Trapping- What did you catch today?

[Stiff]

xHCx,

Congratulations!! Can you post a pic?? I don't think I've ever heard of anyone getting one around here before.

[leechmann]

Just got in from the line. I had a Bobcat stomp all over a dirthole that was froze up. Everything else was empty. XHC, catching a Silver is really cool. I'd get it tanned. How'd you do fishermann?

[fishermann222]

I have two hours before I can check my line. I doubt it will be real good, was 34 when i set yesterday and got down to 20 last night, my guess is everything is froze up.

[leechmann]

I was looking at NAFA website. They are getting ready for the big fur sale this weekend. I always look forward to seeing the grading discription etc. They just posted our fur and thier grades. Funny how you can remember the different hides by the size or color or whatever, then to see how they graded it. We shipped 60 beaver, and we are sitting here talking about so many of the different hides. Funny how you can remember, out of that so many to choose from.

[fishermann222]

I am debating what I am going to do with my 100 fox. I have never sold to NAFA because western alaskan fox are just so much bigger and fuller than other fox in the nation it worries me I will not get the averages I can get selling to people who only deal in alaskan furs.

Did you send them your fox also? If fox do well I may take half my fox and send them over to nafa for the may sale, I am unsure though, that sale is never as good as the feb. sale.

[xHCxOutdoorsman]

I really wish i could show you guys that fox its beautiful i dont have a scanner but i might beable to get them on tonight at a friends house and i'll put all of my pics on of the yotes and the fox

but thanks for the input on what i should do with the fox how hard is it to tan the hide or whats the cost

but I'll do what i can with the pics

thanks again

[leechmann]

Fishermann, I sent 2 reds up there. They were both caught in Jan. They graded out as 1-2's. Thats not a real good grade. Color wise one was graded as dark, the other pale. I guessing that I'll probably get mid 20's for then. I think if you have a market where you can get $40.00+, I would sell them there. Maybe you should just test the market, maybe say 5 or 10 fox and see what happens.

[TRM]

xHCx, if you do all the work on the skin, (skin it, turn ears, eyes, feet, and salt it) you can send it in for about 60.00 to 75.00 with shipping, if you brought to a taxidermist to all prep and send out be more like 150.00.

that is just soft tan, to hang on the wall.

[leechmann]

XHC, if you just want the hide tanned, you can skin it, stretch it, and dry it. Then ship it to Moyle's tannery, and have it tanned for about $25.00.

[fishermann222]

Leechman is right. Skin with feet on, salt the feet a bit, stretch and dry and send to moyles. 25 bucks. No need to split the lips or turn the ears on a fox hide as long as you have a dry place to dry the hide. I have sent MANY red fox in to get tanned, and have never seen the hair slip as long as you dry it properly. You don't need a taxidermy tan just a garment tan will do.

Well I did better than expected today on the line. I ended up with 3 fox but only 2 were worth skinning. The last one I will be rolling up and freezing and sending off to fish and game. It has a disease of some kind, and they have contacted me asking to watch for anything out of the ordinary and send them in. It is really good to get ones like this out of the gene pool, especially where I have an isolated population.

here is a pic of her.

[xHCxOutdoorsman]

leech, when i skin it do have to turn the ears too like that one guy said? or and paws no? i'll be skinning tomarrow or else ill freeze it and where is moleys??

thanks again

[xHCxOutdoorsman]

i havnt skinned anything keeping the feet on how can i do it if its not to much to ask i think that im going to keep her sorry for asking that question again i didnt get to fishermans yet when i wrote it and thanks again for all the help im glad i found i place with people so willing to help a young trapper

well good luck to you all on tomarrows trapline run

[fishermann222]

ok this is REALLY hard to describe but I will do my best and I am sure leechman will add some tips as well. Instead of making a ring around the front and hind legs with your knife you cut all the way to the top of the pad.

The way I do it is I will slice from just above the pad all the way down to the front of the vent on both legs, then i will make a triangle around the vent. At this point I start to loosen the hide up from the legs. As soon as you have some of the hide around the knee loose you can start to skin it back toward the pad. Once you get to the ankle, cut it off. Do the same thing on the front feet. Now skin as you normally would.

Once the hide is completely removed from the fox hang it by one of the ankles and start cutting the hide away from the foot. You need to cut it loose all the way down to the last knuckle. At that point you have to cut through the knuckle. You do this for every foot.

It is hard to describe how you do the feet, if this makes no sense ask around and someone you know I am sure knows how to do this. If not contact a taxidermist in the area and see if he has a bit of time to donate to teach a youngster how to do this properly.

[Stiff]

xHCx,

If you need some help, I'm willing to drive up and give you a hand. I'm just about 10 miles south of you on 35W. I haven't trapped for several years but I've done a fair amount in the past and I'm sure we could get it done with no trouble.

Also, I noticed an adjustable wooden fox stretcher in the basement the other day that you are welcome to use if you don't have one.

Let me know.

Tony

[J48jake]

I was just wondering what everyone uses here for a bait or lure. I am focusing on yotes and fox. I bought some scent but it gets way to expensive, I have experimented with cutting out glands but that doesnt seem to be as effective for me. I use mostly scentpost sets and dirt hole sets. Let me know what you guys think.

[xHCxOutdoorsman]

Well my info probably wont help because i am very new at the sport but when i was in south dakota we used rabbit and rabbit guts not alot of lure really some on post sets i only am using snares right now have done fair and they are easy no scent needed

[xHCxOutdoorsman]

i have a wooden strecher and thanks for the offer i might give this one ashot on my own but i will contact you guys if i need help thanks for the help

fisher you explained it very well thank again

i might contact a taxi if needed thanks leech

[leechmann]

Jake, it's been my experience that if you trap in a really cold climate, you need a really loud lure. So some of the lures you can buy, say Mike Massinna's lures from PA., don't ork very good around MN when it gets cold. But if you buy some lure from a lure maker in ND, or Montanta, where it gets cold, they seem to pretty effective in MN. I think Cavens lures and baits are great for this area. Gusto is the breakfast of champions. I like some of Ogormans stuff too, but it is more expensive.

[fishermann222]

cavens lures are great, it is even starting to work up here. Plus they are AWESOME to deal with.

[leechmann]

Fishermann, have you ever caught any other deseased fox on the island before?

[fishermann222]

That was the first one I trapped this year. I did shoot a sampson fox earlier in the year. Last year I trapped 10 of them that I sent off to fish and game to have a necropsy done on them. Disease is undefined the fish and game vet said.

Iast year the ones I caught had no hair on the tails and some had no tails they had already frozen and fallen off.

[J48jake]

How much scent or lure do u usually use on one set? Seems like 4.00 for an ounce could get spendy after a while. Also what do you use to apply it? I am just using a syringe to suck it out of the bottle and then i squirt it down the hole or on the post.

[fishermann222]

if you are using enough to squirt it down the hole it is too much. Overscenting a set is a common mistake, something I did ALOT. I could not figure out why my fox would not hit my lured sets. TOO much scent. Let the scent calm down for a week and they would hit them. Now I just take a piece of grass and dip it in the bottle and put it where I want my scent, it will hold for a few days, this way. Unless it rains.

[xHCxOutdoorsman]

say tony i actually would like some help on it my dad would like to see and learn it as well when would be the best time for you i would like to get it skinned out to night is it a problem if its a little cold cuz i dont have a place to keep it warm

[fishermann222]

It can be cold, but no part can be frozen. If it is frozen (legs, face and tail freeze first) then you will wreck it.

That is awesome that you are willing to go help him skin. This is what sets us trappers apart from others.

[Stiff]

I do have plans tonight, but I'm free the next 3 evenings. Can we plan on tomorrow evening? Keeping it cold is a good thing - just don't let it freeze.

Tony

[leechmann]

Jake, as far as the lure amounts go, while I'm knealing at the set, I just reach over and snap a little 2 inch twig off, or find one on the ground. Then I dip it in the bottle of lure and place the twig at the back side of the hole, maybe a little off to the right. Not in the hole. I put the bait in the hole, and finally, I give the set a squirt of urine on the back side of the hole, maybe a little off to the left. My thinking is that maybe once the fox is in there nice and tight to the set, you get him to take one more step across the trap to get a wiff of all the different smells. Cover your bait with a ball of grass or maybe some feathers. You don't want the critter to see the bait. Make him get in there and smell it, and try to dig it up.

[The Grebe]

222...In one of the earlier photos of the red fox you caught, I noticed that one looked sparse of guard hair around the shoulders and kinda flat and wooly toward the rear. His tail looked kind of skinny compared to the other fox pics you've shown us.

Is there a possibility, or has there ever been an instance of mange up on your trapline? You ever get any fox that look almost alright, but seem to be aggressive and more vocal?

That one fox on the blue tarp looks almost like a "Cotton" fox? Really long, fine and silky fur. I've caught a few mink in the past that were refered to by the buyer as cotton mink...they looked different then the other mink.

I seen it once in a coon that I caught and I had never seen one like that before, or after.

[fishermann222]

Good eyes grebe. Another one was lacking some guard hair. actually all of it. I had forgotten about that one becuase it never made it to be skinned. The hide "fell apart" as I skinned it.

I do get alot of fox that are very vocal. My fox population is odd because it is totally isolated. Mange we have not seen out here. It is something else. The "cotton" fox is a name given to fox with no guard hair. The reason for this with fox anyway is inbreading in the genes. They are called "sampson fox".

[tealitup]

Nice job stiff - way to help out.