, 2005)

Dog-Catcher said:


> Sounds like an excuse by someone that can't catch a yote...:lol:


:lol: 

I ran a Fall coyote line once. I checked my notebook. The first night I caught one plus a handful of '*****. Second night I caught two plus a badger, a red fox and a bobcat (released). Third night I caught four plus another badger and a ****. Releasing the badger was fun. The next day water season opened so I pulled my coyote traps. Checking 50 traps at 25 stops and catching 6 critters ain't for me when I could be open water 'rat and '**** trapping. When Chris Kettler and Mike Anderson told me that those were some good days for a predator 'line I told them that that trip taught me why guys trap coyotes- they like driving around looking at empty sets and don't like spending time in the Fur Shed.  

In all honesty, I can't trap coyotes here. In the SE Lower on State Land, there are so many free-roaming dogs I'd be asking for trouble. Also, I only get about two one-week trapping vacations per year. The rest is all weekends with a during-the-week check in the dark after work. Therefore it's all lethal sets for me. Emily told me we had trapped together for three years before she ever saw a live animal in a trap. It's 43 miles from my home to my first trapping location. Add 12 miles if I'm coming from work. My loop in the Fall is about 120 miles and in the Spring it's about 145. If I could check every day I might trap coyotes. I used to love trapping red fox along my water line when I was in high school and college. There weren't many coyotes around back then.

Anyway, "to each- his own". Anderson once told me he puts a dozen 110s in the truck every year while coyote trapping planning to grab some 'rats at the farm ponds to help cover gas. He never takes the 110s out of the truck. When I'm out trapping and see coyote scat, my first thought is, "The darn thing better not steal my muskrats from my traps!" I'm ready, though. I have 18 MB-650s, 80 #2 Monty RJs and 24 Duke 1.75 OS's ready in case I ever go over to the Dark Side!  

John


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## Dog-Catcher (Oct 29, 2010)

The "Dark Side" is so much fun.  
Red Fox is my favorite though....like you said there weren't many yotes around when I was younger so I cut my teeth predator trapping on Reds.
The memories of checking traps with dad and those bouncy Reds as you 
came up to a set will forever be cherished.


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## Beaverhunter2 (Jan 22, 2005)

Like I told Matt when we were walking across a remote dam and saw a dozen piles of coyote droppings- If you want to come up and trap them I can show you some similar sites. And if I'm up when you're here, you're welcome to stay at the Camp.

John


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## Diggdug (Sep 20, 2001)

How do you catch so many Beaver, but so few Otter? My Otter to Beaver ratio is too high I geuss. I sure wish we could get a higher limit!


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## Beaverhunter2 (Jan 22, 2005)

Diggdug said:


> How do you catch so many Beaver, but so few Otter? My Otter to Beaver ratio is too high I geuss. I sure wish we could get a higher limit!


Don't use 330s in bank dens, channels or cross-overs. Either:

1. Don't set them at all- use castor mound and bait sets.
2. Use footholds set at least 6" deep (deeper is better).
3. Use a 1216, put the trigger about 1/3 of the width of the trap from one side, and put a stick 1" diameter or larger in the channel about 3' each way from the trap in line with the trigger. Otters will shoot the gap and some very small beaver will, too. Larger beaver will still hit the trigger because they are too fat to fit.

Please be sure to turn in incidentals. This is what helped support our argument to increase the Zone 2 limit to 2 (and get the Zone 3 limit established in the first place).

John


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## James Dymond (Feb 23, 2002)

Diggdug said:


> How do you catch so many Beaver, but so few Otter? My Otter to Beaver ratio is too high I geuss. I sure wish we could get a higher limit!


Another option along with Johns is to do your trapping in presque isle county. 
Jim


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## mitch h (Sep 5, 2009)

James Dymond said:


> Another option along with Johns is to do your trapping in presque isle county.
> Jim


Haha, or cheboygan, emmett, not very many here either jim! Dont understand how there can be so many south of us, other than all the pressure on them around here. 


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## Beaverhunter2 (Jan 22, 2005)

There has to be at least as many as there are in SE Michigan; and Em and I took 2 there. A 17lb female and a 19lb male. How long are your sets out? Mine can go weeks (or months). Patience (or maybe its stubbornness :lol is the key to otter trapping IMO. 

John


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## FREEPOP (Apr 11, 2002)

Diggdug said:


> How do you catch so many Beaver, but so few Otter? My Otter to Beaver ratio is too high I geuss. I sure wish we could get a higher limit!


You could let me touch the trap, seems as though contain some natural otter deterrent. Though I did finally get one last year, zilch this year.


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## Seaarkshooter (Nov 5, 2009)

I feel your pain, Freepop. I had the same problem with canines. What confuses me, though ,is that male otters are called dogs, yet, I have no problem catching the snot out of them. Hmm?

: )


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## FREEPOP (Apr 11, 2002)

You really don't want to get hooked on coyotes. They stink, are a b!tch to skin and are way more work than what they're worth.
Only good thing about them is walking up to a set where one is bouncing around. Better if it talks to you.


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## mitch h (Sep 5, 2009)

Beaverhunter2 said:


> There has to be at least as many as there are in SE Michigan; and Em and I took 2 there. A 17lb female and a 19lb male. How long are your sets out? Mine can go weeks (or months). Patience (or maybe its stubbornness :lol is the key to otter trapping IMO.
> 
> John


I dont know john , just doesnt seem like alot right here at the tip of the mitt, caught 32 beaver this yr , 0 otter, now granted i never set exclusively for them but youd think with that many sets runnin???? Now just south of here like gaylord and south there seems to be quite a few more??? Kinda like cats too, could be all the pressure too??? Like a guy once told me that runs them (cats) with dogs ," if there is a cat from gaylord north to the bridge it better have wings!" 



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## Seaarkshooter (Nov 5, 2009)

Mitch, have you ever tried adding any otter lures to your caster mound sets? 

2 of the 5 otter the wife and I tagged this year were, in my opinion, going for the otter/caster lure combination. Another 1 definitely was going for the otter lure my wife put on top of a dive under log set. The set itself was nowhere near a cross over and out of the way in the corner of a beaver dam flooding. Unless, of coarse you believe, as my wife does, that they are attracted to her new, pink circus rings. Lol

It might be worth a try. I'm starting to think that there is a lot more otter out there then most people believe. In average populations, its my guess too that they just don't leave that much sign, as John has said before.

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## mitch h (Sep 5, 2009)

Seaarkshooter said:


> Mitch, have you ever tried adding any otter lures to your caster mound sets?
> 
> 2 of the 5 otter the wife and I tagged this year were, in my opinion, going for the otter/caster lure combination. Another 1 definitely was going for the otter lure my wife put on top of a dive under log set. The set itself was nowhere near a cross over and out of the way in the corner of a beaver dam flooding. Unless, of coarse you believe, as my wife does, that they are attracted to her new, pink circus rings. Lol
> 
> ...


Yea, ive tried that with the lure, gotta admit i really havnt tried real hard for one though, but like i said usually you accidently catch one every 20 beavers or so, i know they were hit pretty hard around here when there prices were real high though! 
I do agree they dont leave much sign at all!
Ok ok , im not gonna tell anyone or take pics when it happens but im gonna go pink! Youve seen the t-shirts out there that say "real men wear pink"???? Or maybe the breast cancer awareness theme? Yea, thats it, im being supportive!!!!!



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## Beaverhunter2 (Jan 22, 2005)

mitch h said:


> if there is a cat from gaylord north to the bridge it better have wings!"


LOL

Try setting for them (otters). While they do spend a lot of time around beaver ponds, I take most of mine in sets specifically made for otters with no beavers around. And interestingly enough, I've only caught a couple beavers in my otter sets- probably about two for twenty! Are you going to be at the Convention in August? If so, let's sit down with a beverage and talk "trout torpedoes". If you look at them a little differently you might find there's more out there than you originally suspected.

John


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## mitch h (Sep 5, 2009)

Beaverhunter2 said:


> LOL
> 
> Try setting for them (otters). While they do spend a lot of time around beaver ponds, I take most of mine in sets specifically made for otters with no beavers around. And interestingly enough, I've only caught a couple beavers in my otter sets- probably about two for twenty! Are you going to be at the Convention in August? If so, let's sit down with a beverage and talk "trout torpedoes". If you look at them a little differently you might find there's more out there than you originally suspected.
> 
> John


Yea, ill prob be there, ill take you up on that, i think ive met you there once. I agree , there prob is more than i give credit, especially with the big bodys of water im around. 


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## Seaarkshooter (Nov 5, 2009)

Mitch, just refer to them as off white if you need to and tell em your color blind. Lol

Last week, a mile and a half out in the woods, an elderly man on a walk snuck up on me without me seeing him as I was repositioning one of my wife's traps because she couldn't be there. After collecting myself from almost falling in the water in fright, I realized it wasn't because he snuck up on me but because I had some answering to do as he was looking down at the trap and smiling. I've never been one to strickly check at night but I know have to consider it. Lol

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## Beaverhunter2 (Jan 22, 2005)

Seaarkshooter said:


> Mitch, just refer to them as off white if you need to and tell em your color blind. Lol
> 
> Last week, a mile and a half out in the woods, an elderly man on a walk snuck up on me without me seeing him as I was repositioning one of my wife's traps because she couldn't be there. After collecting myself from almost falling in the water in fright, I realized it wasn't because he snuck up on me but because I had some answering to do as he was looking down at the trap and smiling. I've never been one to strickly check at night but I know have to consider it. Lol


The whole family's laughing about that one! 

Kind of like- "Hold my purse while I go in the fitting room to try on this dress..." or "It's that time of the month, while you're at the store can you pick me up...." 

Wives have a way of embarrassing us. Then again, we probably do it to them more often! Especially us trappers! :lol:

John


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## Diggdug (Sep 20, 2001)

My brother and I used to trap in the UP for 1 month out of the year. We trapped mostly for mink but always put a few sets out for Beaver and Otter too. It was easy to get our limit of 6 Otter within that months time out of about a dozen traps. Now it seems it is getting just as easy around home. Unfortunatly, most of the places I trap have very graduall bank slopes so footholds on drowners are not possible. So I do end up using mostly 1216 and 330's. But even so we got two otters this season in pocket sets for ****!


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