Catch thread 2022

Btw had one set with turkey tracks all over it. Miracle no track on the pan. Just blind luck that it walked across the set.

dogdoc said:

We’ll last night was horrible. Only slight chance of rain when I did my sets yesterday am. By the evening the “slight chance” turned into 1/4”. Frustrating. The rain really messes up my sets. I haven’t been using pan covers. I guess I should use some wax paper which would prolly help them from mucking up in the rain. They’ll still be fine for a day or two but as it dries the pan tension will climb.

I’ve got a 10 on block of paraffin wax and was planning to make some wax dirt which would help a lot. Dirt has never got dry enough to make it up.

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Night latch and peat. 1/4 in rain will just make it better.

jackiereed said:

Night latch and peat. 1/4 in rain will just make it better.

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My MB 550’s have a night latch and I’ve adjusted them down to 2 - 2.5 lb pain tension.
I had forgotten about pear moss as an option. In need to look into that more. Do you just get a big bag at Lowe’s ?

dogdoc said:

My MB 550’s have a night latch and I’ve adjusted them down to 2 - 2.5 lb pain tension.
I had forgotten about pear moss as an option. In need to look into that more. Do you just get a big bag at Lowe’s ?

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I try to buy it from somewhere that has it under a shed. Put a bag under a shed where it will stay dry. Open it up and let it dry until next year.. then your set next time.

dogdoc said:

My MB 550’s have a night latch and I’ve adjusted them down to 2 - 2.5 lb pain tension.
I had forgotten about pear moss as an option. In need to look into that more. Do you just get a big bag at Lowe’s ?

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And just because a trap comes nitelatched don't mean crap.
A good latch will let the trap fire with less than a 1/16" of pan travel. If your going to use peat you will have to tuneup your traps.

jackiereed said:

And just because a trap comes nitelatched don't mean crap.
A good latch will let the trap fire with less than a 1/16" of pan travel. If your going to use peat you will have to tuneup your traps.

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I'm still learning the terminology of the trap parts. Fun learning the nuances. One reason I went with the MB 550's was their claim to be "as close to ready out of the box" compared to most traps. I actually did well with them out of the box. I just think that as they collected a little rust and dirt with use the pan tension crept upwards. I was also finding smaller tracks on the pan that weren't triggering the trap. I do think the length of the tip of the dog beyond the notch is a little long and should be trimmed to reduce that pan travel and will work on that.

I honestly think my traps are tuned pretty good as they are. My biggest obstacle is setting them up to tolerate some rain. I catch well with new sets that haven't been rained on. The rain kills my sets.

Going to get some peat moss at lunch today.

Sift that peat into a bucket at the house. Down wind. Then put a zip lock bag full in the freezer to be sure it's dry enough.

dogdoc said:

My MB 550’s have a night latch and I’ve adjusted them down to 2 - 2.5 lb pain tension.
I had forgotten about pear moss as an option. In need to look into that more. Do you just get a big bag at Lowe’s ?

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I order from Amazon. When I ordered before Christmas, it was cheaper you buy 5 bags than it was 3 or 4… Makes no sense, but I used all of it. They have fixed the prices accordingly now.

I bet that craps high on Amazon.
The big 3 cu ft bale are about $15 now.

Nice catches

Hooked Spurs said:

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Good looking southern cat. That last yote looks to have blue eyes. Seems like most I have caught are yellow, light brown, or green. How common are blue eyes?

Damn I've seen lots of yotes and have heard lots more descriptions but green is a new one on me.

Dang nice catches