Contributors to this thread:
I was fortunate to tag a buck in my home state of North Dakota the first week of the season, so I had more time to trap this fall. The early line was more work than I expected, as the warmish weather made it tough. I was able to snag 11 raccoon, 1 skunk, 1 mink and 6 muskrats. There was also a fisher caught in a dirt hole set that had to be released, as the season isn't open yet. I have 3 raccoon tanned already so I'm sending 9 of them off to get tanned and then I'll make them into a blanket. After a couple weeks of bowhunting I'll get the mid-season line out, targeting raccoon and canines, as well as our 6 day fisher season.
Good predator control, keep after them.
How do you dispatch a skunk?
Ahawkeye The skunks I catch are almost always in bodygrip traps that dispatch them nearly instantly. They still make leak scent, so I will soak them in a peroxide, baking soda and dishsoap mix for 10 minutes to neutralize the odor.
Awesome start! I always look forward to this thread!
Season starts here on the 10th. Gotta dye and wax this week. I'm running behind.
I always enjoy the annual trapline thread...
Buckeye they have spas for that work
Great start, Jeff! Keep up the good work!
Somebody unfortunately hit a bobcat on my gravel road the other day. I picked it up and called the DNR. He’s gonna come sometime in the next few days to pick it up.
Good start jmiller! Season starts here on Sunday. I’ll be out after em since my buck tag and freezer is full. Not sure if I’ll do a thread on it again this year.
Yes....get rid of that vermin.
Love this thread! Keep it going!
Pic of the first night’s catch this September.
Pic of the first night’s catch this September.
A hot trail!
A hot trail!
I made a fairly concerted effort to thin some coons out last winter. We had very mild weather clear into February, so they were pretty active. I caught right at 50 of them before I quit. Started back up on them (on weekends) So far, I’m up to 25-26 of the rotten nest-robbing, cornfield destroying bastards.
Note: Iowa has classified them as a nuisance animal, and they can be trapped or hunted year round on private land. It’s unbelievable how many coons there are here, now.
T-roy, that's crazy! With fur prices down so much, and prime habitat available, there will be plenty!
My spring beaver line pelts came back from the tannery. Already working through the fur for garments. I send all my deer hides into Century Leather Products and have them turned into buckskin for the palms of mittens.
jmiller is a true entrepreneur! I trapped quite a bit when I was young. When prices fell and I was no longer making gas money back I quit. So did everyone else, so varmint populations went up drastically. jmiller took that population explosion and profited from it. Truly impressed with his work!
A lot of nesting birds are thanking you fellas. Heck yeah. I love it!!
T-Roy. Why would the DNR even want to come and get it? Just curious
Csalem….I actually called him about possibly getting a salvage tag for it. He said the season wasn’t open yet and something to do with the CITIES program (I think) They just opened up our county to hunting/trapping them in the past few years, and a cat with a bow is high on my bucket list. He actually came and picked it up today, but I wasn’t home to find out for sure what they will do with it.
Nice start, we get going over Thanksgiving. Not many coons for us, thankfully. We will get after coyotes regardless of price this year. Bobcat trapping gets started about Christmas time, or New Year.
Good job !!
What kind of prices do your bobcats bring, wytex?
Helping a landowner out with some beavers that are causing some problems. Hopefully I'll convince the rest of the animals to leave the ornamental trees in the yard alone.
60 pounder today. Traps pulled for a week and a half of bowhunting.
When ya see that big 'ol fat-tail, you know it's a decent beaver.
Had one of those fatties try to get through a 330 Conibear..all he got was his head through before he hit the trigger. So fat there wasn't a chance he'd have fit his body through there.
t-roy we sold 1 for $640 last year and 2 others at $350ish, they went to the fur auction in Canada. This year we plan to sell to a guy in Lusk here in Wyoming. He has a contract with a known fur maker and usually has very competitive prices with the auction folks. On good years they can bring over $1,000, but we have yet to catch one worth that. We concentrate on bobcats because of the price and coyotes to help the wildlife.
"When ya see that big 'ol fat-tail, you know it's a decent beaver."
We still talking about trapping?... :)
Wytex...is that a Bobcat you sold for $640? Haven't heard of those prices since the '80's.
I used to sell direct to a furrier in Beverly Hills, Ca. Every Spring I would take my pelts in to them; they would sort and grade them and they always paid me top dollar..far better than the fur auctions, but they only wanted the best of the best. Even though I was always particular about how I put up my pelts, they gave me recommendations on how they wanted them done. Worked out well for both of us.
Wow, wytex! Good for you guys! Why do your cats bring so much more than most guys? Thicker fur, clearer bellys, etc?
I got offered $500 for my tanned Bobcat hide 2-3 years ago but I got it mounted instead.
That was the year of the bad snowy/cold winter here in the Rockies.
Enjoyable thread for sure,
Robb
It was a nice day to get fisher cubbies out. Season opens in a couple weeks, it's only 6 days long so I try to get them on baits before the season opens. They have a large home range so bait helps keep them around.
Always enjoy this thread! Thanks for keeping it going this year. I sure would love to have something made by Jeff.
I drew another bobcat permit here in Illinois this year and if I can connect I’ll try to get the hide tanned. Here you have to win in the state wide lottery to be eligible to hunt and then apply for the CITIES tag if you are successful.
Spent last week in Northern Wisconsin at archery deer camp. Friend and landowner caught a bobcat in a coyote trap, unfortunately he hadn't drawn a tag. Got to see it up close and help him release it
Dang I bet that was a fun experience!
What’s your limit on fishers, Jeff?
Thanks for sharing! I miss those trapping days.
Eastern cats are ugly compared to western cats hence the huge difference in market price. Just a few years ago most bobcats were fetching $500.00 and coyotes were close to $ 100 on the norm whole, un-skinned.
A friend of mine some years ago put huge numbers up on cats, traps and running them with hounds from western CO all the way up into WY, true long lines. He wouldn’t even give a mountain lion track a tap on the brakes as Bobby’s were, and still are where it’s at.
T-roy our season is six days long with a limit of one. It's basically a token season but it's fun to target them.
Would love to see the video of releasing the Fisher. That had to be fun! Great catches.
what tannery do you send to ?
how do you kill a skunk in a trap without is spraying everywhere? (keep the smell to a minimum) ? there was an almost all white skunk near my cabin the other day - gorgeous
It seems crazy you have to have a tag to get a bobcat.Here in kansas if you have fur harvester license and during season you can get as many as you can.I know a guy that catches around 40 a year and I don't know how many I have shot with a bow.
I use Sleepy Creek for beavers, otter and badger. Coyotes, raccoon, red fox, fisher, mink, muskrat and skunk I tan myself. Although I'm making a raccoon blanket for my gf this winter so I sent 12 xxl pelts off to Sleepy Creek to be tanned. Google Barker Skunk Sleeper. A technique to dispatch skunks with no spray. I target skunks as the fur is beautiful and in demand for hats and mittens.
