Wednesday night I got back from Christmas vacation just in time to put out three coon sets before dark. The next day I had one decent one. Then I stumbled on a real honey hole. Its a small feeder stream running thru heavy brush in an area with zero trapping/hunting pressure. The mud is literally covered in coon tracks. I put out 5 sets in a 50 yard radius. But then the weather reports indicated that all my sets would be flooded out long before dark. However, it didn't start raining until 9pm last night and it has only been a steady drizzle with some fog; the kind of night that has the coons out in force. I've been so excited (even after two weeks of good trapping in Illinois over christmas) that I have been up since 3AM drinking coffee and waiting until 6AM to check traps. Of course, I might get skunked, but in the meantime, I'm like a 10 year old on Christmas Eve.

On a related note, i spoke with two fur buyers in the general vicinity of Dayton. One is paying 12 top dollar for coons, but claims that he gives top dollar for XX and bigger. The other fellow says that his top dollar is 12-14.
Top dollar on coyote is 15, and 18 for mink. They have been paying upwards of 8 for muskrats, but one of the fur buyers thinks that the price will be dropping on rats and may only be giving 6 by next week.

Well, I couldn't wait any longer, so I headed out at 5:30 to chck traps. The original three evidentally went under water fairly early. However, the ones in the honey hole were in decent shape. I picked up two decent coons there. But I had to re-bait with vienna sausages, since a neighbors cat got into my truck and ate the salmon flavored cat food that i was using for bait. So, the two victims are now skinned and tucked away in the salad drawer of my ice box, and I am kicked back sipping a celebratory Old Milwaukee Light Ice tallboy. I think that I may be late for work today

That's a good time right there.

Its been a good time since. Picked up 8 coons since that first post, including 5 within a 50 yard radius at the honey hole. Now this weekend, I'm off to Illinois for a 4-day weekend and will hit some of my honey holes over there. Would love to be back in Calcasieu Parish running a trapline though. It is mink and bobcat heaven there.