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Post by Deleted on Dec 5, 2011 20:08:12 GMT -6
Seems as though everyones a little touchy this year with coon population down. I really hope you guys are right and we have a normal year next year because I'll be over 500 easy. 500 is a lot of coons Cody. I'm a year older than you and I must say. 500 coons in a season in high school is quite something. If you want to do something like this you've pretty much got to give up EVERYTHING for a few weeks. Sports, school, friends, family, holidays, girlfriend, eating, showering, you name it. I trapped the first 4 nights before the water came up and I pulled that line. I Averaged 51 coons/night. When you pile them up that fast when you are still in school. There's no messing around. What needs done, you have to do. Or you will fall behind. Even if it means skinning from 7pm to 3 am the next day. Or filling your truck with $50 - $120 of fuel. Then be out the shop door to check in sloppy wet weather as you finish at 4. . . So there is no time for school. Period. You better have a hired skinner, a partner, or be selling on the carcass. LOL ... I could sit here and type for hours about all the preparation, money, time, and drive it took to get where I'm at now. But that's a whole thread in itself... LOL. I may post it in January when I finish. The important thing I have learned this season and you should remember is that when it comes to the bigger numbers that guys talk. Nothing is "easy" even if it's only a couple hundred coons from where you are sitting now. I'm a firm believer now that for every hundred you catch. The next hundred come twice as hard as the previous. Not meaning to call you out, or come across as a jerk. But this is something that I feel is a very interesting topic and would like to have my say in this... |
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Post by riverbandit on Dec 5, 2011 20:24:59 GMT -6
Cody that snow will keep them pretty much in active for a while. Too bad, because with out snow I've taken many coon on windy, cold nights. I'm talking single digits. In fact I look forward to checking traps if it was a windy, cold night. You have to remember that a coon is built to with stand the cold actually more so than a canine or a Mink for instance. Coon have a thick layer of fat along with an awesome, dense fur. Canines and Mink have very little fat comparatively. Coon feel perfectly comfortable well below zero if the ground is bare. They just flat out don't care for the feel of snow at all.
Schmink, are you sure there are coon in the dens? Do you have snow on the ground? How are you attempting to catch them? If you don't have any snow I can guarantee you that there are coon moving and moving hard if you have any coon around.
I'm setting up a new river line Wed. and I'll post pics of Thursday's catch. The low Wed night is supposed to be around 10 degrees.
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Post by possum63 on Dec 5, 2011 20:46:58 GMT -6
I have followed Cody through the line in Storm Lake a few times to sell to groeny. And I have to say, GOOD JOB. He is one of the trappers that you want to be in front of in line. There is always a pile of fur in his truck. For someone who is in highschool and does highschool stuff he sure stacks them up.  |
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Post by cody13 on Dec 5, 2011 20:47:32 GMT -6
Coontrappernick, I understand what you're saying and I try to learn everything I can from what you've done.
I believe I can catch 500 coon alone next season. I've already put a lot of thought and planning into it. Depending on weather and health, its a realistic goal.
Everything looks good on paper though.
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Post by outdoorsman14 on Dec 5, 2011 21:47:17 GMT -6
Is runnin water and denning areas the only place to catch coon in colder weather? And would coon crunch make a good late season bait for a dp trap? Thanks
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Post by schmink on Dec 5, 2011 22:00:34 GMT -6
I see when we have a break in the cold the coons plow trails through the snow. Hey riverbandit their are ways to tell if a den is being used without disturbing it. Enough said |
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Post by rockcreekshane on Dec 5, 2011 23:36:39 GMT -6
Dave pretty much sumed it up, I will add that once they get used to the snow they will move, no different then humans the first real touch of weather takes some getting used to then its business as usual. besides dens I like setting dps and buckets right on the edge of frozen streams, coon get on these frozen streams and cover a bunch of ground when its cold.
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Post by LLLTrapper on Dec 6, 2011 5:36:30 GMT -6
Dave pretty much sumed it up, I will add that once they get used to the snow they will move, no different then humans the first real touch of weather takes some getting used to then its business as usual. besides dens I like setting dps and buckets right on the edge of frozen streams, coon get on these frozen streams and cover a bunch of ground when its cold. Can't wait for the ZOMBIE coon !!! I love when they think with the wrong head.  LLL |
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Post by riverbandit on Dec 6, 2011 8:59:37 GMT -6
I see when we have a break in the cold the coons plow trails through the snow. Hey riverbandit their are ways to tell if a den is being used without disturbing it. Enough said Of course there are ways to tell if a den is being used, ( tracks, steam, trails, frost around the hole, scratched up bark on den trees, etc) and if the ground is bare I don't care how cold it is they will be in and out of it every night. A heavy snow will put them in the den for several days but even than they will eventually come out. Like LLL said, when the boars are thinking with their other head NOTHING will keep them holed up. LOL |
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Post by 4fur on Dec 6, 2011 14:28:44 GMT -6
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Post by justwannano on Dec 6, 2011 15:42:41 GMT -6
Guess we deserve the "banana belt " monicer this year. We have about 2" and it all came within the last 12hrs or so.
Sure wish the creeks around here were that easy to get into. Lots of ours are straight up & down 3-4- 6ft.
So Wayne
Did the creeks you are trapping ever dry up this summer?
Most of the creeks (maybe I should call them flows)around here were dry until about 3 weeks ago. Some of them still aren't flowing. Just standing water. Kinda hard to figure where the critters are since they wern't living/ hunting along the flows for most of their lives.
just
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Post by 4fur on Dec 6, 2011 17:58:27 GMT -6
Guess we deserve the "banana belt " monicer this year. We have about 2" and it all came within the last 12hrs or so. Sure wish the creeks around here were that easy to get into. Lots of ours are straight up & down 3-4- 6ft. So Wayne Did the creeks you are trapping ever dry up this summer? Most of the creeks (maybe I should call them flows)around here were dry until about 3 weeks ago. Some of them still aren't flowing. Just standing water. Kinda hard to figure where the critters are since they weren't living/ hunting along the flows for most of their lives. just I guess Iowa is a big state and the Banana Belt title moves around each year, Bob. This makes three years in a row where I have been shut down on most water and off road before the 10th of December, though.  Typically this is the time to switch to K-9s but I'm not set up for them this year. And I have a coon market and still a lot of coon that haven't been caught, too. All water down a lot over here, too. Drainage ditches that I have trapped rats on for 30 years were totally dry. I have heard about those deep arse ditches over there. You Eastern Iowa guys are just tougher than us westerners! ;D Our little ditches probably remind the rat trappers of trapping off the shoulders in SD...  The floating ant to the left of the light pole shadow has a ringed tail!  |
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Post by cody13 on Dec 6, 2011 19:40:20 GMT -6
Is it too early to switch over to gland lure on coon?
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Post by dspree on Dec 6, 2011 21:09:41 GMT -6
Is it too early to switch over to gland lure on coon? No.. Not in my opinion. |
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Post by schmink on Dec 6, 2011 21:26:52 GMT -6
x2 I've been adding a little fox call gland for about a week now.
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Post by outdoorsman14 on Dec 6, 2011 21:55:08 GMT -6
Hey 4fur, what kind of set did you make to catch a mink in that steel culvert?
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Post by 4fur on Dec 6, 2011 22:58:58 GMT -6
The set is probably 6-8' inside the culvert where the water doesn't freeze. As in this case, a sandbar or berm will often be on one side and that is where to set the trap. Either right where the berm ends or any where between the berm's end and the end of the tube. Place the trap TIGHT against the tube in 1-2" of water, no blocking, fencing or lure required. It is your basic blind set, odm14.
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Post by paulb on Dec 7, 2011 8:14:14 GMT -6
6" of snow on the ground and 14 below yesterday morning,,,balmy 10 above this morning,,,snow makes finding the bubble trails(muskrat) impossible without a lot of shoveling,,,only fell thru the ice once wednesday,,hope this morning it will be a little thicker,,,
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LLL
Typically this is the time to switch to K-9s but I'm not set up for them this year. And I have a coon market and still a lot of coon that haven't been caught, too.