austinp
#3 Newhouse
the next fur season is never far from our minds :)
Posts: 3,008
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Post by austinp on Oct 8, 2014 12:45:18 GMT -5
Well, things are shaping up with potential for my biggest push for muskrats in a couple of decades... maybe ever before Gained access to three of the smaller units on Montezuma via lease bid yesterday. I bid one, my friend Ethan bid a second and I was awarded a third (currently dry unit) as the right of refusal from no sole winning bids there. I'm Ethan's designated "helper" and he is likewise mine, so we are interchangeable to make sure daily checks are secured. All combined that adds up to roughly 1,700 acres of which maybe 1/3 is dry ground so probably 1,000 to 1,200 acres of shallow water all told. I would consider these units marginal rat populations, decent but not over-run.These are not the bigger, most populated units but those all bid waaay over my head. The men that got the big main units should all do really well this year, I hope everyone there enjoys all-time record catches. I'll be fun to visit with the other guys and see their piles of catches, too. Heading up north on Oct 25th for a week of muskrats, maybe more if the catch numbers dictate. Then back here to scout and prep for the 11/25 opener here, work the local waters as usual, then roll towards leased units once the public waters are combed. That in itself should keep me busy with leaking waders for much of the season. I'm also working on a private flow too that if permission is secured, would definitely make this season pretty much 100% muskrats and nil time for anything else. Those are the best laid plans so far. Variables are weather, health and personal injury, actual populations available. It will be awhile before the bulk of rat houses are built and we can really see what's what everywhere. But... I've been fantasizing about a season-long muskrats push for over a decade. This might finally be the year where it more or less comes together. We'll see ** What all plans do my fellow muskrat maniacs have in store? This is the place to share plans & experiences of all shape and size <grin>
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Post by Lonny Mattison on Oct 8, 2014 12:52:52 GMT -5
Congrats! So you will not be the great yote trapper of the west this year?
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Deleted
Deleted Member
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Post by Deleted on Oct 8, 2014 12:55:30 GMT -5
Austin, who's Ethan? I thought we were going to trap together. Oh well. Good luck.
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austinp
#3 Newhouse
the next fur season is never far from our minds :)
Posts: 3,008
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Post by austinp on Oct 8, 2014 12:55:34 GMT -5
they don't make it past Von's to me... so I guess I'm stuck with skinning muskrats and not day-old coyotes :<(
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austinp
#3 Newhouse
the next fur season is never far from our minds :)
Posts: 3,008
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Post by austinp on Oct 8, 2014 12:56:46 GMT -5
Austin, who's Ethan? I thought we were going to trap together. Oh well. Good luck. Ethan is your able-bodied replacement. In the immortal words of Donald Trump... "AJ, much as I like and admire you, You're Fired!"
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Deleted
Deleted Member
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Post by Deleted on Oct 8, 2014 14:25:18 GMT -5
Ouch Austin, Ouch.
We shall see just how well Austin handles your antics.
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austinp
#3 Newhouse
the next fur season is never far from our minds :)
Posts: 3,008
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Post by austinp on Oct 8, 2014 15:07:21 GMT -5
I still love ya, AJ... but Ethan is younger, stronger and more ambitious than you. Sorry I had to dump you for a younger man, but that's the way it goes sometimes. Gotta keep my options open!
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Post by silentnight on Oct 8, 2014 15:14:34 GMT -5
sounds like you got a load of fun trapping for the season, i think ill be focused a littl more on water trapping this year also, seeing how iv lost most of private ground to trap, and not sure i wanna run much of the state land. good luck
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Post by traphead2 on Oct 8, 2014 15:15:37 GMT -5
i have the first week of water season off from both my jobs.....i trapped some problem beaver this summer and as a result ive got 2 more ponds with rats and a long stretch of creek bottom with them as well....looking to line up some more this weekend all in addition to my normal places....got to get a order in for some more 150s and 159s from mtp....this will be the first time in many years that i could actually do nothing but trap rats and mink for a week straight
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austinp
#3 Newhouse
the next fur season is never far from our minds :)
Posts: 3,008
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Post by austinp on Oct 8, 2014 17:26:23 GMT -5
sounds good, guys... looking forward to your tailgate pics from those waterlines!
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austinp
#3 Newhouse
the next fur season is never far from our minds :)
Posts: 3,008
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Post by austinp on Oct 8, 2014 17:28:40 GMT -5
fwiw: I'm am pretty busy already, but if walleyed's canoe caught a virus or worm like his computer did, I suppose I could hammer the Lakeshore Marsh complex for him on the 25th. Maybe I'll swing by his compound on the 26th and borrow a couple hundred wire stretchers to fill :>O
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Post by bearman60 on Oct 8, 2014 17:32:59 GMT -5
congrats austin,hope you do well on the rats!will be chasing some in november but till then a little fox and yote trapping
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Post by mikespring on Oct 8, 2014 17:45:30 GMT -5
Any canine ground open out your way??? Lease??? need a percentage??? Been working the last 7 months at the north end of the lake out your way...looks like another 2 months before I`m done....
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austinp
#3 Newhouse
the next fur season is never far from our minds :)
Posts: 3,008
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Post by austinp on Oct 8, 2014 18:07:11 GMT -5
lots of canine ground here... no shortage of other canine trappers, too. All thru the 5&20 region is hallowed fox ground... you know that
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austinp
#3 Newhouse
the next fur season is never far from our minds :)
Posts: 3,008
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Post by austinp on Oct 8, 2014 18:09:42 GMT -5
bearman, I'm sure I'll dig a few holes in the ground at times myself. Especially on the Montezuma leases, coyotes and fox run those dikes along the cattail marshes like crazy. Seneca River running east-west and Cayuga Lake north-south makes for a canine shuffle traffic jam at the junction... and all of my units border those waterways
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outsidedge
failing to plan is planning to fail
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Post by outsidedge on Oct 8, 2014 18:14:15 GMT -5
I would have thought you would have had 200 pre-dug dirtholes and anchors in for you fox line by now? Just like last year!
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austinp
#3 Newhouse
the next fur season is never far from our minds :)
Posts: 3,008
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Post by austinp on Oct 8, 2014 18:17:47 GMT -5
no.... gonna be more like 300 flagged stakes marking feeder holes and major runs before ice-up as prework this year. I've been planning a total assault on muskrats since last winter, most of the pieces are falling into place for now
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Post by trappermac on Oct 8, 2014 18:44:24 GMT -5
Feeling a little sorry for AJ right now....just not right dumping a partner like that....
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austinp
#3 Newhouse
the next fur season is never far from our minds :)
Posts: 3,008
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Post by austinp on Oct 8, 2014 18:48:40 GMT -5
Feeling a little sorry for AJ right now....just not right dumping a partner like that.... business is business, mac... just like that QB switch in Buffalo, gotta bench the non-performers when you got better talent on the sidelines. Can't get all weepy and emotional about these things.
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Post by mikespring on Oct 8, 2014 19:14:21 GMT -5
Not gonna be able to trap around the home ground this year....lots of trappers here too...no compition tho... Any ground out you`re way opens up let a fellow trapper know...Kinda like to see if this city boy could hang with the country boys.
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austinp
#3 Newhouse
the next fur season is never far from our minds :)
Posts: 3,008
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Post by austinp on Oct 8, 2014 19:34:52 GMT -5
just like the public WMAs, private grounds I worked are covered by various other guys same as before. The only two little farms I had to myself before are spoken for already, otherwise the majority of other private ground I set for fox had one or more other canine trappers across it too.
one thing I never had much of was exclusive rights on farms all to myself. For the most part, everywhere I set for fox before was shared with others.
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Post by mikespring on Oct 8, 2014 19:41:03 GMT -5
Same here..Have fun with those rats!!!
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austinp
#3 Newhouse
the next fur season is never far from our minds :)
Posts: 3,008
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Post by austinp on Oct 8, 2014 19:52:05 GMT -5
Same here..Have fun with those rats!!! it's still too early to tell for sure... but if the populations are solid, if the weather is favorable and by that I mean either open water or solid ice most of the time, and if my body holds up to the physical rigors of rat trapping, it's not out of the question to make a run at a 2,000+ season catch but for all I know the populations could disappoint, the weather could be a freeze-thaw mess more than not or I could suffer any kind of arm - leg - back injury that shuts me down. So we won't count furs before they hit the stretchers. Just sayin' there is potential for a personal record catch this season, time will tell.
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Post by rendezvous on Oct 8, 2014 20:26:16 GMT -5
Feeling a little sorry for AJ right now....just not right dumping a partner like that.... X2 lacks tact and no respect...
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Oct 8, 2014 20:30:14 GMT -5
Any canine ground open out your way??? Lease??? need a percentage??? Been working the last 7 months at the north end of the lake out your way...looks like another 2 months before I`m done.... Hey Mike, you should check out the Fox they call Holly when Austin's in the swamp.
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