Thousands of coon

[blackhammer]

I recall talk of a guy in Nebraska who caught several thousand coon last year. Anyone have details of how he operated? if he did it alone? Etc? How many coon did he harvest? Can't remember his name.

[robertw]

I would imagine your talking about Jimmy Miller.

[LLLTrapper]

I know several guys that did it in IA and some will do it this year again. LLL

[blackhammer]

Two thousand plus? I know there are a lot of good coon men many on this forum but to me with normal weather a thousand is what I consider a super impressive catch and given the variables of where I live close to attainable for the best operators up here. So for someone to catch multiple thousands it's hard to comprehend how it would be done.

[hawkeye1486]

My goal this year is over 100, but i would be happy with a thousand!!

[LLLTrapper]

Aug 13, 2012 8:52:19 GMT -6 blackhammer said:

Two thousand plus? I know there are a lot of good coon men many on this forum but to me with normal weather a thousand is what I consider a super impressive catch and given the variables of where I live close to attainable for the best operators up here. So for someone to catch multiple thousands it's hard to comprehend how it would be done.

Trust me you don't know what you don't know. LLL

[~ADC~]

Larry Litget (sp) caught 2000+ last season, Mike Anderson (I hear) catches multiple thousands and over 4500 year before last, there are a couple others others I have heard of catching near if not over 2000.

The most of them (not all) run 2 or 3 lines on a two or three day check. They work their asses off and don't stop for bad weather, back aches, or to go BSing with the fur buyer. Some sell as they go, some put it all up, and others pay to have it put up. A fast simple set repeated a billion+- times, good coon population, and good weather all are important factors.

Anyone could do it if they were physically and mentally able to put in the work and had the tools. You may have to travel to the coons but it could be done with enough energy and prep.

I fully expect coontrappernick to break into the thousands this year with all his knowledge and energy, without the distractions of women and school! That is so long as he has the population of coons in his area to support such a harvest.

~ADC~

[hawkeye1486]

Wickenkamp catches alot in my area, sets a pile of live traps on a farm for about 5 days and moves on, a little easier to do if you make a great livetrap! Seemed he was catchin 50 -100 in that time from what he was tellin the farmers. Not sure what his final numbers were.

[blackhammer]

Aug 13, 2012 11:00:28 GMT -6 ~ADC~ said:

Larry Litget (sp) caught 2000+ last season, Mike Anderson (I hear) catches multiple thousands and over 4500 year before last, there are a couple others others I have heard of catching near if not over 2000.

The most of them (not all) run 2 or 3 lines on a two or three day check. They work their asses off and don't stop for bad weather, back aches, or to go BSing with the fur buyer. Some sell as they go, some put it all up, and others pay to have it put up. A fast simple set repeated a billion+- times, good coon population, and good weather all are important factors.

Anyone could do it if they were physically and mentally able to put in the work and had the tools. You may have to travel to the coons but it could be done with enough energy and prep.

I fully expect coontrappernick to break into the thousands this year with all his knowledge and energy, without the distractions of women and school! That is so long as he has the population of coons in his area to support such a harvest.

~ADC~

Thanks ADC that was the type of info I was seeking. LLL I want to learn. Didn't mean to dis anyone here. I know you catch a pile of coon.
Types of systems and line management for big catches interest me.

[teal]

This is a great start to a thread.

I too would like to here more about line management and systems.

i.e.

Running out of a boat or truck?
One line with daily checks and frequent moves?
Multiple lines on multi day checks?
Water trapping or dryland?
snares, pockets, dps, trail bodygrips?

How many sets?
How many coon is your daily avg. goal?

Etc.

All of this kind of info would be great!

I'm more of a rat guy, but really would like to pile up some coon in an effort to diversify more.

[hawkeye1486]

For me I purchased a boat for river fishin with plans to use it for trappin in the fall, due to low water here I am changing my plans for now. I do plan to set a lot of crecks that I can walk down now as well as setting heavy around ponds for a few days and then moving on. Planning on trapping only 2 or 3 farms at a time and then moving on and trapping the ones with more pressure earlier. Took the first week of trapping season off this year and hope to learn a lot.

[BigT]

I would never says its impossible but in my area it is very very improbable!! I have approached 500 but that was a pretty good weather season and the water was running till mid December! Most years up here our water is pretty hard by Thanksgiving! Most dont believe that but in extreme NW IA its just a different climate up here!

[riverbandit]

Same here T....It would be VERY difficult to break the 2,000 in this area. Like you blackhammer, we normally get shut down by the weather long before one could make that mark. Not saying its impossible, just highly unlikely. Breaking the thousand mark here is REALLY hard to do. The first 500 come EASY, its the next 500 that will test your sanity!

[djmiller]

Line management is the toughest part of the whole picture for me. Every year Im able to cover more ground, set more traps, and catch more coon. The toughest thing for me seems to be record keeping. How do you guys do it? When I'm starting off and have my ten day vacation I do a great job but when I have to go back to work it all goes down hill. Any suggestions?

[rockcreekshane]

I know of 2 guys that broke 1000 here in Nebraska last year but I don't think either were close to 2000. We have the population in the SE corner but our regs make it very dificult/no road trapping. Jimmy Miller has not trapped coon hard for several years but when he did 1300-1500 was the norm. I have done just under 1000 twice, a lot of planning, a lot of miles, and a winter with little snow is needed.

[Mike Kelly]

Blackhammer...

Unbelievable population of coon +
Crazy work ethic +
Being in an area where ice is temporary +
Good traps, sets and bait +
Large ammounts of drugs (Advil) to sooth the pain
____________________________________

Piles of coon larger than your imagination!

Still takes a great system to do it, and a plan that starts with A, and ends with Z. Those that do most of their own skinning and put up, its an endless job.

[vikesbull]

Anyone breaking 1000 snares only?

I can see it done in water sets easy (well with good work ethic and open water for a month), maybe bodygrips somewhat harder.

[blackhammer]

I think most of the huge catches are made with multiple lines. I run two lines later in the year but for most of the first month,prime coon trapping time I run just one. It would mean a 100% drowning rigs with a few 220s. A lot of work putting in drowners with a large amount of rocky bottomed water. But to get a decent increase in catch just trying to work a little harder with a few more stops isn't going to put 200.300.400 more coon in the pile.While two or three lines sure could. But heck I might decide to concentrate on mink. Sounds like more fun and there still will be plenty coon and rats caught.
By the way Mike thanks for the halibut at the NTA.It's too bad you got scared and left early. ;D

[LLLTrapper]

Aug 13, 2012 20:57:07 GMT -6 vikesbull said:

Anyone breaking 1000 snares only?

I can see it done in water sets easy (well with good work ethic and open water for a month), maybe bodygrips somewhat harder.

If you finish stuff it would be hard for me to justify snaring that many when dps catch those same coon without a snare mark on the leather not to mention catching alot of bobcats you can't keep in IA LLL

[jdrogge]

DP's will catch some of those same coon, but not all of them. That is the beauty of snares, they don't have to work the set or even be hungry to get caught. The coon just have to be going about their business, to get caught.

[Deleted]

Guys!!!! This kind of info took some years and years to figure out! We cant put this stuff on the internet!!! We will get a bunch with the "get rich quick" guys out there now! Too bad they will all be burnt out after the first week! ;D ;D ;D

[Mike Kelly]

Aug 14, 2012 14:48:31 GMT -6 @coontrappernick said:

Guys!!!! This kind of info took some years and years to figure out! We cant put this stuff on the internet!!! We will get a bunch with the "get rich quick" guys out there now! Too bad they will all be burnt out after the first week! ;D ;D ;D

No doubt about Burn-Out! After the first week eveyone that says I am going to get rich or make my livining trapping is thinking that life need a little more


Don't know about big coon days, but know what 40, 50, 60+ beaver days are like. Only a few out there who could dream it and make it a reality.

All the information anyone could want is on the internet, or in book or videos. But taking that information, using it and making it into a plan that works for you is another story! Plan A, B C and D arnt going ot get you throught a month of trapping...you have to know what to do in every situation, and have more land and more plans than anyone else.

[Mike Kelly]

Aug 13, 2012 21:02:52 GMT -6 blackhammer said:

I think most of the huge catches are made with multiple lines. I run two lines later in the year but for most of the first month,prime coon trapping time I run just one. It would mean a 100% drowning rigs with a few 220s. A lot of work putting in drowners with a large amount of rocky bottomed water. But to get a decent increase in catch just trying to work a little harder with a few more stops isn't going to put 200.300.400 more coon in the pile.While two or three lines sure could. But heck I might decide to concentrate on mink. Sounds like more fun and there still will be plenty coon and rats caught.
By the way Mike thanks for the halibut at the NTA.It's too bad you got scared and left early. ;D

Or from what I have been Told and Observed

Get to Higher Coon Populations +
Higher Percentage Sets +
24 hour checks with full traps
__________________________
More Coon in the End

[blackhammer]

24 hour full trap checks will not last long in most any locations. So having new areas to move to in the drop of a hat might be the single most important thing to have figured out.. The super huge catches I'm aware almost all occur in the same general region of the midwest.One of the better catches I know in southern Mn of just shy of a thousand was made by a friend of mine using multiple lines and to me that seems to be a system that has the potential for the largest catch up here. With snares now legal on private land for the first time on opening day. I may use a bunch the first week along with dps and 220 on my dryland line.I figure gang snaring trails should be from what I have observed from a couple of friends a few miles from me across the border may be a great way to add more dryland coon to the pile.

[randy13]

Blackhammer, I know of a guy that lives about 40 miles west of you that claims to have topped 1000 last year. He said he runs 100's of 220's and multiple lines focusing on feed lots and old abandoned farms. He could of been BS'ing me but he seemed like an honest guy. No matter how he did it, the most important part was the drive to not give in when he got tired or sore, and to keep pushing throughout the whole season. It would take an unbelievable work ethic.

[blackhammer]

With the winter we had it sure would have been the year to do it.I got sick of coon by Christmas and trapped rats along with a few beaver and mink.Which wasn't a bad thing. I know a few guys who hit the coon hard for a short time and either trap something else or go hunting. You at least here would have to live,sleep and breath coon for the whole season to be in thousands rather than the hundreds. A normal winter you probably could forget about it.
I am amazed however,and I don't care how many coon they have. Is how a guy can do 4500 or even 2500?The was kind of what I was asking to start this thread. Can one guy by himself harvest that many" If so,how? You are looking at 90 days of 50 coon a day to 4500.wow

[robertw]

The trick is the 48 to 72 hour checks using only drowning sets and on big enough water to use a boat.

50 coon days don't cut it. Need to average 90-120 with the bigger days pushing between 120 to 180 coons Obviously hired skinners.

This also means alot of DPs up on the bank on slide wires to deep water as insurance against water fluctuations.

[mink99]

Got to remember that some of the days in December and a few of the days in January almost no coon run no matter how good the weather is.

[LLLTrapper]

Blackhammer those who catch big numbers could not teach you a thing or anyone else for that matter. Pushing through the days you hurt or are tired and being in top shape are just a few things. I put in my head that if I want to have my freedom from the man and his time card I better push myself every day and night. I have nothing against work but hate a job or boss. No real tricks just experience and work ethic. Just got done working out/walking and now after coffe am going to work on tuning coilsprings. LLL

[LLLTrapper]

By the way 24 hour check is how I roll. Extended is fine for some but if a trap is full I cannot catch another. LLL