WHEN TO TRAP.
The proper season to begin trapping is when cold weather comes. The
old saying that fur is good any month that has an "R" in does not
hold good except in the North. Even there September is too early to
begin, yet muskrat and skunk are worth something as well as other
furs. In the spring April is the last month with an "R." In most
sections muskrat, bear, beaver, badger and otter are good all thru
April, but other animals began shedding weeks before.
The rule for trappers to follow is to put off trapping in the fall
until nights are frosty and the ground freezes.
Generally speaking in Canada and the more Northern States trappers
can begin about November 1 and should cease March 1, with the
exception of water animals, bear and badger, which may be trapped a
month later. In the Central and Southern States trappers should not
begin so early and should leave off in the spring from one to four
weeks sooner--depending upon how far South they are located.
At the interior Hudson Bay posts, where their word is law, October 25
is appointed to begin and May 25th to quit hunting and trapping with
the exception of bear, which are considered prime up to June 10.
Remember that the above dates are for the interior or Northern H. B.
Posts, which are located hundreds of miles north of the boundary
between the United States and Canada.
The skunk is the first animal to become prime, then the coon, marten,
fisher, mink and fox, but the latter does not become strictly prime
until after a few days of snow, says an old Maine trapper. Rats and
beaver are late in priming up as well as otter and mink, and tho the
mink is not strictly a land animal, it becomes prime about with the
later land animals. The bear, which is strictly a land animal, is not
in good fur until snow comes and not strictly prime until February or
March.
* * *
With the first frosts and cool days many trappers begin setting and
baiting their traps. That it is easier to catch certain kinds of
fur-bearing animals early in the season is known to most trappers and
for this reason trapping in most localities is done too early in the
season.
[Illustration: JUST AFTER THE SEASON OPENS.]
Some years ago when trapping was done even earlier than now, we
examined mink skins that were classed as No. 4 and worth 10 or 15
cents, that, had they been allowed to live a few weeks longer, their
hides would have been No. 1 and worth, according to locality, from
$1.50 to $3.50 each. This early trapping is a loss to the trapper if
they will only pause and think. There are only so many animals in a
locality to be caught each winter and why catch them before their fur
is prime?
In the latitude of Southern Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, etc., skunk
caught in the month of October are graded back from one to three
grades (and even sometimes into trash), where if they were not caught
until November 15th how different would be the classification. The
same is true of opossum, mink, muskrat, coon, fox, etc.
* * *
Skunk are one of the animals that become prime first each fall. The
date that they become prime depends much on the weather. Fifteen
years ago, when trapping in Southern Ohio, the writer has sold skunk
at winter prices caught as early as October 16, while other seasons
those caught the 7th of November, or three weeks later, blued and
were graded back. Am glad to say that years ago I learned not to put
out traps until November.
That the weather has much to do with the priming of furs and pelts
there is no question. If the fall is colder than usual the furs will
become prime sooner, while if the freezing weather is later the pelts
will be later in "priming up."
In the sections where weasel turn white (then called ermine by many),
trappers have a good guide. When they become white they are prime and
so are most other land animals. In fact, some are fairly good a week
or two before.
When a pelt is put on the stretcher and becomes blue in a few days it
is far from prime and will grade no better than No. 2. If the pelt
turns black the chances are that the pelt will grade No. 3 or 4. In
the case of mink, when dark spots only appear on the pelt, it is not
quite prime.
Trappers and hunters should remember that no pelt is prime or No. 1
when it turns the least blue. Opossum skins seldom turn blue even if
caught early--most other skins do.