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Post by xbr on Jan 27, 2013 13:21:47 GMT -5
I asked this question on another forum and got no response. So I guess I'll ask the experts. Trapped some in the Adirondacks last fall with no success for fisher using my stand skunk essence and vaseline. Also use a treatment for canine bait with a little touch of skunk. Caught nothing when this bait was used. Is there a better approach in the Adirondack areas where skunk populations are extremely limited? Do you have any ideas for bait and/or lure that might be more effective? I understand that location, location, location is more difficult for an amateur like myself. At age 62 and years in the woods hunting, it was sure humilating last fall trapping in the big woods.
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Post by Itrapny on Jan 27, 2013 14:39:39 GMT -5
I don't think skunks living in the area has anything to do with the attractiveness of the lure on fisher in my opinion. Skunk musk is a very powerful calling lure and I've used Nightowl's Crossbones with great success both on fisher as well as K9's. I like to use the crossbones as a call lure and then make sure that I have another lure such as Nightowl's Brushfire as well as bait(venison scraps or beaver) on all my fisher sets. Fisher are wide ranging and even during years with high mast/rodent populations I think if you use a lure that has a curiosity factor it will increase your fisher take.
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Post by brushwolf64 on Jan 27, 2013 16:18:15 GMT -5
Do you have a decent population in that area to work on? Location is the #1 priority in setting up for fisher in my opinion. They can be hard to pinpoint as they dont leave much sign as coon for instance. When scouting a line i always look to find pinch point/ crossings when at all possible to set in good fisher habitat. These will produce multiple catches usually. Although we use skunk based lures for them we always have a sweet lure down also. Our preferred baits are beaver meat and salted fish in that order. Other baits mentioned will work well also. We also tend to gang set for them at the location and mix up the smells. As a previous post said they can be kind of narrow minded at times so we try to give them a variety of offerings.
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Post by snoeblind on Jan 27, 2013 17:52:55 GMT -5
My suggestion is you have time.... get out now and start looking for sign. When I can I am out after every fresh snow looking for tracks. Next years line is largely predetermined by the sign I am finding now. As brushwolf said finding fisher sign in the summer and fall can be hard. I flag areas that I find sign and make notes so I do not forget. Once you start making catches those areas should produce more often than not year after year. Eventually over time you will end up with a really nice fisher line. As far as skunk, the louder the better for me. If you set the higher ground and let the wind take the smell and settle they will find it.
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Post by Lonny Mattison on Jan 27, 2013 19:19:18 GMT -5
A wise man...Papabear told me skunk is not the only thing that attracks fisher!!
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Post by mole on Jan 27, 2013 20:18:58 GMT -5
There are many areas in the Adirondacks or Big Woods that have few to no Fisher. If you were in one of these area you probably would have little to no success no matter what you used.
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Trapper Jack
life member nysta,alaska trappers assn,nta, foothill trappers
Posts: 523
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Post by Trapper Jack on Jan 27, 2013 22:42:11 GMT -5
Nothing humiliating about it. We all been there. As everybody so far has mentioned. You got to find them to trap em. Seems like they just pack up and leave a area all together sometimes. (2011) I hardly found any in their old haunts. I did a lot of snowshoeing the previous winter looking for travel area and only found limited sign. I continued checking areas during the summer months. At best it was sporadic. 2012 was different. I found quite a few travel area while looking for sign prior to season. I use 1 3/4 coilsprings til the snow comes and then use a mix of coil springs and coni's in leaning pole sets. I don't use skunk til the snow and colder weather comes. I use beaver scraps for bait and a castor dominate lure I make with some other ingredients. I use 2 traps at locations several yards apart. I only take 2 fisher from a area and move on. I am lucky because I can and do spend a lot of time in the woods. I'm always looking for signs of all animals. I like to follow fisher tracks in the snow. I follow them great distances and I learn from them every time. One last thing. Get good snowshoes and not cheap ones if you plan on winter scouting. I bring a extra set of bindings in my daypack. Nothing worse than busting something in the bush. Good luck Peace
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Post by milkie62 on Jan 28, 2013 0:46:53 GMT -5
I also have learned alot following tracks with these 2-3" snowfalls we have been getting.First I thought it was me when none of my traps were connecting.But after walking some pretty big areas with snow cover I am finding no tracks.Finally though the animals are making their rounds.Around me It has been 7-8 days between sets of tracks whereas in the very early fall there were alot of coyotes around.I have a couple of cat sets out and luckily a fisher has been running the stone wall about 100 yds from my cat traps.Hopefully he does not get a whiff of my lure.
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Post by xbr on Jan 28, 2013 10:36:47 GMT -5
Thanks for the help guys. I guess my problem is I don't get into the area until the snow is off. So I'm trapping with little sign. Spend my time in Florida shooting during the winter. I try again next year.
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Post by fisherman on Jan 28, 2013 11:52:45 GMT -5
Mr. Mole is correct. There has been a drastic decline of fisher in the central and eastern Adirondacks. The large catches are coming from the periphery, not central Adirondacks. Some areas in central and western New York are witnessing a fisher explosion while we are having the above mentioned decline. DEC is presently putting together a fisher management plan and as a result I expect in the near future to see fisher seasons open in those areas. Everyone has their own theories. I'm not a biologist, but we saw the same kind of decline in New Hampshire. I feel the fisher are where the feed is. This forever wild policy in the Adirondacks also creates forever dead in my opinion. Over mature forests, no undergrowth, and no feed. As for the skunk with vaseline or in crisco, you can't get much better. In the fall however fisher feed on beechnuts, wild grapes, apples, and other forms of vegetation. After snow comes they feed alot on small mammals; red squirrels, voles, moles, rabbits, etc. For my money beaver is by far the best bait, followed by venison scraps and bones.
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Post by snoeblind on Jan 28, 2013 12:10:29 GMT -5
I agree fisherman. My area was once loaded, still decent but not what it once was. IMO the season starts too early and ends to early. My area saw heavy trapping with people setting up lines at the very start of the season and fur quality poor. Our 1st real snow(and cold) coming 2 week after the close of season. Hope there is some adjustment in the FMP with a change of dates and to allow more WMU's to have a season.... even if it has a limit of 2 until they get a grasp of the population in these areas.
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Post by fisherman on Jan 28, 2013 13:50:34 GMT -5
Snoeblind We agree. The fisher season opens far too early and closes too soon. To me it is not the best use of a resource when you trap an animal that is unprime. Also the weather has changed drastically. I can remember snow practically guaranteed the second week of Novemnber and zero temperatures the first weekend in December. Now we are lucky to see any snow by December 10. JTI committee continues to push for a later fisher opening date, looks like there will be no change until DEC completes it's fisher management plan currently under way. One big roadblock is a conflict with coon seasons, but my question is if New England states can run a later fisher season why can't we? The New York State Trappers have taken a position of no catch limits, except for pine marten. I personally feel that they can very easily be overtrapped, that females are more suseptible to trapping, and that feed conditions within the Adirondack Park are poor at best. I for one would go for a shorter season of two or three weeks if they are concerned about numbers taken, as long as when the animals are prime.
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Post by snoeblind on Jan 28, 2013 18:45:50 GMT -5
Fisherman, I remember in the 80's when just south on rt 29 was closed and you couldn't keep them out of coon and fox sets. Back then with a lot of people using 220's in buckets there was no releasing them. Took forever to convince them that there was ample populations to support a season even with all the honest and sometimes off the record info we provided.
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Post by papabear on Jan 28, 2013 19:43:32 GMT -5
Dear Friends, fresh bait and sweet smelling lure early.....slightly tainted bait and lure with a light charge of skunk or my favorite, civet, as the season progresses.......Habitat with ample food is key.....ive been trending away from heavily laced skunky type lures as Ive realized a neat little trick that attracts them to my set location. Regards
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