Baited bucket sets

[soggybtmboys]

Ok, gonna put some sets out with my 160's I have and gonna set them in buckets up off the ground for coon.

Here is my question; What kind of bait should I use in this particular type of set?

[griffondog]

Marshmallows and some beaver castor mixed with honey. Should take care of their sweet tooth and keep the other critters away.


Griff

[BlackCoyote]

marshmallows and Procoon a minty smelling lure work great for me...i also bend the triggers back and get perfect just behind the head catches.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v445/Drewsifer/IM000812.jpg

[Big Reds]

Honey and peanut butter work well and keep for a long time. Hint also..... peanut butter also works quite well to attract deer! I actually watched an eight point buck lick off all the peanut butter from a stick I was using to bait coon traps.

[soggybtmboys]

Ok, had the sets out since Friday now and not a catch. Trapping a creek behind a cornfield and have my buckets in trees next to trails and toilet trees, coon sign everywhere. Yes, all my buckets are more than 4 ft up the tree trunk, so i am nice and legal. Baited the sets with marshmellows and smeared some Night Bandit Food/lure. Has a sickly sweet smell....kinda reminds me of molasses. Also dabbed a little on the tree just below the bucket and at the base of the trunk to help get some scent moving around.

Here is the problem......not a single catch yet!:help:

Any ideas why not?????? The corn is still up, not sure if that is a problem or not, there droppings are loaded with corn and berries/seeds. Thanx in advance.

[BlackCoyote]

if the corn is still up you will get (some) refusals to buckets, what size trap are you using that you put the buckets up in the trees? 6" and under is legal on the ground unless it's public land. So (most)160's and 120's are fine...if your worried about dogs, add a length of board to the top of the bucket. The trap in the pic i posted is a 120, so even old boars will sit their head in bucket and a 120. :D

[soggybtmboys]

I am on private land, but there are houses in the vicinity but more than 450 ft away. It is rural and dogs and cats wander the property sometimes against the property owners wishes, but I don't want to get into the middle of that between the owners neighbors and himself. I am also trapping an area that is within 50 ft of a running creek. That is why I have chosen to put the traps in buckets in trees. The traps are 160 Belisle's Coni's. I only have six so that is what I have set, come Saturday I will be setting steel in and on the banks of the creek, legholds which I have much more of.

I would really like to set the coni's on the trails I am just very apprehensive even though it is private to have those on the ground because of a potential dog or cat catch, the legholds I am not worried about when I get them in. The creek is also too shallow for a drowner set, so that will not be an issue either.

I am gonna take some sardines with me today after work to change a few baits up to see if that will make a difference and possibly let some of the canning oils drip on the trees to guide the coons up the tree to the bait.

Like I said only six buckets out, so not sure what I am doing worng exactly, I would post pics but my puter at home is running poorly and cannot seem to get pics to upload on the site or my photobucket account.

Thanx, any advice would be greatly appreciated.

SBB

[FREEPOP]

Go to the dollar store and get some Jack Mackeral and some sardines.

[soggybtmboys]

Ok just got in from the trap check. 0 for 6 with a miss, well not a miss. Apparently a coon got himself into my 160 and it did not kill it, and it managed to power itself out of my 160 Belisle Coni. Tell ya what, got a new respect for them, those Belisle traps are tight and they are strong. Bit the crap out of my tag and tore the heck out of a limb it apparently got its feet onto to pwer out. Oh well, get him next time perhaps.

Picked up some sardines and gonna give that a try, freshed up the scent drip with the sardine oil. Hoping that with this new bait and cold weather coming in, they will get on the feed. Check in tomorrow with results.

[USMCSniper]

Fish oil, with some peppermint trailing into the set, then really anything as bait. If you think about it coons are always dumping trash cans looking for goodies so if its tasty to us its likely tasty to them. To be honest with you I wouldn't worry about setting the 160 buckets on the ground you will up your take. But if thats your gut feeling then go with it, I am in the same position trapping someone elses land with some domestics around, I set on the ground and have not had a problem.

[soggybtmboys]

ok, checked the line tonight with the kids. Got one possum, and another miss in a bucket. I went ahead and put those two on the ground near trails and toilets and they both got hit. Both baited with sardines. I screwed up and got lazy on one of them, but thought it would maybe work better than just the sardines, left the one with the wring out with a marshmellow on the trigger wires....well that was the wring out. Pretty sure it was a coon by the hair in the trap, but another reach in and grab. The other coni was a solid hit by a huge grinner, I had bent the triggers on that one apart a little allowing a head to slide thru then get caught on shoulders, and it worked great. Grinner was not what I wanted but gonna put him up.

So, making mistakes but learning a ton and cutting the learning curve down some. See what tomorrow bring, gonna try that trigger bending back like Black coyote suggested and see how that fares. Also come Friday will be taking down the rest of the tree bucket sets, the other four have not been hit at all, think I will be good and not have to worry about the domestics, neighbors have been notified the property is being trapped.

[soggybtmboys]

http://www.michigan-sportsman.com/photopost/data/3043/medium/Trapping_07_022.jpg


http://www.michigan-sportsman.com/photopost/data/3043/medium/Trapping_07_021.jpg

[LarryA]

There are some ideas on setting conibears and limiting the chances for nontarget catches in this publication.

http://www.dec.ny.gov/docs/wildlife_pdf/Trappers21.pdf

Right now, I am trying out the effectiveness of buckets with 5" holes. Getting ready to set my first one tonight. If it goes well, I'll let ya know.

[soggybtmboys]

Great link! Thanks that is a good one and saving it to my favorites! Gonna read it real good has a ton of info.

[soggybtmboys]

Pulled down all my tree sets today with the opening of water trapping here. Still no coons in the tree sets so am hoping the baited buckets on the ground near the trails will be the ticket.

[Joe R.]

Soggy,

Do what you feel is right in your gut when setting conibears. I will tell you this though. I haven't set a baited bucket for coon in about 6-7 years. Yes you can catch coon in them, but they aren't as effective as what some people believe. If the corn is still in up in the fields your results are going to be disappointing. I would look for some of the tighter trails leading into the corn and set those. I've run 220's on dry ground for close to 20 years in trails and have never once snagged a dog in one. You'll catch your share of skunks and possums until you get them thinned down a bit, but you will wack the heck out of coon in the trails. If they don't till right away it will keep producing until cold weather sets in and drives the coon to the water. Right now my traps would be in the trails leading to the corn though.

Joe

[soggybtmboys]

Yeah I hear ya Joe. I am gonna give the buckets another day or two and if they don't produce, I am gonna try just what you said, got some really good runs I could really use those 160's in, instead of sitting in buckets that aren't getting hit. Wish you lived closer would be fun to take you out there with me and show you what I am talking about.

[lang49]

The bucket/cubby box was never designed to work in trees. The problem you're experiencing is because the coon is reaching into the trap rather than trying to grab the bait with his mouth. The bucket is slippery and therefore, when the coon climbs the tree, he gets to a point where his only option for climbing higher is to reach out and grab the bottom rung of the trap- often tripping it.

BTW- Bucket sets and cubby boxes are relatively dog proof on the ground when setup properly (they are not cat proof however). The key is to set the trap deeper into the bucket (8" + is good). Then if a dog were to try to stick his head in (particularly in a cubby box), his head would be too wide to fit far enough into the box in order to touch the trigger on the trap.

Just my 2 cents, but a cubby box measuring 8 x 8 x 18" is a pretty good way to go.

[fairfax1]

I just completed my first experience with this baited bucket technique.

I experienced a terrific amount of coon damage to my corn so a friend gave me his bucket/conibear and a live trap..........plus the advice to use dry cat food for bait.

Wow, worked like a charm. I caught 10 coons in 7 days using this bucket and the live trap. 6 dead in the bucket; 4 alive in the trap; plus 3 possum...or 'grinners' as you folks call 'em.

The bucket was set near a big den tree and the live trap on a dry run into my cornfield. All 10 were boars with one at 19lbs, the others clustered in the 14 to 17lb range...tho there was one kit at about 6 or 7lbs.

I pulled all this hardware the day before the firearm deer season opened. But, I was very pleased that I just may be able to reduce somewhat next years' corn damage.

The cat food bait was a great idea....super convenient, cheap, idiot-proof to use on a dry ground set.

[bkeee]

This was fun to read.....a lot of good advice.

[bradym54]

hey guys I was wondering if you HAVE to use square buckets and if you could use like round 5 gallon buckets because thats all I have and how could I get some square buckets if round don't work. Or make the round buckets work, thats all thanks, please reply.


Brady the beast

[SNAREMAN]

Round one's work fine.

[HunterHawk]

i use round buckets because my dad owns a drywall company... they work fine

[bucketbuster]

if you put the bucket or box in the tree sideways, braced with a couple of pieces of wood, instead of up and down it will work just fine

[FREEPOP]

I drill a hole on both sides of the bucket towards the rear for a rebar stake to keep it from rolling. Sticks and rocks help too.

[twohats]

I always liked to use a can of cheap sardins for bait.Seemed to work well. Sure do wish nov. would get here so I can make a few sets.