After 23 years of hunting, I have decided that I would like to start trapping coyotes. Problem is I know absolutely nothing about it. So, I have a few basic questions. 1. what kind of trap(s) do I need to get started? 2. is it possible to trap coyotes but avoid trapping fox? I really like the fox and they are quite rare around us. I am hoping to just trap a few coyotes to reduce their numbers and collect a couple hides. 3. if anyone could just give me a basic breakdown of how to go about it so I have a starting point to springboard from it would be much appreciated.
Fur -Fish and Game magazine, is a great source of information and suppliers. And yes you can trap the coyotes and not the foxes, but really the foxes do as much harm to small game numbers and I doubt you would ever hurt the population much. But if you want to be safe a good file ad a couple of hours in the evenings you can fit the dogs on your traps with enough pan pressure to miss most foxes and the occasional possum. Your weather will determine what traps will work best for you, Ice and snow can slow down the best of traps. Good luck its a pile of fun,except when like us you 2 feet of snow over the weekend.
Another place would be tha Ohio State Trapping Association. If it's like Pa., and I'm sure it is, they hold regional meetings, workshops, and trapper education classes, along with a yearly convention, usually sometime in the summer. At the convention, they have experienced trappers giving demonstrations.
uh oh... do you really wanna know how deep the rabbit hole goes? :D To answer your first concern, and one that many people don't realize, is that you can simply turn non-target animals loose without any cause for concern of their welfare. TJF mentioned on one of my trapping threads here in this forum that he himself did that with the reds in his area, as he had the same scenario of not too many fox running around. I know many people who do the same thing. As far as equipment goes, you'll obviously need some traps... if you're specifically targeting yotes, you can go with a bit bigger setup like a Bridger # 3 or MB 550s (http://www.minntrapprod.com/catalog/product_info.php?cPath=204_596_4&products_id=1572) On the other hand, if you ARE worried about a fox catch, you can run Bridger #2s as I do on all my lines because I'm targeting a mixed bag; I routinely catch fox AND yotes because I WANT to. The #2 is a great compromise in the fact that it'll easily hold a yote, but not too powerful that it will damage a fox's foot. I do get all my #2s four-coiled and run jaw lams on them, in addition to base-plating with center-D rings and I run crunch-proof swivels on both ends of my chains. You'll need a dirt sifter, as well as something to punch a hole in. You can use a little 2" shovel purchased from trapper supply houses called a "Jim Digger" made for just such a job, or you can use a common $5 garden trowel from Lowe's for that and for digging out your trap beds. You'll also need a "staking system" to anchor your traps and to hold the animal in place. I, and many, many others, love the new "disposable stakes" which actually aren't disposable at all; I've never left one in the ground. I run finned super stakes with removal bosses built into them on all my traps, and they're a cinch to use -- even in our current single-digit temps we have now. (http://www.minntrapprod.com/catalog/product_info.php?cPath=509_293_503&products_id=2965) You can also use straight rebar; it depends on preferences and how concerned you are with weight savings. You'll also need a rubber kneeling pad like gardeners use to kneel on when putting your sets in, rubber boots, two pairs of gloves (one to put your sets in with, and anothe to be donned when handling lures), a hatchet, and a handheld sledge hammer. A bag of peat moss, a 5-lb. bag of stock salt from your local farmer's co-op store, and a $3 bag of polyfill from the craft section at your local Walmart and you'll be on your way. I may be forgetting something, but that's most of it... other than simple items like a screwdriver for adjusting pan tension and perhaps a pair of pliers. If you really seriously get close to putting together an order, shoot me a PM or e-mail and I'll look it over and let you know if there's anything missing. I know you'll need some trap tags (all traps have to be ID'd with your name and address affixed, and some aluminum double ferrules if you run the super stake system as I do which you'll use to attach to your trap chains... We can discuss sign, location, baits and lures later on once you pick up the beginning necessary items. That's when the rabbit hole starts making its initial turn, sucking you in... and your wife looks at you like your crazy as you stop on your way to church yet again to pick up one more road-killed rabbit so you've got another head to use at the bottom of one of your dirt-hole sets... :D
That's funny right there. Wow, apparently there is a lot more to this than I initially thought. I truly am not even sure what some of the things to listed are, but I am going to reread the post a few times and start poking around those websites to see if I can figure it all out. I certainly appreciate the assistance and pointing me in the right directions. I'll get a yote before the winter is over.
Oh yeah, if you become a trapper you'll find yourself stopping to pick up charred pieces of wood, wierd bones, turtle shells... all kinds of things! :D Here ya go; here's a complete list of the ones I've made in the off-season forum which you may pick up some tidbits or pointers from. If nothing else, they may get you more excited about the possibility of what you can do. http://forums.bowhunting.com/showthread.php?p=158882#post158882 http://forums.bowhunting.com/showthread.php?t=9887 http://forums.bowhunting.com/showthread.php?t=10340 http://forums.bowhunting.com/showthread.php?t=10386 http://forums.bowhunting.com/showthread.php?t=10450 http://forums.bowhunting.com/showthread.php?t=10470 http://forums.bowhunting.com/showthread.php?t=10539 This one was pretty special... very rare: http://forums.bowhunting.com/showthread.php?t=10284 If you REALLY want to start getting into this and care to spend some time reading, here's where you want to go: the land-trapping archives on the biggest trapping forum on the 'net. See ya there. http://www.trapperman.com/forum/ubbthreads.php/forums/9/1/Land_Trapping_Archive.html
huntingson, I got my feet wet this year, just a bit. I am right there with ya, I will be diving down that hole Greg's talking about next year. Cool stuff.
