Friday end of the Week Wrap up on a Thursday.

[beaverdam]

Had a good week here. Been hunting with my kids. One deer to go. Haven’t enjoyed hunting so much in my life, as I teach my first year kids how to get close to game. Been making lots of sausage and jerky. Snaring coyotes like crazy. Have some really, really good new lamb meat sales prospects to follow up on. Fingers crossed there. Christmas tree is up. Kids are skidooing. Sheep are breeding with the promise of a new crop in five months.

Life is grand!

sheep, do you lose stock to coyote packs? What method do you use to snare them? Are you using any type of animal to guard your sheep?

[Sheepwheat]

sheep, do you lose stock to coyote packs? What method do you use to snare them? Are you using any type of animal to guard your sheep?

When we first had sheep we lost a fair few lambs to coyotes. We got guard dogs. We currently have two. But this year we lost lambs again for the first time in a long time. Coyotes can fit through surprisingly small holes. We plan to move the sheep more frequently next year, as they say this keeps the yotes guessing. In sask we can only use power rams. I set them in thick bush where there are fresh tracks. The coyote WILL be back. Maybe not for a week or two, but it will return. With a few seasons under my belt now, I can set snares in places where there is no fresh sign, and still connect, because year to year, they use the exact same places, even places that don’t really seem like a trail or travel corridor.

And then i set out bait to get them using a specific area, and this is how I get most of them. I do find it more rewarding to catch them in places unrelated to bait, i just like the challenge. I am weird that way.

As I get more seasoned, I plan to have a couple hundred snares out. I currently have about two dozen. They are expensive though. The rams are almost 30 bucks a piece. I do make my own replacement snares for a few cents each. But I think a good snare man could make a decent winters wage if you could get out there and be dedicated and work at it. There are guys who regularly catch 200 and even a guy in Alberta who has caught over 900 in a season. That is some good monthly cash flow for a three month work effort!

I think ten baits should net a couple hundred. Trouble is land access as the baits can’t be too close to each other. Many folks, even rural folks frown on killing coyotes, even if they are a nasty predator and abundant as pike teeth. Sure they catch mice, but as a sheep guy, coyotes are filth. Walking out to the pasture and seeing dead or maimed lambs changes your mind fast.

[blackpowder]

Buddy here has snaring down to a science. 50 or 60 so far. $180 for top dogs. Down from there. Halfords, I think he said.
Luckily, he pays the local colony boys to skin and prep. Couldn't pay me enough lol.

[Sheepwheat]

Buddy here has snaring down to a science. 50 or 60 so far. $180 for top dogs. Down from there. Halfords, I think he said.
Luckily, he pays the local colony boys to skin and prep. Couldn't pay me enough lol.

Yeah my best coyote was a top lot at fha went for 240. Many have gone for 200. Then you have the uglier ones here n therE that wreck the average, the 40 dollar ones. I’ve gotten good at skinning. Used to take me a long time. Wear gloves, and keep your mouth sealed is all I can say. Lol. KEEP YER MOUTH SEALED. Bears repeating... I actually enjoy the fur handling part. I take care to make my coyotes shine. I hand wash em before stretching. They go to the auction smelling like dawn.... I do think it makes a big difference in valuation.

[bucket]

Yeah my best coyote was a top lot at fha went for 240. Many have gone for 200. Then you have the uglier ones here n therE that wreck the average, the 40 dollar ones. I’ve gotten good at skinning. Used to take me a long time. Wear gloves, and keep your mouth sealed is all I can say. Lol. KEEP YER MOUTH SEALED. Bears repeating... I actually enjoy the fur handling part. I take care to make my coyotes shine. I hand wash em before stretching. They go to the auction smelling like dawn.... I do think it makes a big difference in valuation.

Muskrats got any hope for better prices?

Beaver? A lot of work for 20 bucks...

[blackpowder]

Beaver almost have as much value as bear bait. Musk has a market somewhere too I think.
Last year rats were $4 I think.
Got to be serious about it to make that go.

[Horse]

Last time I checked here in alta only regestered trappers could use snares,resedent t****rs cant,if you have dogs how do you keep them out of snares,the daughter has sheep and 2 dogs but they travel quite a bit,then there is the neibors dogs sure would feel shitty catching someones dog.
One fellow here shoots over 125 every yr thats his target to aim for but usualy goes over that. Thank god for those kind of people and the hunters shooting deer or we would be overrun by them.
I sold 8 last yr and avg $110 top was 169 not bad for recreation and keeping them out of sheep .

[Sheepwheat]

Muskrats got any hope for better prices?

Beaver? A lot of work for 20 bucks...

Beaver are a pile of work, no kidding. From catching them right up to stretching them it is not a good wage if you get 20 or under. The tails in many rms, and the castor at 100 bucks a lb, are worth far more than the work in skinning and fleshing those bad boys. Muskrats they say are supposed to remain stable ish. So 4 bucks or thereabouts.

[Sheepwheat]

Yeah never mentioned that. You want to put snares where dogs don’t travel. We have a block of land that is untouched and has no dogs for miles. In fact, if you snare within a mile of any yard, those ppl HAVE to be told you are snaring. If I ever catch a dog, and I hope I never do, it would be a bizarre situation considering where I snare. No dog has any business being in that area...

[seldomseen]

The crazy thing in the news this week was... The price of food is going up and its all because of climate change!!! Its to hot and to dry and to cold and to wet so its hard for farmers to get decent crops.

With the price of all crops depressed it must be from over supply so how does any of this make sense?