February - Muskrat month

Big Fin · Mar 20, 2015

Tax season and a TV show are really getting in the way of my rat trapping. But, I continue to check about 50 traps every other morning or evening. Gives me plenty of time at the skinning table. Plus, I have two refrigerators in the shop that are keeping carcasses cool until I can get caught up on skinning.

A few pics, some with explanations.

Before

After - I have lost count how many rats have been caught in this set. It is a travel location, so it is seldom undisturbed. As quick as the rat heads out toward the current, he is drowned and out of sight. And, out of reach of other rats that might bite the heck out of him now that breeding season is near. I try to drown in as deep of water as possible during the breeding season. Eliminates pelt damage.

Before

After - To the right of this photo is a small creek that comes into a bigger creek. It accounts for one rat, just about every day.

I prefer a back foot catch, as they are not going anywhere with a big trap on their back foot. As soon as they crawl off the platform into deep water, the gig is up. I can determine whether I am going to get a front leg or back leg catch by how high above the water I adjust the bait pin. If there is current, you need to have the carrot lower and you will get a front foot catch, but given there is current, the rat is quickly done for. In calm water, you want a back leg catch.

Josh, a young kid near my house who loves to trap, came with me one evening. We plucked 20 from the traps that night. Eagle got another one. Nice to spend time with a young guy who enjoys trapping like Josh does.

JCS · Mar 20, 2015

So, what are you going to do with them all?

Big Fin · Mar 20, 2015

At this spot, I set both sides of a small bridge. The bridge pilings are rat toilets. They climb up on them and poop all over the place. You know that most every rat coming past will stop and investigate one of these spots.

Before - You can see the deep water out behind the trap. This is where the rats go when they spring the trap. It is a quick end for them.

After - This is after I dredged the rat out of the deep water. The two pics below are a set straight behind this one, on the opposite side of the bridge and the opposite side of the creek. No matter which side they come down, I have a trap ready for them/

Before - Longsprings do not balance as good on these platforms as jump traps and coils, so you want to make sure they come in from the spring side. A small stick is all that is needed to guide a rat to where you want them. The trap is about 1-2" under water. The rat comes in from the right, climbs up on the platform created by the trap, and as he works over the carrot, he eventually puts his foot in the wrong place.

After - When he puts his foot in the wrong place, here is the result.

This bench is just upstream from the bridge. It has resulted in so many muskrats over the last two years, I've lost count. It is pretty much a daily catch, unless I screw something up. You can see how shallow the water is. Out in front of the trap is a big creek with pretty fast current, so they find these little benches to rest/feed on.

After - This is a shallow spot where I often see rats feeding, even with a rat in my trap. I think they are thanking their buddy for eliminating the danger and allowing them to come and eat the carrot without getting caught.

This is called a "stop loss" trap. You see the other spring that pushes the rat away from the trap. It makes it impossible for them to move much and they will drown in very shallow water.

Big Fin · Mar 20, 2015

JCS said:
So, what are you going to do with them all?

Shipping them to NAFA. The fur pick up is next Saturday, so I will pull everything on Thursday and make sure they are dried and ready to ship. After this check today, I am at 275 rats, one mink, and too many beaver.

Conibears and scent mounds are so lethal on beaver this time of year, it is hardly fair. I only have three beaver sets out, given I don't want to catch as many as I did last year.

The haul today - 21 rats and one beaver. Damn birds got another one of my rats that was floating in shallow water.

Funny stuff, the Meateater crew is now based in Bozeman. We have become really good friends. Janis, one of the field crew, wants to try some beaver and rats for eating, so he is coming with to check next time. He wants to eat the beaver I caught today, so rather than just skin it, I am going to butcher it for him. They can have them all.

Cornell2012 · Mar 20, 2015

Big Fin said:
Funny stuff, the Meateater crew is now based in Bozeman. We have become really good friends. Janis, one of the field crew, wants to try some beaver and rats for eating, so he is coming with to check next time. He wants to eat the beaver I caught today, so rather than just skin it, I am going to butcher it for him. They can have them all.

Sounds like a good topic (excuse) for them to feature you on their podcast.

Big Fin · Mar 20, 2015

A few other pics that show how some of the other traps are set, where, and why.

Before - This is an old beaver house. I have caught a rat there every day, except one. I set every old beaver house I find. Once the beaver abandon it, rats will take over. I have no idea how many can live in a beaver house, but it is a lot. The out of focus red blob you see on the left is a muskrat scent glad. They are enlarged this time of year, so when I catch males, I remove the glands and set them out near traps. Every rat that comes by will check it out.

One less rat living in this beaver house.

Hard to swim with one front leg and one back leg in a trap.

Before - This is where a big creek dumps into a river. On this inside bend, the amount of rat sign is ridiculous. Feeding scraps all along the bank, tracks with tail drag marks in the mud. Just too much for a rat to pass up, whether they are coming down the creek or down the river.

After - Rat in trap #1

After - Rat in trap #2

After - Rat in trap #3. In the five days I've check this spot, I have caught 12 rats out of a possible of 15. The three I missed were my fault, due to some oversight as to how I placed the trap, relative to the bait or current.

This is what the trap and platform look like before you set it in the water. So easy, even a CPA can do ti.

Big Fin · Mar 20, 2015

Cornell2012 said:
Sounds like a good topic (excuse) for them to feature you on their podcast.

I suspect that is forthcoming.

shoots-straight · Mar 20, 2015

You know I love to see trapping pictures. Those are really nice set ups you have. Types of sets are only limited by ones imagination. I love seeing what people come up with to catch rats.

The boys will love beaver.

thecrittergitter · Mar 20, 2015

I definitely thank you for your time this winter, Braden is really wanting to see a beaver caught!!!

We may need to go set some more traps again now that the ice thawed them all out

Braden wants to learn the trick to beavers!

kansasdad · Mar 21, 2015

Thanks for taking the extra time and effort to post up your trapping exploits. I have a hard time wrapping my head around the effort required to skin/flesh/stretch 300 muskrats.

Are you carrying a firearm as you are checking your traps?....just wondering if you would encounter a furbearer that hadn't yet expired as you were checking your line.

Big Fin · Mar 23, 2015

The season is about to end for me. Just too busy trying to disinherit the US Treasury this time of year. Normally, I would be moving sets every day, based on how they are performing. Don't have time to do that right now, so I am keeping them in place and just going after the traveling rats.

Yesterday was too warm for trapping. But, 16 rats were in the traps. One of the rats was bitten so bad by other rats, he was not salvageable. Any of you guys who are fly fishermen and "roll your own" flies, let me know if you need any muskrat. I have about a half dozen that are not going to the auction due to damage.

Total count as of right now is 290 rats.

I am down to less than 50 traps set right now. I expect to check two more times, then pull everything on the weekend.

JCS · Mar 23, 2015

Make sure to take a hero picture of all of them before they get sent to market. That way you can look back at all the "work" you have done.

Big Fin · Mar 23, 2015

Had to run out today and check the traps I couldn't get to yesterday. Only five rats and a beaver. But, not too bad for the few traps I checked.

A few pics that might show some more ideas.

Sometimes they get hung up, upside down, while trying to get the trap off the platform. When they do, they drown with their nose about a half-inch under the surface.

This guy should have trimmed his nails. Another reason I use heavy coil spring traps.

Another one of those damned flatails. The guy from Meateater ate the hams and tail off one of my beaver the other day and has laid claims to this carcass, also. All yours, Janis.

A beaver and a rat sharing the same pool.

This culvert is a little out of focus, but what looks like mud on the top is really rat poop. And lots of it. This trap has a rat just about every day. Trying to remember the last day it did not have a rat in it.

Raining hard this evening, so water levels will go up a lot in the next 24 hours. Hopefully it is cool in the mountains and that is snow, keeping some sort of stability to the water. I expect to check on Wed and Fri, then pull.

thecrittergitter · Mar 23, 2015

let me know when you go Friday, if its a time braden isn't at practice, he would love to follow you out

shovelheadave · Mar 24, 2015

Holy smokes. .......you're piling them up.

We'll Done !!!

Big Fin · Mar 24, 2015

thecrittergitter said:
let me know when you go Friday, if its a time braden isn't at practice, he would love to follow you out

Let me know what time he is out of school and I will try to do it when he can make it.

Big Fin · Mar 25, 2015

Special day today. I was joined by my brother and his daughter, my 15 year-old niece. She joins her Grandpa on many trapline runs back home in MN. Surely enjoyed them joining me today.

Next day I check will be the last check of the season. Rats are getting thinned out.

The beaver are showing up with regularity.

Big Fin · Mar 28, 2015

The season is over. All traps were pulled yesterday. Probably a good thing. Had about 20 traps set on some private creeks and over half of them had sticks in them when I made the check. Evidently fisherman found them and once again showed their dislike for trapping.

It was a lot of fun. Gave me something to do every other morning, which resulted in plenty to do at the skinning bench every other night.

300 muskrats don't look like much when you put them in bundles like this. Prices are pretty low, but if I tried to justify my hunting, fishing, and trapping based on economics, I would look like a bigger fool than I already am.

Not sure what I will trap next year. Maybe canines. Guess it depends upon what I have time for. I added together a bunch of shot video clips that show how I do this, but my upload speed is so slow, I am not sure I have time in a week to get it loaded to YouTube or Vimeo.

Final package that was dropped off with the North American Fur Auction this evening.

Gerald Martin · Mar 28, 2015

Looks good Randy! I hope the satisfaction of doing something you love makes up for the low profit margins.

Just think, you could be a CPA this time of year.

Big Fin · Mar 28, 2015

Gerald Martin said:
Looks good Randy! I hope the satisfaction of doing something you love makes up for the low profit margins. Just think, you could be a CPA this time of year.

The fun of doing this is more than money can measure. And yes, it keeps me away from the CPA firm, which the doctors tell me is a good thing. Now, I have to increase the Federal deficit by helping clients for a couple weeks, then it is spring bear time, which is mostly just a reason to rid myself of these extra 8 pounds that show up every winter.

February - Muskrat month

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