HaHa Yaz. I have been on my butt too much in a deer stand that is. Just getting started trapping. I caught #5 coon today and a grinner. I also had a pull out on a 1 3/4 sleepy creek that i put laminated jaws on. There was blood on the trap. I am thinking is was a yote but the whole set smelled like a fox. Dangit.

The stand is what I was referring to PB! Nice catch today. Bet they move GOOD tonight! Wish I had more sets out. Guess I should have been putting out traps, instead of being on "my butt" in the stand this morning and evening! Been a lot more productive! :rolleyes:

Gilley, Chevy is right on the coons as coyote bait. I watched a carcass all winter that I put in a fence row late last winter. Caught coyotes all around it, and nothing touched it. Not even the crows and possums!

Oh well, if I have any luck I'll let you know.

darn, that is a really good trap. I would think it would hold a coyote by the front foot unless it only got the toe. A rear foot catch, maybe not.

I have coons #28, 29, and 30 hanging in the garage now drying out. Trying to catch as many as possible before the cold front shuts the action down.

Nice Chevy!!! Figured you was getting close to that! You're gonna hit 50 no problem!

chevy what bait are you using. we have four bucket sets with sardines and a homeade bait and only one coon so far. i to am trying to rack them up before the cold.

I make my own bait

i thought so. i made some out of jack mack strawberry jello powder and vanilla. am i on the right track.

Been experimenting with Vanilla extract on my marsh mellows in the DP's. Its working OK. It seems to me the "sweet baits" work better in the DP's, and the fishy stuff better in the buckets. I'm using cut up gizzard shad (NASTY smelling critters) for bait in the buckets. I have a gallon of Menhaden oil (fish oil) that I have been mixing into smaller bottles with canned tuna cat food. The cat food gives it some consistency. I pour a small amount in the bucket, and a small glob of it just outside the bucket, usually up higher to act as a call lure, and to give them a taste. I know my wife got her nose out of joint the other night when I pulled the truck in the garbage, after I done a little mixing on the tail gate, and spilled a little!!!

Chevy, do you add glycerine to your home made bait to keep it from freezing??? I noticed even the stinky stuff quits smelling when its frozen.

I don't add any glycerine--I might experiment with it though.

Do you recommend it? Does it have a taste to the coon?

My bait recipes are:

#1
Catfish food pellets
molasses
box of walmart cherry jello mix

#2
3 cans of jack mack
box of cherry or strawberry jello

trailing scent
used fryer oil or vegtable oil
salmon or fish oil
Hoosier Trapper Supply coon lure #101, about 1 ounce for a pint of trailing scent.

No big secrets here. I won't take credit for any of these either. I picked them up from guys who catch tons more coon than me with simple homemade bait and traps set on location. I have a lot of confidence in either bait recipe.

I do think it is very important that whatever you put INSIDE the trap be 100% edible and taste good. No synthetic oils or bad taste.

I didn't think about that, and thats a good question on the glycerine and the taste. I know its added to scents/lures to keep them from freezing. Didn't know if was added to bait.

One of my neighbors is a dairy farmer, and he said the molasses they add to their cattle feed is REALLY good for attracting coons.....and skunks!

thanks chevy. im on the right track i remembered you saying the jack mack and jello thats why i tried it. mollases makes since cause it is sweet.

Caught a grinner in a dirt hole set...never expected that. Dang thing ruined a good coyote set up.

picked on coon today on a coyote set. had a pocket set flipped over. also set a new drainage ditch today.

Thats what they are good for!!!!

We got 2 coons, a possum, and another cat today. Had a coyote step right beside the trap in one set. It will be back.

I just learned a lesson w/ my DP's... I haven't really been putting anything out to "attract" them to the trap. Set them on trails and stuff but could do a better job of attracting them to it. Fun learning this stuff.

Nice going bean!!!!! I had nuttin' tonight. Coons did their part, I did not!!!! Had two bucket sets set off.....one they rolled the bucket off the trap because I did not wire the trap back to the bucket, and the other.........well.......lets just say some ANTI must have sneaked in behind me and put the safety catches back on the 220.... :rolleyes:

here is the coon we caught today.

when you guys set legholds for coon do you bury them or just set them with some bait on them?

Yes and it won't be your last either.

The grinners seem to always find their way into my best coyote sets. I always set more than one trap per location fo this reason! =)

You don't want to ever put the bait ON the trap or you will be catching and turning loose vultures and hawks.

check out this link for some more info.

http://www.trapperman.com/trapperman/basic_sets.htm

The standard dirt hole set will take opossum, coon, coyote, or fox.

The pocket set in the water is a great set for coon, mink, and even muskrats.

Good luck!

had a rough day today. had a mink set ( number one duke foot trap) anchored with a earth disposable that was missing. also had a 220 bucket set that was gone and the bucket was turned sideways no sign of animal or struggles. do you guys attach your body traps i didnt think it was necessary but will start doing so for now on.

Hate to hear you lost some traps. Where they stolen? I always wire down my coni's to something.

i cant say for sure but there was no sign of escape or catch. what do you use to wire them. i just figured since they kill on hit it wouldnt be needed but im afraid im wrong.

Right now I have some mink sets out and have a couple wired to a root and the others are wired to a concrete tile. I wire them to keep them there just in case something happens or if the creek current rises and something tries to push them downstream.

i will have to start doing that. im afraid the mink set was a animal cause i had three traps in that general area and the other two werent touched. but when i set that trap i pulled on that disposable with all my force and it didnt budge.

any human foot prints?

did they pull out your earth anchor or cut it?

Sounds like possibly a thief to me.

I had some DPs set off near a bridge. No sign of animal working them and the bait was all there. Just the triggers set off with the trap still staked in place

I think it was a neighbor tampering with my stuff.

the anchor was pulled out. there was footprints but could have been ours. i cant see a coon or mink pulling my anchor out. the bucket im almost positive was stolen. the bucket was turned sideways in the whole i had it in. and there was no fur or signs of struggle. we looked all over for it and it was nowhere. so either it caught a foot and they took off or it was stolen.

Billy, that sure sounds like you had caught some critters, and somebody thieved them!!! Nothing would pull out an earth anchor but a human. On bucket sets, I normally have two stakes driven through the spring coils to stabilize the trap. That usually is enough.

yaz thats exactly what we do we take sticks and drive them through the coil springs. i wouldnt be so mad but the foot trap was my mink set and there was tracks right next to it.

Caught 3 yesterday and 3 more today, well actually had 4 but one was a small pup so i let the little fiesty thing go. I am up to 11. Catching some nice boars. Have not caught any yotes yet. i must have caught all the dumb ones last year.

You're racking them up quick Parker!!!!

Your right Chevy, guess I'm learning as I go. Left one yesterday with bait on it just because I ran out of daylight. won't do this again. Although I've got some coyote bait now.

2 grinners and a big boar coon today. Now time to see what happens with trapping during our first snow. Be a good time to scout and tweak.

Only caught 2 big grinners today. Pulled all my coon traps becasue of the bad weather. I will reset a different spot next warm up. Below is just a few pics.

[img]http://i224.photobucket.com/al...parkerbow/DSCF0494_zps77be8929.jpg[/img] bafa53.jpg[/IMG][/url]

Nice pics.

I pulled nothing today. I have several sets along the creek but it has been really slow there. The snow will hopefully give me an idea of better places to trap. All of our coons have been caught in or around old barns. I am thinking the sets will still be effective.

Nice pictures Parkerbow.

Yea, nice pics PB. I left mine in place one more day. Then gonna pull and reset somewhere else after the cold spell. Real slow along my ditch too.