Table of contents for November 2024 in The Trapper

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Sometimes the simplest sets are the best — sometimes. I found a beaver colony behind one of the tallest beaver dams I think I have ever encountered. It was somewhere between 8 and 10 feet tall from its base. It was so steep that the beavers had stopped using it as a crossover. They swam to the backwaters and found their crossovers there. I don’t know how many acres those beavers had flooded. This wasn’t a new colony. They had been there for a number of years. As the water depth increased, some of the ditches meant to drain away water were instead filled with backwater. As the beavers steadily dammed up the ditches at the back of their pond, I found a ditch that was still connected to the…

ON THE TRAPLINE WITH TOM BEAUDETTE If I had a nickel for every time I heard a debate about what works best for scent control on steel traps, I would be a rich man. Trying to hide or mask scent on steel, or for that matter human scent at the set, can be a chore. In my experience trapping coyotes in general, I have found that a coyote trapper does not need to worry about either of these issues when starting out in areas where coyotes have not been trapped. It’s when the coyote trapper must trap in an area where another trapper has been trapping that it might become a problem with human scent or dug-up traps due to scent. There are many products out there today from trapping…

Email reports to Chris.Berens@Media360LLC.com Colorado Trappers & Predator Hunters Association www.coloradotrapper.com President, NTA Colorado Director, NRA Representative Dan Gates, P.O. Box 128, Canon City, CO 81215 719-275-4077 or 269-7972, Dan@ColoradoRidACritter.com Vice President Adam Warren, P.O. Box 734, Dove Creek, CO 81324 970-739-9404, adamwarren64@yahool.com Secretary-Treasurer Karen Gates, P.O. Box 193, Canon City, CO 81215 719-276-4260 or 719-275-4077, office@coltpha.com NW Regional Director Kevin Herrman, P.O. Box 1862, Basalt, CO 81621 970-379-5976, kherrman@advantagebuildersco.com SW Regional Director Christy Bryan, 2375 Road 1.7, Dove Creek, CO 81324 970-739-6437, skylinetaxidermy77@gmail.com SE Regional Director Ethan Gates, P.O. Box 750, Canon City, CO 81215 719-371-6401, ethangates21@gmail.com BOARD OF DIRECTORS Sept 1st 2022 – August 13th, 2023  NE Regional Director Naomi Yates, 38921 Poudre Canyon Hwy, Bellvue, CO 80512 970-420-4250, naomiyatesgtb@gmail.com Wildlife Commission Liaison Dan Gates Fur Auction Manager…

Years ago, I took all of my back issues of The Trapper and Predator Caller to a convention and gave them away. I’ve regretted it ever since. So, when I saw eight stacks of old issues on the auction tables at the Sioux Falls NTA convention, I bid on every stack. I didn’t want them all, but I did definitely want some, if only to aggravate Jill. One of her pet peeves is having outdoor magazines cluttering the house, while I view them not as clutter but décor. I didn’t think it through. Like I said, I only wanted a few, and not so I could annoy my spouse. I can annoy her without half trying; I don’t need old magazines to help me. I wanted these for nostalgia. But…

CALENDARS ARE WONDERFUL TOOLS that tell us when to work, when to play and when to sleep. But long before any printed words, the lunar phases were used and one that trappers watched for was the Beaver Moon in November. Never heard of this celestial wonder? Well, let’s shed a little light and learnin’ on the subject. EARLY TIMES Mankind has watched the moon’s many phases pretty much as long as we’ve wandered over this big rock. Early farmers, ranchers and travelers all used the constant lunar guide for various reasons. Even today many of us eagerly watch the sky over the 12 odd moons of each year. The sporting world has known for thousands of years about the moon’s influence on wild game — from waterfowl to big game to…

It was hard to believe, but the tracks in the dirt didn’t lie. I had been hiking the familiar piece of farmland I access each year, setting for late October raccoons. I was surprised to see nearly as many fox tracks as raccoon tracks, especially away from the river and on the edge of the forest and ditches. Even more surprising, there wasn’t a coyote track to be found. Red foxes used to be the main target of trappers from the Dakotas to the East Coast. In fact, I have a booklet in my collection of outdoor books, called “Furbearers of North Dakota,” published by the state Game and Fish Department in 1961, that classifies the coyote as scarce in the state. Red foxes and even gray foxes were the…

BROUGHT TO YOU BY pursuitchannel.com OCT 6: Pennsylvania Trappers Association District #2 Fall Meeting will be held at the Happy Hunters Club. Doors open at 11 a.m. and the meeting starts at noon. Dealers and tailgaters welcome. For more info call 724-679-0157. DEC 21: Michigan Trappers & Predator Callers Association Fur Sale, 10:00 a.m., Jay’s Sporting Goods in Clare, MI 48617. JAN 25: Indiana State Trappers Association Fur Sale, Old Friendship Church, Linville, IN. Must be an ISTA member to sell. Lot numbers can be purchased prior to the sale date. Fur buyers from several states. Food, trap raffles, 50/50 contests. Come out for the fun and enjoy the largest fur sales in Indiana. For further information call or text Byron Tiede at (219)-863-3803. Doors open at 8 a.m. Sales begin promptly…

November is prime time for harvest — and this is what everyone reading this column should focus on at the moment! For most outdoorsmen and women, November flies by. November is the prime month for almost everything outdoors — trapping, deer, ducks, pheasants, grouse and late-season fishing usually are all extraordinary during this month. The hardest thing to do in November is decide what to do when you have days you can escape from work or other commitments. In the fur world, November is when fur is starting to become prime. Mink and raccoon leather turn white, fur density increases, and depending on where you live, the first snows of the year will arrive sometime this month. By November, trappers are in the action mode — and most of the…

Snares are fantastic tools for catching furbearers, and their use probably dates back many hundreds — if not thousands — of years ago. Any loop of twine, sinew, braided hair, or and eventually rope — has the potential to help a hunter catch an animal. Luckily, modern snares are more than a simple loop of twine, and their design has greatly improved over time, even more so in the last few decades. Snares are as effective as they are controversial. If you look into state and provincial laws across the United States and Canada, you will discover great discrepancies when it comes to legislation. In some states, snares of any form are illegal. In other areas, or for certain species, snares are the ONLY legal means of harvesting furbearers. You…