What to start with

[awh]

Ok, Me and Lil-man have pondered the idea of doing a little trapping for a while now. I think this coming season we will try it a little to see if he can get something and to give him another hobby that keeps him outside where he needs to be.
My question is, What do we need to start with? I was thinking of just a half a dozen traps so it's easier for him to keep up with right now and to target foxes and coyotes as that's what we are after. So any advise is greatly appreciated.

Here's our regulations.

Trapping on Department-owned or controlled lands and waters is allowed under the regulations of the Board unless prohibited by posted rules. The posted rules may require written authorization to trap on some areas or may specify other restrictions. It is lawful to set traps in water from December 1 through the last day of February, both dates inclusive, and at anytime within the incorporated limits of any city or town in the Commonwealth and in the counties of Arlington, Chesterfield, Fairfax, Henrico, James City, Loudoun, Prince William, Spotsylvania, Stafford, Roanoke and York, except as otherwise specifically provided by department permit or by local ordinances.

Any person setting or in possession of a steel leghold or body gripping trap or snare shall have it marked by means of a nonferrous metal tag bearing his name and address. This requirement shall not apply to landowners on their own land, nor to a bonafide tenant or lessee within the bounds of land rented or leased by him, nor to anyone transporting any such trap from its place of purchase. The use of body gripping traps with a jaw spread in excess of 7½ inches is prohibited except when such traps are covered by water.


It is unlawful to set above the ground any body gripping trap with a jaw spread in excess of 5 inches when using any bait, lure or scent. However, baited body gripping traps with a jaw spread between 5 and 6½ inches may be used within an enclosure with openings no greater than 60 square inches and the trap trigger recessed at least 12 inches from all openings (see diagram below). Traps must be staked to prevent enclosures from turning over and may only be used on private lands with written permission of the landowner.

No deadfalls or snares, except that on land snares with loops less than 12 inches in diameter with the top of the snare loop not more than 12 inches above the ground may be used on private lands with written permission of the landowner.

It is unlawful to set above the ground any steel leghold trap with teeth set upon the jaws or with a jaw spread exceeding 6½ inches. It is unlawful to willfully molest, damage, or remove any trap, or any lawfully caught bird or animal therefrom or in any way disturb traps or snares legally set by another person.

(Edit to add regulations)

[keekee]

If you are going to target Fox and Coyotes. A good video or two will help allot. I have several older but good video's that you are welcome to watch. I will send them up to you all if you would like.

A doz or so 1 1/2's would do the job for a start. You can modify them to what you want, and they will give you a good start. You can read all over the net about how to set, modify your traps and so on. That will give him some good time to research everything and come up with his own plan so to speak. Every trapper seems to have a set or trap that he will recommend over the other. Same here, I got things that I do that others do not. You kind of haft to figure out what you want and like and go for it.

You can pick up some tools at the local hardware or walmart. A small potting tool, a military shovel, hatchet will come in handy. You can carry all your stuff in 5 gal buckets. This will save you from buying a basket. You can also make your own sifter from screen and scrap wood from around the house. This will be a good project for him as well. You can also make your own name tags and stakes at home, they are good projects as well.

If your going to trap Fox and Coyote's then scent free is the ticket! Diggers will drive you nuts! Good rubber gloves are a big help.

I started my young ones on water trapping. Its a hoot for kinds! Muskrat, coon and mink are in far numbers now and add allot more excitement for them on the daily runs.

I also have some extra stretchers for coyotes around here if your in the need for some and you are going to teach him to put up his fur. If want a few just let me know. I will also be making some lures this summer myself and will be glad to share a few jars if you would like some of them as well.

Brent

[awh]

Thanks Brent. I'll PM me addy over to ya.

[studabaka]

What Brent said +1

I read the regs you posted for your state. Kinda sorta seemed like you can't set leg hold traps on the ground. Is that what it means? Mentions 'in the water' and mentions 'above the ground', but not 'on the ground'  

Snares are an art form unto themselves. We can't use them here, but they are very effective. Just need to be mindfull of domestic critters. There are relaxing snares that 'usually' won't kill, but if you set them on a fence or hedge row where they can tangle and get suspended, they will kill just like a regular one.

[awh]

Nah, WE can use leg hold on the ground. Just not body traps.
I had forgot about snares. I use to snare groundhogs where my house sits now due to there was no way to shoot them for the neighbors houses. I think I still have a few of them and if I recall, they are easy to make. I'll dig them out tonight and see if Cam wants to make a few of those while we look up and order the traps in the size Brent said.

[canine]

If you have Fox AND Coyote, you may want to consider using 1 3/4 's over 1 1/2's.  I have seen to many 1 1/2's torn to pieces by coyotes.

[awh]

I ordered a half dozen 1.75's yesterday and have the high bid so far on a half dozen 1.5's.  I looked at traps and read so long yesterday my eyes hurt. Now I just have to wait till they get here and we will play a bit on some ground hogs to get the feel for them.

I do have more questions. What type of stakes do you guys use? I saw several things on earth stakes but am yet to see a pic of how they are different than the others.
How do you prep your traps before use? (I know they have to be dyed & waxed, but how do you personally prep the surface to get them ready?) Is paraffin wax really OK to use? When you set your stakes, where are you placing them in accordance to the trap?

Sorry, just like to hear what opinions others have. Makes it eaiser to explain to the wife where the money goes that way.

[canine]

 My soil conditions may differ from yours, but i use 1/2 inch rebar stakes cut to 28 inches in length. The cable anchors are nice and easy to use, but I keep using rebar. I drive the stake in a position that my loose jaw will sit on it, helps with bedding the trap completely solid, one little wobble and they'll dig your trap out of it's bed. Usually turning it upside down and doing so without tripping the trap. Have even had them (fox) go as far as taking a dump on the trap itself after being flipped out of it's bed :shck: Coon are good for flippin poorly bedded traps to..

Remember, foxes and coyotes have noses many times better than ours. Go easy on the lure amount at each set. Coyotes like to roll in nasty smelling things just like your house dog does. Overpowering a set with odor will cause coyotes to roll on your set ending with a trap full of hair and an educated coyote.

If you are buying new traps unrusted, you need to boil the oil off of them and allow the trap to rust. Rust helps hold the dye and wax. I boil new traps in borax and let them hang out in the air for a month or better.

Used and rusted traps, depends on time. Short on time, I pressure wash them then boil them in dye. Then wax and go set traps.  I usually make time a couple times a season to reboil them in borax.

I think I had a little trapping pictorial on here somewhere, check it out, It has pics that may help ya. I know you two will have a ball at trapping, makes for some great times spent outdoors.


JD

[keekee]

JD gave you some good advise!

I use a 28" stake and if I am in loose soil I cross stake them. I to use the stake to set my loose jaw on! Once you get a digger they are a bitch to catch and will drive you nuts! Nothing worse than a nice fresh pile of fox crap on a flipped trap! I do allot of water trapping so I have a ton of stakes, some 28" and some 32" I weld up my own stakes out of re barb 3/8" and 1/2". I have some slide pole stakes that are 10 feet long for beavers. And I also make sure I have some 3/8" stakes with "T" handles for mink and rats, these also work well on coons.

I will also use the 10' slide pole stakes for coons or fox if I am close to a major road or some were that my set can be seen from the road. I make allot of Colbert sets and I will use a locking slide on my chain and slide the pole back in the Colbert. The pole stake has a 2" washer welded on one end and just a good bead of weld around the other end so the lock cant slide off. I run a 28" stake threw the washer to hold the pole stake, slide the lock all the way up to the top of the pole stake. When the coon or fox set the trap off the safe place for them to go is up in the Colbert. Once they go into the Colbert they can get back out the lock only slides one way on the pole. Anyone driving by never sees a thing!

I use borax and distilled water to boil my new traps, then hang them out to rust for a month or so. Then I dye them and wax. But I only wax the lower half of the trap, not the jaws. This way I would rather buy used traps, they are already rusted. After I get them dyed and waxed I have a wood box that is full of leaves and dirt, I lay them in the box till I am ready to use them, I keep the box out back on the base of the hill out of the weather.

Most of the time I don't re boil or wax during the season. Once I put a set out, it don't come home till the end of season unless there is a problem. Or I just trade the trap out with a fresh one and move on. In water trapping the more sets I make the better. I will start with 50-70 and make 5 sets per day till I get my limit. Then just move them if needed.

Anymore, I run more snares than anything for Fox or Coyotes. I can set then twice as fast and cover more territory with them, and pack allot less wait. I even started using them for Beaver, Mink, and coons some as well. I never was big on snares but I am beginning to like them.

Make sure you use a good swivel on your chains. For water trapping I use two, for land sets one good swivel is good to go. On my Mink traps I use a good in line swivel in the middle of the chain and a dog snap on the very end. I can make a ton of pocket sets very fast this way. For Fox and Coyotes I run a very short chain on my 1 1/2 sets. Don't give them enough chain to get any leverage on the trap. Water traps are the other way around, I want to drown the catch so I run a longer chain and a drowning stake as well if needed. Or I run a wire slide.

Also, put you up a nice big bucket or two or dry dirt. It will come in handy later in the fall.


Brent

[awh]

Thanks guys. I read more yesterday and am starting to find some stuff that explains what you are telling me. I'm still trying to figure out the drowning stakes and stuff, as far as how you are setting them and how they actually work. I need to find and hook up with the guy that we know here that traps alot so he can visually show me some stuff. Sinks in faster that way for a thick skull like me. But .....he's moved so I have to look out for him on the roads and flag him down I guess.

Brent, You mentioned mink, and in the other thread I posted about the one we saw yesterday. I'm going to research them as I have time today, but any tips and advise on those would be great. I think me and Cam will break in our skills at the places we have been fishing seeing to how it's close to home and the traps could be checked as I am going to work this fall.

[keekee]

The pocket set I posted in the "Traps" thread is what I use for Mink. And will also get you a few coons as well. JD covered the dirt hole set pretty good in that thread as well.

Muskrats:

I got a couple sets I use for rats. Use to I could just head out and lay down traps, now days I haft to spend some time looking for sign. The numbers here have been down the last few years. I maybe able to set a fair section of the creek then move a mile or more to get back in the rats again. The river is different. I can pick up rats all season long in the same sets.

I look for tracks and scat. Muskrats love to crap on old tiers, logs, rock, or anything that sticks up out of the water they can get up on top of. Anytime you can find a creek that runs in behind some crop fields, corn, beans, take a look at those areas. I also look for the holes or dens they build in the sides of the bank, not all dens are used every year so I make sure they are active. I also look for slides on the banks, and places were they are leaving the water to go up on the bank. Nice gradual slops are best.

I like to use the fence set as well as anything for rats, along with the blind sets, and a floating set if I am in areas that the water goes up and down allot, like the river.

Fence set:

I find a area with some sign. I take my spade and cut the bank out at a steep angle, and make a small pocket in the bank, shaped like a U. I make sure the I pack the cut out well, so my trap beds good. I like to keep about a 1/2" of water over top of the trap. Then take small stick and put them in the ground about 3" apart all the way around the U shaped cut out, leaving the front open on each side of your trap. Take your bait and place it in the back of the cut out. I push a small stick threw the bait and then into the ground. I also keep my bait about 6" above the trap and bed. Apples are my favorite bait and I keep a old dish washing liquid bottle full of apple juice to place on the bank around my bait. Not allot just enough to give the set a sweet smell. Stake your trap out in deeper water, the first thing the rat will do when the trap goes off is try to swim away. Make sure your trap is staked so that they can not reach the bank, and the weight of the trap will drown them after a bit.

Adding a drowning stake can help. For a drowning stake I always use a stick that is just laying around the area or cut a fresh one from a close by tree. You put the stake just off to the side between your trap stake and the bank. All it does is tangles in the trap chain and holds the critter out in deeper water. They can not stay up and drown, the weight of the trap gets heavy after a short while.

A blind set is just a set that is made in a place that you think the animal will come threw. All you do is make your set and make sure that you restrict were they go. Rocks, Logs, things like these are natural funnels and all you do is add to them so that they haft to cross your trap or threw your set to get were they want to go. You can build your own or use the set you can find and just make them better. I look for heavy sign. I make sure they are set in travel routs.

On a floating set, I build these before season. I use two 2 x 6's cut 18" long. I take a sheet of plywood and cut it 18" x 14" and nail it to the top. I drill two 1/2" holes in the center on each end. I wire dog snaps to these holes. I then treat the hole piece with water sealer, and let set out side for several months. After the smell is gone and the weather turns the wood grey looking, I take cheap glue from the dollar store and cover the top of the plywood, let it get tacky and cover the top with straw and let dry. I also paint the dog snaps black. They are not very visible anyway, they hang under the board strait down.

I then take my trap and screw the chain loop just under the bottom of the plywood. I go ahead and cut two pieces of #12 wire about 8' or so long. On both ends of the wire I twist a loop. One loop gets snapped on the dog snap and the other end gets a "T" stake threw it.  I set my trap off center right or left and offset to one end. I then drive two 16 penny nails so the trap will set between them and not fall of. But not tight, you want the rat to be able to pick the trap up with there foot and try to swim off. Most of the time they roll off. Drive the nails in to were you have just enough of them sticking up to hold the trap sides. Trap placement is critical on these sets. You want your trap to line up with there legs, rats are small, just try and imagine were they would step as the come up on the platform.

When you set these, place them in the water, and drive both stakes in the bottom, leaving slack in the wire. Then when the water goes up and down, you float will raise and lower. The wires will also keep the rat from flipping your float. When they get caught they slide off the side and drown. I bait these with apple as well, one piece on each end. Most of the time I use these in rivers, I leave them all season, and just move them as needed. If we get a ton of rain, I may haft to go pull them, if so, I just drag them up in the weeds till the water goes down and reset them.


Brent

[awh]

Thanks for all the info guys. The 1-3/4's are here and the 1/2's are supposed to be here tomorrow. We have been busy all week getting "The pool" set up, but Cam has been asking alot of questions and so far, knock on wood, I have been able to answer them thanks to you all. I don't know whos more excited about this fall, me or him....


(The wife had told us that the "pool" would be set up before we got back on the computer, so as any of you married guys know, that's law.....)(But we did manage to pop a few whistle pigs while she was at work one day which I'll post tomorrow as she is due home in a sec..... )

[awh]

OK. traps are here and will boil them this weekend. I read somewhere the other day that you can use a small maple branch in the boil to dye them with. Has anyone done this and what other suggestions ya got for this part?

[keekee]

I just buy my dye. I have never use a Maple branch before, I would be interested in hearing from someone who has though. Sounds interesting!


Brent

[studabaka]

Well..... I have done the old boil wood chips routine.... you get a dye, but it takes way more work than a bottle of concentrate. My dad swears by sumac blossums, but I think once you buy your dye you become a 'buy your dyed in the wool' kinda guy 

Hint.... regardless of which route you go.... prep your traps before dying. You want zero grease. Best success I have had has been to degrease them, let them hang in the weather to get a light coat of rust, do any major tuning required [nite latching, stake rings, etc], check your pan tension bolt and loosen a bit [you can tighten later as needed], tag em [I use copper tags and wrap them tight around a chainlink close to the stake end, put a small nail between the jaws to keep em open a smidge, boil [actually simmer is better than boil] them first in a solution of water and 'the works' toilet bowl cleaner [I picked that one up from somebody's post on one of these forums a couple seasons ago and I'm a believer... 10-15 mins seems to be enough], rinse well, boil [simmer] in your dye solution until your satisfied with the color [concentrate will get ya a nice black trap in 15-30 min, but longer won't hurt a thing], hang them until dry, then wax them.... or hang them out of the weather and wax them as ya need them [I like to wax em straight away and have them ready to roll]

[awh]

Thank ya. I'll order some dye, but I have to try the maple trick to see how it does. I just like that kind of stuff.... I'll get some pics and all the info I can when I do it this weekend Brent.

[Jerry Hunsley]

awh, the guys gave you lots of advice for a beginner. I'm sure you are going to have a lot more questions when season rolls around . I would target fox ahead of coyotes as they will be a little easier to catch. Along with what the other guys have said, I would make sure you bed your traps good and solid where there is not movement. Along with the traps , I would recommend some snares with 3/32 cable with cam-locks, in a length of 6ft. Your chances of snaring a coyote are a lot better with the snares then the legholds if you are just starting. I remember when I first started trapping I was missing a lot of coyotes. I had a established trapper come on my line and and he watched me make my sets. The first thing he noticed , was I was'nt bedding my traps good enough. What I mean by bedding is packing the dirt good and tight around the jaws and inside the jaws. The other mistake I had was my pans didn't have enough tension on them and I would get  a toe catch. You  want enough pan tension to so when the animal steps on the pan it doesn't snap shut right away.  It should have enough tension so the animal has put a lot of weight on it before it goes off. Then you have a nice deep leg catch. I think a lot of other information has already been gone over and Keekees DVD's will help you a lot. There are lots of books out from well known trappers that target certain animals. I think you will have a lot of enjoyment when you catch your first animal. I would stay away from building as skunks will be around those along with possum. Usually you catch a lot of non-target animals first . With the snares , you kinda stay away from that. Good luck and now is the time to start getting ready , dying  your traps , collecting dirt, and you might even look around for some places for access.

[catskinner]

Do you have any black walnuts? You can use the green covering, it makes good dye.

[Nelson]

We used to hull walnuts and sell them.  Be aware if you get this stuff on your hands, it will not wash off.  It just has to wear off.  You could tell all the kids at school who were hulling walnuts, because they all had orange hands.

Nelson

[awh]

Thank you so much for all the replies. All the things I was wondering about have been becoming clearer in my head as I keep reading and getting advise.

Do you guys modify your traps where the base plate holds the chain in the center of the trap? I am curious to see if everyone does this or if you leave them as is.

I also read on Tman.com yesterday on a different weasel trap set that used a box with a household rat trap placed inside and a hole drilled at one end. Looked as if the guy was having pretty good luck and thought we might try that for the mink at the ponds.

I didn't want to steal the guys pic he took, so heres a sad drawing of it. The finished trap has a lid and the trap has around a 1/4" clearance from the sides of the box best I could see in his pic...