A Better Bait

I may have figured out a simple and effective coon bait for our DP’s that is rain proof, won’t attract ants, won’t melt or get mushy, and is pretty much robbery proof. The problem is that I’m not in a good position to really test it right now. I’ve pretty much got things trapped out here and I’m only catching a stray here and there. If any of you guys want to give it a try, I’d like to see it tested in an area with plenty of targets to see if it has a similar catch rate to other baits. So far it’s working great here. We’ll see if I keep catching them on it. Here it is…..some of you may have already experimented with this.

It’s a small piece of foam that I cut from an old memory foam mattress top we used to have on a sleeper sofa. The texture of it is about the same as a marshmallow. It took me minute to get the first one the size I wanted it….but after that you’ve got a pattern that you can easily cut dozens from if you want to. It cuts easy with scissors too. Once it was cut to size then I took a nail and poked a hole through the center so it would push onto the trigger. You’ll have to wallow the hole out some to get it to go on there fairly easily. Once the foam is on the trigger and the trap was in place, I poured old used cooking oil into the traps and that’s it. Worked like a charm.......

I would have thought that cooking oil would be a ant magnent.

It hasn’t been an issue so far. Most of what I pour into the trap runs out the hole in the bottom and soaks into the ground around the trap. I think that combined with the foam soaking up the oil probably puts out a good bit of scent. The ants are killing my other food baits like marshallows and cereal. You have to constantly put out some kind of spray to keep them off of that kind stuff. I’d rather not have to continually do that. I just don’t like the thought of coating down my trap area will a chemical smell like that….plus it’s just one extra step. There’s something critters like about that used cooking oil. All I have to do with the foam method is pour a little more oil on it every few days to keep it fresh….it can rain or do whatever it wants to. I won’t come back to find a trap full of mush or goo.

If a coon sticks his hand in the hole and grabs that piece of foam I think he’s screwed. I was looking at the dang claws them things have on ‘em and they ought to snag on that foam really well.

Really interesting. I haven't messed with coons on my place but gonna keep this in mind.

I’ve tweaked my setup slightly. I had something try to dig in underneath one of the traps last night due to the oil being saturated around it. I’ve re-baited my sets after the rain and this is what I did different. I didn’t pour a bunch of oil out this time…..I just wiped some congealed bacon grease onto the sponge and inside of the trap with a stick and then I sprinkled a few kernels of corn over that. This should be good to go for several days….maybe even a week or more….The bacon grease may melt if it gets hot but that’s ok. It can still rain on it too and it’ll be fine. Things like cat food just soak up moisture at night from the air even if it doesn't rain and they turn to mush after a day or two. It just doesn’t stay fresh long.

Testing....testing.....

Bada-book…..Bada-boom!!!........

Just went and checked after some pretty heavy rain and most traps are still perfectly baited. The corn had washed off the sponge on a couple but that’s still not bad. With most any other baits like cat food and marshmallows you would have to dig mush out of the traps and completely rebait all of them after a rain event like we just had. I may smear a little more bacon grease on it just to freshen it up.

I
Just ordered a new batch of DP traps and I’ll give this a try except I’ll use crawfish oil on the sponge. I think you’re on to something. I’ll post in another week how it works

That’d likely work well too. Try throwing a few kernels of corn in some traps with your sponge and scent and see if you think it makes any difference. The only thing I’m afraid of with going straight sponge and scent is that some coons may not completely go for the artificial bait. I think a little bit of corn may be just enough to entice some of those coons on in. Even if they aren’t interested in the sponge then they’re still gonna set it off trying to get to the corn.

I'll do half with corn and half without and see if it makes any difference. I will post the results.

Shaka-laka Bam!!!......Got an ol' mama possum last night on the bacon grease and corn.

NICE

Thanks!

I’m gonna move my total to this thread……11 coons and 3 possums currently. That’s compared to 23 last year. I caught the ones last year in the matter of a couple weeks and stopped trapping when it slowed down. I’ve been trapping nearly all turkey season (6 weeks) this year to catch 14…..I think the density is definitely lower.

You could probably trap on this spot where I’m setup and keep catching them indefinitely. It’s where two drainages “V” together and the beavers have backed it up. There’s no beavers in there currently but it’s still a swamp and the two drainages are main critter runways for a large area….probably several thousand acres if you added it all up. I’m just sitting at one point along their interstate highway. It makes me wonder how much difference I could actually make with a handful of traps. If I keep trapping indefinitely in that one spot on the interstate.... how large of a protected circle do I create? The size of the circle is not infinite. I won't eventually trap out all the coons in the county from that one spot. At some point daily immigration on the perimeter of the circle would equal the rate at which I’m taking them out. How big is that circle though?? 50 acres? 100 acres??? 1000?

One more possum this morning......total 11 coons & 4 possums

Do you like Push Up's ice cream. The push up plastic part with handle makes a great trap cover. Visual attractor because it kinda shines and the stick holds it in the trap nicely. No more major rain issues. I like to use them but I don't really care for the ice cream.

I’ve never tried that……sounds like a good idea though…… there’s lots of different ways to go about it. One thing I really like about having the sponge on the trigger is that it makes it pretty much robbery proof. Those last couple possums didn’t any get any bait out of the trap.

I think I’m about to pull up my coon traps up and call it a season. I’m gonna start putting down more yotes sets around my field now where I can check them without being so intrusive and see if I can snag a couple yotes. The problem is that they just don’t roam through my place very often for some reason. I rarely get one on camera or see them but I know there around. I hear them carrying on at night from time to time but they’re always across the road. Still though, I’ve got a big crop of cereal grain seed about to mature and it’s likely to draw in the rodents…..which may in turn bring in a few yotes. The other time I see them is when I have fruit coming ripe….especially native plums.

Gonna try something different with this one. It’s a brushpile set. I saw a guy on the internet place a dead coon carcass under the pile and use it that way. I just used a little skunky smelling lure on top and smear some Hiawatha Valley bait on a couple logs. I’ve got three traps set around the perimeter. It took a minute to put it in but it seems like it should be a sure fire catch if something tries to check it out. We'll see....just throwing something different at 'em....

I pulled all my DP's except just a few that I can check really easily. I snagged another juvenile male in one this morning to take our total up to 12 coons and 4 possums. Still no sign of any yotes. One thing to note is that the trap the coon was caught in had not been rebaited in at least a week.. It still had bacon and grease and corn in it that caught the coon.

One more coon this morning..........Total 13 coons and 4 possums

Put out 12 DP's 6 days ago and used the sponges on half and other baits on the other half. Nothing so far which I'd say is a good thing because it means that my previous work has paid off. I'll leave them there til the end of the week and then move them to another spot

Another coon in the trap this morning..........14 coons and 4 possum total

Another coon this morning.........15 coons and 4 possums total

Cleaned a bunch of crabs today so I ground up some guts, gills and shell pieces. Also ground some fish pellets to dry it up a bit. Then added about an ounce of castor based lure and some fish oil. Also added some sodium benzoate as a preservative. Hope to try it out soon.

That mix oughta work good. We had a crawfish boil the other day and I was thinking that the shells of the crawfish might work well too.

Snagged one more coon this morning......16 coons and 4 possums total.


I'd love to be able to see a density map of the coons and possums around me to see what effect I'm having. I don't know whether I'd be disappointed or really happy.

Had one coon this AM. Traps will be taken up Friday

Do you think you've just got them trapped out already???

Yes. I knocked a good dent in them between deer and turkey season. Gonna try for some summer yotes starting next week

Got another coon this morning. It's amazing at how consistently they keep coming. We've been catching "another coon" about every 3-4 days since early March.

Total 17 coons and 4 possums

Took all DP's up the morning. Had 2 that had been robbed over night by mice. The sponges were shredded inside the traps and the corn center was eaten.

I’ve heard a square sponge with some bacon grease on it will clog a yotes stomach and kill it as well. No idea if this is true.

The power of the sponge………..

My traps have been under water for days now with all the rain. I’ve really just been waiting on it to dry up so I can retrieve them and call it off for a while…..I checked them this morning though and I’ll be danged if a coon didn’t trip one that was half submerged in water…….

Total 18 coons and 4 possums...….

Update...……..The trapping efforts are finally paying off. This is the biggest group of turkeys that I've seen here on the home front in twelve years...…It's usually only one or two here and there......I've also got what seems like an endless supply of racoon in the area due to the location. I think knocking them back may have helped.

Looks good. I'm experiencing similar results this year and have also seen more turkeys traveling than in recent years. Looks like we may have had a good hatch this year.

It’s very promising but I’m not gonna draw any hard conclusions from it just yet. It’s very possible that it’s just coincidental. In another 2-3 years though….if I see a substantial change in the turkey population around me then I’ll have to assume it’s a result of my trapping efforts.

My son and I have trapped 20 coons and 2 possums just off my 40 acre block in less than a month. No wonder that single hen I saw all spring never hatched a clutch. I'm pissed at them. It's started to trickle down slow now but he's hell on shooting them with his 17 hmr in the trap.

Yeah, it's really surprising how many are out there. I thought the same thing....A turkey hen doesn't stand a chance of hatching a nest with this many critters running around the woods every night. Make sure to hit 'em hard in Feb/March so that your place is good and clean during nesting season.

I can tell you for a fact that trapping will help your turkey population. Ive been trapping 380 acres for more than 3 years now and just had the best turkey season ive had on that property. I'm also seeing a lot of hens and poults on my trail cams. I am however seeing several coons around my feeders now but just after turkey season ended I wasn't seeing or catching any

CNC, thanks for starting this post. I've had 7 traps out for 5 days with the foam (pieces of sponge from Home Depot) soaked in fish oil. I've caught 5 racoons.

Cavens Moonshine (strong cherry smell) and Old Crow from English Mountain Lures. They work well on sponges