Catmando1/sons trap lines

[catmando1]

Okay, a pretty slow night indeed. I was pretty sure we were heading for the big goose egg as we went through the line. Fortunately, there were 3 that thought they had to go roam about. I always hate the next few nights after a good night, they always seem to be S-L-O-W.

Also Cam requested that I show My first cuts on a coon, so I got pics of the take, and some skinning shots....... here they are.



first I ring the feet


Then I take a quick measure using my finger, the length of my first knuckle or about one inch from the bottom of the vent.


Then I make a straight line cut to the measured point, from the heel side of the foot, on both sides. Then skin legs out to tail. This is known as the "money cut", as doing as described, adds an inch or two in length to the finished pelt.


I then make a small slit along the top edge of the vent


then cut along the sides of vent, at a slight angle, to meet the first cut.


then cut down part way on the tail, and skin down about half way, and using a tail stripper I strip the tail.



From there, skinning is the usual case skinning to the nose.

[wolf1199]

Very nicely done and nice pics. I cannot believe the fat on that coon. What are you feeding them

[white316]

Very nice catman,quite a drop 12 to 3 but thats trapping.

[judd]

Good show catmando1.

[fuzz269]

Wow are them coons fat, thanks for the pix, now if I ever find one I will know how to skin it.

[catmando1]

Holy crud!!!!! If I would have known that was gonna end up in the archives, I would have gone ahead and finished out the pics and skinning job!!!! Sorry Cam, and thanks!


Thanks everyone! Yepper, coons are FAT-SO's! Ours are well fed with anything they could possibly want. All the fat at times really makes skinning tricky, and is not the most pleasant fleshing either!

[Cam]

Thank you catman.

[catmando1]

Day 3, and not much better, I am pretty sure I hate this full moon. only got 4 today, and they were not very big and one was off color. I'm not complaining though, they are coons.

Trapline pics






Here is todays damage



At least we get to go put in our other half of our traps today! I'll post some typical sets pics this evening. Later!

[fuzz269]

Go gettim Catman, you are doin great.

[judd]

I think its cool you use mostly blind sets,,cuts down on the grinner and skunk catch.

[white316]

Nice pic's catman,,everything is froze up here.

[nightrider]

Preseason work pays off,very nice pics.

[Cam]

Thanks for taking the time to post the blind set locations.

[wolf1199]

In this field i am out to lunch, very impressive on what you know about catching coon.Very nice pics and keep posting.

[catmando1]

today is one to remember for us. The extra work did pay off, and made MORE work!!!!! ;D I don't know what else to say, but I got more trapline pics, and todays catch. We ended up with several multiple catch spots, 1 triple, and 4 doubles, and several more single catches. I'll shut up and let the pic to the talking for the blind sets effectiveness.




OLD GUY!!!



Same old guy as before!



At the end of the day, we caught 18 coons, and 6 oppossums (3 were released). Dang grinners, I'm sure H planted them on us!!!! LOL! We only have 15 coons pictured, as 3 were pretty small, but will make nice food.



I also took pics of 2 that were taken in blind set body grips in the 160 size. Trappers tend to think 160's are to small for coons, and I wanted to show just how good they handle even large coons to de-bunk that line of thought.




So, there ya'll go, I hope you enjoyed. I know it is tireing of seeing the same things over and over, but I want everyone to see what we go through every year, instead of just hearing about it....... more real to the reader that way!