I can tell you what NOT to do.....!
I can tell you what NOT to do.....!
My grandfather used to twist a ten foot length of barbed wire down a varmint hole and haul out whatever came. Granma buried his clothes alot.
He spent some time in the dog house but never learned.
This was back when fur was worth something.
When I was a kid trapping I ran a few sets (footholds) in the usually dry creek behind the house, thinking I might catch some coons. In the winter I used to shoot blackbirds or meadowlarks and use them as bait. On this one particular set, something kept stealing my bait without setting off the trap. I tried every conceivable way of hiding the bait and moving the set, but still the same. This went on for a week or so. I got fed up with it and decide to bait the set and place 2 traps instead of 1. Next morning I go to check it and I got em....! BIG skunk. He's go both front feet in one trap and both back feet in the other, and he is P'OD something terrible. I don't even have to get close and I can hear him growling and hissing. So me and my dog Poochie sneak up to what I feel is a safe distance. Using my first rifle, an Ithaca 49 single shot, I put a LR bullet right thru the lungs.
Skunk thrashed around a couple seconds and I swear he made eye contact, and on his last dying breath let loose with this yellow mist of stink. Well, the wind was WRONG....and blew it right at us. I knew as soon as he did it, I was in a bad spot. Me and Pooch tried to make a hasty retreat back up the hill, but it was too late. Although we didn't get a direct hit, the wind covered us in secondary mist. We stunk. Got home and had to throw away the clothes and hit the the Hydrogen Peroxide. You could still catch a whiff of skunk on us for quite a while.
Since then, I've always shot skunks with a shotgun. IMO, they don't seem to spray as often. Every once in a while one will, but a good dose of shot seems to render them lifeless pretty quick. Quicker than a bullet thru the lungs anyway. The lead doesn't tear up traps if you're a decent distance away. Don't know what you'd do with one in a box trap.
When I was trapping there were people who actually bought skunk scent. They would use it for all sorts of products. There were methods of killing a skunk so it wouldn't spray and then you could remove the skunk essence to sell. I never did it, but if I remember right, I read you could take a syringe on a pole filled with alcohol, and poke them quickly in the ribs with it and they wouldn't spray. I guess the alcohol would drown them almost instantly. Somebody actually used to sell a kit to do this, I remember seeing the drawing of how to use it. I never did it, didn't want to get that close.
Skunk thrashed around a couple seconds and I swear he made eye contact, and on his last dying breath let loose with this yellow mist of stink. Well, the wind was WRONG....and blew it right at us. I knew as soon as he did it, I was in a bad spot. Me and Pooch tried to make a hasty retreat back up the hill, but it was too late. Although we didn't get a direct hit, the wind covered us in secondary mist. We stunk. Got home and had to throw away the clothes and hit the the Hydrogen Peroxide. You could still catch a whiff of skunk on us for quite a while.
Since then, I've always shot skunks with a shotgun. IMO, they don't seem to spray as often. Every once in a while one will, but a good dose of shot seems to render them lifeless pretty quick. Quicker than a bullet thru the lungs anyway. The lead doesn't tear up traps if you're a decent distance away. Don't know what you'd do with one in a box trap.
When I was trapping there were people who actually bought skunk scent. They would use it for all sorts of products. There were methods of killing a skunk so it wouldn't spray and then you could remove the skunk essence to sell. I never did it, but if I remember right, I read you could take a syringe on a pole filled with alcohol, and poke them quickly in the ribs with it and they wouldn't spray. I guess the alcohol would drown them almost instantly. Somebody actually used to sell a kit to do this, I remember seeing the drawing of how to use it. I never did it, didn't want to get that close.
I'd liked to have seen that. That would have been some interesting fishing.
I use salmon flavored cat food.
Did pretty good today. Got one beaver, two coons, two possums, three skunks and one armadillo.
Bad part is that I got sprayed by the skunks. Fortunatly had on my waders, and jacket, gloves, so getting out of them made the smell go away. That beaver had to weigh 50 lbs. I'll get pics of the skunks tomorrow. Got two at one time in a live trap around the old farmhouse. I forgot my tarp, and got a plastic tub out of the barn, to drop over the trap. In the process got sprayed.
In the am I have a hose that attaches to my tailpipe that will fit under the tub, and just gas them.
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Bad part is that I got sprayed by the skunks. Fortunatly had on my waders, and jacket, gloves, so getting out of them made the smell go away. That beaver had to weigh 50 lbs. I'll get pics of the skunks tomorrow. Got two at one time in a live trap around the old farmhouse. I forgot my tarp, and got a plastic tub out of the barn, to drop over the trap. In the process got sprayed.
In the am I have a hose that attaches to my tailpipe that will fit under the tub, and just gas them.
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