Post by: ouchfoss on March 12, 2021, 07:41:19 AM
I spent most of my time water trapping until about the 1st of March when I tried to do a line specifically just for raccoon but with no animals after 10 days, I figured it's time to target cats. I moved all my cages to the clearwater area and the first check showed where a bobcat had tipped a cage over on its side which made it possible for him to get out. There were a couple big patches of hair so I know it was for sure a bobcat :bash:. Work is starting to pick up for me now and I don't have enough time to check cages so I figured it's time to call it quits for the year. Went to grab the cages yesterday and my first check had a fisher in it! Very cool animal. They would bite your fingers off if you let them though!
Post by: Jingles on March 12, 2021, 07:48:16 AM
Post by: boneaddict on March 12, 2021, 08:02:36 AM
Post by: JakeLand on March 12, 2021, 08:06:08 AM
Post by: ouchfoss on March 12, 2021, 08:11:44 AM
Post by: ouchfoss on March 12, 2021, 08:14:56 AM
Post by: Norman89 on March 12, 2021, 08:25:02 AM
Post by: ouchfoss on March 12, 2021, 08:39:37 AM
The population must obviously be doing good. That's three caught between me and Bruce and I didn't really do much for dry land trapping this year. Wonder how long til we're allowed to harvest one? Yeah, I know. Don't get your hopes up!
Post by: WSU on March 12, 2021, 09:05:57 AM
Post by: boneaddict on March 12, 2021, 10:34:22 AM
Post by: redi on March 12, 2021, 10:38:45 AM
Post by: WSU on March 12, 2021, 10:42:56 AM
Not common at all. Most here have never seen one. They are making efforts to get them re-established.
I could be mistaken I suppose. Researching it it looks like the pine martin is similar. What I saw looked a lot bigger than a pine martin but I only saw it for a couple seconds. I still think it was a fisher.
Post by: Humptulips on March 12, 2021, 02:46:53 PM
Easily could have been a fisher. The first releases in the S Cascades were I think 6 years ago.Not common at all. Most here have never seen one. They are making efforts to get them re-established.
I could be mistaken I suppose. Researching it it looks like the pine martin is similar. What I saw looked a lot bigger than a pine martin but I only saw it for a couple seconds. I still think it was a fisher.
They must be on the increase. Besides the two I caught on the Clearwater I saw one on the Wynoochee and saw the tracks of one in the snow at a prebait on the W Fork Humptulips.
Post by: Loup Loup on March 12, 2021, 04:02:42 PM
Post by: Loup Loup on March 12, 2021, 05:12:08 PM
Post by: ouchfoss on March 13, 2021, 09:37:56 PM
Oh and ouchfoss, good season. 22 beaver would have yielded way more meat than one of your deer. Also otter to beaver ratio is very high. 1:2 roughly. Im bout 1:25 this season. Also I average 8 beaver to make a pound of castor. How much castor did your 22 yield?I was super surprised to see that many otter. Had a total of 22 drown set traps out any given time this season which helped I'm sure. I usually average 1 or 2 otter a year with around a dozen beaver so that was a big plus. I was targeting a zone that had several steelhead in it so that may be part of the reason. I caught a few of them in my traps as well and released them unharmed.
As far as castor, I was lazy about it and didn't start saving any until my last 6 beaver. Not sure how many ounces they equal up to but most of beaver were large 40+ lb ones so they weren't small glands.