Today, Aug. 20, 2011, starts the Utah big game hunting season.  The bow hunt began today at first light!  Next will be the dove hunt and then all of the other hunts to include, grouse, elk, duck, pheasant and the rest of the deer hunts.

I’m pretty excited about this years hunts, as usual.  There is something to be said about the muzzle loader hunt that just plain get me all giddy.  I’ve always said it begins and ends my year.  AND as a bonus, sometimes I even tag a buck and that puts some meat in the freezer and a new batch of jerky for everyone to enjoy.

Speaking of which, I’m out of jerky…does anyone have some extra meat from last year they would like to donate?  I’ll make you a deal…you provide the meat, and I’ll make the jerky and give you half!

Bears Butt

Aug. 2011

I found this site several years ago, when they only had 3 cameras in operation.  They have several more now and it is fun to go on and play with the views.  You can control the camera and look around the place, zoom up closer etc.  It is fun.

One time about two years ago I was controlling the camera at Jordanell State Park.  It was winter time and there was snow on the ground.  The lake had not frozen yet and a guy drives down the boat ramp in his truck.  Sits there for a minute looking at the water.  Then he gets out, walks around to the “camera side” of the truck (Passenger side in this case) and takes a pee.  WHAAAAA!

I wrote the guys that have control of the website and told them about it and suggested that maybe they should post signs at these locations that a real live time camera is working in the area.   I got no response back from them.

Anyway, it’s still a fun site.  The one at Bear Lake is on top of a building so you can really see who is sitting outside on the deck.  Maybe your significant other is up their with their “close” friend!  You never know.

http://www.livelakeview.com/

Bears Butt

Aug. 2011

This link is to a video put out on Elk101.com.  It shows you how to process the meat from a bit game animal you just shot without removing the insides from the animal.  You end up losing the heart and liver, but everything else goes home with you!

http://elk101.com/webisodes/gutless-video/

Bears Butt

Aug. 2011

I recently read about “Fire Lapping” your rifle or pistol in order to make it more accurate.  It seems that during the manufacturing of the riflings inside the barrel there are slight constrictions produced and according to what I read, these constrictions are nearly impossible for the gun makers to omit.  Every gun made has them.  Sometimes three or more in the barrel.

So, some smart guy, came up with a way to get the constrictions out, but shooting the gun with a special bullet coated with an abrasive substance called lapping compound.  Ever hear of such a thing?

The article said that the military guys who are the specialists at long range snipping, get really involved with the weapon that is issued to them.  They literally live with that weapon and they all “fire lap” their weapon to make it the most accurate of all the weapons out there.  They do other things to their weapons as well, but this is one of the things they do to accurasize them.

You can do it to a muzzleloader as well.  Special “harder than lead” bullets must be used, but it can be done.  Perhaps we should look into this and get our rifles better tuned for the upcoming rendezvous!  A kit I found on line, comes with the compound, two metal plates and 20 rounds of the special bullets for $45!  It takes 20 rounds to properly firelap a gun, according to this article.

Firelapping just might make you the winner of all the beers!

Bears Butt

Aug. 2011

We all have some sort of quirky little thing we do when fishing or hunting and in my circle we have what we call “quarter games”, when fishing.

Usually, we bet a quarter for each fish that is caught.  Sometimes we will qualify the fish, for instance, carp don’t count, or some other fish won’t count.  But usually every fish counts.  Sometimes it has to be a “keeper” fish to count.  So if you caught a really small fish it would not count.

There are other times when the fishing is really fast, like ice fishing for perch, when every time you drop in your line you get a bite, we will play a game we call “Lead Dog”.  In that game you have to catch two fish in a row to get a quarter from the others.  That game can get very intense!  Mostly because when I have caught the last fish and am Lead Dog, all I have to do is catch one more before You catch one.  Suddenly, you catch one…that makes you Lead Dog and I have to hurry and catch the next one before you and then I take the lead over again…get it?

When you have 4 or 5 fishermen playing that game it can really get to be a blast.  Once someone catches the two fish, everyone else gives them a quarter and then the game begins again.  Fun!

Today will be another one of the quarter days!

Bears Butt

Brother Bob, Brandon and I are headed for Hyrum Dam for some early day fishing today.  Got the cooler loaded with water, a soda each and a bologna sandwich each.  That should do it.

Bob is bringing the worms, Brandon is bringing the quarters.

Speaking of quarters:  We usually bet a quarter for each fish that is caught.  My tackle box runneth over.  If someone does not have a quarter than they can pay with a “swivel”, or an I.O.U…..I love both of those things.  They dangle and hang and never get used.

Bears Butt

Well, the fish gods were smiling on me today.  I caught two!  One largemouth bass and one nice trout.  Two quarters went in  my tackle box from the others in the boat!  Happy day for me!Bears Butt fisherman extraordinaire!!!

When I speak of trapping rats, I mean Muskrats.  In today’s market (2011), there is a very high demand for those little critters fur.  The Chinese garment makers are clamoring for more and more furs so they can make coats/scarfs/hats/liners etc. to sell to the Russian consumers.  You see, it is very cold in Russia and fur is by far the best natural insulator.  The Russians love fur garments.  Their economy was down for several years due mostly to the low price being given for their crude oil.  But now that has all turned around.  Oil prices are up, they are getting their feet firmly planted on the ground again and so they have spending money and a high desire to cloth themselves in warm over coats and the like.

The Chinese let their inventory of garments get very low because they were not selling “last years” clothing at a rate fast enough for them to make more.  They also were not offering very high prices for muskrat pelts here in the U.S. and so trappers virtually quite catching them.  Suddenly, we are faced with a very high demand and few goods on stretchers or in freezers to offer for sale.  Trappers are now coming out of the woodwork to catch them and reap the benefits of this high demand/high price item.

Brother Bob, Nephew Brek and I have not let the market determine whether we were going to catch rats or not.  We are.  It’s on the price end that has determined whether we freeze our catch or sell.  Two seasons ago we froze 700 pelts because the price being offered was only about $2.80 for each pelt.  We felt we needed another dollar for each pelt and the buyers were not willing to give us that much.  The next year we caught 900 rats, and the price was up in the high $3 range and we pooled the two years catches together and took them to Caldwell Idaho and sold them for $3.89 average.  That was a good check!  This year the demand was even higher and we caught 991 rats and they sold locally for $7 each!  N0w THAT was a good check!

I’ve already told you about all of this.  What I intended to do with this story was to show you some of the things that happen out on the trap line.  A trapper always wants to catch a rat in every trap, every day.  But in reality, what our individual goal is, is to make our expenditures each day.  Mostly it’s the price of our fuel to get to the trapping area and back that is the biggest driver.  So with my vehicle, I figure I need to catch at least 3 rats p/day to get my gas money back.  Since I am retired, what else am I going to do with my time?  So I don’t count that as spending anything.  Then there is a sandwich or two, some water and wear and tear on the vehicles.  3 rats at the usual $3 price and we have our expenses pretty much covered.

Bob and I usually try and get 100 traps out each on our individual lines.  You would think it would be easy to catch 3 rats with 100 traps out.  But it doesn’t always work that way.  When you first set the line, you only have part of the traps out.  It generally takes me 3 days to get my 100 traps set.  By the third day, the first 30 or so traps are “playing out” and the rats have caught onto the trap locations.  They are not dumb little critters.  I am always moving traps, while Bob leaves his set and waiting for the “run”.

I like to use mostly Conibear type traps.  These form a square when they are set and so they fit nicely into runs and over the mouths of dens.  When the rat swims down the run or comes out of or goes into the den, it gets caught.  Like this one.

Of course that is if the trap fires properly and no malfunctions occur.  I have learned over the past four or five trapping seasons that these seemingly faultless traps are all but faultless.  You would think that there would be no way they could fail.  But believe me, they have ways of  “almost” catching a rat.  And when they do, there is one very smart rat out there teaching the others what to be aware of and how to stay safe.

Case in point:  The Conibear type traps have wires that hang down into the opening of the trap when it is set.  The rat moves the wires out of the way as they make their way through the trap opening.  This movement of the wires, causes the Dog of the trap to release the jaws and the jaws close on the unsuspecting rat.  But on occasion, the wires can get caught on the closing jaw.  Even the Dog itself can catch on the jaw.  These things are very frustrating to me.  Check this one out.

How about a more frustrating miss when the dog itself catches on the closing jaw.  I never in all the world expected to see this happen, but here is proof.

Even the conventional trap like the Victor Stop Loss can have it’s issues.   When trapping in sticky clay like muddy areas, always make sure you clean any mud that might get on the trap off, before re-setting it, or you could come to check the trap tomorrow and find a scene like this one.

A closer look at the problem.

You can see the trap has been sprung, the jaws started to close and because I had not cleaned off the mud on the spring side of the trap, the mud held the jaws from allowing the spring to finish closing the jaws on the unsuspecting rats leg.

And then there are the smart rats.  They know the trap is right there and to avoid stepping into the trap.  And THEN to add INSULT TO INJURY, they will leave a little note for you saying, “I know you are here mr. trapper, but take this and learn a thing or two about trapping.  I am on to you and your ways.  You might as well leave us alone, I am teaching all of the other rats in this swamp about how to avoid going home with you”!

Notice the little poop droppings near the trap!  Smart ass rat.

But not all of them learn to avoid getting in the traps.  I like to use what is called Colony traps.  They are wire boxes with one way doors on each end.  The rats swim into the trap and can’t get out.  They call them colony traps because of the fact that you can catch multiple rats in the same trap over night.  The rats can’t get out, and they drown.

There is the gas money for today’s trip to the swamp.

When everything is said and done the end of the day can look like this.  Bob, Brek and I pile up the days catch and begin our job of skinning, fleshing and stretching.

That is 58 rats and one raccoon for one days catch between the two of us.  Not bad for one day.

Now maybe you are wondering how in the world can a person keep track of 100 traps so as to be able to check them after setting them.  Believe me it would be impossible for me to keep track of 100 traps.  Heck I have a tough enough time remembering where 2 traps are yet alone 100 or so.  So, we use flagging tape to mark the general area as to where the trap is set.

And then I create a general map of the entire line of traps, so I know where to go to find the next flag.  Often times I will have two to five traps within a short distance of each other.  And then I might travel 50 to 100 yards down the stream or out into the swamp to set another series of traps.  My map keeps me on track and hints on the map keep me knowing I am in the right place on the map.

A closer look at the map.

Well, now you know how I do it and keep track of everything I need to in order to not lose traps by not knowing where they are in the swamp.  Of course there are always the racoons, hawks and eagles that come along and take your rat, trap and everything off and away.  You can’t help but loose a trap or two during the season.  That is all part of the whole process.

Enjoy your own trapping.  It isn’t always about the catching that pays the biggest dividends, but catching is what you are trying to do.

Bears Butt

Aug. 2011

Brandon, Conner, Kenzie and I hit Hyrum this morning for a little fishing.  Kenzie turned 8 a week or so ago and that marked the magic age to get to go fishing out of my b0at.  She was excited to say the least.

We hit the water at about 6:15 a.m.,the water was glass smooth and air temp a warm  75 degrees.

There were lots of fish jumping and loads of other birds and animals scurrying about.  We tried for bass in the weeds but quickly learned the kids can’t maneuver their lines too well in the weeds, so we moved to where the stream comes into the reservoir.  Conner was quick to catch the first trout!  Go Conner!!!!

The trout went back into the lake for some other lucky fisherman to catch at a later time.  Conner got the quarters for catching that fish and he was a happy guy!

We moved again, and this time it was my turn to catch a trout.  It fought a gallant battle, but lost for the picture.  And then it went back in.

You can see how smooth the water is.    We hung around trying different places but with only a couple of other bites.

Kenzie had a couple of the bites but did not hook up on a fish.  She was not disappointing though and looks forward to the next trip out.

The smooth water only lasted until the first water skier came out.  Then another and then a bit of wind to add to the wave action.  We tried several places on the lake for more action, but nothing much was biting.  Soon we noticed a storm approaching from the West and not wanting to get caught out there in a rain storm, we decided enough fun was enough.

Thanks for going fishing with me Brandon, Conner and Kenzie!  Maybe next time we will catch more fish!

Bears Butt

July 2011

Twernt long back we wuz a huntin fer big game bucks an it wuz pert neer a perfect fall fer doin just that.  The fall colered leeves wuz turnin perty orange an yeller, an even sum wuz startin ta fall ofen the trees.  The air wuz crisp in the mornins an it wud warm up considerable durin the afternoons.  When the sun dun goed down, it wood cool down agin.  Might say it wuz most excellent times.

Anyhow, we wuz huntin muley bucks an as usual I wuz drivin my wagon and they wuz a heap o mountain men with me.  We wud go up ta the top of the mountain frum camp an hunt whilst we wuz ridin along.  Whenst we gitted ta where we dun figgered there wuz some good deer lookin spots we wud unload from the wagon an head off ta see what wuz there.  Sum times we wud see sum bucks an most time we woodn’t.  But we wuz there ta try an fill the meat pole with some tastey buck meat.

Well when we wuz ridin in the wagon, an everbody wuz lookin around as we went, sometimes we wud see a buck just standin next ta the trail.  An we wud git outa the wagon an take a shot ta try an git it.  Most times they wuz such a ruckus whenst we wuz unloadin from the wagon that the buck wood just runned off an hide.  The mountain men wud be pert near ready ta shoot an offn in the brush the buck wud go.  An no shot wud be got.

I am always tryin ta make sure the mountain men in my wagon had pert near ever thing they needs ta git outn the wagon real quick like an git capped up an take careful aim an git they selves a buck.  This here particular wagon ride wuzzn’t no differnt.  Everbody had ever thing whut they dun needed ta make meat fer sure.  We dun talked afor leavin camp what we wuz gonna be doin whilst we dun rode up ta the top of that there mountain, an one of them things wuz ta be gittin outa that there wagon real quick like if we dun seed a buck.

After ridin in the wagon fer a long spell an the afternoon sun is dun heatin up the mountain air, the mountain men in  the wagon dun starts ta nod theys heads an closing theys eyes.  They be plenty times whenst I look around in the wagon an I is the onlyest one what aint sleepin.  This happens a bunch with these mountain men what I hunt with.

There we wuz clear up on top of the mountain an we seed this here deer standin in the trees lookin at us in the wagon.  I dun pulled up the reigns an we is all alookin at it an tryin real hard ta put sum horns on it.  We is always wantin ta see them horns cuz that is sure nuff what we is wanta ta kill an only bucks has horns.  I git ta thinkin about what wuz happinin in my wagon an onest we dun decided the deer we wuz lookin at wuz a doe deer, I put the brake set on the wagon an dropped the reigns an gitted myself outn the wagon.  I walks back to the back of the wagon an all the mountain men in the wagon is wonderin what I is doin.

I looked at each one separate like an started in ta remindin them what they said what wuz gonna be dun whenst we wuz back at camp.  Member fellas, whenst we see a deer we is all gonna git outn the wagon an cap up an then decide if the deer is a buck er not.  What just happened wuz no body dun gitted outn the wagon atol, an if that there deer hada been a buck, he wooda runned off an nobody wooda got a shot off.  So’s next time we dun seed a deer I wanna see sum gittin outa the wagon.

I reckon my talkin wuz a bit much fer most of them in the wagon cuz they started in on me about gittin the wagon movin agin an they wuz wantin ta git up the  trail sum ta find a buck deer an I wuz holdin up the proceedins.  I gitted myself back inta the wagon sure nuff, but not afor I told them just what I figgered wuz gonna happen.

I said, now fellas, whenst I is drivin this here wagon an we dun sees a buck, an I wanna try an shoot it, I gotta stop the wagon from goin forward down the trail.  Then I gots ta set the brake on the wheel real good sos the wagon don’t go ta rollin down the trail.  An then I gots ta git outn the wagon an git my gun an cap it up an then aim perty gud an take the shot.  Alls yous got ta do is git outa the wagon an cap up an aim an shoot. Perty simple on your parts, an perty lot ta do on my part.  But I’m here ta tell ya, whenst we seed a buck, I am gonna be the one whats gonna git it an hang it on the meat pole afor any of you.

Agin, they is yellin an stompin an sayin fer me ta git back in the wagon an drive it down the trail.  An that is just what I did.  Later on back ta camp, they dun telled sum of the others what wuz camped with us what I dun said an they got a good laugh about it.  I told them that I wuz gonna git me a buck the next day if it showed itself.

Next day, just as soon as we cud see ours sights we is loaded up in the wagon an headin up the trail agin.  Afor we left camp I reminded them agin about gittin outa the wagon.  An agin I heared the same as I dun heared yesterday bout drivin the wagon an quit talkin.  It wuz a perty morning agin with a nip in the air an the leaves wuz fallin more than they wuz yesterday.  We dun comed up the trail an shore nuff there stands a deer big as big.  It wuz close like an it wuz plain it were a doe deer an not a buck, but agin, nobody is gittin outa the wagon.  I dun sets the brake on the wagon an right there in front of the wagon runs a big ol buck deer.  Sure as sure cud be, an it dun runs right up an stops next ta that there doe deer.  I am slidin outn the wagon real fast like an grab my rifle as I is slidin.  I hears the wagon beginnin ta unload like a heap o potato sacks is bein tossed about.

The rest wuz like slow motion ta me.  I has meself a piece of leather what is attached ta my rifles trigger guard an I keep sum caps in little holes I dun punched around the leather.  As I is slidin outn the wagon an grabbin my gun at the same time, an whenst my feet dun hit the dirt of the trail, I is cockin my hammer an reachin fer my capper.  The capper dun cums right up an does a real neat flip an dang if a cap don’t land right smack dab onta my rifles nipple, reat perty like.  Alst I had ta do then wuz ta aim real gud an shoot that there big ol buck right there, an that is zacktly what I dun did.  BOOM!  An that big ol buck wuz down an out an pert near ready fer the meat pole.

I look over ta my left side an there stands one of the mountain men what dun gitted hisself outn the wagon an he aint even got no cap on his gun yet an is fumbling an droppin stuff an I said, aint no nevermind ta cap now, cuz I dun kilt that there big ol buck, just like I said wud happen yesterday.

Ifn them mountain men in the wagon wooda gitted theys selves outn the wagon whenst we dun first sawed that doe, the buck probably wuda been kilt by one of them an not by me, but we knowed now that aint how it happened.  Will them fellas member this here story whenst it cums ta huntin next frum my wagon?  Maybe sum, but I bet a cold one, not all learnt the lesson ta git outa the wagon.

Bears Butt

July 2011

Trapping muskrats the past few years had taught me a very lot about the little critters.  I used to think the little bounders were the dumbest critters this side of a ground hog, but have since learned they are not so dumb after all.

Muskrats are “creatures of habit”, like most of us.  We awaken, go about our normal morning duties, eat, drink, lazy around, work and then go back to bed.  Muskrats too, wake up, do their morning things, swim around, eat, bask in the sun, duck out of harms way, travel the same “runs” as they did yesterday and the day before and for the most part, just do what muskrats do best.

I have learned that muskrats are desired by nearly every predator that walks or fly’s in Northern Utah.  Hawks, eagles, owls, falcons, bobcats, coyotes, fox, raccoons, weasels, mink, I’m sure there are others, AND man!  How could a lowly muskrat survive at all with seemingly everything out to get him?  That question hit me a couple of years ago and I have since learned the answer, at least in part, because I’m sure there are more lessons for me to learn.

For those of you thinking you need to go on line and learn the difference between a muskrat and say a……wood chuck…..let me tell you right now, a muskrat is more closely related to a beaver.  Muskrats and beaver can and do live in close proximity to each other.  They build similar homes and both have buck teeth that are very sharp.  Read my earlier article on the difference between beaver and wood chucks.  Study about the beavers teeth and then cut all of the dimensions of the beavers teeth and cutting abilities down to 1/10th the size….there you have a muskrats teeth.  Instead of cutting down trees and eating the bark, they cut smallish willows, cat tail roots and other roots of plants that grow in wet and swampy domains.

At the other end of a muskrat is his tail and much like the tail of the beaver a muskrat uses his tail to help change his direction while swimming.  Remember a beaver has a wide flat tail, right?  A muskrat has a long slender tail that is sort of flat up and down, not flat like from top to bottom.  Is that clear?  Maybe you should go on line and look up what a muskrat looks like.  I’m getting off my story here.

God knew that when he created the muskrat that he had all of these other animals out to get it.  So he made him smaller than the beaver and able to squeeze his body into the most uninhabitable places ever known.  He also made them smart.  Perhaps smarter than the critters that are out to get him.  Here are some points of interest that I have discovered in my trapping endeavors.

Muskrats build “runs” in the muddy bottoms of lakes, streams, ponds and plain old swamps.  These runs are easy to see and if a muskrat is using the run, it generally has a muddy look to it.  Sometimes the muddy water obscures the run from your sight, but eventually the mud will settle and reveal the run.  I like to use a trap called a “box type trap” for setting runs.  These traps are typically 4 inches square when they are set and when the muskrat swims into the trap it clamps down on him, usually just behind his head  and again just above his tail.  The trap holds the muskrat firmly and usually kills it when it snaps down on it.  If not, the muskrat will just be caught there under water and drown.

Muskrats are very plentiful in the swamps and water ways where I trap and multiple muskrats will use the same run.  When a muskrat comes swimming down a run and bumps into a muskrat that has been caught in a trap, he quickly goes around it.  But, he then goes to his den and tells the others not to use that particular run.  After the muskrat meeting takes place all of the others come out to see their “brethren” who is caught and they hold a ritual in which they block up both sides of the run with mud and debris.  After I take the caught muskrat out of the trap, I have to remove the mud and debris from the run in order to get the water flowing back through that run, or I will never catch another muskrat in the run the rest of the season.  Lesson learned the hard way.

I obtained permission to trap a private duck club a couple of years ago and upon my initial investigation of the water ways, ponds and swamps I thought that the place looked good for trapping, but that there were not many rats to be found.  I figured there wasn’t enough food for them to survive and that the ponds must dry up in the summer and the muskrats that were there would leave.  After two years of trapping it I have learned this lesson….Never assume muskrats have not adapted to their environment.  What I discovered were there den openings were so flat they were almost invisible to see.  I found this by accident one day while setting traps.  I had one more trap to set and then they would be all out and waiting for muskrats to get into them.  One more is all I had to set.  I was going up the shore line of a small lake looking for that perfect spot to set it.  Nothing.  I looked and looked and then I saw this very small opening in the side of the bank.  An opening about one inch high and maybe 4 inches wide.  It was getting late and so I plopped that trap down over that opening.  What the heck!  At least the trap was set and had a remote at best chance to catch something.  A trap in the truck won’t catch nothing.

As it turned out, that trap set was one of the best I had in that area.  I caught nearly a rat a day out of that spot.  I learned rather quickly to look for those type of places to set traps on that club.  Believe me, there are a lot of rats on that club.

Another lesson learned was when I use what is called a colony trap.  A colony trap is a long narrow box made out of stiff mesh type wire with holes about one inch by 2 inches.  The box is about 24 inches long, and 4 inches square.  The open ends of the box have  hinged doors that protrudes into the box about 4 inches and are slopped on about a 45 degree angle.  When set, the box sets down inside the run and the bottom of the box sets on the bottom of the run.  The muskrat swims into the box and the door closes behind him and does not allow him to exit the other side, nor turn around and swim out the way he came in.  He is trapped and drowns.  This type of trap also allows for other muskrats to join him in the trap and thus the name colony trap….stemming from the fact that you can catch a whole colony of muskrats overnight.

Using these type of traps, once the muskrats find their buddies captured up like that in three and four at a time, they go back and call up another emergency meeting of the rest of the colony and they set out a work order to plug up the entrance to the trap on both ends and over the top and along the sides and literally bury the entire trap right there where it is set.  Then often times, they would go up to the bank where their entry hole is to the den, and fill it up with mud and debris plugging it off so that none of the rats in the den will use that run.  Without removing the plug at the entrance to the den, that colony trap with not produce another rat the entire season.

The next lesson I learned still takes its toll on me.

Winter begins to give way to early Spring when I begin my trapping season and there is a lot of thick ice still in the swamps.  What happens during the winter is the ice forms in the swamps and because of the nature of ice, it forms a cap over the top of the swamp.  Sort of like us walking into a mall.  Picture the high ceiling of the mall as a thick layer of ice over head.  The muskrats are safe from the flying predators both night and day.  They love it under that cap of ice.  They can come and go pretty much as they please.  It is very difficult for a trapper to know exactly where to chop a hole and set a trap and so most of us just leave the muskrats to doing their thing under that cap.  As the warmer weather melts that cap down, we are able to find holes in the cap and the running water and runs beneath.  We set our traps and catch a few rats.  As more ice melts, the water generally gets deeper, because the down stream ice is not yet melting and so it creates a dam and backs up the water.  We wade through the deeper water and set our traps and catch our muskrats.  All of that being said, here are a bunch of muskrats that have been living under that cap of ice all winter.  They have pretty much depleted their supply of roots and tubers and are very hungry.  They too like to see the sun and so they come out and chew up newly growing shoots of cattails and bullrush stems.  We set our traps on these mounds of chewings and catch more rats.  Well it does not take too long for the muskrat gang to catch on to our trap setting and they stay clear of those places.  Even though they don’t close down runs etc. right next to the trapping spot, they do close off the runs around the trapping area.  This directs the little critters around the trap and safely on their way.  When this happens to me I get real antsy to catch them critters.  Almost to a obsession.  They know my trap is setting right where it is and it is being held by a nice willow stake.  The willow stake has green bark still on it and they will sit right there and munch on my stake.  They will move all around that stake and eat it down to the water level, over night!  Of course the next day when I check the trap, if I don’t have another stake to replace the chewed off one, then I have to pull the trap and re-set it the next day.  They must dance for joy when they see I have removed the trap.

Other times, I have had them squat right over the trap pan and take a well deserved dump right on top of the trap!!!!   OOOOOOOOOOOOOO!  That one really takes its toll on me!

By the way when I write “OOOOOOOOOOO”, like that, picture my squinting eyes, mouth in the shape of an “O”, fists tightly clenched up near my face and my face turning bright red……OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

Back to the story.  When this happens I “MUST” catch that little bounder.  And I have been known to pull all of my other traps from the area and move them to another trapping spot, but leave that one there and come back every day to see if I have caught the little bounder or not.  I have left a trap in the same spot for the rest of the season and never caught him!    OOOOOOOOOOOO!

Well, there you have a few of my lessons taught me by the little muskrat of the swamp.  The guy who is so prolific he abounds ubiquitous (seeming everywhere at the same time) in all waterways, ponds and swamps around the country.  The guy who is so dumb, even I can catch them.  So why do I trap them?

Well, for instance, last Spring, my brother Bob, his grandson, Brek and I pursued those little critters from the first part of February until the middle of March and we collected 991 of their little fur bearing bodies.  We skinned them, fleshed them and stretched them.  It did not take long for the fur buyer in the area to hear we had 1,000 rats and he came a knockin.  Paid us $7 p/each rat pelt and we were some kind of happy about that!  Got us pretty excited about next years trapping too.

Bears Butt

July 2011