For some the season is upon you. For many of you it is somewhat early. However I thought I would start a tread on Season prep. Disignated board journal meaning it is open to all and specific to preseason prep. Could go along well with our Trapper Journals on a DVD
Would have been good to start in Sept. It will keep some good info in a single place that can be utilized by those new to the board. I am thinking perhaps put into the archives after it has run its course.


For me my season prep this year is consisting of a couple of new twists. I am making sure all my marten 110's are waxed. Of course they are not done yet. It will be done pre and post season. I probably have close to 300 traps in the field. Either at set locations or hung in groups on the line.
I have a number of used traps. Some that were waxed prior to me getting them. I love them. They really hold up well at sets. My new traps in one year are a rusty mess. I plan to cycle through my traps and replace with a waxed trap that will stay at the set location.
Been a long time since I waxed a trap. Nope I did it a few years ago to my 750's but I used all wax. I want to use the water wax on top method. Over a fire at the village or at camp. Looking for suggestions on containers to use and methods.
Also starting to think about getting meals together for Dec. I love to premake meals like spaghetti and put them in a vacuums bag. No need to suck out all the air but I will be dropping it in a boiling water bath. NO mess not dishes. It works great for camping.
I will also be eating a lot of mountain house. My second favorite method. Seems walmart is the cheapest.
And then there my most messy and aromatic method.
Wrapping the exhaust pipe with a chilli can. Worked fine until I got into some hard going for about 10 min. Heated things right up. And it didn't help to have the chili can with a flip top easy open lid. KERPOW
What is that smell.


Preseason planning. What are you doing. I have lots of ideas but what are some of yours.

This year I decided to use more snares so I made 6 dozen snares attached to #11 wire for fox and lynx. I got all of them made in June and they are all boiled and dyed. I also took the oiler off of the tundra and did a few maintance things to the snow go. Im ready all I need now is some snow. I looks like next week I will be using the ATV to do some beaver trapping and some more scouting.

scouting what!the ground is froze and we got no snow! ...get to trapping man!!!! was good to see u again at the meeting..

Len, your chili reminds me of a sheep hunter that wrapped a bottle of pancake syrup in a sleeping bag for an air drop into camp. It needed just a pinch more padding than the sleeping bag provided!! LOL

Well it looks like I wont beable to get out as soon as I wanted to. You will find out why next week. It sucks, but oh well. I will be out next weekend.

I started putting rigged up snares (snare pig tailed onto 9 wire) individually into ziploc bags. Keeps them clean, seperate, easy to grab one and hang it while on the line. I roll the wire to fit in the bag before boiling, that makes packaging easy.

Some things that I do every year would include bait prep and trap inspections. With bait, I try to collect it all summer and into the fall which includes salmon carcass's, ducks/spruce chickens, and moose hide/scraps. I usually start my bait prep as soon as the bugs are gone, usually around Oct 1st, by taking all collected bait out of my freezers and setting them outside in totes or garbage cans to un-thaw. Once the bait is workable and just starting to taint I go thru and remove wings from the breasted birds, lay out salmon carcass's, and cut up any moose or caribou hides that I have collected. I then take this time to attatch my wire for hanging the baits at my sets. I find this makes things WAY easier then doing it out on the line when the bait is frozen and in difficult chunks to wire up. After all bait is wired up, I bend a hook at the end of each wire and hang the baits inside the totes and garbage cans, trying to keep them seperated so they don't freeze together, then bring them inside my garage for about a week or untill the complaining starts. At that time it is usually close to season opener so I put the totes and cans outside to freeze up good till they make the journey to my cabin for the trapline.

My trap inspections usually include going thru and setting EVERY trap, checking pans & tentions, springs, and cable attatchments. Now I leave most of my gear hanging at sets year round but at the end of season when it's time to close up the traps, if I find one that has been giving me troubles or has had a few criiters caught and the cable might need to be replaced or even those trail set traps that have been run over a few doz times with the snowmachine and might be bent up are removed and brought back for attention.

I'm stretching and doing wind sprints for my walk-in trapline on Tuesday...praying for snow...will run a short line to a couple hot spots until we get some traveling snow. I'm a long way from having my bait and gear all put together. I'll start monday night after work and forget half of what I need if last year is any indication.

Actually, I'm doing it like Smalltime...boiling and putting snares in ziplocks. Nothing worse than untangling snares in the field..

Prior to my annual trip up the river for beaver in Oct I set all my 330 springs this saves an incredible amount of time when you are looking to get 45-55 sets out in a day.
Like Steve I start bait collecting in early fall, moose bones, bird carcasses, and top it off with a pile of beaver in Oct. all in the bait freezer and a few she doesn't know about in the food freezers.
I have not done any prewire work as I trap very few marten. I use 16 ga wire for bait and on piles I don't always wire it all down. When setting a bait it is usually a full carcass or half of one and I will wire off around the head or base of tail.

All traps were gone through in the summer and checked for issues and fixed in needed. Every few years I dye ad wax I did it last year so this year I took the year off. I do not wax my conis something about that just scares me and since I trap all alone I prefer to just keep the self initiated coni whacking to a minimum.
Snow machines are gone through greased and examined for problems any found are taken care of ASAP.
lure is looked through to make sure I have what I feel I need or want. and any other supplies I need are ordered all well in advance of season, ok a week or more at least prior to the start of season just so I ahve ti opening day or the day I start.

Len, unless you've found a FAR better way to wax your traps with the water method than I have, you're going to be greatly disappointed. Wax won't stick to a wet trap. Consequently, it goes on thick in spots, none in spots, and just plain looks like heck. I think you'll like straight wax a lot better.

I speed dip all my marten traps (120's) and the coating lasts longer than wax. I dip mine about every three years. I usually dip them in July when the weather's hot and they have lots of time to air out before using them.

Just my 2 cents.

I was in Frontier Outfitters a couple of days ago browsing their trapping section. They had a trap dip called "Full Metal Jacket". Has anyone tried this stuff?
You could smell the marten lure skunkiness when you first enter the store.

I haven't ever heard of Fronteir Outfitters...

OK, I HATE speed dip. Said it before, and am still trying to get it off my hands and traps. Must be the SE weather.
I also have used the boiling water with wax on top many times, and never had a problem. I actually learned of it reading one of Paul's father's books back in the early 70's.
Works like a charm, and NEARLY no fire hazard.

ERN, it is in Fairbanks. It used to be called Sentry Hardware.

I haven't ever waxed traps but from what I've read, you have to leave the traps in the water until they are as hot as the water before you pull them up thru the wax.

You can tell by the appearance of the boil when the traps are hot enough to pull up through the wax. I am able to get a nice thin even layer by using the wax with water method. I didn't care for the straight wax, too much needless dangers involved.

man what kind of ziplocks do you guys have cause everytime i put them in a baggie that #11 tears the S!!! out of it and they are everywhere anyway

I used to use the wax on water method but results were inconsistant. I much prefer to use straight wax.

Same here.

Gary: try paper bags

Yep, I prefer the straight wax method. If you think about it, in the wax over water method, the wax can only get about as hot as the the boiling point of water before the water evaoprates and quits tranferring heat. With the straight wax method, you can get the wax hotter, thus getting a thinner coat. Secondly, when you use the straight wax method, the trap sits in the wax and while heating up to the temp of the wax, the wax permeates the pores of the trap steel. I would think this is a better sealing and protecting the trap over just coating the outside of it and having water in the pores underdeath.

-TJ

Gary, i hear you on the tearing. I try to tuck the sharp ends in a little, but they (or the lock) tear the baggies, but usually not until I'm trying to take the snare out of the bag... White may be on to something..