With the Pennsylvania Fisher and bobcat seasons starting this Saturday, I decided to scout today because the snow is likely to be gone before Saturday.... actually calling for rain the next 3 days...I probably won't set till Monday because of the weather and work.


I had a few areas in mind but decided to drive the road and see what else catches my eye.


I found a spot that I've never walked and it looked good from the road. Boulders, thicker than most of the area...let's go for a walk.

I don't make it a few steps off the road and spot a Fisher track!






I walk literally a couple yards and spot a cat track walking down a log...




"Well...I think I might have to set this area...".


I continue along...here's some of the territory...









The rocks had so much activity I couldn't tell what was what. I know a lot was porcupine. 1 set of red fox.

And sadly 1 set of boot tracks. I thought it was a deer hunter..but he walked a good bit of the rock face and I found wire tied off at the base of a tree and pliers on a rock ledge that been there a year or 2.

I have absolutely no problem sharing the area...but I don't wanna deal with a thief. I hope I bump into him and we can agree to get along. From his tracks, I'd say he will drop a couple sets in the boulders he can see from the road and move on. He probably never saw the cat or Fisher tracks I did..

Knowing the potential for competition is high I decided to press on.


Area #2 didn't show much furbearer sign which was surprising. 15yo or so clear cut. I didn't walk all of it but a piece of the 25 acre or so...

But... I did find the only track I needed to...



Not sure how big cat tracks get...but that seemed like a fairly big one. He actually crossed out of the cut in the same area a few different times. Monday night he'll be looking at a couple sets!


No Fisher activity. So I decided to keep scouting.


I was heading to another spot up the ridge and spotted woods that looked good. Let's go for a walk...

Not a couple minutes in and boom...






There were so many Fisher tracks in that area I decided I better back out. I've never seen anything like it. I couldn't tell if it was one or if there were others using the area...


For good measure I came across big foot too...





I ended up seeing WAY more sign than I thought I would. I guess my research the last month helped key in on locations.


Now, to put in some good sets and hope for filled tags!!


I won't be able to sleep till the season is over because the anticipation is so high. I've been waiting YEARS to trap them. Tried once but had no idea what I was doing or where to look...i finally live close enough to good areas that I decided I'm going to give it a shot....

Glad I got out and scouted. I think that'll be a huge help.

Purdy country!

Good Luck! Nice Pictures!!!

Nice thread Mauser. I bet after everything is set up you’re gonna have a hard time sleeping that first night. Tight chains!

Man that is enough to keep a guy up all night thinking about trapping. Good luck to you. Hopefully the other trapper in the area is honorable and you guys can share some space.

You're definitely on them.good luck to you..

Thanx guys! Definitely excited. Never did I imagine I'd find sign like that. Really only went to that area on a whim...big woods...convenient and fits my schedule. I had a giant Fisher stalk me in turkey season this year which gave me the idea...so much of the woods are the same it's pretty boring and almost featureless. Everywhere there was something different I found sign.

Wish I had more time to up the odds...with the hour drive there, work 3-11, etc I don't have a ton of time to run a line. I should be able to check this all in an hour or so. I have about 2 dozen traps and plan to get em all spread out over these areas...and I found a couple places I can pull in and walk 50-100yds and drop a set or 2 to fill in some areas.



Aside from the boulder area, I don't know that I will have competition. Road trapping is the way many guys go. If they can't check from the truck or an ATV, they aren't hoofing in. That's been my experience. Hopefully I don't have any issues. Stolen traps/catches or sets messed with. I actually quit trapping a few years because someone stole a yote from a cable. Stuff just makes me so mad.

I figure most guys will set on the weekend and by the time I go to set Monday, I aughta be able to see where guys are parking and see/smell their sets if I get too close.



The anticipation is high. Hopefully I have catches to post!


Hope that bear doesn't find my sets! Lol. I have a feeling he will wreck everything lol.

I like that bear track.

Osky

Fishers are definitely a success story in Pennsylvania. They really expanded since being reintroduced in the 1990’s.

Very interesting thread! No fishers here, so its cool to see other critters.

i'm runnin a short mink line.just started and in the last 2 days i've found fresh fisher sign at 6 places.bobcats all over.am lucky to be really close and trap ny also as i am setting up a beaver spot over there a couple miles from my house for a couple fresh beaver.good luck to ya's all.

Seems like your moving in on somebody elses territory but you dont mind sharing? How do you know he didnt see tracks? Why do you assume he'll check them from the road. When i see evidence of of somebody else trapping i move on. I have a guy here now that beats me to places ive trapped for 30 years and puts his traps in the exact spots my traps were. Sometimes using my cable stakes. That will soon come to an end

I know the aggravation. You stated that he did beat you. 30 years of experience should give you a huge handicap to beat him handily. That is alot of time on one line

Well...there's snow on the ground and his boot tracks were nowhere near the tracks. Actually impossible to see from where he was.

It's public land. Just because someone might be there doesn't mean I should write a spot off. If I see evidence he is trapping there, I will move on. If I dont, it's public land. I'm setting. Maybe he isn't checking from the road...but judging by where he walked, he's not setting some places I would.


All comes down to what I see when I go to set. I won't set next to him. But won't abandon an area because someone else walked there. Maybe he didn't see what he wanted to see and he won't be back maybe 17 other guys will be there. Public land...

I wouldn't knowingly drop in on another trapper. But at the same time, seeing tracks a week before the season..when deer season just ended...seeing signs of an old set..... doesn't mean I can't trap there.... atleast not to me. If the wire on the tree was brand new, I'd assume he was coming this year. It was at least a year old.

If I didn't trap where there are boot prints I couldn't trap most that property. Deer hunters covered the area. Who knows. Maybe those tracks are a deer hunter.....

Nice! The snow really tells a story. Here you only get part of the story.

I had a guy i know hone in on my turkey hunting spot because i told him about. He said public land. The first day of buck i made sure i was sitting against a tree hes been going to for the last 8 or 10 years. Public land you know

I know that location, it's...
lol

No not my tracks, and I do not use wire in those areas.
Lots of houndsmen around too. Good luck. I'm envious.

Cci, I get where you're coming from. I was born and raised on public land and I've dealt with it my entire life....which is exactly why I will check the area before I set. But an old wire and pliers on a rock for at least a year is like finding an old fallen down wooden stand. If he's back, good luck to him. If he's not, good luck to me.

I have hundreds of miles logged in this area. I spent the entire day yesterday looking for fresh sign. I'd rather NOT set that close to the road. But if come Monday it's not set up, well, I will fix that.


There's plenty of land to share.

I've ran into it all from stolen coyotes to guys following drag marks to my gut piles and bringing in the Calvary to surround the area the next season. I don't like it when it happens to me....I wouldn't knowingly do it to someone else. It'll be pretty obvious if someone else is parking there come next week.

Maybe my posts came off wrong....maybe not. I don't know. I wouldn't knowingly set on top of someone else. If I didn't see signs of someone else in that area I'd probably planned on carpet bombing it and never walked 4 or 5 more miles. Maybe we will meet and we can become friends.


Wright Brother's, PM me if you really think you know that area. I'd be impressed lol. Looks like most of the northern tier to me...lol. but, I was thinking there probably are coyote runners in the area...I never cut a coyote track.

PM sent, Do I win a ride along?
I "think" it not too late to get the "trophy" tags.

Good luck to you. Hope you catch one of each.