Doing Our Part

[PEPPERHEAD]

We've all heard and read about declining turkey numbers. Well we decided to stop fretting and complaining. We went to work to save some eggs. We started trapping as soon as deer season was over. We finished up today with 103 coons, 57 possums, and 1 nasty skunk. Just think if only one egg is saved per animal eliminated. That's a lot of poults.

[JeffC]

Great job, the turkeys thank you

[cwb04]

Nice!  Well done sir!

[Greg Massey]

Awesome guys

[JohnSouth22]

would love to know your tips and tricks! trap/setup/bait ect. always looking to get better

[wchadw]

Yeah. Great job.
Like more details? If you don't mind?
How many acres? How many traps do you run?
What are you using for bait?

I'm running 15 traps on. 300 acres mostly around the creeks. Using mellows and cat food.
Just started last week. Got 4 coons and a possum so far


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[Cowboy]

Excellent work!

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[PEPPERHEAD]

Yeah. Great job.
Like more details? If you don't mind?
How many acres? How many traps do you run?
What are you using for bait?

I'm running 15 traps on. 300 acres mostly around the creeks. Using mellows and cat food.
Just started last week. Got 4 coons and a possum so far

We are trapping on several different farms. We are an outfitter in Milton Illinois. We run about 40 traps. Our bait is a mixture of dry cat food and sardines. Most of our trapping this time of year is around cut corn fields.
Good luck and keep after'm.
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[Old Timer]

Nice job sir!

[Wigsplitter]

Great job guys!!

[Gooserbat]

Great job.

My good friend Tres Phipps who is a biologist and works for the department of wildlife, and who's also one of the best turkey hunters and callers I know, summed it up when we recently had a conversation about this same thing.  "We as turkey hunters pay to turkey hunt and kill turkeys.  Why are we expecting to be paid to trap and hunt predators.  We should be willing to do it for ourselves and for the sake of the turkeys we hunt."  That's really a powerful statement when you think about it.

[Notsoyoungturk]

Outstanding!

[TauntoHawk]

Just got 6 dukes and plan to start next weekend. I think trapping predators needs to become as common place as planting food plots in hunting culture in order to maintain populations.

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[wchadw]

Any trappers out there? Is 15/16 trap's enough for 300 acres or should I bump it up to 30ish?


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[btomlin]

Any trappers out there? Is 15/16 trap's enough for 300 acres or should I bump it up to 30ish?


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***Warning:  Trapping is an addictive and can be an expensive undertaking.  ***

I am assuming you are talking DP traps.  2 doz DPs will kill a lot of fur....if in the right location and ON SIGN(tracks, poop, etc).  Naturally, 4 doz DPs will kill more and so on.   Set those DP right in the MIDDLE of their trails.  They should be bumping their noses into the trap.  I use "seafood flavor" cat food and mix in a can of ground sardines sometimes too(don't make too "wet" if you are in an area that freezes).  I would set 2-3 per trail and once the catch slows down, move to the next trail, and the next.

Predator trapping is a little different.  You have to be willing to look at a lot of empty traps.  Most predators are on a "cycle".  I've had traps that I drive by anyways so I leave that go untouched for 2-3 weeks and then bam....you catch 2-3 coyotes in a row.  On 300 acres, you may only have 2 - 3 good locations needing 1-3 traps/per location.  You could also have 10 locations.  I have 1 farm that is 250 acres, but it is a "connector" between big blocks.  I set 18-20 on that farm since there are some many travel corridors.   Another area gets 18-20 over a 20 sq mile area....