Preparing for the
upcoming trapping season can be nearly as rewarding to me as the actual
trapping season. Most successful trappers across North America spend many
hours purchasing supplies, prepping equipment, making baits and lures, and
yes scouting territory for trapping. One can simply procrastinate and go
trapping when the season begins, but you would only be cheating yourself and
drastically reducing your success rate during the season.
Scouting new
territory for trapping is my favorite and may be the most important of
things we trappers do preparing for trapping season. In my opinion it is
also the first thing we should do preparing for the new trapping season. It
is hard to buy supplies, prepare equipment and make baits and lures if you
do not know how many and what types of furbearing critters populate the
woods, fields and streams in your area. It is hard to trap otter and beaver
if you do not have a good population at hand. The good news is raccoon,
skunk, muskrat, mink, red and grey foxes inhabit most of our great state in
good numbers.
Today you can even
include the coyote, as in the last 30 years they have established “too good”
of a population across Michigan. I say “too good” of a population because
most Michigan Sport Persons are also avid deer, turkey and small game
hunters. The coyote drastically decreases large and small game populations.
Trapping coyote is one of the most successful population management tools.
Coyotes are the most challenging of the Michigan Furbearing animals to learn
to trap. I trapped my first coyote in the thumb of Michigan 40 years ago,
two in one season, and there were not many back then. Today, coyote are
everywhere.
Michigan is a big,
wonderful state. There are a lot of miles from the Michigan / Ohio border
to Ironwood, Michigan. If I’m going to give you advice on trapping in
Michigan I think I should let you know some of the areas I’ve trapped in
Michigan. My passion for the art of trapping began on the shores of Lake
Huron, in the Thumb, as a school boy trapper. I was lucky from the
beginning as family and old time trappers shared their knowledge with me.
They introduced me to “Fur Fish and Game” and “Trapper and Predator Caller”
magazines. Those magazines were a treasure chest of good information then
and remain a monthly tool of information for the modern trapper. I attended
Ferris State University and rented a place on the Muskegon River. From
Ferris State, I trapped different areas from Big Rapids to Traverse City.
After college I ended up landing a job, just about in the center of the
Upper Peninsula of Michigan, between Manistique and Munising. No finer time
trapping was to be had prior to or after my time spent in the U.P. I met
and learned from many great trappers in the U.P., but none will ever
compare to meeting and becoming friends with Asa and Maria Lenon. I was so
proud when we announced to the world, in 2016, that Asa and Maria Lenon
chose me to carry on the great Animal Lure Brand that Herb Lenon started in
1924. Mr. Lenon is still with us today to guide us; unfortunately Mrs.
Lenon passed last year.
Since 2005 I’ve
resided in Northern Michigan, Oscoda and AuGres areas were I’m the Division
Director of PcsOutdoors and make Lenon Lures at home. It is also were I
have trapped the AuSable River and the vast federal and state lands that
surround the area. If you learned anything from what I’ve written so far,
it should be that we should start our search for pockets of furbearing
animal close and around sources of water. It is simple, water furbearers:
Muskrat , Beaver, Mink and Otter need water. Plus most, if not all, canine
travel patterns in Michigan are in or around our abundant water sources.
When I’m running a trapline I prefer to trap water animals and canines at
the same time. I also wait until water season to start trapping, which is
after Fox and Coyote season. This allows the fur to prime up more. Thus,
we are harvesting fur when it is worth the most. Prior to water trapping
season, which is muskrat, mink, otter and beaver, trappers must set their
land sets for fox and coyote 50 feet from waters edge. So, in addition to
primer furs during water trapping season, fox and coyote trappers can set
the hot trails that follow our water ways for prime canines while checking
water traps.
Some of my first
fur scouting trips every year are while I’m in search of steelhead, trout,
blue gills or perch. The fishing is accomplished using a boat on navigable
rivers and inland lakes. When the fish are biting good I do less scouting
for tracks, trails, droppings and beaver cuttings (things that indicate the
presence of fur bearing animals). When the fish limit is reached, or they
quit biting, the scouting and preparation begins in earnest. When areas
are found with a lot of sign and dens I construct cubbies out of natural
materials found in the area such as wood, large chunks of bark, branches and
rock. Cubbies are pens that prevent the furbearing animal from approaching
the bait and lure from any side except the one side opening guarded by a
trap. The trap guarding the cubby opening can be footfold or bodygrip.
One can at times find natural cubbies such as hollow logs or trees and
stumps. Cubbies work really well for weasel, skunk, raccoon, opossum, mink,
bobcat and marten and fisher. That way my sets will be protected from wet
and snowy conditions that will prevail during trapping season. If time
warrants, prior to trapping season, I prebait these cubbies two weeks prior
to the season. Animals such as raccoon, skunk and opossum semi hibernate
during extreme cold periods of winter, but having baited cubbies tends to
keep them from hibernating as quickly. The cubbies help keep your trap sets
dry and in operation during the periods of inclement weather.
During your spring
and summer fishing trips, while in search of good eating fish, occasionally
one will happen into a good bite by bullheads, fresh water drum, carp,
suckers, chubs, etc. This is your opportunity to save on trapping bait
expense while obtaining some fine bait. Contrary to what you may think,
fish as a bait is extremely effective on fox, coyote and bobcat . And
obviously, the best bait for raccoon and mink. The only difference is when
making mink and raccoon fish bait you preserve it, for a lasting fresh fish
smell, while for canines you want a slight taint smell. Either way, you
start by cutting the head and tail off the fish and removing the guts. Then
rinse the fish, cube into 2 to 3 inch chunks, and fill a half of a plastic 5
gallon bucket with the fish chunks. Do not remove the scales as they are a
visual attractant to Mr. Raccoon and Mr. Mink. Add, and mix in, 4 lbs of
pickling / canning salt, 2 oz. Anise Oil, 8 oz Shellfish Oil, 8 oz corn
syrup and 4 oz dried ground beaver castor. This will be one of the finest
mink and raccoon baits available anywhere. You can vary your formula, just
do not forget to add the salt. This keeps the bait from freezing, allowing
scent to travel, and keeps the bait smelling fresh. This method is far
superior to folks that freeze fish and then use it as trapping bait, because
the salted fish will not freeze and lasts longer at the set. For fox and
coyote bait I taint for a few days, in the summer heat, prior to adding
pickling and canning salt. Also, I add fox and coyote attractants. (I like
some type of musk.) Make sure to use cheese cloth where the lid attaches to
the 5 gallon bucket and also add a vent tube. If flies are given a chance
to deposit their eggs your bait will be ruined.
The final scouting
for areas of high density fur population occurs in the later summer months
during the annual bullfrog and snapping turtle harvesting season. The
search for these tasty swamp and creek morsels puts us close to mink,
muskrat, otter, beaver and raccoon tracks, in the mud, along the cattail and
stump filled edges of the Michigan water ways. Water levels tend to be at a
season low in August and allow us to identify muskrat and beaver dens that
will be under deeper water in the coming trapping season. This knowledge
will add many extra fur pelts to your season catch in December and January.
When on private land, with permission to trap and hunt, one can mark den and
other locations with flagging tape. When on federal or state land open to
hunting and trapping, I mark dens, cubbies and other points of interest on
the trapline with natural materials. One needs to be creative. If I tell
you how I mark with natural material, everyone would know where I’m going to
trap and thief’s would have an easy time finding my traps during the
trapping season.
In addition to
searching the waterways for animal sign, one should not over look areas in
the woods and fields that have sandy areas. The sand does a wonderful job
of capturing tracks, and telling you a little bit about whether fox and
coyote are in the area. Luckily, fox and coyote both love to roam and play
in the sand, because many miles of shoreline become void of human visitors
in December and January and are a prime place to trap all canines in the
late season. A good time to scout for furbearer animal tracks on old two
tracks and country roads is during mid and late summer as you take the
family in search of delicious blue berries, black berries and raspberries.
Watch for old, over grown orchards and homesteads, as they are magnets for
good populations of furbearing animals. Also, these areas tend to have
good berry patches (Yum).
My friends, I will
complete this article in the coming June and July issues of Woods-N-Water
News. I will explain in detail, how to choose and prepare your trapping
equipment and gear for the coming trapping season. This fall I will share
with you some of my most successful sets that have worked well for me in our
great State of Michigan.
I always
welcome calls from fellow trappers (989) 569-3480 ext 225