June, 2019
Three years ago, I heard a man say it wasn’t possible to kill a thousand coyotes in a year, let alone a fur season. When I heard this, it instantly made me wonder. Someone saying it couldn’t be done was a challenge that just kept fermenting in my mind. Never tell a Missouri farm boy something can’t be done! If such an undertaking was possible, I knew it would take 2-3 years of preparation to be thoroughly prepared enough to make a solid attempt at accomplishing such a feat. A one man operation, no partners, skinning each coyote, just one man shouldering and doing all the work on his own. Was it even possible?
When you run the number of days of a normal coyote fur season when the fur will be at its highest value on average (October 20 through January 20), you are looking at 93 days (just over 13 weeks). Then subtract travel & setting days along with a family day or two while resupplying between trips and the number falls to 80 days or less with 76 days being even more realistic!
This means a daily average of just over 13 coyotes must be maintained.
That is no small achievement for even just a week of trapping in a lot of areas I have worked across the US! To try and do this for almost 80 days boggles the mind and would give any sane individual serious pause.
During the drought of 2014, Bob Wendt from Greenfield, Indiana, caught 640 coyotes in roughly 6 weeks. He maintained a little over 15 coyotes a day for 42 days, all on a 24-hour check. This is the single largest known documented catch I could find here in the continental US by one man doing all of the work in the last two (maybe three) decades. Bob owns & operates a Christmas tree farm. Selling Christmas trees limits the number of days he can trap during the fur season.
As a licensed veterinarian, Bob goes at things with a much more pragmatic or clinical approach than other trappers do. Bob has always been willing to share his knowledge and experience with any trapper interested in learning. I can say I have learned a great deal from communicating with him over the years. If not for his obligations of selling Christmas trees, I believe Bob would have caught over a thousand coyotes in 2014. Bob’s numbers proved (to me) that this goal can be achieved. The biggest obstacle to this goal of a thousand coyotes is not catching this many and doing the work, rather it is having access to this many AND being able to do so at a PROFIT!
Three years ago, I thought I had a major piece of the puzzle secured in Texas. This was a higher elevation (for Texas) trapline that the weather seldom shuts down for more than 24-hours. Unfortunately, I was just a line item on a budget and the financial managers / accountants in Florida gave me the axe when they experienced a budget shortfall.
Having spent most of the last 15 years doing various types of predator control for hire and working properties with a limited number of animals available, I miss the volume / fast-paced production style of trapping. Growing up during the fur boom in the 80s as a kid, I memorized Ray Milligan’s complete lure advertisements and seeing his picture of the barn covered in coyotes. Right now, I just long to be a fur trapper again. Not having to answer to various companies, drainage districts, road departments, and high fence property owners. However, when not trapping for hire, reality sets in and the focus must be maintained on PROFIT!
Obviously, the further south a trapper operates in the plains states the higher the population base of coyotes is going to be. Current market demand is for the trim trade, desiring the heavy northern coyotes. The goal is to harvest coyotes as heavy (and prime) as reasonably possible for the best financial return.
The Petska Fur Company in Ord, Nebraska, recommends the following start dates on their website (petskafur.net): 7,000 ft. Canadian border, October 15; 6,000 ft. Williston North Dakota, October 20; 5,000 ft. from I-94 to Glendive, Montana, October 25; North Dakota / South Dakota line, October 30, I-90 to Rapid City South Dakota, November 5; Nebraska / South Dakota state line, November 10; I-80 November 15; Kansas / Oklahoma state line December 1. Length of days affect fur priming more than any other factor. A wet, cloudy, overcast fall can advance fur primeness, while a month of bright sunny days can delay it by a week or more.
Wanting to start trapping in late October, a trapper needs to start as far north as they can and in the higher elevations when possible. This means Idaho, Montana, or North Dakota (Editor’s note: many Western states classify coyote as a predator or varmint and don’t require a fur trapping license unlike most Eastern states.) then move south as the weather forces you to. For years, I have always felt like a snow goose, trapping my way south following the geese to the Gulf States then working my way back north following them as winter receded.
Mother Nature can throw a trapper some serious curve balls. Each stage of the trapline must have a plan “B” as a backup. A trapline a trapper can roll into in 24-48 hours and hit the ground running! You cannot afford to lose days by asking permissions, getting guided tours, and finding your way around on new ground. Ideally, the plan “Bs” need to be at least 150-200 miles apart when possible, so they are hopefully outside of any weather front that hits the primary trapline forcing the trapper to move. Currently, I have focused on seven traplines in five different states for this endeavor.
This is the first of four articles with information showing you how to pursue such a goal. There will be information shared on modern scouting, gaining permissions, setting up, and maintaining various trucks and trailers for the trapline. Logistics, equipment, and the freezer space needed to handle this kind of volume will also be covered. I’ll also discuss physical conditioning that any trapper should consider if they are going to work 19-20 hours a day for weeks on end. Lastly, I’ll be sharing numerous time saving tips that eliminate those “moments” that add up to hours or even days lost each week that cost all of us exponentially.
I hope that you can laugh at or even with me as I live out and pursue a childhood dream.
In the interest of transparency, there will be an Internet address in the December article where anyone who wants to can monitor my progress as I try to achieve this goal. Even if the goal is not met, the pursuit of this dream and sharing this as an educational experience is what matters.
Saturday, December 28, 2019
1,000 Coyotes: Part II
July, 2019
The most important pieces of equipment every trapper have are their trapline trucks and the trailers they pull out of state hauling their gear and freezers in. Keeping these trucks and trailers operating is of the utmost importance.
The most important pieces of equipment every trapper have are their trapline trucks and the trailers they pull out of state hauling their gear and freezers in. Keeping these trucks and trailers operating is of the utmost importance.
A lot of us routinely drive 8 - 16 hours out-of-state
then drive these trucks 12 hours a day on the trapline for weeks on end. It is
not uncommon to put 6-9,000 miles on these trucks each trip. There simply is no
time to drive to a mechanics shop to have an oil change. The quickest thing for
most of us is simply to haul a drain pan, a jug to pour the used oil into and
along with a new filter, oil and a grease gun. These items take up very little
room and you can often change the oil and grease a truck in less time (30
minutes) than it takes to drive to the nearest mechanics shop.
My trucks are equipped with on board air compressors
(under the hood) and air tanks mounted along the frame. Flat tires can be
plugged and aired in the field. If a plug is not sufficient to fix the tire, an
impact wrench is utilized to quickly change the tire.
Three years ago in North Dakota, seven days into the
trip I had two flat tires the same day. Plugging the second tire and airing it
up every 10 miles did allow me to cripple in to a repair shop. Nearly three
hours and $96 later, I was back on the road to the trapline. The $96 to have
the two tires repaired ($5 per patch plus $45 an hour shop rate for the slowest
man alive) was not nearly as expensive as loosing those three hours! That time
was an exponential loss the whole trip. Those three hours of setting traps
should have generated an additional 12 head of coyotes (over the course of the
next 10 days) at $75 each that year. In my opinion, those two flat tires cost
me roughly $996. Each of my trapline trucks now have a complete set of matching
wheels and tires. When I travel out of state, I haul at least two additional
spare tires mounted & ready to use besides the spare tire under the truck
itself.
A small bottle of dish detergent doesn’t take up much
room in the tool box. A shot of it into a bottle of water then shook up will
help you find a slow leak in a tire very easily so you can quickly plug it and
keep moving.
When I change wheel bearings on my trailers, I always
save an old seal and a set of grease packed bearings in a sealed container.
These travel in the trailer just in case I should have any wheel bearing
trouble while on the road.
Breakdowns will occur - even with brand new trucks.
Having a spare truck (even if an older truck) set up and ready to roll that can
be brought to you is an asset. Traps still have to be checked and or pulled
regardless of vehicular issues.
No matter how careful we are, sooner or later we all
get stuck. I haul a 10,000 pound Warn winch on a cradle that fits into the
receiver hitches on the front and rear of each pickup. This winch can be used
with whatever truck I’m driving. Quick disconnect battery cable plug ins are
located front and rear of the trucks where the winch can be plugged in as well
as a quick disconnect located at the battery. No sense worrying about a battery
cable shorting out. A pair of bull pin anchors with spades gives me something
adequate to winch from if nothing else is available. Two anchors hooked in
linear tandem are often needed for a full sized truck and one is generally
sufficient for a mid-sized truck.
Tire
chains, a long handled shovel, and a 4-ton floor jack with a piece of one inch
plywood for a base if needed, round out the list of equipment that will get you
out of almost any predicament faster than help can generally ever get to you
(if you even have cell service to call someone).
Working mountainous country and rocky, rough ground,
a mid-sized truck like the Toyota Tacoma covers ground faster, rides better,
and will go places no full sized truck can even consider. I pull a 5’ X 8’
cargo trailer behind the Tacoma when traveling out of state. A 15 cubic foot
freezer fits nicely cross ways in the front of the trailer, then a 21 cubic
foot freezer fits along one side. This leaves some room down the opposite side
for additional gear, spare tires, and traps.
I freeze coyote pelts laid out flat in a freezer with
the nose and tails tucked inside the pelt. A plywood cut out that just fits
inside the freezer is used with pieces of heavy plate steel on top of it for
weight to help compress them for the most efficient use of the space. Pelts
frozen in this manner freeze faster (and defrost faster at fleshing time) than
if they are rolled up. Muddy or bloody hides can be placed in paper feed sacks
and frozen the same way. Sheets of newspaper can also be placed between muddy
or bloody pelts to keep them from freezing together or to the freezer walls.
With your heavier northern early season coyotes, you will average 3.5 pelts per
cubic foot of freezer space. As season progresses and the coyotes get fully
prime, you will see this drop to 3 per cubic foot. Your central plains states
type coyotes, (i.e. Kansas) will average 5.5 to 6 in early season and then 5
fully prime coyotes per cubic foot of freezer space. Using these figures, a
trapper should be able to determine how much freezer space they need for “X”
number of coyotes.
Never put furs in a hot freezer (I run mine empty
until the temperature is -15 or so before using it) or attempt to freeze more
than one layer of pelts in any freezer daily. I monitor my freezers daily with
a thermometer in each one (this is especially important if your loading them
heavy). Freezers that show -10 degrees or colder when you open them can handle
more fur that day. Freezers that are reading 10-15 degrees should probably be
given an additional 24 hours before more fur is added. The thermometers will
show you in advance when a freezer starts to get weak and is getting ready to
fail. When traveling, it is best to never run more than two freezers on a
single circuit breaker. Plan accordingly for the needed extension cords.
There are only two types of coyotes, the one in truck we will skin today and the ones we will skin tomorrow.
1,000 Coyotes: Part III
August, 2019
I routinely have trappers ask how you decide where to trap in a faraway state and how do you do your scouting? Generally, I hear something word of mouth about a coyote population then I start looking into it. This is done in two ways.
I routinely have trappers ask how you decide where to trap in a faraway state and how do you do your scouting? Generally, I hear something word of mouth about a coyote population then I start looking into it. This is done in two ways.
Generally,
my first step is to contact local Game Wardens in a county by phone, asking
about the coyote numbers and how much local trapping activity there is. My goal
is to learn if there are any heavy hitters working the area (trappers catching
large numbers) and how much aerial gunning (if any) Wildlife Services has done.
Then I ask if there are any resident landowners suffering damage that the agent
knows of that he can refer me to. I also ask if the state wildlife agency
collects harvest information that is publicly available, I can review.
Next,
I start looking at a state Gazette or Atlas looking for any National Forest,
National Grasslands, or BLM land in the area. This public land always helps the
first year in a new area until enough permissions are acquired with private
landowners. Most state wildlife agencies publish booklets showing private land
open to sportsmen, these are utilized as well. I also use plat books that can
be purchased at most county courthouses or
Chamber of Commerce offices. These plat books show who owns each parcel of land
in the county and generally list the phone numbers for these landowners if they
reside in the county.
The
most valuable tool for me the last few years is the OnX Hunt app. This is a
subscription-based app, but it can be used on any smart phone, tablet, iPad, or
computer. A Premium subscription, your choice of any single state, is $29.99 a
year or you can get the Elite, all 50 states, for $99 for a year. This is a state
or nationwide directory (based on choice of subscription) showing property
boundaries, acreage, owner name and tax address, and your current location. You
can add waypoints, mark locations, get weather forecasts, and much more. Also,
maps can be downloaded to your device for areas without cellular service.
Sometimes it may not be updated if a property has recently changed ownership,
but that’s true for plat books as well. I use this app in multiple states, and it
is worth every penny it costs!
These
plat books and the OnX Hunt app help me find ground without having to waste
time with guided tours. I often run into situations with landowners where they
forget to mention additional parcels that show up in the plat book or on the app.
A quick phone call asking about it gains me access.
I
want to discuss something no one talks about, yet we all know to be true.
Physical conditioning for the trapline is the single most important thing a lot
of trappers fail to be prepared for. You can’t go from working at a computer
terminal all day long to running up and down ditch banks 12-hours a day wearing
hip boots or chest waders while carrying coon and beaver out without it taking
a toll! Being physically prepared isn’t something that can be achieved in a
short amount of time. Generally, it is a lifestyle for the most successful
trappers. Trappers that work physically demanding jobs year-round like concrete
work, trimming trees, or working construction are generally conditioned to this
type of hard physical activity. Being able to physically deal with this
continuous level of activity is very important for a trapper’s mental state as
well.
Keeping
a positive attitude and not being worn out makes it so much easier for a
trapper to stay motivated and to push themselves the extra distance needed.
When you think you just can’t go any more and want to quit, the mental drive to
push yourself (being conditioned to it) to set just one more location is so
important. These additional sets become what I consider exponential producers.
I’m not talking about doing this just once in a while, this needs to be a
mental effort that you practice daily! Don’t worry about the load of fur in the
back of the truck, you have all night to skin. When a trapper finds themselves
procrastinating and putting off setting traps until tomorrow and calling it a
day, I believe it is generally a sign of not being in good enough physical
condition for the trapline.
I
consulted with two Doctors and a Veterinarian who actively trap. In a nutshell,
all three basically recommended the same thing. A healthy diet (stay away from
sugar and fats) along with a physical conditioning program that was started (and
maintained) at least 4-8 weeks prior to trapping season to be the most
beneficial. While workouts with weights in a gym do have some value, cardio
workouts have greater value. Swinging a mall splitting firewood, walking and
running up inclines, anything to get the heart rate up and keeping it up for an
extended amount of time daily will increase a trapper’s endurance and keep you
in a more positive frame of mind.
Keep in mind that everyone has different goals and values concerning their trapping experience. Achieving your personal goals is all that matters.
Keep in mind that everyone has different goals and values concerning their trapping experience. Achieving your personal goals is all that matters.
Friday, December 27, 2019
Wednesday, December 25, 2019
Support Fur Takers Of America
If you enjoy following this story, viewing the pictures or have learned something, please consider joining Fur Takers of America. Together we can help defend our right to trap and manage this renewable resource.
Visit the FTA website at: www.furtakersofamerica.com
Thank you!
Visit the FTA website at: www.furtakersofamerica.com
Thank you!
Be a Responsible Trapper
Guys, please properly dispose of your carcasses! Every year I trap properties behind other trappers and find this. This is a very easy way to have your privilege revoked and gives all trappers a black eye!
Almost every landowner you trap on that has a coyote problem will gladly dig you a pit to properly dispose your carcasses in! This means the mangey one as well! If you kill it, haul it off! No one wants to have to look at or work around dead animals strung around by a trapper!
If nothing else get a long handled shovel and dig a grave! Only takes about 15 minutes in sandy or loamy ground. A hole like this shoulder deep will hold 50-60 head if you stack them in tight!
"The Man in the Arena" Theodore Roosevelt Quote
This quote has always resonated with me.
Another quote by Earnest Hemingway that I found to be powerful in my younger days is noted below. I stamped it on a sword I made 25 years ago.
Another quote by Earnest Hemingway that I found to be powerful in my younger days is noted below. I stamped it on a sword I made 25 years ago.
There is no hunting like the hunting of man, and those who have hunted armed men long enough and liked it, never care for anything else thereafter.”
Introduction - Robert Waddell
Let me take a moment to introduce myself.
I started trapping at the age of 12 when my Dad
brought home a dozen 110 conibears for the three of us boys. After attending
some trapping clinics and conventions two years late my Mom hauled us three
boys to Chesley, Iowa to sell our fur to Ludy Sheda. We sold $4,800 worth
of fur that day that Mom & Dad used to pay the mortgage on the farm.
I was consumed with the trapping bug! I memorized
every Milligan Lure, Victor and Northwoods trap advertisements growing
up. In 1999, I attended the Fur Takers Trappers College as I student. I
was lucky enough to be placed in Pete Askins group. Pete taught me to find ways
to learn from my successes and failures. He instilled in me the importance of
not walking away from a triggered trap without understanding why I missed the
animal.
December of 1999, I responded to an advertisement
in Fur-Fish-Game by Dr. George Hurst looking for trappers to control predators
predating on nesting wild Turkeys in Mississippi. Twenty years late I'm
still trapping for the same landowners.
In 2000, I was asked to teach at the FTA Trappers
College as an Assistant instructor. A year later, I returned as one of
the five primary instructors and taught until 2011. At that point my
feral hog work was consuming much of the month of September so I retired from
the College.
In 2004, I teamed up with Mike Morford to compete
in the North American Coyote Trapping Contest. We took second place that year
competing against eleven other teams. We returned in 2005 and won the
contest for the next four years consecutively thru 2008.
I spoke in 2007 front of over 2,000 people in
Chattanooga, TN at a Quality Deer Management Convention explaining how to use
trapping successfully for Predator Control. This led to doing some TV shows on
the Outdoor Channel with The Management Advantage (links to some of their
videos are available on this blog).
For the last 20 years I have routinely trapped in
4-6 different states annually waging coon, beaver, muskrat or coyote campaigns
for fur. I do beaver control for various road districts, timber companies and
private landowners. I also find success with coyote predator control jobs for
antelope & white tail deer fawn enhancement programs.
Feral hog control has become a big part of my
life seasonally. I saw the need for this 13 years ago and was able to be on the
cutting edge of a lot of methods still used today. Satellite trap checkers, Judas Pig telemetry
work and cellular based cameras are all complimenting night shooting with
thermal scopes on AR10 rifles. Most years I am able to kill and recover
7-800 head of hogs.
I represented the FTA on the Raccoon, Beaver
and Otter BMP Ad-Hoc committees by writing very contentious documents in effort
to protect trappers best interest.
In 2004, as the Chairman of the Rules &
Regulation Committee for the Missouri Trappers association we succeeded in
getting Cable Restraints legalized in Missouri. I went on to help teach the
instructors who taught the classes so that trappers/students could get this cable
restraint permit.
What I am the most proud of is not any of the
accomplishments listed above. I am most proud of helping trappers with
alternative markets, giving them more income and keeping them in the field to
actively trap and manage the resource.
These markets include beaver tails, coon meat and shed deer antlers.
In 2016, I saw the need to generate funds from
outside of the normal trapping industry to help fund the Fur Takers of America.
Funds are desperately needed to defend our trapping rights and to promote trapping
as a wildlife management tool. As a result, we now have Adventure Auction items
ranging from black bear & hog hunts to multiple fishing trips spread across
the US. I strive to give back to the trapping industry as much (or more) as it
has given me.
I'm living out a childhood dream as a trapper.
Sunday, December 1, 2019
4 Tips to make you a better coyote trapper.
1) Make your sets as "animalistic" as possible. They need to resemble prairie dog & ground squirrel dens or badger diggings that the coyotes encounter on a daily basis.
2) Location, look at your environment like a coyote does! Your sets need to be where the coyote is, not 10 feet away.
3) Use good quality urine and a bait that a coyote actually wants to eat, not just something that stinks! If your dog won't eat it, it is doubtful a coyote will.
4) Leave the lure on a shelf in the fur shed!! It is not natural and will often cost you more coyotes and grief than it is worth! High quality good urine is the absolute best lure you can use.
February 4, 2020
The last 6 coyotes of the Quest. 3 with mange and 3 to skin.
#927 taken in a Duke #3 swaged jaw offset. This trap will be donated to FTA for their auction at the National Convention in June.
February 3, 2020
Killed 13 coyotes and 1 bobcat today. 14 coyotes pictured. Had mistakenly left one mangey coyote in the field yesterday
February 2, 2020
I killed 15. Picture shows 14. Somehow I left one in the field with a Death Ray on it. Do remember it as a bad mangy one Daisy was standing guard on.
January 31, 2020
4 coyotes today. Pretty humble, knew it would be. Good solid work is all that has carried me through the last 3 days. Was able to rebuild about 80% of my sets today finally.
January 29, 2020
12 head total. 2 with mange.
Today's conditions are pretty tough. Got stuck in some badlands and had to dig on the truck for over an hour.
January 28, 2020
14 coyotes, 4 were mangey and 1 was rubbed & broke along with 2 coons.
Today’s weather:
January 25, 2020
7 head yesterday, 2 had mange.
The trapping job that I started today has been called quite a bit. Going to be very slow traversing this ranch.
6-8 coyotes a day off of this job will be quite a success
January 24, 2020
5 coyotes and 1 coon
Ripped up 75% of trapline today. Have taken on a job the other direction from where i have been working. Will be putting traps back in the ground tomorrow on this new job.
Ripped up 75% of trapline today. Have taken on a job the other direction from where i have been working. Will be putting traps back in the ground tomorrow on this new job.
January 22, 2020
12 coyotes & 1 coon. 11 coyotes good. Were real mud balls today and had to wash the heavy mud off of them to even skin.
Coyote #801
January 18, 2020
8 coyotes today. Started skinning before I remembered I hadn't taken a picture.
Some real mud balls in rough conditions. Would be so much better if it just froze up solid or dried out.
January 17, 2020
Bad ice storm last night. All of my sets have 1/2" of ice over them. This set was worked after the storm passed. The coyote dug up the muskrat and is prebaited for tonight.
The coyote that were caught today we're caught prior to the storm (during the day yesterday) last night.
Only 3 coyotes and 1 coon total today. Forgot to take a picture before I skinned this evening. Totally focused on going to bed early tonight.
Had to run tire chains on the ice to be able to check traps and not wreck the truck. Way faster and safer in 2WD with chains (35-40mph) than with out chains in 4WD at 15mph!
January 11, 2020
13 head, 1 with mange, another 1 marginal. Dropped to 11 degrees at daylight this morning with a -10 windchill.
12 degrees and good straigt coyote urine hauled in the back of an open truck still doesn't freeze up enough to not squirt out of a bottle! Nothing added to it, just straight urine!
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