Smossy's Trapping Season 2013-2014 (Success)

[Sitka_Blacktail]

Almost, its always best to skin them either the day you catch them or the next, wether you have stretchers or not, if you want come on over and I will teach you how to make stretchers so you dont have to waist money buying them, thus leaving more money for traps or trap making material, and remember when you catch a beaver save the castors  hang them on a wire and dry them, once driedyou grind and mix with glycerine that way you dont gotta buy beaver lure...

I made stretchers for beaver out of round pieces of plywood with circles drawn on them for the different sizes and used small nails to attach them.

[jackmaster]

Almost, its always best to skin them either the day you catch them or the next, wether you have stretchers or not, if you want come on over and I will teach you how to make stretchers so you dont have to waist money buying them, thus leaving more money for traps or trap making material, and remember when you catch a beaver save the castors  hang them on a wire and dry them, once driedyou grind and mix with glycerine that way you dont gotta buy beaver lure...

I made stretchers for beaver out of round pieces of plywood with circles drawn on them for the different sizes and used small nails to attach them.

we did that to, its actually easier than sewing them onto a hoop thats for sure, some of the super blankets its the only way to go..

[Smossy]

Almost, its always best to skin them either the day you catch them or the next, wether you have stretchers or not, if you want come on over and I will teach you how to make stretchers so you dont have to waist money buying them, thus leaving more money for traps or trap making material, and remember when you catch a beaver save the castors  hang them on a wire and dry them, once driedyou grind and mix with glycerine that way you dont gotta buy beaver lure...

I made stretchers for beaver out of round pieces of plywood with circles drawn on them for the different sizes and used small nails to attach them.

we did that to, its actually easier than sewing them onto a hoop thats for sure, some of the super blankets its the only way to go..

I dont have the room for multiple big boards really.

[jackmaster]

They dont take up any more room than a beaver on a hoop

[Smossy]

They dont take up any more room than a beaver on a hoop

YOUR a beaver on a hoop.

[Becky]

What's the easiest way you get the skull clean/white/degreased or whatever it's called?

[RadSav]

I just got back into town and saw the thread.  Congrats on the Mink.  Pretty cool!

But I have to ask. Have you gone Amish? 

[Smossy]

I just got back into town and saw the thread.  Congrats on the Mink.  Pretty cool!

But I have to ask. Have you gone Amish? 

Welcome back brother, And NO Ive gone cave man

[Sitka_Blacktail]

When I worked at a fur processor we would sometimes get slammed and not have enough time to flesh/prep/salt the animals we bought. In that event we would skin them, roll them up flesh side in so they made a ball. Then wrap them up tight with saran wrap until you could not see the fur through the saran. We would load freezers full of coons/cats/beaver etc. in this manner then when the season slowed down we would pull them out the night before and work them the following day when thawed. Did this many of times and never had a slippage/dry rot issue. Just make sure you skin them out in a timely fashion if you plan on freezing them this way, same day preferred.

I just froze it whole. Is that bad?

A lot of times in Alaska, the animals are frozen in the trap (if using body grip traps) or freeze on the way back to camp. This is handy actually if you are catching multiple animals and have time constraints for working them in the evening. You just thaw out as many as you figure you can work on that evening, and save the rest for whenever you have more time.

The best furs I ever saw came from a couple of Polish refugees who jumped ship in Kodiak when I lived there. One of them had worked on a fur farm in Poland and man did he know fur and was he ever handy. They lived (camped) in a camper out of town and didn't have much money to buy traps and gear, but that didn't matter. Alex built all their traps from spring steel they got at the wrecking yard. (He welded and fabricated too) They also bought cable and toggles and made their own snares. Alex also built a large (100 gallon) tumbler out of scrap wood they found and they filled it full of wood chips. The final step of their fur care, they'd put a little white gas on the wood chips, then tumble the hides in it. Alex explained that this was to get any remaining grease off the fur. Then they'd hang them and brush them out nicely before marketing them.

[bearpaw]

This topic may help you with handling your fur and building stretchers of your own so you don't have to buy them.

http://hunting-washington.com/smf/index.php/topic,147666.msg1958344/topicseen.html#new

[Smossy]

So very bad news, not sure what to do now.
So I went out to check my traps right, I set them in about 2-3 feet of water..
With all this rain weve been having I knew flooding was gonna be bad but wow. There was an additional 3-4 feet noo chance to even reach my traps If I even knew exactly where they were... I managed to luckily hook ONE with my pole and there was nothing in it..
Ive got a 7 foot pole with a small hook on the end and everythings out of reach...so depressing, specially if there's anything in any of the traps. Im gonna feel really bad because at this point I dont think theyre gonna be salvagable for atleast a few days. Not sure how long the furs will even be good for.
Learned a few things already. Flag where your traps are, get a bigger pole/hook for retreival, and bring garbage bags.

[3nails]

 Wait for the water to go down and then retrieve them. THEY ARE NOT WORTH GAMMBLING YOUR SAFETY!!!  If there is anything in them they'll be fine for a couple of days.

[Smossy]

Wait for the water to go down and then retrieve them. THEY ARE NOT WORTH GAMMBLING YOUR SAFETY!!!  If there is anything in them they'll be fine for a couple of days.

Ok man hopefully your right. I dont think the waters gonna recide that much within a few days but Im hopeful. The water was extremely deep even on the edge of the drop off (same place I stood 2 days ago that was completely dry) everything looks different so I can barely determine whats what or where. 
Definetly creepy wading a creek edge at night though with limited light. Seen 2 muskrats swim by though so the area's real promising.

[Humptulips]

If there is something in the trap it should keep for up to a week. Just get to it as soon as the water receeds and you will be allright.

[Smossy]

If there is something in the trap it should keep for up to a week. Just get to it as soon as the water receeds and you will be allright.

Ok bruce thanks man. Just what I needed to hear, Id feel like a d-bag if I pulled a trap with something in it and it was worthless. I don't like taking lives for no reason.