Finished for the spring season

May 6, 2013:

With the temperature reaching +30 Celsius, it was time to make a decision. Weather like this turns trapping into a chore. Your catch can also deteriorate quickly in the hot sun; at least those that are caught only partially in the water. So I decided to head out and declare the spring season over.

I was hoping for empty beaver traps but I wanted a few more muskrats. My first check was on the pond where I'd placed two funnel traps in rat runs. I knew one was a run for sure because I'd already caught two rats there. The other, under a big old black poplar root on a sharp bank of the pond, I wasn't sure about. The first funnel trap again produced two more rats. I made my way to the funnel trap under the poplar root and began to pull on the wire that was attached to the trap and tied off on shore. For some reason, it wasn't coming up. I must have spent five minutes trying to free it. Then it suddenly released and up it came with three rats inside of it. A quick check of the Conibear sticks and I had six rats in total.

Three rats in one funnel and two in the other.

On the next property, I discovered an empty beaver trap and three Conibear sticks well above the water. The water had come down a good four inches, leaving a good inch of clear space between my trap and the water. Each trap was missing the carrot that I'd skewered onto the trigger. Now, considering it takes very little to trigger one of these traps, where did the carrots go? The only way they could have come off the trigger would be with enough force to fire the trap. One of those mysteries never to be solved I guess.

One of three carrot-less Conibear sticks above the water level.

  Thankfully, my last check, the 300-yard walk, didn't have any beaver in the traps. I was wincing all the way down there hoping there wasn't another monster beaver caught that would have to be hauled back to the truck in the sweltering heat. I'd taken four from here already, but I knew the big female was still around, as I'd taken three smaller beavers and the big male. Of my two Conibear sticks, only one held a muskrat, giving me a total of seven for the day and 21 for the spring season.

Back at home, my garage had been turned into a skinning shack. I'd skinned five beavers and had one in the freezer. The heat had forced my hand and I had to freeze it before it wasted. Not that I couldn't use it if it had, beaver, as a main bait, is always on a trapper's list. I also had 14 muskrats skinned and now another seven that would have to go on ice to be skinned the next day.

The spring season catch, less one freezer beaver.

Now it's time to hit the yard work, start getting things ready for the lake and fishing season. I' also have to make some time to get back up to the trapline and make sure everything is still in order at the cabin. Some bridges need tending to, wood has to be cut, I want to build a new outhouse... the list goes on.

Until next time!