# Pre-baiting..



## bratch (Sep 9, 2009)

When reading a bit about people pre-batiing, etc. Could you fine folks explain pre-baiting, and that the objective is? Are you putting trail cameras out to see what is visiting it?

Wiggler, I'm trying to contribute new topics.

Bratch


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## redneckdan (Dec 14, 2004)

When I used to use muskrat stools down state I would set them out a couple weeks earlier to see which were getting hit. The locations that were getting hit hard would get a couple stools. Locations that didn't produce got pulled. That way I didn't waste the first couple weeks of the season checking stands that wouldn't produce. Now I prebait some **** sets over a much wider area to get an idea of population density and which areas to focus on. Also a great reason to get out in the woods, start caching equipment and chase some grouse.


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## Fur-minator (Nov 28, 2007)

bratch said:


> When reading a bit about people pre-batiing, etc. Could you fine folks explain pre-baiting, and that the objective is? Are you putting trail cameras out to see what is visiting it?
> 
> Wiggler, I'm trying to contribute new topics.
> 
> Bratch


I do some pre-baiting for k9's but just close to my house. I can walk across the field to get to a couple of spots so I put in a couple of large holes and drop in pieces of woodchuck about once a month. I do this just so I can look for tracks and because it gives me something to to related to trapping.:evil:

I have taken some fox at pre-bait sites and alot of possums,***** and some skunks. It isn't practical to me to pre-bait too much because on most farms I want to try to catch the k9 the first itime it visits the set. (don't usually work out that way though.:rant


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## Mister ED (Apr 3, 2006)

Fur-minator said:


> I do this just so I can look for tracks and because it gives me something to to related to trapping.:evil:


And trying to figure out what alien left the poo present.:evilsmile

Last year I did a little bit, late summer, with a trail camera. But backed out by early Sept. I really did it just to play with the trail camera.


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## Fur-minator (Nov 28, 2007)

Mister ED said:


> And trying to figure out what alien left the poo present.:evilsmile
> 
> .


I think someone on T-man figured it out. When the woodchuck as bait were eaten, the intestinal contents were probably scattered there.


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## muskrat (Oct 21, 2005)

Redneckdan, how did you do with those muskrat poop stool sets? Just curious if you do not mind.

Thanks
Matt


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## Wiggler (Dec 23, 2000)

bratch said:


> When reading a bit about people pre-batiing, etc. Could you fine folks explain pre-baiting, and that the objective is? Are you putting trail cameras out to see what is visiting it?
> 
> Wiggler, I'm trying to contribute new topics.
> 
> Bratch


this is what we need to move this site forward.. thank you!


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## toepincher (Oct 3, 2010)

Sounds like your getting good advice on this topic. I also prebait for muskrat and maybe **** or mink, but not for K9's. Luring during the off-season is a good idea to see what lure they respond to best. But not luring the sites where you will be setting.


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## DFJISH (Mar 30, 2009)

Prebaiting for canines is something I feel is effective, BUT...

Back when canine furs were valuable and gas was much cheaper, I could bait dirt holes economically. (That was 30+ years ago.) While the practice is probably still effective, with the price of gas and furs it would be economically foolish to do. When I pre-baited I made sure to make multiple dirholes at each location because opossums, skunks, etc. would almost always preceed the target animals. 
*PREPARING set locations* was always worth a trip to a location and probably still is. Digging the holes, loosening dirt at the trap bed, raking leaves, weed wacking down ferns and goldenrod, spraying an area with Roundup, etc. was something I always did weeks before setting traps.
I also stuck a dry common mullein stalk within 2' of the back of every dirthole. I smeared a long distance call lure on the head of that. From a very long distance I could tell if the mullein was down, something had been caught. This is all pre-season stuff that worked for me....back when furs were high and gas was low.  Good luck.


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## redneckdan (Dec 14, 2004)

muskrat said:


> Redneckdan, how did you do with those muskrat poop stool sets? Just curious if you do not mind.
> 
> Thanks
> Matt



Think bar stool not bull **** stool. Works best in softer bottom water ways. Here in the copper district you'd need a pile driver. Anyway. Take a stick about 3-4" diameter and long enough to leave about 2 feet sticking up out of the water after you drive it securely into the bottom. I have made them up to 15' long before in special situations. Now you need to attach a small platform, just big enough for your trap, about 2' from the top end. I used pallet wood with a 2x4 gusset underneath. Take your ax and work the bottom end of the stick into a rough point. Drive a 3" screw through the top end of the stick so that it points out perpendicular with the stick and about 6" up from the platform. That is it, the stool is ready to use. Now take it out to where you want to use it. With mucky bottoms you can drive several feet of stick in, otherwise you may need to trim the end down with your ax. Drive the stool into the bottom until the platform sits about an inch underwater. I set these out about 2 weeks ahead and bait with carrot, corn or apple. A little bit of muskrat lure or mint tooth paste on the top of the stick helps some times. Once the rats start using it to feed there is no need to bother with lure. Once season rolls around wire a trap to the stick and set it on the platform. Rats usually drown, never caught a mink in this set, did catch a raccoon once. It was close enough to the bank that I assume he jumped onto the stool and got caught. I found him the next morning perched on top of the stick, teetering back and forth. Was so hilarious a sight and it wasn't that big of a **** so I turned him loose.


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## muskrat (Oct 21, 2005)

Thanks Dan, going to try that as well. Good directions.
Matt


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## toepincher (Oct 3, 2010)

Sounds like the same principle as a float set, only it stays put. I use float sets instead, because I can use two traps, and I always have scap 2x4's around. I own a mowing business so I use old mower blades for an anchor.


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## Fur-minator (Nov 28, 2007)

Here is one of my pre-bait sites. I used the same hole last year and caught a fox here. (It is about 300 yards from my front door.) I add pieces of woodchuck every few weeks. 










I added the scent post just for eye appeal and it survived the year. Once winter got here last year I stopped baiting it and a fox continued to return and mark on the scent post. I dropped a trap in there just ahead of a snow fall and added some more bait.

Here is what was waiting for me.


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