austin
test results are back... I am joerat's daddy
Posts: 483
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Post by austin on Jan 22, 2019 10:25:56 GMT -5
I only had a handful of rats, but averaged $3.95 and had a high of $4.50 on a few. This was at the Hinsdale auction in Catt County. how much fur was there overall, would you say?
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Post by tony1967 on Jan 22, 2019 11:44:36 GMT -5
Not a lot Austin. Couple hundred rats, maybe. Same for fox. Definitely a down year compared to the last few years at this same auction. Less trappers out plus the threat of the winter storm that day probably kept some folks away.
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austin
test results are back... I am joerat's daddy
Posts: 483
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Post by austin on Jan 22, 2019 12:05:28 GMT -5
Not a lot Austin. Couple hundred rats, maybe. Same for fox. Definitely a down year compared to the last few years at this same auction. Less trappers out plus the threat of the winter storm that day probably kept some folks away. yup, agreed on all there. Still have not seen a single muskrat trapper anywhere other than me. Got a couple local ditches to work thru last three weeks if weather permits. Biggest widespread rat population we've had in past several years... could never access most of them. Ma Nature is a cruel B! lol
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tmc
#2 Newhouse
Posts: 2,447
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Post by tmc on Jan 22, 2019 23:28:13 GMT -5
lol... when you take Ma Nature on as a business partner, you've got yourself one psychotic hctib to deal with. Every. Single. Day.
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austin
test results are back... I am joerat's daddy
Posts: 483
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Post by austin on Jan 23, 2019 4:36:38 GMT -5
lol... when you take Ma Nature on as a business partner, you've got yourself one psychotic hctib to deal with. Every. Single. Day. lol... no one watches weather reports closer than farmers and water trappers.
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tmc
#2 Newhouse
Posts: 2,447
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Post by tmc on Jan 23, 2019 13:07:17 GMT -5
And grandparents wondering what in the H-E-double hockey sticks their daughter is thinking bringing the grandsons out in the worst weather! Thank God for cell phones lol... Jeep or not, there are days when driving is NOT the intelligent choice.
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Post by SawmillCreek on Jan 23, 2019 13:26:39 GMT -5
I thought rats did pretty well at Hinsdale. Seen a couple lots go over $6. Better reds and greys did well. Green fur was super cheap and will drag overall averages down. Castor was strong. Prime beaver did ok considering the market. There were a few buyers there that were buying for their own small businesses to make hats, gloves, etc. I think they drove the price of select items up
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austin
test results are back... I am joerat's daddy
Posts: 483
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Post by austin on Jan 23, 2019 18:15:58 GMT -5
I thought rats did pretty well at Hinsdale. Seen a couple lots go over $6. Better reds and greys did well. Green fur was super cheap and will drag overall averages down. Castor was strong. Prime beaver did ok considering the market. There were a few buyers there that were buying for their own small businesses to make hats, gloves, etc. I think they drove the price of select items up that all sounds fine to me!
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austin
test results are back... I am joerat's daddy
Posts: 483
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Post by austin on Feb 4, 2019 19:14:39 GMT -5
Ten weeks into our eleven-week water season here in southern zone NYS: freeze-thaw from 11/25 day one has never relented for an entire week since. No continuity, not for one complete week. Coupled with a waterlogged land season, most unusual adverse weather I ever recall. Although in my advancing years, I may have forgotten some:P
coni here is that proverbial steady drip... even with worst possible water conditions, he's well over 1,000 now and has at least until 2/28 to continue hammering away. Tells me he caught "ratzilla" today: 4lbs 10oz and 25" nose to tail. Gotta bust out the possum stretcher for that one!
I'm still plugging away on the local WMAs... have all of them all to myself, since day one open. First time in the history of ever that has happened. Expect more of the same next year, too. If' I'm still in NY and not Iowa yet. We'll see.
Plugged in a few trapline video clips uploaded real-time straight from the marsh as usual.
Many here have already seen and commented on them. I generally post in my own FB site but "The Trapline" FB page has 20,000+ members, making it one of the largest FB trapper groups and far bigger active audience than any message board, including the brown site. Dobbins said for years that eventually something would come along to eclipse trapperman viewership. He was right...indeed it has.
Hope y'all are rounding up this southern zone season in style. I do envy the northern zone... they have 25 full calendar weeks open water season compared to our 11. If I can free up a little time in March/April, might head north for some water fun then. It'd be a last-minute decision dictated by factors out of my control. Other than that, two weeks remain of continual see-saw weather left to go
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austin
test results are back... I am joerat's daddy
Posts: 483
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Post by austin on Feb 5, 2019 18:19:51 GMT -5
... coni had a good day (47) playing on Montezuma ice. We need to start a go-fund-me program to buy that man a bigger sled!
I had a good day (22) playing in the bottomlands of Honeoye marsh. Until it was time to pack the backpack with +/- 75lbs of muskrat weight and walk them outta there. Each time I slog that laden trek uphill thru marshy ground, I'm reminded why no one else is stupid enough to pack steel down in there. Because eventually, all that steel AND the catches must be packed up out
In any event, 69 muskrats collectively between us did not have a good day. Or night before.
Interesting afternoon: first time ever that I scouted bubble runs thru 4" of rotting ice on top of 12" - 30" of water below... with another 4" of snow-melt runoff water on top. Honeycombed ice sandwich! Of course we can't chop thru 4" of rotted ice with 4" standing water on top. Solution? Simple... walk around the houses until the ice gives way. That's right where the active runs are. Feel around with your boot for grooved runs on the bottom, and set.
Water - ice - water. Current conditions I'm trapping on/in/thru. First time for everything, I guess. Stay tuned.
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Post by nyrat on Feb 5, 2019 18:47:51 GMT -5
put in 8 rat sets yesterday 7 rats today all in city of syracuse
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austin
test results are back... I am joerat's daddy
Posts: 483
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Post by austin on Feb 6, 2019 5:36:37 GMT -5
put in 8 rat sets yesterday 7 rats today all in city of syracuse I rubber-neck those ditches every time I drive thru Syracuse! Had I grown up there, would have scoured every inch. Henrietta - Victor area used to be similar, but 80% of prior muskrat waters are now phragmite choked
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austin
test results are back... I am joerat's daddy
Posts: 483
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Post by austin on Feb 7, 2019 19:37:55 GMT -5
As you can see in the pics above, coni has been busy on Unit DE and in the fur-shed, too. That young man is piling up the premium winter-quality muskrats!!!
I set & checked traps from 7am thru 5pm without a break. 23 muskrat catch and lots of steel moved around. Just in time for an absolute downpour deluge rain here as I type. Any moving water is already flooded, bottom land ditches I hoped to trap are blown out so bad the entire fields are shallow lakes. Tonight temps will rise into the 50s until wee hours when a cold front sweeps thru and kicks off 40 - 50mph winds thru Friday evening, dropping temps to 30ish from 7am onward all day.
After that, freeze - thaw - freeze and mixed precip forecast thru next Thursday 2/15 season end.
Had plans to run hard and cover lots of water next eight days. Mother Nature has other plans. Most of the water I wanted to hit is totally flooded out. Best I can do is stay where I am, glean it a little harder and do some spot-hopping wherever flooding ain't an issue for the next seven days. Stay tuned.
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Zagman
#2 Newhouse
Posts: 2,186
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Post by Zagman on Feb 8, 2019 7:18:20 GMT -5
NYrat....I saw someone in your territory the other day struggling waste deep in one of the Towpath Ditches near my office......every step looked difficult and painful as I drove by him.....I know him and you do to......
MZ
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Post by skunkman on Feb 8, 2019 7:52:26 GMT -5
Has anyone else been harassed by the lady "rehabber" in the car with her logo on the side? I believe she drives an Impala. She is from that area, and has been following and harassing one of our members while Rat trapping in East Syracuse. I think the C.O's got involved last night, and if others have had issues with her in the past in might help with prosecuting her. Just a heads up.
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Post by joerat3 on Feb 8, 2019 10:35:31 GMT -5
Some lady harassed me last year but I am not sure if it was her.
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paintedpaw
Retired NYSDEC Lake George Ranger
Posts: 691
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Post by paintedpaw on Feb 8, 2019 12:14:30 GMT -5
That is the best rat and mink fleshing tool. Bought mine years ago up in North Bay.
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austin
test results are back... I am joerat's daddy
Posts: 483
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Post by austin on Feb 8, 2019 18:40:21 GMT -5
That is the best rat and mink fleshing tool. Bought mine years ago up in North Bay. coni (Charlie) brought his tool and a couple of fresh 'zuma rats to the Flatiron and demonstrated his method of fleshing. Best I've seen so far when it comes to effortless, perfectly clean hides.I'll be ordering two of those same tools for next season.
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austin
test results are back... I am joerat's daddy
Posts: 483
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Post by austin on Feb 8, 2019 18:57:10 GMT -5
We set a new all-time record warmth for this date at 3am est. After that, temps slid into the 20s and headed for teens overnight. That sort of cold front sweep always rides in on brisk winds. Gusts to 50+ and 60mph made the day interesting. Started out picking off some ditch rats in the Perry Center area from a ditch I last trapped maybe 30 years ago. It carries far less water now as all roadside ditches do, but a few lingering rats made the eight-mile drive worthwhile.
It was Ethan Hall's Friday off from Yates County soil & water dept, he text to ask if I had any traps out, was feeling like some outdoors exertion if so. Boy, did I have the perfect fitness course laid out for him!
We pulled everything I set yesterday, overall went 34 rats out of 80 sets... with 20 footholds notching 18 catches and 2 snaps. I set ahead of the expected water rise, focusing on feed-bed and crawl-out locations which turned out hot. My only mistake was not having 100 footholds ready to deploy <lol>
While hip deep in bulrush choked water inside the standing dead-ash flooded section, we joked about how falling trees then would smear us into muddy spots on the bottom. There was no way we could move fast enough to avoid anything. A short while later after emerging from there, a sudden wind sheer screamed thru from the northeast and shattered limbs & trees all thru that section. A couple of heavy branches and one 12" tree (all dead) crashed into the waters we recently waded thru. I guess timing is indeed everything in life. In some cases so is death
88 muskrats from last three checks. All stakes pulled for now, weather totally sucks as usual. Tonight and tomorrow night into teens F, then 20s thru 40s again all next week with periods of rain - ice - snow. The complete, entire southern zone season was one unbroken freeze-thaw cycle. Matter of fact, that is forecast to persist even after season ends Thursday next.
Stay tuned
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Post by BlackBearBill on Feb 9, 2019 8:24:45 GMT -5
Austin how do I access the Facebook sites that you and von are on send me a friend request and PM about the NY site and I'll push you thru that. The security level is "private" which means it is invisible to non-members.That keeps the antis riff-raff out How long does it take to get approved for the Facebook site? My request has been in for sometime now and nothing. Thanks Bill
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austin
test results are back... I am joerat's daddy
Posts: 483
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Post by austin on Feb 9, 2019 9:18:30 GMT -5
send me a friend request and PM about the NY site and I'll push you thru that. The security level is "private" which means it is invisible to non-members.That keeps the antis riff-raff out How long does it take to get approved for the Facebook site? My request has been in for sometime now and nothing. Thanks Bill if you are talking about the NYS Trapping FB site, Von and Mike Finn are admins that clear member requests. Check with them. I believe I recommended you before into "pending" status. Security is required to prevent antis and other undesirables (previously banned) from entry here. Nobody wants repeatedly banned trolls from polluting our conversations endlessly. We nip that sh^t in the bud, one time only
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Post by BlackBearBill on Feb 9, 2019 10:58:23 GMT -5
How long does it take to get approved for the Facebook site? My request has been in for sometime now and nothing. Thanks Bill if you are talking about the NYS Trapping FB site, Von and Mike Finn are admins that clear member requests. Check with them. I believe I recommended you before into "pending" status. Security is required to prevent antis and other undesirables (previously banned) from entry here. Nobody wants repeatedly banned trolls from polluting our conversations endlessly. We nip that sh^t in the bud, one time only Thank You !!
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austin
test results are back... I am joerat's daddy
Posts: 483
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Post by austin on Feb 9, 2019 15:42:18 GMT -5
It was a two-sled haul day for coni off the Main Pool section of muskrat nirvana. Tells me he went thru ice into water waist deep, which would not be a problem while wearing waders. I did that 40, 50, countless times myself past few days. But... he was wearing hip boots instead. Still finished the check and transported 62 winter-prime jumbos back home. As many times as I've told him to wear those waders, he won't listen.
Young guys are so stubborn at times. Wait until he gets to be my age... I'm 54 now. It'll catch up to him too
Spent a couple hours this afternoon scouting local ditch networks, hoping to find some workable. No dice. Everything is flooded out, iced over and water dropped afterwards to create a jack-strawed ice field mess. Gonna have to travel further to find water I can either walk on top of or next two in order to deploy trap sets.
The most recent rise was fun. Male rats think it's spring, were cruising all over the place, creating fresh toilets and hauling out at the usual strategic spots. I enjoy the foothold game for them, and even wet some original Montgomery #1.5 coils I bought back in 1986. Ten dozen #1.5s for $30ish a dozen and ten dozen #2s for $40ish a dozen. New trap prices have changed since then. These old relics have not changed effectiveness at all. Hands down the best all-around foothold trap for mink & muskrats I've used, with Duke #1.5 double-jaws a modern stop-loss type model that's equally effective.
If water would have remained open a few more days, I'd be running 100 footers daily and crushing big males. But... now we go back to the bubble-runs #160 game until the next rain = thaw arrives on Tuesday
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Post by Adirondack-Jim on Feb 10, 2019 0:47:52 GMT -5
"It was Ethan Hall's day of..."
Obviously Ethan picked the wrong day for a ride-a-long...
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austin
test results are back... I am joerat's daddy
Posts: 483
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Post by austin on Feb 10, 2019 5:38:17 GMT -5
"It was Ethan Hall's day of..." Obviously Ethan picked the wrong day for a ride-a-long... Actually, he's been closely following Cameron Hanes and David Goggins on social media, both of whom are extreme athletes while Hanes is also renowned in the archery world. So to him it was a half-day physical challenge. I let him shake all the rats out of traps too, and he was amazed at how effective footers are when big males are in spring ice-out mode. Heck, this 11+ week freeze-thaw without relent has muskrats as confused as everyone else now
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