dang wamup coming

[bigjohn]

I know many of you will like it but I'd just as soon it stay cold till Feb.

Sunday it warmed into the 30s with rain then freezing rain later into the evening causing me to have to remake some frozen sets yesterday. Had 2 skunks caught that ventured out in the warmup and I had taken out my syringe pole and ended up having to shoot them stinking things.

This warming trend will have all those nondisirable varmints clogging predator sets costing more time on remakes.
Our boar coons are getting rubbed and bit up so they'll get released but the sows should be in a little better condition.

[tomolson]

its 9 below here in MN. at 10:00 am this morning.we are supposed to warm up into the 30s later this week.
Tom

[korde]

I'm all set up for dp's and coons so I'm embracing this weather.. Caught 6 between Sunday and Monday but no rubbed up ones yet.
I may try a couple of dirt holes this weekend before it's all over with. The thaw will definitely be a problem especially this weekend for prexeisting sets..

[bigjohn]

Tom, it was 4 degrees when I left this morning but suppose to warm into the mid 20's by 3 PM and 12 for a low tonight.
10 day forecast reads 32 tomorrow,42 Thurs,49 Fri,51 Sat,47 Sun,50 Mon,41 Tues,43 and mixture Wed and 37 and mixture Thurs.

[bverboy]

getting around is gonna be a challenge...... everywhere i go will be nothing but slop.... farmers dont go for that...

[bigjohn]

I hear that. I pulled three sets today for that very reason. Even thou it's still below feezing, if the sun shines on that bare dirt it turns into grease.
The only plus is my catch wont be frozen by the time I get thru running my line .lol

[bverboy]

you might as well pull all of them.. posms gonna fill them up bwhahaahhaahahhaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa

[tjm]

I can't wait! While I understand your gumbo problems, it is impossible to set in frozen gravel. I'm tired of looking out the window and will be happy to get to get outside. Might even make a few sets if it gets warm enough for critters to move.

[bigjohn]

Trevis,I've got one location that has produced 8 coyotes in 10 days. That doesn't happen very often in above freezing temps due to the trashing of the site in thawed ground. It's been nice not to have muddy coyotes like the ones I had when first setting lol

Our ground has frost down as far as 10 inches in places,so that equates to moisture coming to the surface as the temps warm up.

bverboy, I've caught far less possums this year than in the past. Lots of it has to do with setting travel routes into areas instead of driving on down into the areas themselves. On the downside,I haven't caught near the cats due to this.

[tjm]

yep, possums and skunks and blackbears stay holed up, prey stay holed up and all that means hungry coyotes and unpluged traps; the lack of mud is a bonus.
And I know how that mud is going to ball up on your feet. Gumbo, ain't it?
I've worked in those conditions and understand.

If I was in better condition and had had some traps buried when the cold hit I would have welcomed it more. Most of my place is soil like you find on a gravel bar, if I wanted mud I'd have to import dirt.
We have only had surface freeze here with temps dropping into the teens at dark, staying in low twenties through most of the day, then going above freezing in late afternoon. With the gravel saturated from all the rain, you can guess how that works.
Once this gravel freezes it becomes mighty hard to make a trap bed without an air compressor. If the traps are already set before the freeze, they can be kept working, but...
And so I'm not a trapper this year, yet.

So all in all I'm going to like the warm up. And a bit of sun might help my attitude, I'm so tired of overcast sky.

[bigjohn]

Don't know how those folk in the Northwester part of the U.S. stand it. Oh wait, maybe that's why they have a high suicide rate lol

[tjm]

Depression is a hard master. We had sun Christmas and one day since then. Got up to 38 this afternoon but still gray.