One of the perks of trapping this time of year is seeing the snow geese migrate through.  This picture isn’t the best, as I took it with my phone camera but you can still see a large group of geese on the ground and some in the air.  They have to be the noisiest birds in the world.  The really funny thing about this band of geese is that just about 300 yards away there were some hunters set up and the geese just would not go in their direction.

Another subject on a water trapping line is boots.  Hip boots, waders, chest waders, whatever you want to call them and whatever style suits your fancy; unless you want to be wet and cold and miserable, you will wear boots.

Last year you will recall my purchase of the most expensive boots I have ever bought…Godwin Muck Boots…they had high praise in the web world and most people rated them 5 stars…I had a different experience and mine leaked.  I called the company I bought them through and sent them back…they in turn sent me another pair.  It was too late in the season to try them out and so I stored them, out of the box mind you, in my basement.  They were NOT folded in any way, but stored in their length, out of the sun and in the cool of the basement.

They leak.

I’m not happy with these boots and neither is Bob, who purchased a pair just like mine thinking they were some good looking, hard wearing boots.  So, my assumption is THEY ALL LEAK!  Period.

In my weak mind way, I have opted not to bother the company with my complaint again, but I did contact them and tell them that their leaking boots could cause someone on a very cold trap line to get hypothermia and they should recall all their boots.  Nuff said.

So, while in Walmart the other day, I saw a can of spray leak stopping rubber and I bought it.

When I got home I took my boots out and hung them in the tree and sprayed the upper portions of the boots, where the water comes in, my hope is that it will seal them up and keep me from getting wet.

Yesterday I had one heck of a time getting them to fold down so I could get my foot in them, but finally managed.  By the time the trapping was done, however, they folded down just fine.  Did my legs get wet?  I’m not sure, because it was raining so danged hard I was soaked from head to toe and that could have been the cause.  So the jury is still out.  Today the chance of rain is only 30%, so I’ll probably be able to put the boots to a true test.

So, what can I expect today?

Well, I feel pretty confident on the traps we set in the Bull Arena yesterday.  So confident in fact I bet Bob a 25 ounce beer I would come home with “at least 31 rats” today.

In addition to the rats, I have two skunks I have to dump out of their live traps and re-bait for raccoons.  I think I probably will have caught one raccoon today as well.

Bears Butt

February 28, 2014…If you had plans to get something done in February, today is your last day to get it done!  Just sayin!

P.M. REPORT

Surprised again out on the trap line!

I headed straight out with an extra 40 Conibear traps and decided to set traps before I checked traps.  I managed to set an additional 27 traps, extending the line from where we ended yesterday (in Bull Arena) to the end of the line.  Then I went back to the top and began checking the traps we set yesterday.  I thought for sure we had set nearly 70 traps yesterday, but when I counted them we had only set 54 (which is a lot of traps, but not nearly as many as 70)….so with my beer making bet with Bob at a very bad compromise, I went to checking traps….I ended with 23 rats!  Pretty much on line with a first checking of 54 traps..27 would have been 50%, and I did have 3 or 4 other traps set off with nothing in them.  Well I lost the beer bet.

Then I headed over to Doris’ pond to set what I could there.  By this time it was getting windy, cold and late.  I went around the West edge carrying 10 Conibears, but soon decided it would be better to go around the pond with no traps and mark the places to put traps.  So, back to the rig I went and dropped off the Conibears.

You have to understand this pond…it’s not very big, maybe 3/4 acre in size, but it is completely encircled with tumble weeds that have blown into it…all around the edges.  It is also very deep, with steep sides, because of last summers dredging work.  Yes, there are some weeds, toolies and other water type plants growing in and around the pond, but it is not easy to find places to set traps.

Well after making my way around the pond, I could see I needed 2 bait sets and 11 Conibears…I gathered them up and went to work.  After setting the last trap, and as I was walking back to the rig, I started counting the flags as a final check as to how many traps I had set.  What to my bewilderment did I see, but way across the pond the water near one of the flags was splashing.

I went over there and there was a muskrat, dead as dead!

It seems like every year there is some strange thing like this that happens and this was a great one!  Last year I only caught one rat out of this pond and so far this year I have caught one…on set day no less!

So, my total for the day ended up to be 24, while Bob caught 12.

I must say, his line is holding up well!  A 36 rat day is a great trapping day in anyone’s book.  No raccoons, no skunks and no rats in Mavryks bucket.

Bears Butt