Well, well, well…I suppose this is something we all will have to get used to…The P.M. trapping reports.  Because of the long days that stretch into the evening, my P.M. reports are just going to have to be the beginning of the next days report.  I just don’t have the time, nor the energy, to get it done before bedtime.  Let’s look at yesterday.

Wapiti Dung joined me on the trap line yesterday and we didn’t get too bad a start on the day, leaving town about 8:30.  With two toys, we had to hitch up his larger trailer, which we did with not real big deal and then off we went, arriving at the trapping site about 9:30.

The goal, besides checking all 107 traps was to set some out on the end of the Little Spring line.  The checking went well on both Big Spring and Little Spring lines with a rat caught on each of them…2 rats for the day.  With each catch Wapiti would say, “That’s one of 20!  That’s two of 20”!  I smiled and reminded him that we would be lucky to catch 10 this day.

At the end of Little Spring, we ventured off to the South West to the end of the line…which is a fence that separates this water from a Goose Club…we don’t have permission to play on the Goose Club.  Out at the end we found thick but soft ice…lots of it…and water that is normally not as deep as we found it.  The reason is the ice farther down stream is creating a dam and backing up the water.  We grabbed a few traps and ventured out onto the ice in the swamp, looking for air holes or breaks in the ice where we might be able to stick out head in and see rat sign.  It wasn’t easy but we finally found some open water or places we could break the ice and set some traps.  The water was knee deep when we were able to walk in it.

There was quite a bit of sign, lots of runs but only one or two “rat sitting” spots (places they like to relieve themselves).  We covered the entire area with 22 traps.  Little Spring is now set and will remain so until I figure I have caught the majority of the population out…about 4 days I figure.

Next we traveled up to the Trellis, unloaded and ventured out to see what the little Christmas presents would yield.  6 rats!  For a total of 8 rats in the bag!  Two more to go and we would have the 10 I figured we would capture, and we still have Bull Run to check.  The place we parked to unload in order to check the Trellis line was just off a main highway and up on the hill we saw a pleasant surprise….several deer were munching on the forage and basking in the sun.

During the day we probably saw about 30 deer in different places along our travel route and most of them look pretty good for this time of year.  At least they made it through what I consider a pretty dang tough winter.

Loaded up, we were again off and running, this time to Bull Run…time was getting somewhat late as it was after 2 p.m. (that is late in my mind for just getting to Bull Run).  We had to pull just off the highway and back off the trailer.  The spot we picked was wide and safe from the highway, but what we didn’t take into account was the steepness of the shoulder off the highway.  I backed off without much of an incident, but when Wapiti backed off his front end came off the ground at least a foot!  That was scary!  We would have to do something different when we loaded up later.

I only had two more conibear traps with me and I told Wapiti that when we got to the end of Bull Run I was going to set those two traps just to get them employed.  A trap on the toy does not catch fur.

Now into Bull Run we ventured…”9 of 20″!  “10 of 20”!  “11 0f 20”!  While walking toward the sets where the raccoon had got away with the trap on Saturday, I told Wapiti to keep a close watch out while we walked and maybe we would see the trap.  Who knows which direction the little critter would have gone….There it is!  I found the trap, stake and all!  Lucky guy was me!  When we got to the spot, I re-set it in the same run where the raccoon found the rat, this time I pushed the stake as far into the mud as it would go.

“12 of 20”!  “13 of 20”!  This is getting to be a crazy day of trapping.  Approaching the next trap, there it was, up on the bank with a totally eaten muskrat carcass still stuck in the jaws of the conibear.  At least this time he didn’t get away with the trap.  He had to enjoy his free meal right there on the bank of the Bull Run stream…I hate raccoons.  I’m finding I’m beginning to hate a lot of things…Snow…Raccoons…Bulls….

“14 of 20”!  Another lost rat to another raccoon.  Dang those critters are taking their toll on the line, but at least I haven’t lost any traps to them.  “15 of 20”!  Holy crap Wapiti…we only have 5 more traps to check…It’s possible to make it to 20 rats for the day, but not really practical…we would have to have 5 for 5 on the next check to make it.  Wapiti stayed in a “mud free zone”, while I ventured out past where Shipley almost went over the top of his boot on Saturday…As I approached the flag that indicated a trap was near by, Wapiti would yell to me…”Tell me you have caught rat number “16”, (or whatever the rat count was)”!

With 5 traps left to check, I came to the first one, reached into the hole it was guarding and felt the body of a rat…I held it up…16!  We both yelled “Whooppiieeee”!!!!  Reset the trap and move to the next….Wapiti yelled out again…”Tell me you have caught rat number 17″!  I pulled on the trap chain and up came a big old rat caught squarely in the conibear…”17″!   “Whooppiiiieeeee”!

In my mind the next trap should be empty, as it is not in the most favorable place in my mind, but with two rats in my hand, along with the two conibear traps I plan to check, I make it over to that traps flag and what to my wondering eyes to fall on…the furry back of rat number “18”!  “Whoooppiieee”!  This is getting to be unbelievable!  Now with three rats in one hand and the two conibear traps in the other, I stumble over to the fourth set.  Wapiti yells…”Tell me you have caught number 19 of 20″!  I’m thinking, sure Wapiti, we are going to catch another rat just like that…ha…we will be very lucky to catch one more rat in these last two traps.  As I approach this trap, I can not see the trap in the hole, just the stake.  I yell to Wapiti that the stake is there but I can’t see the trap.  I reach down and feel along the stake for the trap chain, my fear is a raccoon has come along and some how gotten the trap off the stake by pulling the trap ring over the top of the forks on the stick…I feel the trap chain…pulling on that chain it has a lot of weight on it and as it drags through the interior of the hole…up comes rat number 19!…..”Nineteen I yell out”!  “Whoooppiiieeee”!  We both yell!  I am beside myself to think we just might make it to the 20 rat mark and we have that one last set to check.

I turn and head for that set, carrying four rats that must weigh 15 pounds total plus the 2 conibears and mud coming to my knees, this is not an easy task.  I approach the trap and remember I had covered it with a large mass of toolies to keep the raccoons from finding it.  Laid all the rats and traps down and removed the toolies and there laid rat number 20…caught dead fast in that last trap…I pulled up the stake, and quickly held the caught rat up toward Wapiti…”TWENTY”!!!!!  We both were yelling and laughing…if anyone would have been around to hear us they would have called us crazy for sure.

I made my way over to Wapiti with the 5 heavy weight rats and we both crawled our way through the phragmity (spelling) to a spot outside the swamp.  He took the double handful of rats over to the toys, while I went back into the swamp to swag in the two conibear traps.

Back at the skinning shed, Bob had two rats laying on the floor waiting to be skinned!  A 22 rat day!

So, there you have it for yesterdays P.M. report…22 big rats and 24 more traps set.  What will today bring?

My goal for the day is to get over to Bull Run first thing and set more traps.  I would like to get it completely set today, but that might not happen.  It is not frozen like the other places and it may take two days to get it set.  Another reason to get to it early is the ground might be frozen a bit and my toy shouldn’t dig up the grain field as much as waiting until it thaws some.  In order to do that, I’m going to have to stop sitting here and get my butt in gear!

Could there be another 20 rat day in store?  I’ve been missing the count every day so far…I’m not going to venture a guess now.  Two to pay for gas is all I’m hoping for.

Bears Butt

March 5, 2013