SNOW SET METHODS.
When the ground is covered with snow, trapping for wolves is
exceedingly difficult and there are few, if any trappers who can make
a success of it. Throughout Northern Minnesota, Wisconsin and
Michigan, as well as in Canada, a few are caught by the most
persistent hunters, but the winter catch never amounts to much.
It is difficult to make a set in the snow and leave no signs when the
set is finished, and even if one can make a neat set it will seldom
remain long in working order. This is the rule, but there is one
exception, a set which is successful, but can only be used in places
where the winter temperature is such that the snow will remain a long
time in a loose, powdery condition. In other words it can only be
used successfully in the North, where the weather is very cold. The
method referred to is the one used by the northern Indians for
trapping both the fox and wolf. It is made as follows:
Having the trap attached to a heavy clog, and well cleaned by boiling
or washing, go out onto the ice of some windswept lake and scrape up
a pile of snow. Make it cone-shaped about three feet in height and
six or seven feet in diameter at the base. Bury the clog, or drag, in
the mound, and stretch up the chain, so as to bring the trap to the
top. Make the mound hard by beating it with a snowshoe, and in the
top, scoop a hole about five inches deep and somewhat larger than the
trap. Line this hole well with dry moss or cat-tail down, the down is
best, and place the trap in the nest. Fill inside of the jaws, and
under the pan with cat-tail down and after the trap has become cold,
so that there is no danger of the snow sticking to it, sift snow over
it, to the depth of an inch. Do not touch this snow with the hands or
it will freeze hard and the trap will not spring.
[Illustration: A Snow Set.]
The bait should be cut into small pieces and tucked into the sides of
the snow mound, where it will be out of sight of the birds. Brush out
your tracks as you go away and the wind will soon erase every vestige
of signs, leaving the snow as smooth as it was before the trap was
set, but the mound will freeze hard and no amount of wind can drift
it away.
Such a set will remain in working order as long as the weather stays
cold. A fresh fall of snow will bury the set for a short time but the
wind storm that always follows a snowfall will blow all loose snow
off the mound, leaving just a sufficient amount over the trap, as
that will be sunken somewhat below the level. The human scent will
also pass away in a short time.
This set is practically the same as setting a trap on the level and
scattering the bait about, the only reason for setting it on a mound
being that it will not be buried by the falling snow.
While the set described does well where wolves are making an
occasional trip across the country, for places where the animals are
plentiful, some other methods must also be employed.
If one can find where the wolves have killed some animals and are
feeding on the carcass, he will note that they have trails where they
approach. One may put out a large bait and they will beat a trail
about it at times. These trails make excellent places for snow sets.
The best way to make the set is to fasten the chain of the trap to
the end of a long pole clog, and having set the trap, split the end
of the pole and pinch one of the springs in the split. Now slip a
clean paper bag over the trap and stand the pole and trap against a
tree somewhere in the neighborhood of the bait, for a day or more, to
allow the foreign odors to pass away. This is not always necessary,
but it is best. Then go and make the set by pushing the trap under
the snow in the wolf's trail, standing as far away as possible and
without touching the trap, or the end of the pole that it is fastened
to. If the set can be made while it is snowing, or just before a
light fall of snow, so much the better. After the trap is set walk
back stepping in the same tracks and brushing the footprints away
with a bunch of evergreen boughs tied to a stick.
This set is good if the wolves are visiting the carcass regularly but
will not remain in good condition very long, as a heavy snowfall will
put the trap out of commission.
One of the professional wolf catchers of the western mountain
regions, gives the following set: "When there is snow, I cut a piece
of soft cloth, white preferred, the size of the jaws, when open, and
lay it over the trap, being careful not to let it get into the
corners, next to the springs; then cover lightly with snow. The cloth
will prevent the snow from getting under the pan of the trap and thus
prevent it from springing. It is also a good plan to put a brace
under the pan, so that the birds cannot spring the trap. A small
forked willow will do, but a better plan is to drill a hole through
the pan, near the edge, and place a match, or a tooth pick slanting
through the hole to the bed of the trap."
"I use the No. 4 Newhouse trap with long chain, for coyotes and
wolves. The bait, I cut in small pieces and scatter all around the
trap."
One of the coyote trappers from Saskatchewan, Canada, says: "I will
give a snow set for coyotes that an Indian showed us and we proved
its merit. Select a good hard snow drift, set your trap and lay it on
top of the drift, then with a knife, mark the snow around the trap,
remove trap and dig out the snow to a depth of three or four inches,
replace trap in hole so that the pan will be about two inches below
the surface. Now go a little distance off and cut a cake of snow
large enough to cover hole, in which lies the trap and scrape it as
thin as possible without breaking. This requires care. Now place the
cake over the trap and sprinkle some snow around the edges so as to
leave all smooth. The chain and clog of course, should be well buried
in the snow."
"I have caught a coyote in a set like this after a big storm, the
snow having blown clear over the drift and not injuring the set in
any way; all I did for bait was to set my trap by a little bunch of
grass. Of course, it is evident a set like the above will only apply
when it is cold and there is no chance of a thaw. Another important
point to be remembered in setting traps is to give them a firm bed.
When a trap is sprung it kicks back the same as a gun but when on a
firm bed it has the greatest chance of a high grip."
In portions of the North, snow sets are used considerably. The sets
given here were sent by a Minnesota trapper who claims to have used
them successfully.
"I have trapped wolves a good many winters in this part of the
country, but they are very scarce here now. As to my way: I use a No.
4 trap and set under the snow. If I can find a place where their
paths come together or cross, I select it as a favorable place for
catching them. If there are a couple of bushes near together with the
paths between, I set my trap there, pushing it under the snow from a
couple of feet back of the path, taking care to make as few tracks
myself as possible and to fill those up and brush with a bunch of
twigs or weeds for a distance of twenty feet or more. I sift snow
over the trap also and leave everything as natural as possible. This
method I have found very successful in capturing these shadowy pests
of the prairie."
"When ponds, lakes and rivers are frozen over and the snow is deep,
wolves are apt to travel on the ice; any dark object out on the
smooth expanse of snow on lake or river will at once attract their
attention and they are apt to go and examine. A crow, rabbit or bait
of any sort; let it be up where it can be seen at a distance. Place
two or three traps around the bait at a distance of three feet, put
pieces of white paper, one under and one over the trap, then cover
carefully with dry snow by sifting it with a piece of wire screen."
"When traveling an old trail or timber road thru the woods, reach out
to one side as far as possible and place a piece of bait with some of
the scent on it or near it, and place two traps half way between bait
and trail, also one directly in the trail. Set and cover it as on the
ice. It is a good plan to scatter a few beef or lard 'cracklings'
along your trail. No. 3 traps are about right for wolves, and the No.
2 1/2 Newhouse otter trap makes a good wolf trap if the attachment is
taken from the pan."
[Illustration: A Large Wisconsin Wolf.]
"To sum up, the trapper who makes a success of trapping wolves must
make a study of it and must often contrive methods suitable to his
particular trapping grounds."
The following extract from a letter received from a Canadian trapper,
tells of a very successful coyote set.
"One day I found a dead sheep in the pasture, and dragging it down to
the edge of the lake, I set my traps around it, covering them nicely
with wool from the sheep. I told the boys I would have a coyote in
the morning, and so I did. On the second morning I had a red fox, on
the third morning a coyote, on the fourth a fox and on the sixth
morning another coyote. Then I did not get any more for a week from
which time, I caught one now and then until spring. I think I caught
23 coyotes and 2 foxes at that one bait. When the snow got deep, I
set the trap on top of the bait. When a coyote came along he would
smell the bait and would dig down through the snow, into the trap. I
wore skis when looking at the traps and never turned around near a
setting."
"My last winter's catch was as follows: 69 coyotes, 5 lynx, 2 red
foxes, 5 badgers, 12 weasels, 12 muskrats and 2 mink."
"I want to tell you how I catch coyotes," writes a North Dakota
trapper. "I set two or three No. 3 Victor traps around some dead
horse or cow, cover the trap with a piece of paper or cheese cloth,
then throw snow over that, having it look as near like the
surroundings as possible. Sometimes I use a fresh beef head, but the
coyotes are so shy they will not go close enough to get in your trap
for sometimes a week, unless they are starved to it."
"I think the coyote is as shy as most any other animal. I do not
think they can smell the steel traps for the strong smell of the
fresh meat or carrion but they are afraid of your tracks, and
naturally suspicious of everything. When I first tried to trap
coyotes, I drove up within a few rods of where I wanted to set my
traps, went and set them, and did not pay any attention to destroying
my tracks. I would never catch any until snow filled up my tracks."
"Now I set my traps off of skis or snow shoes or drive up close to
where I want to set my trap, and drag some fresh meat over my tracks;
they are not afraid of a sled track for they will travel for miles in
sled tracks when the snow is deep."
We will conclude this chapter with an article written by a Canadian
trapper, telling how he caught his first coyote:
"This is my second winter in Alberta and I must say that we are
having one of the good old fashioned kind. The snow is over two feet
deep on the level, and the thermometer on one occasion, went on a
strike. It was only 36 degrees below zero this morning.
"Last winter, which was very mild, was a poor year for catching the
sly old coyote. He was too well fed and could get around so easily
that he never suffered the pangs of hunger, so was constantly on the
watch for danger. We had a cow that committed suicide by falling into
the manger, and I thought she would make good bait. So she did until
I set some traps around her and from that time the coyotes would come
and look at her, but would not venture near. However, I succeeded in
catching three large dogs.
"On January 5th, I changed my boarding place, moved to within a half
mile of Battle River and Lake. The coyotes were quite numerous around
the lake and river, and made nightly excursions up around the
buildings, feeding on a dead horse, cow or calf. The boys had a
couple of traps set beside a cow, but the cattle would spring the
trap while feeding at the straw stack where the dead animal was. Then
I took a hand and set the traps on runways used by coyotes. I set
them with great care, but all I found was a footprint about two
inches from the pan of a trap. Sometimes they would go as far as the
trap and would turn around and retrace their steps. One night they
actually scratched the snow off of the trap, as if to show me that I
needn't try to fool them because they were on to my game.
"However, my turn came. There was a little old straw pile that they
seemed to like to run onto, to see if the coast was clear. There I
set a trap, covered it and the drag nicely with snow, brushed out the
tracks with a twig and made some nice tracks right over the trap with
an old coyote's foot. I also threw a little piece of meat up on the
stack.
"Friday morning I ran down to my trap and was surprised to see it
gone. I saw some blood on the snow but could not realize--no doubt on
account of so many disappointments--that there was anything in the
trap. However, I followed up the trail and you can imagine my delight
in finding a big, fine, dog coyote in the brush. The next thing was
to kill him, and I assure you that they are the hardest animal to
kill with a stick an inch in diameter that I ever tackled. I pounded
him on the head until his skull was crushed and still he breathed.
"On Sunday morning I took a walk down to a trap I had on another
straw pile and when within a hundred yards of the stack I saw a
coyote rise up, take a look at me and then start to run. I ran, too,
and when I arrived at the other end of the stack there he was fast in
my trap. I thought that was pretty good for I had actually chased him
into my trap. Two coyotes in three nights was pretty good, with only
three traps, and I was quite proud of myself, but that was a week ago
and number three only came last night. I am in hopes of more before
spring, but never will I have the thrills of pleasure like those I
had when I found my 'first' coyote."