Ya'll have come up with some good tips... Super job.

Wish more would add to it...everybody has at least one!

Or, just wear an old jersey glove on your non-knife hand. Saves having to hunt for the rag every time you lay it down.

Also clean and paint your wire stretchers. Makes them slicker, too, so fur comes off better, and you don't get rust marks on the fur or skin.

Believe it or not, old golf balls work, too.

put sawdust on your fur for a minute it soaks up all the extra grease after it s been put up sure beats wiping them down just broom it off and after while use it again

Collect mussle shells at the river or creek..Free , lightweight and add great eye appeal to your sets ANYWHERE..If I get some large ones I will use em as backing for coon dirt holes when land trapping...they also add to the luster of a pocket set..works good for lure /bait holders too...

Good tip, except in Ohio, we're not allowed to own mussel shells.

ooops lol


this may have been said,

trap all the groundhogs at there mound, then take all the dirt at the opening of there holes, usually if fresh they have it sifted for ya or you could keep them alive and collapse them after ya take the good stuff and have them get ya some more i did this today

If you wash alot of your fur before putting up, throw the wet fur in an OLD washing machine on spin cycle. It will spin ALOT of the water out and cut drying time dramatically.

I'd like to see some pic's of that, taxi.

I got tired of not having a drowner handy when all I had left in the bucket were grappled 1.5's for coon or visa versa having drowners left when I hit an area where the stream was all rock and shallow water so I make my grapple setups with five feet of chain and a grapple, but hook the trap to a "chain lock" drowner so that it slides away from the grapple but locks on the way back. I use a single stake ring at the non-grapple end to allow for quick rebar staking in the water and small loop of cable at the grapple to allow for staking if not able to anchor the grapple at the shoreline. If I just use the grapple in rocky areas, the trap is slid down to the single stake ring end. It takes some time to set up the chain this way initially but works well either way with a catch.

Great tip Stemcell!

Buy a bag of craft sticks (popsicle sticks) for applying lure or bait at a set. They are strong and long enough to reach into the bottom of a bait jar. Can be pushed into the ground without breaking.

Learned that from Jim Cunduff, of Ohio.

I had the ol' brain cranking yesterday while I was at the dollar store. I bought 2 quarts of some of that scented water stuff that you put in electric air-fresheners. I got 1 qt. Apples and cinnamon, and 1 qt. Plum and black cherry. Let me tell you, do they smell strong and SWEE-EE-EET!!

I mixed them half and half in a dish soap bottle. I am going to try this at my coon sets this year to try and keep the possum and skunks out. I'm thinking of putting a stick down the dirthole and giving it a big ol' squirt as a bait, or maybe just covering the backing of my dirthole with it and sticking something else in the hole. If this works well, it will be my go-to for my dry-land coon sets. For 2 bucks you can't beat it!

Why mix them ? Wouldn't you want to have several different odors? Even fruit?

Where's the guy who told me about the board trick in cage trapping wary 'coons?

Now's a good time to find some old deer carcusses. The bugs should have the bones cleaned up nicely. I like to seperate the spinal column and use a chunk at various K9 sets. Even has a hole in the middle for some lure.

Even old coyote, 'coon and fox carcas' for the skulls.