For all you guys that are thinking about trapping this next year, a good starter is to go to a trapping organization meet. The KY Fur Takers will be having their spring meet at the Pritchard Community Center on March 20th, starting at 8 am. There will trapping demos on bobcat snaring and trapping, snare making and snaring, and raccoon handling. There will also be a Trappers’ Flea Market.

It’s important to be a member of a trapping organization, your learning curve is accelerated by exchanging information with veteran trappers.

My wife told me she saw a possum going under my skinning shed 2 or 3 times.Well she didn’t like that at all.Asked me to catch it but don’t hurt it.Well since she is a PETA CLUB member this didn’t surprize me.So I came out of trapping retirement for one night and caught that crafty ole possum the first night in a secret set.Cage trap with a piece of ham as my secret lure.The nerve of that possum to think he could live under my Fur Shed.He has been relocated to a nice little farm down the road.So all is well at the homeplace.

Simple question I don’t know the answer to. Is it legal to take a beaver with a firearm? Or do you have to trap them?

Well my first night on the new ground payed off with a female grey,bout time.I caught her off of a dirt hole set using ol jack mack with cavens red fox lure on a duke #2.I had one set checked out by a yote,he must have smelled me from that evening.I also had a dirt hole robbed so I blocked it in,I couldnt find any good tracks to see what it was,all in all Im happy.

With Tn Closing Fri, I punched in 9 sets on a Buddys Farm yesterday afternoon…Had 3 Possums and this Nicely Marked up Kitty…Its a young Female. Caught her in a Double Dirt Hole, with Jack Mac, Purfect, Bobcat Gland Lure, and Fresh Grey Urine…Also a little Rabbit Fur down the hole.

i live wth in 25 miles of three major lakes and the cumberland river. i have only trapped creeks but i was told about a large concentration of muskrats in the lakes.anybody trap any lakes and have luck with it .if so ever have any problems with people bothering traps

While scouting the otters…see my other post, I found lots of beaver sign.
Some is old, like a year or two, and other sign is real fresh. Lots of thigh sized trees cut down and branches cleaned of all bark. I can find no slides entering the creek anywhere. There are a few tracks in the edge of the water here and there. No huts or dams in the 4 miles of creek I have permission to trap. The water goes from ripples to 4 ft. deep all over. I have seen slides in the past on the river that are nice and shiny but none on this creek. What kind of sign do I need to find? They are there, just not sure where to put the traps? I can find no bank holes but there are tree root snags and undercut banks everywhere. The holes, if there are any, could be out of sight. I hate to just place traps where the tracks are….know what I mean?
What am I not finding?
Thanks men!
PS..most of the trees they are eating on are up on the flat banks 5-15 feet out of the water. There are a few "trails" coming out of these areas but they are not shiny and flat like slides I have seen before. No tracks up on the banks, just right where these trails start at the edge of the water. should I put Conibears there? My buddy has a few 220’s. Are they big enough?
Sorry, I got tons of questions!:rolleyes:

If you guys recall I was asking several questions a week ago about peat in dirt hole sets etc. I have been reading like crazy trying to figure all of this stuff out. I saw several otters in a creek during duck season and I watched one for several minutes one day last week in the same location. I called up a friend who is an "expert"….. he just started too, and he said give it a try and see what happens.
Long story short I set one of the three legholds that I had in a little trickle of water coming down the hill feeding into the big creek right at the edge of the larger body. This area was loaded with tracks. I figured this was as good a spot as I had found. I placed the trap in the big creek in about 2 inches of water right at the entrance to the side branch. I stirred some silt that gently settled on the double long spring and covered it nicely. 12 inches behind the trap I stuck a stick in the ground with…get this…canned cat food on top and when I arrived this morning there she was. Sorry no pics but in my excitement I forgot the camera! She was not quite as big as the one Wolverine posted but my first catch was a three foot otter. Being a "newbie" I don’t even have a stretcher. We checked her in and dropped her off at a friends house to freeze her. Not sure what I will do with her just yet. I reset the trap in hope of bagging one of the others I had seen in the same spot about a month ago. Thanks for all your help guys. I will be better prepared when next season rolls around…..anybody want to trade traps for waterfowl equipment???:D
None of my dirt holes have been touched but I am trying!

Just pulled the cards from my KY farm and had some neat yote pics. Both cameras are on beaver carcasses that are snared to trees, to keep them in front of the camera.

"Standing Guard"

"Dark face yote"

"Piggy back" I guess the rut is on!