my Harford fox trapping off to a good start

[foxtrapper]

I have 1 farm so far to trap, and in 10 days of checks have gotten 4 red fox ( all nice and healthy, no mange), and 2 raccoons. I am happy as can be! Much closer than my land in Elkton, which makes trapping a PIA, plus is wooded, not some big fox run like on farmland.

I have also met a local younger trapper who just started doing it recently, and met another guy today who wants to trap and lives too far for me to go daily for me to trap, so I will be teaching him so he can trap his own property ( poultry snatching foxes, raccoons, he saw a mink, pack of coyotes went through a while back). He is also VERY excited that I am a taxidermist. He hunts there on his land and must have seen a nice buck around and hopes to get him.

Meanwhile there are other trappers hogging up a lot of local farms LOL. Damn, I wish I could get 2-3 more nice farms to trap, but could take some work. I had no idea there were all these trappers in Harford. One is a PA guy I never heard of.

 

[engineerbrian]

Rookie questions from a non trapper

What do you use for bait and how do you dispatch the animal?

 

[foxtrapper]

I use a lot of lures over bait, but I got this 3 meat bait ( preserved meat) made with mouse, muskrat, and beaver meat, and this fox was caught on it last night, so it works. I've also used fresh rabbit, groundhog, muskrat, boiled eggs, and pork cracklins.

Foxes- stun them on the muzzle to knock them out, and hit them hard in the throat a bunch of times. No blood oozing out to mess the fur up and kills them fast. Coons are tough mean SOB's so they get a .22 to the head. Sometimes I get a mean fox I don't want to get close to and shoot it in the heart or lungs, but there is always an exit hole and blood oozes out and can be a mess. I have someone I give the fox skulls to.

 

[madmantrapper]

I never shoot fox, always shoot coons. Fox I hit in the bridge of the nose to stun then stand on the chest with one foot on the neck for a minute or two.

 

[mark71211]

I never shoot fox, always shoot coons. Fox I hit in the bridge of the nose to stun then stand on the chest with one foot on the neck for a minute or two.

I hunt and understand that a animal will suffer a little before it dies but the way you guy do it does not seem fast enough. I always thought you shot it in the head

 

[Rocky BearDog]

I miss trapping. I used to go with my dad when I was a kid - mostly muskrat back then...

 

[jtb81100]

With work I haven't been able to get any traps out on our 2 farms. On vacation next week so that will be changing when I get off tomorrow. Third year at it and first time I'll be going for a little of everything that is in the area (no fisher, beaver, or otter that I know of).

 

[jtb81100]

I hunt and understand that a animal will suffer a little before it dies but the way you guy do it does not seem fast enough. I always thought you shot it in the head

The stun and stand method is more humane then it sounds. The stun knocks them senseless for 20-30 seconds (give or take) and by standing on their throat you are restricting blood flow to the brain so they are knocked out before they can realize what is going on. Fox's variation would basically do the same, although it is a bit more agressive.
I usually just shoot because I wash everything after skinning anyway. Makes it look and smell a lot better.

 

[Sewer Rat]

http://www.nafa.ca/20041

Forecast for fur prices isnt good this year.... still remember the last time fur dropped as much as they are predicting.

 

[engineerbrian]

The stun and stand method is more humane then it sounds. The stun knocks them senseless for 20-30 seconds (give or take) and by standing on their throat you are restricting blood flow to the brain so they are knocked out before they can realize what is going on. Fox's variation would basically do the same, although it is a bit more agressive.
I usually just shoot because I wash everything after skinning anyway. Makes it look and smell a lot better.

Is it typical not to wash the pelts? I would think they would need some type of attention to keep them in good condition.

 

[foxtrapper]

I don't wash them unless it's a muddy wet pelt.

Today I made a personal best- my first ever fox triple. The landowner saw them and told his daughter to call me to give me heads up that I caught 3 somethings, so I rushed over there. He was coming down the lane in his tractor when I was going up it, and when I had walked to my first set, he shows back up with his daughter, then I think was her husband, then she is there with her 2 young kids after I dispatched them. It was like major entertainment. I had to dispatch with eyes on me and did a great and quick/humane job.

When I get to my first set I can see 2 foxes ( first pic), then I walked to the 2nd fox and see a 3rd fox. 3rd pic shows all 3, you can see the 2 back one's ears sticking up. The left one back there had a naturally missing tail. I caught a fox in the same set as the no-tail yesterday, and am up to 7 foxes at this farm out of 9 check days ( plus 2 raccoons).

 

[engineerbrian]

One of the foxes near my tree stand is red in the front and grey in the back, basically half and half red/grey. What's the deal with that? Is that considered a grey or red fox?

 

[outrider58]

Nice to see things lining up for you foxtrapper!

 

[Indiana Jones]

YES. Kill EVERY raccoon you see.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[BigDaddy]

How large is the territory of a particular fox?
If you caught every fox that sets foot on that farm, how many would that be say for a 100 acre farm?

 

[foxtrapper]

One of the foxes near my tree stand is red in the front and grey in the back, basically half and half red/grey. What's the deal with that? Is that considered a grey or red fox?

Here's a grey fox, and a red fox with a lot of pale color on the rump. Does it look like either of these?

 

[foxtrapper]

How large is the territory of a particular fox?
If you caught every fox that sets foot on that farm, how many would that be say for a 100 acre farm?

Foxes are running around in a shuffle in fall and winter, esp the grown pups of the year. So far I have 3 of what seem to be mature males, and 1 mature female, 1 younger female and 2 younger males. Not sure what is going on with the older foxes, but the young ones are definitely in the shuffle looking for a territory to call their own. The mature ones are probably crisscrossing due to deer gut piles. Things get really nuts in January when they breed, males roaming all over the place, vixens in heat wandering and calling, and foxes shuffling back and forth and all over. I do think many mature foxes stick around the same area they started off in with establishing territory, and of course if you remove them more come to fill the space.

Foxes here seem to be 3-4 dens in a square mile, often times more. They do well and fill all available space, tolerating each other when there's plenty to eat. I find it amazing that there are still this many reds here with all of the coyotes around, they must have figured out how to live around them. Where I was before, the foxes kept dwindling in # year after year after about 2009, and it was not mange. I suspect coyotes. There were more and more sightings and full packs.

So on 100 acres, in spring that would be 1-2 fox dens depending on actual density.

Some locations during season are like fox highways. I told the landowner's daughter that this may well be a 20 fox a season farm. That's trapping on/off the entire season, nov to feb. I am trapping at a 150 acre farm. Much of it is wooded or cattle pasture.

 

[plumberone]

Thanks for posting about your trapping. I'm enjoying reading and learning.
This young fox I called in a couple years ago.

 

[scrub buck]

Looks like your doing well.

 

[itsslow98]

Looks very sucessful, I would never have the heart to do it myself. I only kill what I eat and would never do the hands on method.