swamp trappin
Aug 20, 2007 15:09:54 GMT -5
Post by Deleted on Aug 20, 2007 15:09:54 GMT -5
Beaver Swamps, Cattails, and Pepsi Bottles
This mornings fog seemed much more intense than usual and I was a bit nervous walking down the well worn path of daily use , I had been doing beaver control work at this site for several weeks now. Today was different than all the previous checks as I added some bonus traps of fun to my work site and was unaware of the outcome of these sets
I had known this site had a very healthy cat population from the tracks in the sandbars and the constant cleaning up of the left behind beaver carcasses but had never set for them because of the time of the year of the control work….this year was different.
Cat trapping in the bogs creates several obstacles one must wade thru to be successful,
trap anchoring, trap covering, and water filled dirtholes. Anchoring is easily solved
by dragging, but a little nerve racking on mornings like this where the pea soup fog has visibility down to nothing. These swamps all have a perimeter of high dead grass which works well with the dragging and also a great location for your sets but with the openness of the terrain lead me to wonder just how far my quarry could go, it wasn’t long before I found out.
Covering can be a real headache if one is set on dirt as a covering, it will have to be
hauled in and re-freshened each day because of the wicking of the moisture in the
ground. A solution to this comes from the cattails that also surround the swamp, it also
doubles as great eye appeal that is completely natural. Once your trap is bedded ,
take several cattails and twist them over the set, they will roll apart and create a light
and natural covering very suitable to the environment and also stick out quite well.
Dirtholes.......what a pain in the swamp, you cant even get one finished as its full of
water . I am not sure how I come upon the idea, but decided it was worth a try, I went
back to the truck and found several empty plastic Pepsi bottles on the floorboard.
Cutting the top section off to create a straight sided lure and bait holder that wouldn’t
be affected by the water. I stuffed them down the dirthole and added some grass to
the bottom to make them look somewhat natural, added the bait and a small amount of
cattail puff to finish off the set.
This mornings fog seemed much more intense than usual and I was a bit nervous walking down the well worn path of daily use , I had been doing beaver control work at this site for several weeks now. Today was different than all the previous checks as I added some bonus traps of fun to my work site and was unaware of the outcome of these sets
I had known this site had a very healthy cat population from the tracks in the sandbars and the constant cleaning up of the left behind beaver carcasses but had never set for them because of the time of the year of the control work….this year was different.
Cat trapping in the bogs creates several obstacles one must wade thru to be successful,
trap anchoring, trap covering, and water filled dirtholes. Anchoring is easily solved
by dragging, but a little nerve racking on mornings like this where the pea soup fog has visibility down to nothing. These swamps all have a perimeter of high dead grass which works well with the dragging and also a great location for your sets but with the openness of the terrain lead me to wonder just how far my quarry could go, it wasn’t long before I found out.
Covering can be a real headache if one is set on dirt as a covering, it will have to be
hauled in and re-freshened each day because of the wicking of the moisture in the
ground. A solution to this comes from the cattails that also surround the swamp, it also
doubles as great eye appeal that is completely natural. Once your trap is bedded ,
take several cattails and twist them over the set, they will roll apart and create a light
and natural covering very suitable to the environment and also stick out quite well.
Dirtholes.......what a pain in the swamp, you cant even get one finished as its full of
water . I am not sure how I come upon the idea, but decided it was worth a try, I went
back to the truck and found several empty plastic Pepsi bottles on the floorboard.
Cutting the top section off to create a straight sided lure and bait holder that wouldn’t
be affected by the water. I stuffed them down the dirthole and added some grass to
the bottom to make them look somewhat natural, added the bait and a small amount of
cattail puff to finish off the set.