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Post by mattbredeweg on Mar 9, 2014 20:38:57 GMT -5
I'll b making some for the first time. Is the flake wax for candel making the stuff I need to use. I've used peat but get to many refusing to commit to work set.
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Post by tired of scraping coyotes on Mar 10, 2014 7:11:15 GMT -5
TOP DRESS THE PEAT WITH DRY DIRT AND SHOULDN`T HAVE ANY TROUBLE. IF YOU ARE HAVING TROUBLE THE PROBLEM IS MORE THAN USING PEAT,I.E. i DON`T EXPECT USING WAX DIRT WILL CHANGE ANYTHUING AS FAR AS REFUSALS, JUST WEIGH A LOT MORE TO HAUL AROUND AND COST A LOT MORE TOO. NOT SAYING WAX DIRT WON`T WORK OR ISN`T GOOD, JUST HAS NEGATIVES ALSO.
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Post by mattbredeweg on Mar 10, 2014 14:14:26 GMT -5
What are some of the disadvantages other than weight? I had a lot of frozen peat this year, granted it was colder than normal .
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Post by tired of scraping coyotes on Mar 10, 2014 15:30:49 GMT -5
PEAT WILL NEVER FREEZE IF IT IS DRIED, DUST DRIED. IT CAN EVEN GO UNDER WATER FORT WEEKS AT A TIME AND WILL NOT TAKE UP WATER. SO IT WILL NOT FREEZE! MORAL OF STORY, BUY PEAT NOW, AS IT COMES WET. CUT THE TOP OF THE BALES AND BY FALL IT WILL BE DRY. WASTE OF TIME TO USE WET .WAXED DIRT TOO EXPENSIVE . TOO MUCH WORK FOR THE RETURN ON INVESTMENT IN TIME AND LABOR. IMO A GIMMICK MORE THAN ACTUAL TRAPLINE WORTH. YES IT WORKS BUT IT TOO WILL INDEED FREEZE IF THE WATER AROUNDS IT FREEZES. GO PEAT!
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Post by RK's Predator Plus on Mar 11, 2014 21:30:41 GMT -5
One trick is to buy your peat in July and August as it's sat outdoors at Lowes or Home Depot in the sun/heat all summer and will be bone, dust dry like Bob said.
HOWEVER...
One thing I noticed this season was...even if the peat is bone dry,,,,the soil/set became so saturated that the soil couldn't hold anymore water...no place to go. Thus, the peat floated ON TOP of the water.
Without actually touching the set,,,i.e. checking from even a few yrds away...the set looked normal,,,,but the peat was floating in a cake ! Push on it and there was 3" of water underneath ! Couldn't tell without actually touching the set. At this point, you are trying to trap canines like an old fashioned spring hole set.
2) When it got real cold, there was a crust on the peat. As Bob said, you top dress with a 1 mm layer of dirt. Even dry barn floor dirt has enough moisture in it to freeze. So...you use a No. 3 that will break thru the crust as the yote will be heavy enough to break thru the crust or, do like I do and lift the frozen sliver of dirt off....like a saucer size. The trouble is, it was windy enough this season that without at least a thin layer of dirt, the peat would blow off as fast as I'd cover it. So...carry a bucket of dry dirt, as dry as you can get and top dress the peat.
Peat is as easy and fool proof as you can get in the east. Coal shale is good, but most guys can't get it. I brought some back from MT. and it's good stuff, just not available in the east, except Eastern KY, W.V. etc. It's basically like dirty coal or dirt made from coal if you can get my drift.
The BeastMaster
Professor Emeritus- North American Trapper University
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Post by mattbredeweg on Mar 12, 2014 16:49:17 GMT -5
The top layer of dirt over my sets were frozen several times, just as you described. Pete Moss I was using was bone dry because I've had that bag open all summer long. Are there any tricks in bedding the trap in Pete Moss where I can do it solidly? That was probably my biggest hurdle.
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Post by tired of scraping coyotes on Mar 12, 2014 17:26:53 GMT -5
MATT,THE PEAT COULDN`T HAVE BEEN DRY OR IT WOULDN`T FREEZE, AS IT WILL NOT TAKE UP WATER, ONCE DRY. i MEAN DRY DRY DRY.. FWIW, BEDDING ISN`T A PROBLEM, WITH IN REASON, PEAT OR NOT. IF YOU SAW HOW "SLOPPY" MY SETS WERE YOU`D SEE IT ISN`T BEDDING OR PEAT THAT CAUSES ISSUES. AT LEAST NOT ISSUES OF MAJOR IMPORTANCE. . THAT TOP LAYER OF DIRT YOU CAN SALT AND THAT WILL KEEP IT DOWN TO MID UPPER TEENS THAWED. BELOW THAT IT SHOULDN`T GET WET. INSTEAD OF DIG A BED, IF THE GROUND IS SOUP, PICK A HIGHER SPOT #1, #2 BEAT A BED IN WITH YOUR HAMMER JUST THE SIZE OF THE TRAP. YOU CAN ALSO DIG DRAINAGE TRENCHES IN CONDITIONS WHERE THERE IS NO HIGH SPOT. YOU ARE IMPLICATING PROBLEMS IN FAILURE TO CATCH THAT AREN`T YOUR REAL PROBLEMS. i DON`T KNOW HOW ELSE TO SAY IT.
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Post by gameboy on Mar 12, 2014 18:21:28 GMT -5
I wasn't going to say it but Bob has seen me do it; I have caught many a coyote here in Indiana and more than a handful in KS with no dirt on top of the peat. Only time I put dirt on top is if it's windy. I do spread a little extra peat around the pattern and use the salt. I also agree with Bob on the "bedding" deal. I dig the bed in a bowl shape where the levers and jaws are touching the rim which is the same principle as Bob said by hammering the same size as the trap. A little snuggling press down and go with it. Bedding and pan tension is always talked about in the "secrete" system but Bob catches them by the 1,000s without it.
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Post by mattbredeweg on Mar 12, 2014 19:10:33 GMT -5
Bob thanks for the tips 1&2. I was digging beds more than likely way to big and covering whole thing with peat... Lesson learned, I do like early season weather ,easier for me to catchem... Lol just wish they were worth more. If we keep having winters like this one, ill have to get it straightened out.
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Post by RK's Predator Plus on Mar 13, 2014 19:03:07 GMT -5
I'll take frozen ground and up to 6" of DRY snow vs. Oct. and daily rain. It's easier to drive ON the ground than IN the ground.
The BeastMaster
Professor Emeritus- North American Trapper University
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Post by tired of scraping coyotes on Mar 13, 2014 19:15:24 GMT -5
YOU GUYS ARE TOTALLY NOT SEEING THE FOREST FOR THE TREES. i GIVE UP.
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Post by RK's Predator Plus on Mar 13, 2014 19:21:11 GMT -5
I spent this afternoon cutting the brush off my creek bank so I can see my forest.
The BeastMaster
Professor Emeritus- North American Trapper University
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Post by gameboy on Mar 13, 2014 19:52:19 GMT -5
Here ya go Matt. Just dry, dry peat and salt. Way below freezing...I think in the single digits. Here is the guy that taught me. Here is why I listened.
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Post by mattbredeweg on Mar 14, 2014 6:11:54 GMT -5
I understand. All my questions are answered very well and I'm very grateful for the info. You guys are some very good canine trappers and I'm trying to become better and more efficient every year. This next season I'm shooting for 50 yotes before Christmas. Good to have a goal...
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Post by tired of scraping coyotes on Mar 14, 2014 7:07:25 GMT -5
HOW YOU GUYS LIKE THOSE "D" COLORED COYOTES IN THE PICTURE?
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