Post by billfrank on Jul 1, 2007 13:37:05 GMT -5
Remakes are perhaps one of the biggest concerns for canine trappers.
After a day of making fresh sets, its agravating to find a possum in your yote sets the next day. That perfect, subtle location is gone- those weed clumps are no longer there- your perfect set is just a circle in the dirt.
Some people as a matter of course just pull that trap and make a fresh set nearby. Others remake the set exactly as it was, some remake it into a different type of set and some pull and use the same trap at the edge of the circle.
Mine are simple. I generally make 2 main types of fresh sets- flat and stepdowns. I also use the trail set a little- but all that is is just a flat set made in a trail.
Stepdowns: I have found that they have a lot of success in stepdowns remade back into stepdowns. My best three remakes over the years have been in stepdowns. Many other stepdowns have taken 3-4 coyotes in them over the years, so I always make my stepdowns back into stepdowns.
First, I clear out the stepdown bed, its usually pretty easy to do. I just scoop out the duff and use it as guides or if too much duff, toss it to the side. Almost without exception, the roof of the lure hole is gone, so I have to import a new roof. I don't waste too much time looking- a flat rock, a dirt clump from a plowed field, a dug up weed clump turned upside down- all work well.
I relure every remake- but make no effort to use the same lures. I like the differant types of smells- I beleive it adds to the set. So- you have a stepdown, much like the original, in the middle of the catch circle. I mist the stepdown pattern.
Flat sets- my flat sets are pretty natural. Occasionally, I forget the EXACT location of the set- I know within a few yards- but until a catch or I pull them, they often blend in so well that I'm not QUITE sure where the trap is set. In a field with a bunch of bare spots, dust circles- blending is much easier. Most of my flat sets take advantage of color lines of dirt, grass, etc. Subtle guides and subtle locations. No way can they be made back naturally. So- I don't even try.
What I do is take all the duff in the circle and use that to make a walkthrough. I take 2/3 or so of the duff, and make a pile about 2-3 feet long and maybe 4-5 inches high. I do this so that it is in a "bow" shape- think of the bow with the handgrip by the trap and the tips curving back away from the trap. I put this where the original backing (or color line, etc) was.
The other 1/3 of the duff I put where the trap guard was. I make this pile much smaller and less defined.
I then relure at two of the corners.
The area between the two duff piles is smoothed out creating a walkway through the set. The rest of the circle is left as is. Where the trap is set, I like to crowd the duff piles in tight, so the width of the walkway is about 1 1/2 times the width of the trap.
If droppings are present from canines, I might use one by the trap dog- but usually leave then scattered around the set. If I have another trap close by, I sometimes add a fresh dropping to it- but I seldom pick up and take droppings of the site.
On these sets I mist the entire walk through set with urine.
If a set is too muddy or impossibly beat up, I'll pull the trap and make a fresh set using the same trap. In this case I use the edge of the catch circle as a backing and make a sort of fresh remake.
Another killer remake is smoothing out the catch circle and find a good clump of grass 12" or so tall and dig it up and "plant" it in the middle of the catch circle. I then with a squirt bottle of urine ready set the grass on fire and let it burn for a few seconds and put it out with a couple of squirts of urine.Make flat set there using burnt grass as a backing.
Jim Brooks taught me this years ago and I have found it very effective.
After a day of making fresh sets, its agravating to find a possum in your yote sets the next day. That perfect, subtle location is gone- those weed clumps are no longer there- your perfect set is just a circle in the dirt.
Some people as a matter of course just pull that trap and make a fresh set nearby. Others remake the set exactly as it was, some remake it into a different type of set and some pull and use the same trap at the edge of the circle.
Mine are simple. I generally make 2 main types of fresh sets- flat and stepdowns. I also use the trail set a little- but all that is is just a flat set made in a trail.
Stepdowns: I have found that they have a lot of success in stepdowns remade back into stepdowns. My best three remakes over the years have been in stepdowns. Many other stepdowns have taken 3-4 coyotes in them over the years, so I always make my stepdowns back into stepdowns.
First, I clear out the stepdown bed, its usually pretty easy to do. I just scoop out the duff and use it as guides or if too much duff, toss it to the side. Almost without exception, the roof of the lure hole is gone, so I have to import a new roof. I don't waste too much time looking- a flat rock, a dirt clump from a plowed field, a dug up weed clump turned upside down- all work well.
I relure every remake- but make no effort to use the same lures. I like the differant types of smells- I beleive it adds to the set. So- you have a stepdown, much like the original, in the middle of the catch circle. I mist the stepdown pattern.
Flat sets- my flat sets are pretty natural. Occasionally, I forget the EXACT location of the set- I know within a few yards- but until a catch or I pull them, they often blend in so well that I'm not QUITE sure where the trap is set. In a field with a bunch of bare spots, dust circles- blending is much easier. Most of my flat sets take advantage of color lines of dirt, grass, etc. Subtle guides and subtle locations. No way can they be made back naturally. So- I don't even try.
What I do is take all the duff in the circle and use that to make a walkthrough. I take 2/3 or so of the duff, and make a pile about 2-3 feet long and maybe 4-5 inches high. I do this so that it is in a "bow" shape- think of the bow with the handgrip by the trap and the tips curving back away from the trap. I put this where the original backing (or color line, etc) was.
The other 1/3 of the duff I put where the trap guard was. I make this pile much smaller and less defined.
I then relure at two of the corners.
The area between the two duff piles is smoothed out creating a walkway through the set. The rest of the circle is left as is. Where the trap is set, I like to crowd the duff piles in tight, so the width of the walkway is about 1 1/2 times the width of the trap.
If droppings are present from canines, I might use one by the trap dog- but usually leave then scattered around the set. If I have another trap close by, I sometimes add a fresh dropping to it- but I seldom pick up and take droppings of the site.
On these sets I mist the entire walk through set with urine.
If a set is too muddy or impossibly beat up, I'll pull the trap and make a fresh set using the same trap. In this case I use the edge of the catch circle as a backing and make a sort of fresh remake.
Another killer remake is smoothing out the catch circle and find a good clump of grass 12" or so tall and dig it up and "plant" it in the middle of the catch circle. I then with a squirt bottle of urine ready set the grass on fire and let it burn for a few seconds and put it out with a couple of squirts of urine.Make flat set there using burnt grass as a backing.
Jim Brooks taught me this years ago and I have found it very effective.