Lone Star Trail
Texas themed hunting and fishing interviews featuring experts and real tales from the field.
Lone Star Trail
Summer Trapping Success
Use Left/Right to seek, Home/End to jump to start or end. Hold shift to jump forward or backward.
Phillip Woods with Texas Farm and Ranch Wildlife Solutions joins this week to share an update on how to beat the heat this summer and still find success trapping and protecting livestock. With every season change comes a change in tactics if you want to be successful on the trap line. Listen as Phillip shares his story and offers some practical advice for new trappers.
Thanks for stopping by and happy hunting.
Follow us on Facebook
Welcome to Lone Star Trail, a new outdoor show aimed at bringing you hunting and fishing updates and compelling stories from around Texas and right here at home. Get ready to join us down the trail. Now, here's your host, Nathan Smith.
SPEAKER_04Hello, friends, and welcome to another edition of the Lone Star Trail. I'm your host, Nathan Smith. Glad he could join us for another episode. Well, it's been raining across the state of Texas, as we all are aware, and our thoughts and prayers are with the folks in the hill country who are once again dealing with severe flooding issues. Our prayers are with everyone in that area. Today's show we go back to our roots. We talk a little bit more about trapping with one of our resident experts, Philip Woods, with Texas Farm and Ranch Wildlife Solutions. Philip joins the show to talk about where he's at on his trapping projects across the state, some do's and don'ts for summer, how weather impacts trapping, and the importance of practice when it comes to setting traps. So pour some more coffee and I'll see you right after the break. Whether you're looking to buy your next hunting property or have acreage to sell, you need Brian Clark and Ranch Pro Real Estate in your corner. They use the latest in technology to make listings easy for sellers to maximize value. In the market to buy that perfect ranch or hunting getaway, call Ranch Pro Real Estate at 325-642-3630. That's Ranch Pro Real Estate at RanchProRealEstate.com. The land is their life.
SPEAKER_01When you need them, your local volunteer fire department routinely answers the call. Whether it be a fire, traffic accident, or a cat stuck in a tree, there is always someone there for you. However, because of declines in memberships, departments are becoming understaffed and struggling. Here's how you can help your neighbors and your community. No matter what skills you may possess, you can make a difference. Your local volunteer fire department desperately needs your help. Can you direct traffic? Install a smoke alarm, help at fundraisers. Your community needs you. You don't have to fight fire to be a volunteer. Will you make that difference? Will you answer the call? Brought to you by the National Volunteer Firefighter Recruitment Center, a program service of the Volunteer Firefighter Alliance. For more information on how you can help and make a difference, visit www.nvfrc.org. That's www.nvfrc.org.
SPEAKER_04You're listening to the Lone Star Trail. We're glad you're here. Now let's get back to the show. Welcome back to the Lone Star Trail. Glad you could be with us again for another episode. You know, it's been a minute since we've talked uh about trapping. And of course, with our our segment, a normal segment, House Rules, uh Dayton brings us some stories of his career as a government trapper. Uh, now has been retired for several years. But it's been a minute since we've talked with someone who's uh on the trap line every day, in and out, and uh back-to-back, good weather, bad weather. And uh so our friend and trapping expert, Philip Woods, is here with us today with uh Texas Wildlife Ranch Solutions. So thanks for being here, uh Philip. Yes, sir. Well, how are you today? I mean, I'm great. And it's uh it's a we've been talking before we got on the show about the weather and how odd it's been for July. We've um just this week, we've had four plus inches and it's still falling from the sky. And so uh it's hard to know what to do when it rains this month in July. And of course, there are some folks we want to be mindful of in the hill country again who have uh gotten too much water once again, and so we thoughts and prayers are with those folks struggling with that.
SPEAKER_05I I yeah, absolutely. That's that's tragic. Uh you know, the weather plays such a a huge role in in what I do and in in the trapping game, uh, especially during the the warmer months. You're just um you're just coming um out the pups are just now sort of leaving the den with mom. They were born in uh April, mid-April to late April, and she's kept them right there at the house. And dad's been out trying to uh gather up all the food, and they're just now bringing them out. They're being somewhat very leery with them, sort of teaching everything about it. And so right now the heat is playing a lot of factors. Uh this time of the year, I'm very very cautious about setting traps. The reason there's two folds for that. One is usually they don't work it. They will occasionally, there's an exception to every rule. And a lot of times we're fawning this time of the year, you know, babies are out. And the last thing I want to do is get a fawn in a trap. Not that it's going to break its leg or damage it, but I don't want it to be heat or exposure and could hurt something that we are protecting. So this time of the year, I'm snaring a whole lot.
SPEAKER_04Well, that's a great introduction to our discussion today. And thank you for just uh go ahead and launching into that that weather piece because that's a uh a huge, you know, we we kind of live and die by the weather, whether it's hunting, trapping, fishing, uh it's like strategies change and information changes and our tactics should be changing because weather changes animal patterns uh specifically. And so as we talk about weather uh changes, let's, if you don't mind, let's let's go through uh the four seasons. And you've been doing this for a long time, and we're gonna talk about some of your background in a minute, but let's just get right into the weather. Let's just talk about our our seasons. We're gonna start with spring. Uh when when you are approached, whether you're working on some of your own stuff or you're working on a contract situation, uh, working for a rancher, whether that be in South Texas or East Texas, um springtime, talk about, and I'm talking about primarily coyote control. What what's your strategy going into spring? What are your what's your mindset about trying to trying to take out those uh nuisance warmts?
SPEAKER_05If we're talking about spring, then you're then I'm I'm assuming we're gonna start with April, May, and June.
SPEAKER_02Right.
SPEAKER_05And uh and if we're talking about that springtime, uh I am dad's out trying to just like I said earlier, get her food. Uh and what you're gonna find a lot of times is they're gonna they're gonna start off with grasshoppers, crickets, mice, and everything else. Um so there is a guy that I buy some lure from that's made up from mice, which does work at this time of the year. Uh, but then again, I'm gonna go back and I'm gonna work the fences and I am going to probably spend 75 to 80 percent of my time on uh snare uh during the spring times.
SPEAKER_04Move into summer, same same song, different verse.
SPEAKER_05Same song, unfortunately. It's just hotter, it's nastier, it's uglier, snakes are out, uh everything's out. I I don't know how many snakes I've killed this week. You're gonna fight armadillas uh coming under the fence using the same holes, you're gonna catch coons. Uh, but that's just part of the game. And the uh there's ranches in East Texas that I that I uh I'm on every week, at least sometimes during the week. And uh in the last month, we've only picked up two Cody's. So that's how much it slows down.
SPEAKER_04Moving into the fall and winter is when it gets real exciting. And those of us who um are predator hunters or uh trappers, that is that's the the the exciting time of the year. So talk let's talk about fall. Start in September, October.
SPEAKER_05If I if a rancher will let me in in October, he can have tremendous and and I I don't I didn't mean that uh so for a personal jab, but I mean if you will if you can uh control your hunters and be able to have somebody or yourself uh tackle that job in October, especially October, uh, because those pups is it's starting to become dispersal. And what that means is mom and dad have had them long enough, they're kicking them out, you go find your own territory. So they're running amok. The uh I had a one of the best trappers I know in the country. His name is Wayne Derrick. I'm sure you've heard of him. Oh yeah. Um and Wayne, you know, always refers that to as the the teenagers in a gang just going around and wreaking habit. And uh so if you can get if you can get somebody to let you trap that time of year, that is incredibly effective October, November. But that's usually in Texas is when we start hunting, and so nobody wants to trap her in, disturbing their hunting.
SPEAKER_04Is it effective just specifically on those young uh young coyotes?
SPEAKER_05Uh-uh. Everything mom's mom's glad they're gone, dad's glad they're gone, they're running. And and during that time of the year, uh it seems like those those those boundaries uh which they sort of have their each territory, they sort of allow the neighbors to come in and sort of pass through each other's territory. That's when you start getting those bigger numbers, and it will run that way all the way through the first of March.
SPEAKER_04So all the way through breeding season.
SPEAKER_05All the way through breeding season. Now when once breeding season hits and and they've they've teamed up, those those boundaries become pretty, you know, they're pretty rigid again. They're protecting their boundary lines. But uh, but no, this or the fall can be a great time of the year if you can get in and get it done. Uh winter, of course, if we slip over into winter, uh, of course, that's everybody's go time. Um use any type of lure you want, January and February, with usually pretty great results as long as it has some gland in it.
SPEAKER_04As long as it has some gland in it. Okay, great.
SPEAKER_03Yeah.
SPEAKER_04I want to go back to uh warmer months right now because I've got, and I'll use some real world examples here, but um you know, and and I you and I we got we met each other in person back in April in Childress at the uh at the rendezvous, and I learned so much and would encourage anybody who's not been a part of the Texas Trapper and Fur Hunters Association rendezvous to get uh signed up for that. That's coming up in October in Llano. But uh but I would I I learned a lot of things there, but one of the things that that were was talked about was um the summertime temperatures and um and the lures and the baits and urine on these sets. And I know you you said you're you're you gotta be really careful about trap placement and and just using traps in general, but if you are using foothold traps in certain areas, um I and I before I went to Childress, I'd have this happen to me. I was setting some traps and using probably what was either too much or too loud of a uh bait or lure. And you know, you'd come up on those sets and it looked like a hog had been there, but it was a coyote that had been rolling in those right. Uh just like a dog rolls in a uh a dead carcass or cow manure. I was having that happen a lot. And until I went to Childress and and they were talking about it, it's like, oh, well, that's what I've been doing wrong. Because it was working in the winter time.
SPEAKER_05Yeah, and and it's it's so seasonal, but if you think about it, you know, it's uh it you know, like during the summer when you're hot and sweaty, you know, you really don't want to be out around uh grilling a steak, but gosh, a a nice cool watermelon sure sure tastes good. Uh you know, it's just uh you know, I think every creature in the world has um has its palate changed throughout the season. Uh what I do know if I only had one, and I'm not the only person that feels this way, and this did not come from my knowledge. This came from some really, really, really bright people. And a lot of those people is is like the Wayne Derracks of the world, and uh you know who who I consider a dear friend and a and a great lure maker. But you know, if you only had one thing that you could possibly use that would work year-round, and I think everybody is trying to find that magic bullet, it would be urine. Just urine. Because everything pees, and every time something pees, something looks at it. Think about it. Your dogs, when you're out, you know, let another dog come in the territory, or they're gonna go over there. It doesn't matter if it's summer, winter, or fall.
SPEAKER_04Absolutely. Absolutely. As we think about um the weather, you know, we we talked about the rain, and we have had so much rain. As we speak, I've been doing a poor job of filling in for one of my good friends. He's he's uh trapping on a um mid-sized type wildlife uh game ranch in uh in the county near next to us. And uh I've gone and rechecked traps, reset traps, but the rain will, I mean, we'll get an inch and a half of rain that that night or the next day.
SPEAKER_05Absolutely.
SPEAKER_04What you know, you you're going out on these places uh for uh a period of a week or two at a time, you've got a narrow window, you're kind of a uh a laser specialist that goes in and and really tries to home in on and on what what you're looking at. Obviously, we can't control the weather, but how how wet does that trap have to get before you're looking at at a complete remake?
SPEAKER_05Being that I that uh I live in southeast Texas and we fight the rain all winter long, I have been gosh, I have been just totally fighting this for I think my whole life, it seems like. Uh no BS right now uh has uh a steel, I say steel, a metal uh wire pan cover that they use. And I talked to some of the guys that are working for uh the government that use them, and they consistently say that as long as they have less than two inches, not over two inches of rain, that the pan covers are working great and the trap is still effective. Uh so that's a pretty big hit right there. Uh I would I will tell you I have used everything from sandwich bags to the foam underalls trying to keep a trap working. And when I pull that trap uh in my part of the world, usually it comes out as a clump of mud. And that's anything over two inches, I'm I'm just washed out in Southeast Texas. It's just mud. But now you go to you go to to South Texas and it's a totally different consistency. I I think it's it has a whole lot to do with just just your soil content. And I mean you're in the rocks where you're at.
SPEAKER_04Yeah.
SPEAKER_05And so um, you know, it's so everything is just a little bit different. I wish I could figure that out because if I could, right, I'd make a million dollars this year just off of that. Right. But but I haven't. Um, it's just part of the game.
SPEAKER_04Well, I was talking to somebody not too long ago. It was another podcast I got to be on, and and uh he and I both play golf or play at golf, and you know, game the golf golf is such a game against yourself. Yeah, you can play it with other folks or whatever, but it's a game that you play primarily against yourself. And I liken that to uh to trapping in some ways because it's like you're you're constantly you're constantly thinking, you're constantly trying to maneuver, you're constantly uh strategizing on uh what the next move is going to be or what it needs to be. And if your trapping game is like my golf game, uh then there's a million ways to mess it up, too. So and and that kind of gets me thinking about getting started in this in this world of trapping. I would love to know a little bit more, Philip, about how how did you get started? Did you start this as a kid? Did you tell us your kind of your background on how did you get started as a trapper? Because you haven't always done this as a as a line of uh income. This is this has been something that's more of a passion to start off with.
SPEAKER_05Uh I uh my grandparents uh who lived uh uh outside of Woodville, Texas, uh had a little uh farm, and they literally took their vegetables in every Saturday and sold their vegetables, and that was their main source of income. And so my job starting at a very young age. I mean, I can't imagine me even letting my son do this, but uh at six years old, I got a headlight and a 22 or a shotgun. I got paid a quarter a coon and a quarter a possum and a dollar a snake uh to keep everything out of their garden. And along with that, my grandfather was a trapper, and he started showing me how to trap. And I remember the first coon I caught. I'll never forget that coon. And that was the end of it. Uh, so that's that's when it started. Uh, I worked, I I did that, even made money through high school um doing that. We would uh there was a friend of mine who's no longer alive out of Kansas, and we would meet up and go to Arkansas and trap on the Arkansas River, I mean on the white up up in northern northern Arkansas, uh, and helping out the rice farmers and their rice fields up there. Uh, then of course I went into corporate America, owned my own companies, went into corporate America, and then uh, you know, would still do it for friends and help out when I could. Uh, but then after I retired, so it's been a lifelong endeavor. I mean, I'll be 57 this year, so I guess I've been doing that about 51 years. Well, I mean, 61 years, and I'll be 67 this year, so yeah, a long time.
SPEAKER_04So, as a six-year-old, uh, did you just stay up all night? I mean, because my six-year-old wants to just stay up all night.
SPEAKER_05I stayed up all night, a hunted. I'd come in and in the morning, I'd get breakfast and go to bed.
SPEAKER_04Wow.
SPEAKER_05Start all over again.
SPEAKER_04Night shift, night, you started started shift working at six years old.
SPEAKER_05Isn't that crazy? Yeah. I thought about that, going, there's no way I can release with a gun and a headlight. I don't care if it was my property, right? You know, and I knew where the fences were, I still wouldn't do that. Now that I think about it, I'm going, that's nuts. Oh, you know, it was a different time. It was. It was just a it was just a different time. You just grew up quick back then, and that's how my summers went for a very, very long time. And uh it just it just became uh part of my life, I guess.
SPEAKER_02Stay tuned, right here. Lone Star Trail will return after these messages.
SPEAKER_04Let's face it, whether you farm or ranch or raise wildlife, you've encountered problems with predators, no doubt. My friends at Texas Farm and Ranch Wildlife Solutions have the answer to your predator nuisance farm at problems. They specialize in taking care of those pesky raccoons, coyotes, bobcats, beavers, whatever wildlife issues you're having, Texas Farm and Ranch Wildlife Solutions is your answer. Call my friend Philip Wood, 713-208-3517. That's 713-208-3517. You can find him online at TFRWS.com. He's a professional trapper. He knows what he's doing, he has the right resources and the right techniques to get the job done. If you don't believe him, look at his website and see all the happy customers. He's racked up over the years. Phillip Woods with Texas Farm and Ranch Wildlife Solutions. Give him a call. You'll be glad you did. Let them help protect your land and livestock.
SPEAKER_01When you need them, your local volunteer fire department routinely answers the call. Whether it be a fire, traffic accident, or a cat stuck in a tree, there is always someone there for you. However, because of declines in memberships, departments are becoming understaffed and struggling. Here's how you can help your neighbors and your community. No matter what skills you may possess, you can make a difference. Your local volunteer fire department desperately needs your help. Can you direct traffic? Help at fundraisers, your community needs you. You don't have to fight fire to be a volunteer. Will you make that difference? Will you answer the call? Brought to you by the National Volunteer Firefighter Recruitment Center, a program service of the Volunteer Firefighter Alliance. For more information on how you can help and make a difference, visit www.nvfrc.org. That's www.nvfrc.org.
SPEAKER_04You're listening to the Lone Star Trail. We're glad you're here. Now let's get back to the show. We're back here on the Lone Star Trail. If you're just joining us, we have Philip Woods uh on the phone today. Philip Woods with Texas Farm and Ranch Wildlife Solutions. Um Philip has been a trapper, you were saying before the break, uh 60 plus years. Uh he started as a six-year-old with uh turn loose with a headlamp and a shotgun. And uh we were laughing before the break about that impossibility of happening you know today. Um you talked about before the break also catching your first coon. You remember catching that coon? You remember the coon? And maybe it's just me because I'm still relatively new at the whole trapping world, but man, I get a rush of adrenaline excitement when I see something bouncing on a chain on a trap. Do you still, after 60 years every single time?
SPEAKER_05And if and the day, you know, just uh for instance, let's back that up. I I was in I was in South Texas this year on a friend's ranch, and uh I was I was sitting there with his son who I who I who I'd been hunting with since he was born, and then now it's their ranch. And he goes, Hey, I want you to shoot that deer. And I said, I'm not gonna shoot that deer. He goes, Yeah, you are. He said, We picked that one out for you. And my heart was pumping after the deer went down and we collected. I'm going, I looked at him and said, Man, I hadn't had that feeling in a long time. I still get that feeling every time I write up and there's something in a trap.
SPEAKER_04I still get that it's like Christmas morning. I and I cannot explain it to people.
SPEAKER_05No, and and and either you have it, but everybody you met at that convention, I promise you, feels the same way. They get giddy every time something's bouncing on the end of that chain. Yeah. And it's just uh it's it's a rush. It's um it's it's a great rush. Um, so yeah, for sure. And I hope you never lose that.
SPEAKER_04Yeah, well, uh, you know, if I lose it, I know my my 10-year-old who got to go with me to that that convention and that rendezvous, he he's got it now because he's he's killed his first coyote that we've trapped together. And um, of course, he listened just enough to hear some dollars discussed on skunk pelts for this last year and all the way home. We had a three and a half hour ride home. He talked about uh he was gonna start trapping skunks, and I said, Okay, well, you're gonna have to build yourself an outbuilding to live in, because I don't think your mother's gonna let you live in the house if you're gonna be a skunk trapper. But anyway, we haven't we haven't got quite there yet. But um since your first coon uh as a kid, what you've you've had to have had some lots of memorable catches. What are some of the maybe most memorable that you might recall?
SPEAKER_05I I let's I I think they're all memorable, but let's talk about trips.
SPEAKER_03Yeah.
SPEAKER_05There was one great trip we had, and that was in Arkansas, and in 27 days it was 300 beaver, 100 coon, and 12 otter. Wow. Uh that was that was one of those trips you just go, oh my gosh, you know, and it was there was so much into it. Uh uh last year when you interviewed me the first time was a was a really memorable trip down in George West on that ranch down there. They knew there was five coyotes and one pin that were killing. Well, when I caught the last one on the last day at the last set, you know, it was sort of like, oh wow, I actually did what I set out to accomplish. And uh, you know, that was that was very much of a memory. Uh, because you know, uh just being able to to to pitch yourself against them and actually win, that's a pretty big deal because usually it doesn't happen like that.
SPEAKER_04Absolutely, that's huge.
SPEAKER_05Yeah, and matter of fact, there's a ranch right now that I just got uh two days ago, got a text from that I left, and they go, Well, the day you left, the Cody's came back. So you're talking about how it drives you crazy like your golf game?
SPEAKER_04Right.
SPEAKER_05So I'm playing with my predator calls right now and hooking up one of my rifles that I've got to side in with a different scope as soon as we get off the phone, because I'm gonna go back and kill him because he shouldn't have showed back up. I mean, it's just it gets that personal, you know, it's just that personal.
SPEAKER_04A hundred percent. Well, and one of the things that uh and this is a kind of a it's it's a really a bigger motivation. And this is how I got started varmint hunting and and the thermal, and then and then have transitioned into uh learning more about the trapping world because it you say it's personal, it's personal to you as a as someone who's been uh as a professional who's been hired to come into these places and and help protect, but as a as a livestock uh owner yourself, you know it's personal for the folks you work for because that's that's their livelihood that's going down the drain. That's their and especially if we're talking about cattle right now, if we're talking about pen raised deer, if uh you know we there's so many threats against livestock in this world, and it's uh it's a it's an uphill battle a lot of times. But passion about uh keeping these animals and protecting these animals is um that's a huge motivator. And and then it be it does become personal because that coyote, that bobcat is threatening your way of life, uh your customers' way of life. And it's not just about well, we need to get rid of this nuisance critter, it's about uh it's about something much bigger than that.
SPEAKER_05Uh one of the ranches I was on, there was uh bad bought, and I'm gonna I'm gonna get this number wrong because I don't know if it was 12 or 14 axis on this ranch, and then and that was in this one pin. And when I got there, there was four left. The killing had been going on, and the day, the second day there, there was a fresh kill. Well, when you can come in and stop that, yeah, and to this day, those three that were left are still there. And you go, okay, I did my job. But and I think that's the mindset that's that uh is different from an ADC guy and a trapper. A trapper is going out to catch what he can catch and move on and keep going. My job as an animal damage control guy is to protect the animal that we're trying to protect. Whether I'm filling a hole in a fence where they can't get back through, or whether I'm catching it, my main objective is to stop the killing. Period, and save the animal's life.
SPEAKER_04Right. I think that's an important distinction um because it's a lot more fun to to shoot one or to to catch one in the trap than it is to fix a fence. But if fixing the fence is, and that's probably step one, let's stop, let's stop the the the digging from under the fence first and then trap what's inside the fence second. Um that's a that's a it's important, it's critical.
SPEAKER_05Well you have to. I mean, uh they're hiring me to come in and stop the killing. Uh and how we stop the killing, it it doesn't matter. And most what most people don't realize, if you have a pen, and I'm just gonna say your pen is uh a section or less, 600 acres or less, you may not actually have that animal, the predator living there. He may be living on the outside coming in. It's not enough room, usually on the inside. And most of these pins I work are 400 acres or less, and you can do a lot of damage by just stopping the animal from coming in. But now that's what we're talking about mainly coyotes. Did you see that video that's out of that coyote climbing that fence and going through?
SPEAKER_04Yes, have you seen that? I've seen it.
SPEAKER_05Yeah, it was about a month ago it came out, and and I wrote the guy and I said, Thank you. I have been waiting for this video, and I sent it to all of my customers because they're going, where are they coming from? Well, they're like a cat, they can climb, you know, it's amazing. It's it's amazing what they can do, and you're but you're never gonna keep a bobcat out. I mean, you he's gonna do what he what what a cat does, and and you'll never keep that out, but at least you can control a lot uh with just just putting in the extra effort on your fence lines.
SPEAKER_04It seems, Philip, like whenever I talk to you um or text with you or whatever, it's you're you never know where you're gonna be. You could be in South Texas or East Texas or West Texas.
SPEAKER_05So West Texas, yeah.
SPEAKER_04You going as many different places as you do, trapping for folks. Um talk about your strategy. Do you do you have a do you have a panhandle strategy? Do you have an East Texas strategy, or is it is it really more property specific or animal specific? How do you do that?
SPEAKER_05Well, if I can and have enough enough time, uh I like to go tour the property before I get there. If I can at least see it, if I don't come in, you know, not knowing what I'm gonna face. Um, but if I can look at it, I will always come back with a game plan. But if you show up at that day and go, okay, we're just here to do what we do, uh, you have to take every piece of equipment you have and you have to do your strategy as you go. If I'm if I'm trapping the first quarter of the year for anybody, it's going to be what I call a reduction plan. We're there to kill as or catch as many coyotes and predators as we can possibly catch during that time of the season to reduce the population. If it's the uh second quarter, I am trying to catch those females specifically. If it's the third and fourth, uh, you know, we're into spring and fall, it's going to be strictly to uh to protect the animals inside whatever that and but that's rough. I don't know, you know, trapping in the hill country. I'm supposed to be in Rock Springs in uh next month in August. Well, you rock springs in August.
unknownYeah.
SPEAKER_05You know, yeah, you don't know what you want to do till you get there. And and this particular ranch is a high fence, it's a low fence ranch, and you're going, I don't know what we're gonna do. Uh uh, you know, but the but they're having a loss. And and you know this from being in the hill country. Those coyotes up there do not act anything like any other coyote anywhere in the world because of all the sheep and goat raisers that are up there. And I work with those guys every year. We do a trapping seminar for this Texas goat and sheep raisers, and I'm one of the instructors. But those those coyotes have been chased and hammered for so long. For generations for generations, they totally act different than a coyote in East Texas that that doesn't have a clue.
SPEAKER_04Right.
SPEAKER_05And so I think the game plan is, and I think that's what makes, and I don't mean this to sound like it's gonna sound, but it's the truth. Why I've been a success in my career so far is is just that I'm able to assess the situation when I get there, and have been fortunate enough to choose the right uh right procedure for that ranch.
SPEAKER_04Well, you know the tools of your trade well too, and that's been a from a you know a lifetime obviously of of of learning and trial and error, and you've been lots of places, seen lots of places, you've you put your equipment through the paces and um run what works for you, and um you've been able to modify things. I mean, just in our limited relationship that we've had uh time-wise, you've you've been a huge help to me and just I'll throw a picture or say, hey, I'm having trouble with this, and uh you've given some great, great tips and advice. So that comes as a as a reward from a from a lot of trial and error. And I know that because that's every trapper's story. I would love to hear some of the common mistakes that either you have made or that you see being made when it comes to uh and we're talking about reduction of population, we're talking about that protection component, not the trapping for fur or for a market situation, but really for predator control. What are some common mistakes out there?
SPEAKER_05Okay, uh, and I'm gonna be real blunt. Uh, and and and because I see this one, uh, I'm dealing with some of this right now from some of the ranchers I'm working with. They've spent way too much time on YouTube, and they they believe whatever they see on YouTube is absolutely the truth. And I have to keep reminding those, most of those guys on YouTube are selling something. Now, there is there a lot of great advice out there, yeah, but they don't show you that that well well, we didn't boil, we didn't clean our traps, we didn't dye our traps, we didn't wax our traps, we certainly didn't clean them up from the last animal they got on there, and so we've got all of this scent that we're leaving, and but if I just use this one lure, it's gonna work. Uh so that's number one. Number two is not for the for the young guy, not having the exposure to the I think the prep, okay, you're a golfer. If you don't go to the practice range and hit balls, you can't, you're probably not gonna ever or go to or play baseball or not go practice. You're probably not gonna produce on game day. Well, trapping every day is a game day. And uh you need the you need to do uh uh your your prep. Uh I remembered uh did you meet Dan, Dan Heppner at the uh Yeah, Dan. Great guy. Uh but Dan, I remember because I came from water trapping beaver into predator trapping. And he told me, he said, I want you to go home. The greatest I ever got. He said, I want you to go home. And he said, I want you to set four traps a day. It can be the same four traps on someplace on your property, different every day, until you can make sure that that trap doesn't move when it's in the ground. That you bedded that trap properly. I did that for months until I could bed a trap properly, because a coon doesn't care if that trap's bed or not. An otter or a beaver is swimming and it really doesn't care that that body grip got it or a snare got it. But when it comes to a predator, I think not having it bedded properly, not having your traps clean and prepared properly, uh, I see guys that that paint their traps, and there's nothing wrong. A painted trap will work just like a dye trap. I have no qualms with that. But I've seen them the day they paint it, go out and put it in the ground the next day. You can't do that. There's still too much smell. And if you ever educate a coyote, you've got problems because he is never gonna buy what you're throwing at him. And I think that falls into number two is we go out there half-cocked, not knowing, just and it's not the person's fault. It's just that they don't know that they don't know. And and they educate them, and then I get called in to have to clean up the problem. And I said, Was there ever a trapper here? Well, he was here, but you know, he didn't do any good. Well, what did he use? I don't know. Which brings me to the to the third thing is if I'm gonna go back and revisit some of these places during the year, if I if I'm if I have a a three-time a year contract with you, four-time a year contract with you, or just a one-time reduction. But if I'm gonna come back multiple times, I have got to know what I put in the ground, what lure, what scent I use, because I'm never gonna use the same lure or the same scent again on that ranch during that year. Because if I missed them the first goal around, they'll dig it up the second goal around. Does that make any sense?
SPEAKER_04Good thought. Yeah, absolutely. Absolutely.
SPEAKER_05If you have a coyote that's digging your snares out of your fence because the rancher or you not knowing re-hung a bad snare that has just caught something that's all stretched out, and you thought you could put it in the hole and it was good enough, and it doesn't work, uh then you need to know how to catch a Cody that's trying to drag your snares out of the fence. Well, that's a whole different process. So anytime you educate one, I think that's that's the worst press you can get and will make your life miserable.
SPEAKER_04Yes. Same in the calling world. We know we every coyote we don't put down that we call in is an educated coyote.
SPEAKER_05Yeah. And and I used to have a guy that would work with me uh during the summer when when mine wasn't, he I would call him in and he'd come call it just because I didn't want to stay up late at night. Uh and he'd he he could be a success, but if he missed them, he'd call me, hey, I need you to come trap these coyotes because I've missed so many and we need to pick them up. Right. You know, and and so if especially like somebody like you who does both, who does thermal and uh and traps, I mean, you've got the whole package, and that's what I am sort of weighing on that I may have to open up that Pandora's box and start doing uh night work as well.
SPEAKER_04You're gonna have to uh get good at napping at two o'clock in the afternoon or something.
SPEAKER_05Yeah, there comes a certain age where you go, I'm not napping anymore. Uh but uh but you know, uh but it's part of it. And I and I think it's just it it's not any lure, any any good lure on the market will work. I think there's some lures that work better in East Texas than they do in West Texas. I think if you're if you're gonna if you're gonna be on the eastern side of the state, and I say this and and will stand by this statement, if you're on the eastern side, I think you need to find lure makers on that side of the state, uh that side of the country, because they know what works for them. And if especially, okay, you have your Dell Billingsleys and Southern Snare guys on the eastern side, but if you're on the western side, I mean, and and you've and you got a lot of the Jeff Dunlap and guys that work over on the eastern side, that their stuff works on the western side. You know, you have your uh Wisemers, and he's not doing it anymore, but you have your Wayne Derricks, and you have your other guys on the western side uh uh that make lures for the west that works great out there. And Texas is big enough, it sort of divides itself. When you when you when you're when you're east of uh Austin, headed that direction, I mean you're getting into the you know uh what works over there. And I I I keep both of them and use both of them. Uh but I think any lure will work that's manufactured and is a good lure, but I think it's the human side of it where we make our mistake, we're doing better traps. We don't I I came up on a guy the other day and he had his traps in the ground and he was showing me and he was putting his traps two feet away from this hole. And I was like, How many of you called here? He goes, I caught one. I said, How long has it been here? It only took four months. And and I'm going, okay, uh, okay. But you know, he didn't he didn't set it up, and and and that had to be frustrating on on his part as well, you know, because it's not working. Um uh but it's I think it's uh the biggest thing I see is we try to keep up with the Joneses as far as man I watch Mitchell Simpson and Rick Miller and those guys, and they put a trap in in two and a half minutes. They sure can, and it works. But you can't. Maybe I can or can't, but you just need to make sure it's right. Exactly. It's not about how many of them, it but it's how many, you know, it's the same way. How many right shots do you do in a golf game as opposed to I shouldn't have done that?
unknownRight.
SPEAKER_04Well, when you only play two or three times a year like me, they're all 95% of them are wrong.
SPEAKER_05Oh, it's a hundred percent. For me, it's a hundred percent of them are wrong.
SPEAKER_04Uh so uh well you brought something up there about uh you talked you hit you hit on scent, I think, first on on mistakes. Um and you talked about the the traps that have been painted, they still had too much scent on them. You get varying reports depending on who you ask, and of course, everybody's got their own opinions. Um and obviously the common sense things uh when it comes to scent or preventing your own the human scent from uh lingering at a trap. What are some things you do personally that um you employ to prevent leaving scent at a set?
SPEAKER_05Uh my knees are bad, so I always use knee pads uh just because they hurt when I'm uh but what I had what I I still use to this day is you're never ever ever first off, let me back up, you're never ever going to not leave a scent at a set. It's gonna happen. They know you're there. If you're if you're if you're trapping on less than 500 acres, he knows when you open the gate. You're so you just go ahead and and get that out of your head. He knows you're there. Uh but one is setting that trap enough that you know how to do it right and and in a timely manner. Uh uh Mitchell Simpson, first time I trapped with Mitchell, and we were trapping a big ranch, and uh and he stopped me about the third time and he goes, uh, you can't do that anymore. I said, What do you mean I can't do that anymore? He said, You cannot go back and forth to the buggy three times to get everything it takes to set that trap. He said, When you leave this buggy, you leave. If you're putting in a dirt hole, whatever you're using, you leave with your drill, your trap, your baits, everything. Don't come back to this buggy to pick up anything. And that was getting into the mind of a guy that does great reduction work. Because I don't know uh, you know, too many people that do any more than than Rick and Mitchell do in a year. I mean, they just do huge numbers. And and that that was a big deal. Secondly, so don't make any trips back and forth, leave with everything you need from your buggy to make that set. Second thing is when you get down, get up and get out of there, and I use a draw cloth. I take all the extra dirt, if there's any extra dirt, and I take it away from the set. And it didn't have to be far. I mean, just drag it off enough where it doesn't look like you've left piles of dirt there. Um, and I try to get in and out as fast as I can with doing it right. And I think that's about and make sure your gloves, you're wearing your gloves, make sure your traps are clean, make sure your equipment is clean. For God's sake, don't carry your traps in the back of the truck if you've got a five-gallon jug of gasoline back there.
SPEAKER_04Oh, is that wrong? Should you not do that?
SPEAKER_05You shouldn't do that, and uh, but I mean, think about it. How many guys uh have I been hunting? I know I've hunted all my life. I'm a bow hunter, and we're we stop at the gas station and they get out in their hunting boots to put gas in their truck.
SPEAKER_04Yeah.
SPEAKER_05I'm going, dude, really? You've been hunting that deer for how how many years now? That may be the problem.
SPEAKER_04It's gonna be one more. One more.
SPEAKER_05Yeah, but but it's but you know, it's it's we don't, I I think we don't think about it.
SPEAKER_04And it's not it's not convenient either, you know, and we're lazy as a people. I think sure. Yeah.
SPEAKER_05It's not convenient to get out of uh uh of the clothes. Uh so but I think I think time spent there, something, and and I put my uh you know, my trap bag, I make sure my trap bag goes on my cloth, extra dirt goes on the cloth, drag it away. Uh I'm clean, the traps clean, and I do it all as as quickly and as efficient, let's just use the word efficiently as possible.
SPEAKER_04Talking about efficiency, and we this will probably be my last question for just for time today. I want to next time I have you on, I want to talk about bobcats because we haven't touched on bobcats or sets for bobcats. But how often, um, how often do we need to be checking our traps? Once we've got them in the ground, once they're um, we know they're we know they're correctly placed, we've got them solidly bedded, we've got a good lure, we've got a good, everything's right. How often do we need to be checking those traps?
SPEAKER_05State says we have to check them every 24 hours. Okay. So you're gonna have to check them to at least within a 24-hour period. Um and how I check my traps, if I'm on a big ranch and we're driving the ranch and we've got 40 or 50 traps out. 99% of the time I am not getting too far off the beaten path. Uh, but if let's just say we're at an intersection and I'm driving by it, I'm gonna drive by it every day and look at it. Now, that doesn't mean I'm getting out and walking up to it. Those caros are just as comfortable with an ATV or a side by side going by that road or a Jeep or a truck, whatever drives that road every day on that ranch. That doesn't affect them at all. But walking up to that trap, I'm not walking up to that trap till I see something bouncing in it. If I'm there on the ranch for 10 to 14 days doing a reduction job, I am not gonna rebait, re-lure, or anything on that trap. Now you can tell if that trap has been sprung when you drive by it, but I am not physically walking up to that trap. And if I can check them with a pair of binoculars from 20 to 30 yards off, and you say, why would you want to do that? Because I want to know if he's been digging around and he's if he's uncovered the trap or or a mouse has got in there and has played with the trap. You know, that sort of thing. That's what I'm looking at through binoculars. But I'm not physically going back up and to that trap location and go, oh, look, he stepped within two inches of my trap. Yeah, well, he's not gonna do that again. Uh, because that that cracker you're eating just probably left crumbs all over the ground. Uh, you know, uh, so that's that's how I do it.
SPEAKER_04Phil Woods, Texas Farm and Ranch Wildlife Solutions. Uh, man, thanks so much for your time today. I know you're I'm glad to have caught you in the middle of uh places and uh best of luck getting your um your rig ready to go and find that coyote that has come back and uh wishes. Well, you know, we could we need to talk about this next show, but optimism uh and confidence when it comes to setting traps is um just like anything else in life. You've got to be confident when you are putting that trap in the ground, when you're making that stand, when you're running that call. You you expect to be catching things, expect to be calling things up, and so that you're ready whenever the time comes. Thank you for what you do for the show. Thank you for uh all your knowledge and expertise, willing to share with us on uh on the program, and uh just best of luck as you continue this uh this summer hot weather season out there uh traffic.
SPEAKER_05Yes, sir. Hey, and thank you guys. I really appreciate you, Nathan. And uh it's always great talking to you.
SPEAKER_02Stay tuned right here. Lone Star Trail will return after these messages.
SPEAKER_04Whether you're looking to buy your next hunting property or have acreage to sell, you need Brian Clark and Ranch Pro Real Estate in your corner. They use the latest in technology to make listings easy for sellers to maximize value. In the market to buy that perfect ranch or hunting getaway, call Ranch Pro Real Estate at 325-642-3630. That's Ranch Pro Real Estate at RanchProRealestate.com. The land is their life. Well, that's all the time we have for this week's episode. Thanks for stopping by. Me and ol Hank the Guard Dog will catch you next week at the same time, same place. If you can't join us on a local station, find the show on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you find podcasts. Also, you can connect with us on Facebook and share your hunting and outdoor photos and stories with us at Lone Star Trail Radio at gmail.com. Until next time for all of us here at the show, so long.
