Jasens first trapping season(name changed)

[huntindoc]

I am not a trapper, so this is really interesting and educational.  Thanks for the time to post.  Appreciate it.  Very good luck!

[jasnt]

I am not a trapper, so this is really interesting and educational.  Thanks for the time to post.  Appreciate it.  Very good luck!

thanks huntindoc.  It's been quite the learning curve for me as well but I'm having a blast! 

[jasnt]

Nothing again today. I need to get my rat traps back out.  Everything is iced up heavy in any of the slow moving water but this warm trend is breaking things up. Raining most the day sofar. Waters rising a lot since I started


Think I found a bobcat den today. It smelled very strong of cat! About 5' deep and 3' at the widest point 2' tall. Dry sandy floor.  Small deer bones near by.

[jasnt]

Waters rising like crazy. Had a coon set flooded yesterday and had to move my swim threw due to log jam moving.  Log jam moved just enough to expose a clean trail the beaver where using to go under the edge of the log jam. So I set that and covered it back up.  Reset the coon trap up a lil higher.  I've been not using and sents in my cat sets but yesterday I added some rabbit urine in the set and some fox urine near the set.  I need to get some bobcat lure but $ is tight right now and I wouldn't mind if it took till January to take some cats.  My brother got his deer last night some today I'm doing some pre baiting and setting up a cam on it.

[jasnt]

Coon set

[jasnt]

Got the gut pile setup in a area I've seen a lot of cat sign today with a cam. Put a thin layer of leaves over it just under the canopy of a large fir tree that sits on the edge of a thick Hawthorne patch that surrounds a small pond bordered in poplar trees.  Also got a cam back on my cat trap. 

[jasnt]

Today the river was much closer to normal levels and the floating log jam pinned my swim threw so I pulled it. It just so happens that the beaver on pond number 2 dropped a fir lastnight.  It fell just perfectly to a hole where they have the ice busted out at one of the tunnel openings and the beaver had it dug out to fit my swim threw perfectly. So I set it right against the tunnel pointing right to where they are working. They have a slightly smaller for down up higher and starting on another next to it. Looking forward to my check tomorrow! Got a few muskrat traps out today as well. Trap is behind the dive stick and under the fir branches

[pnwmtnmn]

set looks good.

[jasnt]

Swim threw was triggered but no beaver. it took a large branch threw with it and I think the branch may have triggered it before the beaver go far enough in   I re set it and drug one of the small firs they cut down to the set. To keep them working that spot.  Lots of activity last night!  I may set that trail coming over the ice with a single door.  Thinking if I pile branches over it making it look like a tunnel they may go in.  Finished one of the beaver colony's too so I'll use that as well tomorrow. Hoping to get a few beaver and move on so not to educate this group in the proses

[jasnt]

This morning I made two more sets at pond 2 and moved my swim threw. They just went around and over it last night and some how dropped one door. I set it on the trail/slide at the waters edge. Where 2 stumps and a log make a choke point anyway. Set a single door on the shallow trail threw the ice at a cross over and set another single on a new trial in the ice. Got four colony's out now and scouted a few more. Found some huge mink traks in the snow ,about 24"-30" stride

[Bigshooter]

That would be one helluva stride for a mink.

[winslow]

Some great advice that I got that has made a big difference in my swim-through success rate: you may want to be more restrictive, using sticks stuck in the mud, logs, or whatever to funnel them exclusively into your trap.

I'll spend whatever time it takes to make it as perfect as possible, still takes less time than checking empty traps. Just do the thinking for them. 

[jasnt]

That would be one helluva stride for a mink.

yeah I think I may have been mistaking. After doing a search I'm not sure it was mink. 
I wish I would have taken a picture. It looked like this but the tracks where size of a ritz cracker each paw and like I said 24"-30" stride.  Wasn't raccoon or anything else that I've seen before seen them at the rivers edge and also on a trail about 200 yards up from the river

[jasnt]

Some great advice that I got that has made a big difference in my swim-through success rate: you may want to be more restrictive, using sticks stuck in the mud, logs, or whatever to funnel them exclusively into your trap.

I'll spend whatever time it takes to make it as perfect as possible, still takes less time than checking empty traps. Just do the thinking for them. 

if you look threw my pics I've been fencing like crazy but it seems like when ever I change things too much all activity stops. It's got me spooked on changing things too much. Thanks for your input I appreciate any tips I can get

[Turner89]

Seems to me trapping in the ice would be tough. We rarely have to deal with that on the westside. At least not for any long periods of time.