It is broken off about four inches in length and freed of needles. One end is introduced into the eye of the spring and the other end is deflected over and under the trap pan. By moving it out towards the outer part of the pan a greater strength and resistance can be obtained — lessening by pushing it the contrary way. For beaver or otter traps we usually take the root of a small spruce or tamarack, and for a bear trap, instead of putting one end into the eye of the spring, we cut a shorter and stouter piece and bend it over like this and it is placed under the pan; the two ends are carefully flattened and squared off to prevent slipping.
After a little practice a man becomes quite an expert as to the proper tension required and it is very rarely a real trapper catches anything but what the trap was set for. This article is written for the benefit of beginners in the profession of trapping and not as a reflection on the knowledge of "Old Pards."
A splendid all around covering for traps wherever available (and I speak from experience) is hemlock fanlike tips, writes a New York state trapper. Use only the flat spreading ends with thin stems to blanket trap — a single layer is enough for all practical purposes. This is the general purpose covering, suitable for all kinds of weather. The strong natural scent of the hemlock seems to inspire confidence, overcoming animal fear and caution. It neutralizes and makes harmless all unnatural scents so obnoxious to wild animals and prevents under pan obstruction.
During the snowy weather, roof over the trap with brush, hemlock boughs, bark or such, with openings on all sides. Build the roof high and wide enough to sufficiently protect the trap and covering from snow and sleet. A good trapper uses only good traps.
I will describe a few of my sets and hope they will be of value, writes a Rocky Mountain trapper. The first will be a mink set and, like the rest, is best prepared during the summer, then by the time trapping begins the newness is all gone.
Set No. 1 is easily made by bending a few green willows in the shape of the letter U; stick them in a row six inches apart so the top of the bow will be four or five inches from the level. Cut some brush and pile on top and a stake or two driven in will keep it from going away in a freshet. This can be made in the water at a riffle or on the bank of the stream and you will be surprised to note the fine runway you have made.
Set No. 2 is on the same principle, but is made of logs 8 inches in diameter and 5 or 6 feet long. It can be cut on the dotted lines for convenience in placing bait. Set a No. 1 1/2 or 2 trap at each end. This is as good as a hollow log.
No. 3 is a marten shelf. Like cut, make by nailing a 2-inch stick three or three and a half feet long on each side of a tree and cover the projecting ends with bark — use a weight on bark to keep it from blowing away; nail bait and place trap as shown. Use a spring pole of some description.
No. 4 is my favorite for bear, mountain lion and in fact all larger game. Choose two trees near together and place a pole from one to the other on which to hang the bait; 1 is bait the height of which should be varied according to the game sought and 2 is the pole on which bait is hung; it can be nailed on or laid in forks.
In setting steel traps the beginner is generally very careless. He simply sets his trap on the bare ground, brushes a few leaves over it and stakes it fast, or staples it fast to a stump or tree. As a rule he finds that the wind has blown the leaves off his trap, leaving it bare, or it has frozen fast to the ground, or if it has made a catch the game has escaped.
In setting a steel trap, dig a hole an inch deep and the size and shape of the trap when set. Line this hole with dry leaves and set the trap in it, filling in between the jaws with dry moss and covering with dry, light substance in keeping with the surroundings.
For trapping the shyer animals the smell of iron should be destroyed, which may be done by boiling the trap in cedar or hemlock tips. The trap should be covered with these tips so that trap and bed all smell alike. Do not make any tracks or have the bushes or grass trampled down around the trap. Animals are more afraid of human signs than they are of human scent, at least I have found it so.
In setting the trap, be sure that the jaws lie down solid or the animal may tip the trap over by stepping on a jaw and you will think that you have a very cunning animal to deal with.
If the trap is set at a den or enclosure, turn the spring to one side so the animal will not step on the spring. I prefer the Blake pattern trap as the trap may be set with the spring pointing straight out from the enclosure and the animal steps between the jaws, not over them. Be sure, when setting at a den or covered enclosure that the opening over the trap is large enough to allow the animal to walk over the trap, for if they must crawl over it they are apt to snap the trap by pressing against it and all the trapper finds is a little bunch of fur. In setting traps on dry land do not stake it down as the game will often escape by pulling its foot out of the trap. It is much better to fasten the trap to a brush drag. I leave a good stout prong near the big end of the brush. Bend this prong down and slip the ring over it.
When making a water set I stake the trap into the water full length of the chain. If the water is deep use the sliding pole. If you are trapping muskrats, clean out all snags and brush from around the trap or the rat may cut its skin in its struggles, which will lessen its value.
Here is a method of drowning the beaver and otter which was told me by an old trapper. Take a good stout wire about eight or ten feet long and fasten it to the end of the trap chain. A heavy stone is tied to the chain of the trap and after the trap is set the wire is stretched up or down stream and fastened to a stake driven in the bank under water. When the game is caught it plunges into the water and the weight of the stone and trap pulls it down to the bottom. The trap and game are secured by pulling up on the wire. I have never used this method, but think it would be all right.
If the trap is a "bolt" double spring, place the trap on the knee and press down spring and insert a nail — six or eight penny will do — under the jaw on the opposite side from the trigger or trip, being careful to insert far enough to hold and not slip out. Then set same as a single spring trap.
If the trap has the slip in jaws, drill a small hole in the bottom piece just below the holes which the jaws are in for a nail. One spring will hold the pan up. When set, press the other spring down and pull out the nail. One trial will convince anyone that this is an easy and quick way to set a double spring trap. I have never tried this on anything larger than No. 4 wolf trap. Hundreds of times have I said things that I would not say in Church or Sunday School while setting one of these traps in the snow. Trapper language will come forth when one pinches his fingers on a cold, frosty morning.
Knowing exactly where to set in all cases can not be told unless the trapping region is seen as well as each den, but in a general way some points can be given that will prove of value. Favorable places to set can be made to include a number of situations. By this we mean that many take a good part of their catch each season at places away from the dens or homes of animals. Time and again have we seen traps set along creeks, in the woods, at drift piles and other places where there were no dens. Yet these trappers knew that fur-bearing animals frequented such places.
A trapper always should be on the outlook for signs of game. These include dung at dens, tracks at dens and along creeks and low wet places, feathers and bones at dens, etc. A close inspection of dens, will also show long hairs, if the same is used much by animals just before the fur begins to get good, as they then shed many of the long hairs. The experienced trapper knows from these just what kind of an animal is using a certain den, and of course he knows what sized trap to use and how to proceed to set the same for the capture of the game.
An important thing for all trappers to learn is to distinguish dens used by fur-bearing animals from those of rabbits, etc. This can be done in several ways: Long hairs of skunk, opossum, coon, etc., are frequently found in the entrance to dens; tracks of these and other animals should be watched for; pieces of bones and feathers near dens is also a good indication that game is in the near vicinity — at least it may be known that it has been there quite recently.
There is as much in knowing the locality that game frequents as there is in how to set traps. The person who has made a study of the habits of fur-bearing animals knows pretty well the locality that each animal frequents. By this we mean that he knows that skunks, in the fall, are often found in open fields, in sink holes, etc., while later in the season they are found on higher land. This applies to the hilly sections in particular. Opossum and coon he knows are apt to be found in the dense woods, and mink along streams and swamps.
Trappers who have long lines of traps will find that it saves time and walking to have their traps bunched; that is, where they set one trap, should there be many dens, they should set two or three more. After doing this they can travel some distance before setting others, unless extra good dens are found, or other dens directly on their route. We have known three traps, within 100 feet of each other all to contain game, but this is an exception. More often, to be sure, they are all empty when the trapper makes his round. Yet it often pays to have traps bunched as an animal may go to several dens and turn away but enter another only a few feet distant. The trapper who has only a few traps will do best by scattering them and baiting each trap.
Along some bluff there may be a score or perhaps a hundred dens, and to set a trap at each is out of the question, with the trapper who has an abundance of traps, as well as the one who has only a few. At such places it is best to set your traps where there are the most signs. Traps set here should be baited and the bait placed back in the den, beyond the trap.
It is not necessary to set traps in the dens to catch your game, altho that is considered one of the best places, for some animals have no certain dens, but hole up for the day, wherever daylight finds them. By this we mean they enter the first den they find. This being the case, trappers who know the locality, that is the feeding grounds of game, are most successful. Should you set your trap in the entrance to some den and no animal live there or pass that way there is no chance of being rewarded for the trouble.
As is well known, most fur-bearing animals are carnivorous, feeding on flesh, and the trapper who can locate the place, that is the hunting grounds of the game he is trapping, is usually successful. Along creeks in the mud and sand, look for mink and coon tracks. If they are found often, their dens are not far off. Both of these animals are much given to traveling along creeks and low swampy land and we have seen at such a place bait nailed to a tree, some two feet from the ground, and a trap nicely set just beneath it. The trap too, was set in the right place, for game was caught. It may be that in your trapping rounds you will come to a den where a rabbit or some bird has been devoured. Often you find that it has been eaten close to the entrance. Here is just the place to set your trap for if the animal is not now within it is apt to return.
The various sets made by trappers may be divided into three classes, known as land, water and snow sets, altho each can be varied to suit different cases. The land set is used for all land animals and includes sets made at dens in trails, paths, etc.
Snow sets are largely used for the shyer animals such as fox and wolf altho trappers use this set for any land animal when they think conditions right. Traps when set for foxes and wolves are usually set just before a snow fall, if the trapper is enough of a weather prophet to do this.
The water set is used mostly for otter, beaver and muskrat. Mink and raccoon are also caught in large numbers in water sets. Fox trappers in the Northeast catch many foxes in springs at water sets before hard freezing weather sets in.
I will give an excellent method of trapping animals on land writes an Ohio trapper. Fasten your bait to the body of a tree about a foot from the ground and near a den or other place frequented by the animals you want to catch. Dig up the ground at the foot of the tree and cover the loose earth with leaves, also place your brush drag near the tree and after the animal begins to eat the bait, set your trap right under it and about six or eight inches from the tree and fastening the trap to the brush drag. Replace the leaves over the trap and cover the chain with leaves or dead grass. Do not disturb anything around the trap but leave the drag, etc., just as it was before the trap was set.
For mink fasten the bait on the side of a log, one end of which rests in the water and the other on the bank of the stream. The bait should be at least ten inches from the ground. Set your traps under the bait and staple the chain to the log. The first mink that comes along will pass under the log and stopping to investigate the bait will get his toes pinched. The best covering for this set is dead grass, leaves or snow. The best bait for mink is the head of a fowl or a piece of fish or muskrat.
About trapping mink in their den; first, if you find a den where a mink is living, says a trapper, don't by any means mash the brush or grass down around the den holes, but approach it very carefully with not less than two traps, all set and ready to place at the mouth or entrance of the den.
Now look sharply to see which hole the mink uses most. You can tell by the leaves and the grass which are worn to a sort of chaff in the mouth or entrance of the den. If you look carefully you will perhaps see three or five holes. You will always see two or three holes larger than any of the rest. The smaller holes are to escape by when any larger animal comes into the den.
If you look sharply you will notice a few inches from one of the holes another hole which he uses. Well, make a bed and place your trap deep enough to be covered lightly, just in front of this hole and so that your trap jaws will close lengthwise with the hole or the worn path. Never set your trap crosswise to a mink hole or run. Always drive your stake level, with the ground in which your trap is set if possible. Now go to the hole in front of the den and set your other trap or traps in the same manner, make just as little noise as possible while setting the traps and when leaving.
It is known to secure best results, traps should be looked at each day and the earlier in the morning the better. A trapper who has out from 50 to 150 traps scattered for a distance of ten, fifteen or twenty miles has a good day's work before him, but the trapper who has only a few should make his round early in the morning. It may be that an animal is not securely caught and an early visit to the trap will still find your game fast, whereas had you waited till later in the day it would have escaped.
Some trappers are inclined to believe that certain animals gnaw their legs off when caught. Our belief, after years of experience, is that if an animal is caught by the leg after some hours the flesh below the jaws of the trap becomes numb and the animal begins to gnaw it. If the bone is broken by the force of the jaws closing, the chances are that the animal may after a day or so escape. If the bone is not broken there is but little danger of the game getting away. The animal gnaws below the jaws, very seldom above.
One mistake that many trappers make is that on the first stormy or cold night of a prolonged cold spell, they neglect their traps until warm weather. Experienced trappers never do this; they know that the first night of a cold spell all animals are generally much more active than usual — they are hunting food and a good den. It seems that the fur-bearing animals are forewarned about the weather, or that instinct has endowed them with this power. At any rate they are on the alert the first night before a prolonged cold spell, and on just such nights the largest catches are usually made. A night that starts in only fairly cold and later turns quite cold — the beginning of a severe spell — is the night that the professional likes to see, or at any rate, he is out to his traps at the first sign of day.
In the dead of winter it may be of little use to look at traps for most game. Altho some animals, such as the mink, fox and weasel, do not hole up on account of cold weather. Skunks have been known to remain in their dens for eight weeks in winter. Several cases are on record where these animals have been tracked to their dens, all entrances closed, traps set within and no catch made for eight weeks.
In the Northern sections these animals hole up in December and remain there until early in February, unless there is a very warm spell. In other sections, in the South, they continue active throughout the entire season. In the Middle and Central States this animal remains in its den during severe weather only. At other times skunks have been known to remain in their dens for a month, but in such cases the animal has perhaps gone in on a rabbit, killed it and is living off its carcass.
Where the trapper is after otter, beaver, and muskrat, and his sets are made with the sliding pole or with a wire fastened to end of chain leading to deep water so that the animal is drowned, the traps need not be looked at daily, for the game is dead and under water, in which condition the fur will not be injured for some days.
Mink and coon are also caught in water sets, and should be drowned by using the same fastenings as for the water animals. It is a good idea to tie a weight to chain near the trap, so that when the animal is caught and gets into deep water, the additional weight helps to hold it down and so of course it drowns sooner.
Spring poles are used in many of the Northern States and Canada, so that when an animal is caught it is lifted several feet into the air and out of reach of other animals, but in other sections the spring pole is little used and trappers should get over their lines of traps as often as possible, for there is always more or less danger of the animal escaping or being destroyed by larger game.
The most successful trappers are those who visit their traps often. In addition to loosing little or no fur after once being caught, they keep their "sets" in good condition.
The experienced trapper knows that the first night before severe weather each winter, his traps are much more liable to contain game than on almost any other night. Why is this? Animal instinct tells the animal that winter weather is coming, and they travel much more just previous to cold snaps hunting food and good warm dens. At this time, too, they go into most any den to explore it. Some trappers neglect their traps the first cold night. This is a mistake, for the animal often travels the first night of a cold spell as well as the night previous. Of course they do not travel as much the first cold night as the night previous, but some animals not suited with the den found, stir around another night looking for better quarters.
This rule perhaps does not hold good for such animals as fox, mink, marten and other fur-bearers that keep traveling most nights during the winter, no matter how severe the weather, but with such animals as skunk, coon, opossum, muskrat, etc., it does. The first night of a cold spell early in the season and the first night of a warm spell during the winter, trappers should have their traps in good order.
Many trappers, as soon as the trapping season opens, set traps for all kinds of fur-bearing animals that are found on their grounds. This as a rule is a mistake. Skunk and muskrat should be taken first, from the fact that skunks den up with the first severe weather and muskrat are hid under the ice. So trap these animals in earnest at the first of the season.
On the other hand, mink and fox travel the coldest nights in midwinter as well as the warm ones; in fact, these two animals are most successfully trapped when some of the other fur-bearers are denned up. Coon, however, should also be trapped rather early, as they den up early in the season, although they come out on warm nights. By February 15th skunk are usually running again. This applies to central sections. Of course North and South, the conditions vary. In the extreme south the animals keep going all winter, while in the far North some den up for many months.
Trappers must use their judgment what to trap first, depending somewhat upon the number of trappers in their section. The above is meant for the trapper who is stationed for a full season at the same place. Of course the trapper who is moving, often takes any and all animals he can if the fur is prime.
In determining the length of time to have a trap set depends largely upon how many other traps you have in the vicinity and what success you are having with them. It may be that a trap will remain at a den for two weeks unsprung and during the next two weeks catch two or three animals. Other traps may be sprung occasionally and not contain game, but if the trapper has followed instructions as previously given there should be little difficulty in catching each and every animal that comes after the bait. The trap should have the animal the first time it attempts to steal the bait, but of course it cannot be expected to every time. A good trapper will get the animal, however, before it fools with the bait many times.
If, on visiting a trap, you find the bait gone, replace it and set the trap as before. The chances are that on the next visit of the animal it will get caught. Should, on the second visit, the bait be gone and the trap unsprung, the chances are that the animal is still in the den and is stealing the bait from within, without stepping over the trap. In this case, either place the bait on the outside of trap or not use any bait for a few nights. The animal will most likely soon venture out, if you quit feeding it, and will get caught.
The ideas advanced by some that animals spring traps after turning them over, with their noses or paws, is all nonsense. It may be possible that they do step over the trap and knock it off with their body, thus not getting caught. Such cases are rare, however. You have no doubt visited your trap and found a few hairs in it. On such occasions it was probably knocked off by the body of the animal. It may be possible that animals have turned traps over in their endeavors to get bait with their nose or paw, but you can rest assured that they did not know by so doing that it lessened the chance of getting caught. If you can induce an animal to come and get the bait there is no doubt but that you will catch your game sooner or later.
In regard to traps being sprung, it is possible they are set too easy, and go off of their own accord, after the trapper has left them. Again they may work too hard, not going off easy enough. All these things the trapper should guard against. If the trap has been properly set there will be no trouble from the source just named, and traps once set the trapper should keep away from, as far as possible when making his rounds, unless they are sprung, the bait gone or contain game.
Should traps be sprung morning after morning without catching the animal it is possible that if you move the trap, or better still leave the one as before and set another, you will be rewarded. Sometimes an animal will manage to get bait without getting caught. At other times it may get bait without knocking off the trap. At such times the bait is too near the trap most likely, the animal reaching it without stepping over the trap, or if the trap has not been properly set the animal may be going around the trap.
Just how long a trap should be left at one place if not bothered is hard to say as so many things bear upon the question; if the weather is cold and few animals moving they should be left much longer than if good trapping weather. If the den has been a good one other years, that is, if you have caught game there, then leave longer than if you never caught anything there. If other traps are making catches near, leave as long as you are trapping there unless you find a much better looking den near and have no trap with you, then take this one.
When traps are sprung and pulled back into the den as far as the chain will allow them to go, the chances are that the animals is still in the den. On the other hand, if the trap is dragged to the outside the game is liable to have gone away. In either case it will likely be around again in a few nights, as having once got a meal it will not be slow to make another visit. If the animal was caught and only escaped after prolonged struggles is may not return for some time and possibly not at all. Yet when a trap is set and fastened as directed, few animals when once caught escape. Here is where proper fastening comes into use; if the trap had a fairly good hold on the animal and the trap was staked solid the game might have escaped but would be so badly injured and frightened that it might never return.
When fastened properly to a bush or light drag, the game rarely escapes even though the trap has only a toe hold, unless the trapper is days in making the rounds. Should an animal escape when only slightly injured it is apt to soon return.
In many cases where game has escaped after once being caught it is not the fault of the trap but of the trapper. Should the bone in the animal's leg be broken and after days of endeavoring the animal frees itself there should be no blame attached to the trap, the fault is with the trapper — he should have visited the trap sooner.
Many trappers believe that animals become so sharp that they will turn traps over. This we hardly believe. At the same time trappers have set traps upside down and caught the animals. This, perhaps, is accounted for from the fact that the animal in reaching for bait would turn the trap. It is usually the case that animals will go about getting bait in a certain manner and the changing of location of trap may be the means of making a catch.
Some years ago when trapping mink, I visited a certain deadfall that was "down" each morning and the bait eaten. The trap was reset and rebaited each time for perhaps a week, even after making the pen smaller and the trap easier to go off, it continued to be down and bait gone. By this time I was anxious, and taking a No. 1 steel trap I carefully set it on the inside of the pen, covered it well and rebaited the deadfall. On my round the next morning neither the trap nor bait were disturbed.
The second morning the deadfall was down and in the steel trap was a small mink — the smallest I ever caught. This accounted for the animal being able to get inside the pen and eat the bait. It was so small that when the log fell its body was entirely inside the fall. I hardly think that small mink, which was less than a year old, knew that it would get caught unless it was inside the fall, but its size was such that it could easily get out of danger, and each time it ate the bait it was in the same position on the inside.
Some trappers as soon as they have caught one animal remove their trap thinking that there is no longer any use to leave it at that den. While this may sometime hold good in case of large game, such as bear, panther, etc., it does not with most animals; in fact, there are certain dens where trappers each season take from two to five or even more animals. In the case of the larger game even they seem to scent your bait and two bears and occasionally more have been caught at the same place within a few days.
The fact, as a rule, that you have caught one animal in a den, should not cause you to remove your trap. The more animals caught at the same den the better. There is a reason why certain dens are the favorite homes of animals. It may be because they are dry and warm, that there is a nice bed of leaves, etc. At any rate, trappers know that certain dens are valuable — that each season there are animals living there — it making no difference how many have been caught the previous winter. At such dens it will pay to leave your traps all the season, that is, if you have other traps that are catching game in the vicinity. Of course it would not pay to leave one trap set if you did not have others within a short distance. As a rule where there is one good den of this kind there are others in the vicinity, so that you do not want to remove from that certain section.
It often happens that two trappers trap during the season on the same ground, one in the fall and the other later in the season. The second one has often taken more game than the first in the same length of time. Both were considered good trappers and of equal experience. This only goes to show that you never know when all the game is caught; in fact, it never is, for if such was the case there would be nothing left to catch another season, yet when another season arrives the game is apparently about as numerous as ever.
This shows that good dens should be looked up by trappers, if in new trapping grounds to them, before the season opens. The best time to look for signs is in the fall, yet many a good den has been discovered by tracking animals in the snow to their burrow. These extra good dens are usually located on high grounds, at least not in swamps or very low land. It is true, however, that on low land and along sinks and damp places there is good trapping early in the season, but as a rule animals hunt higher and drier sections before the extreme cold weather comes. This being true the best dens are most always found on high and dry ground. Another proof of this is the fact that when large numbers of skunk are dug out of a den it is nearly always on high and dry land.
That there are many excellent dens along rocky bluffs, sandy hill sides, and other like places, the experienced trapper knows. He also knows that along the low land in early fall is good trapping. Mink and coon are, of course, to be caught along streams at all times. It is not necessary to state even to the amateur if muskrat, beaver and otter are what the trapper is after, that along streams is the only place to make a success.
Days spent early in the season looking up dens where hairs, bones, feathers, dung, etc., are to be seen, are days well spent, for many times has a trapper set traps at dens where within a few hundred yards were many better ones, but not being acquainted with the locality, he overlooked these until a snow came. Then he tracked an animal which led him to the dens, otherwise he perhaps would not have discovered them at all. Keep your eye open at all times for good dens. That a large number of animals were caught at a certain den last winter is evidence that that certain den is just the kind of a burrow they want.
It may be that you caught all the animals that lived there the winter before, but others have been raised since. These on their wanders for food have found the den and have found, like their relatives of the winter before, that it was just what they wished, hence they, too, have returned for the winter.
At any rate, a den that is good one season is worth more to the professional trapper than one that has never before showed signs. Or in other words, if he has only one trap left and discovers a new den apparently as good as the one where the winter before he made such good catches, you may rest assured that he will set his trap at the old den. It is possible that not a single animal will be caught this season at the den where such good catches were made last season, but this is an exception rather than the rule.
Old trappers will tell you that they caught so many animals at this den in a certain season, so many the next, etc. Perhaps more skunk have been caught at one den in a single season than any other animal. The catching of ten or twelve at a place is no uncommon occurrence in a season. There are a few cases on record where trappers have caught as high as fifteen, and one instance that we know of, where seventeen were caught at one den from November to March 10th. This was certainly a remarkable catch.
Old trappers will also tell you that signs are what you should look for at all times. These are not only found at dens, but by watching everywhere; signs found in the woods often cause the trapper to hunt for dens which are often close by. Good dens are not at all hard to tell by the experienced trapper, and if you are a young trapper and can induce some experienced trapper to let you make the rounds with him or pay him to spend a day or two with you, it will be to your advantage.
During the summer months when you are running around through the fields and woods fishing and hunting and having a good time, then is the time to start the foundation for the coming season's trapping. Always be on the lookout for signs and learn to read Nature's writings. Then when the trapping season opens, you will know exactly where to set your traps and you will be far ahead of the other fellow that has waited till the season opens before looking over the grounds.
I am glad to see an awakening of the trapper for the protection of fur-bearing animals during the summer months when the fur is unprime; also, the protection of the animal dens. In the June number of H-T-T, writes an Iowa trapper, I called trappers' attention to Johnny Dig-em-out and his destructive method of trapping, and I think every trapper that has trapped in a thickly settled country will bear me out when I say he has lots to do with the disappearance of the fur-bearing animals. I will cite you to the buffalo for instance; years ago the plains were covered with them, but after the hide hunters had gotten in their work for a few years the buffalo was a thing of the past. So, brother, let us take heed before it is too late, or the time will soon come when trapping in the older settled parts of the country will be a very unprofitable business.
Ten years ago in this part of the country, skunk were very plentiful; it was a very poor farm indeed that did not contain at least one skunk den, but now they are about as scarce a fur-bearer as we have. The Dig-em-outs will ask, "Does it pay to trap skunk when you find a den?" I say "Yes." Eight or ten years ago I tracked a skunk into a den. I trapped three skunks in as many nights from that den, and since then I have probably taken twenty-five from the same place, and the den is in good condition yet, and each winter I know where to go to get skunk. Brother, did it pay to leave that den? Some say it is too slow work to trap out a skunk den; I will tell you a quick way that I have tried with success. Build three or four pens near the den, put a bait in each pen and a trap at the entrance of each. I have caught as high as three in a night from one den, that way.
Now trappers, let us strive the coming season, to protect the homes of our fur-bearers, so we can enjoy the pleasures and profits of trapping in the years to come. Let us take the fellow that digs out the dens aside and give him a little good advice and show him where he is working against his own good. Many of them are nice fellows, but simply a little thoughtless about the future of these animals.
While baiting traps is not necessary when trapping at dens, yet the trapper who baits his traps will catch more game than if the traps were not baited. To show where a baited trap has the advantage, we will suppose that an animal passes a den where a trap is set but not baited. It is just as a notion takes the animal — it may pay a visit to the den and go in, and again it may not. If a trap is baited the chances are that if the animal passes within a few feet, it will reach the bait.
Bait, whether bird, fish, chicken, beef offals or rabbit, should be fresh for most animals. When trapping at dens the bait should be stuck on a short stick, so as to keep it off the ground, and placed back in the den, beyond the trap some eighteen inches or two feet. Should the bait be gone morning after morning and the trap unsprung, your game is pretty sure to be still in the den and living off your bait. In this case it will be a good idea to change and place the bait on the outside. If the animal is getting the bait from within, you are pretty sure to make a catch within a few nights.
If trapping in the woods for coon or along streams, where they travel, a piece of bait nailed to a tree, some two feet from the ground, and a trap set directly under it is not a bad set. For mink, bait can be suspended from a branch, tied by a string, to within say two feet of the ground. To set a trap directly beneath the bait if properly done and near where these animals travel, is a good way to take them.
The methods used by some trappers of placing bait on the pan of the trap should never be employed. An animal in reaching for the bait will spring the trap with its nose, and unless the trap is a very large one, not get caught. The correct place to put bait is where an animal in reaching for it, will be apt to get one of its fore feet in the trap. The way to do this can be told by a little study before setting the trap. If the animal you are trapping is a small one the bait should not be placed so far beyond the trap as for a larger one.
Should you find the bait gone when visiting your traps, replace it at once and see that your trap is all right. In nine cases out of ten, the animal will be around again in a night or two for another meal. Persevere and you will get your game sooner or later. Seeing that your traps are kept properly baited is an important item; also, keeping bait as fresh as possible. After the bait has been at a trap for a week if it has not been molested, it is best to replace with something fresh. Do not throw the old bait away, either hang it up, out of reach of animals or carry it away from the den. If you have plenty of fresh bait, it will pay to replace oftener than once a week.
If you have a large quantity of fresh bait and have more than you can use to advantage, on your traps, it can be made use of, by cutting into small pieces and testing a number of dens. By this we mean putting a small piece of bait at dens you think are good or show some sign of game, but at which you have no traps. In a few days, visit these dens again and at all where the bait is gone, rebait and set a trap. This is a very good method and has helped many a trapper to increase his catch.
Most trappers do not take into consideration the keen scent of the animal they hope to victimize. To know how to set a trap properly is far from all in the line of success. To know your "critter" at every turn he may make and to entice him from his wonted way by means that challenges his cunning through his appetite and yet overcome that suspicion of place and the circumstances of immediate surroundings is the real acme of trappers' art.
To place a bait anywhere above the trap is well enough for an animal of less cunning than a fox. But to challenge that cunning in a fox, better way is to bury the bait. The proper way to go about it is to make a trail by dragging through the brush or thicket a hare, squirrel or bird, and at the proper distances along this blind trail, strew the feathers of some bird, or make a bed for your bait, no trap being set, until you "take the sign" of one of your varmints.
Notice well the approaches to your intended "set." To be sure of your game, you must notice the "run" of more than one animal at a given place but the buried bait must be adhered to thruout your whole line. A bait, to my experience is more attractive when it is out of sight but so placed that your critter must work to reach it, in common phrase "root hog, or die." By this means the cunning of your victim is cast aside in its endeavor. Much depends on the patience of the trapper and his real handiwork. Where a set of this kind is made or contemplated, the presence of a few feathers are the prime requisites. Make it appear that a carnival of flesh has taken place and that the spared remnants lie buried just beneath. Drawing on your game in this belief for some time before making a set, is the proper caper.
If you can procure an ancient egg you have the tidbit for any varmint that may hit your track. You perhaps have heard much about the so-called "scents" or oils. They in a way are good to disguise the dreaded human odor, but may well be dispensed with and some are entirely out of place. Time will obliterate any and all human odor, providing you use your implements with tact and good judgment, your bait will keep and it will draw better a day or two after the first set. I never could teach any one much unless he went along the line with me. Trapping is a profession and not every one is by nature adapted for it, but some take to it as natural as a duck to water.
I get three or four dead chickens and start out. I place them along the bank and usually tie them to some small tree so that the head will about reach the ground. I never build a pen around them. I wait until something get to eating them, and then I take a trap and place it directly in front of where it has been eaten, and use more traps if necessary. I have caught as many as three skunks around one chicken, — have caught more that way than any way I have tried. Brother trappers try my plan and be convinced.
The entrails of muskrat, rabbit, chicken or duck will make far better bait than the animal or bird itself. In very cold weather I use the oil of wild duck which I save in the fall, but even in using the baits I speak of I invariably dig up the ground, unless it is a water set or a swamp set on some log.
In cold weather, or in fact during the entire trapping season, fur-bearing animals are searching for something to eat and consequently the trap that is baited is more liable to catch than one that is not. Fresh rabbit is an excellent bait for most animals.