My First Fisher(s)

WOW! What an awesome day!  

After waiting since August to get my fisher traps out, I finally was able to put my sets in Zone F of Wisconsin last Saturday.  This is a woods that I bowhunted and ran snares for coyotes and fox all winter.  I had regular trail cameras and snare knock-downs from all the dang fishers in this woods.  I know for a fact that there were atleast 5 different fisher in this 125 acre area.  This last spring, I called in a nice male while turkey hunting.  

Zone F	Number of applicants - 2,502 State quota - 260 Permits issued - 1,505

This little female could have been one of the two I caught, but it's impossible to tell.

This big male is the one I was hoping I would get...

So, it's only logical that I would target one of these fishers to put my tag on.  I checked all 5 sets on Sunday morning, but nothing had moved through.  A major storm system was moving through and we were expected to get anything from 12-20 inches of snow in one day, critters were on the move.  My son and I headed out to check our sets on Monday morning through a blizzard and unplowed roads.  I live about an hour from my sets because when I applied for my fisher tag, I was living in one zone, and in the summer I moved into another zone, and the DNR did not allow me to switch zones.  So I was stuck commuting an hour one way to check my sets, making a filled tag even more important.  Luckily, I didn't have a make another trip.  

My son and I checked the first 2 cubby sets but nothing.  I thought I would try both cubby sets and running pole sets using 220 conibears.  In Wisconsin, regulations state that conibears need to be either enclosed from all but one point of entry to the conibear, or atleast 5 feet above ground with no sight exposed bait.

Upon coming up to the 3rd set, I saw this nice fisher hanging there in a perfect conibear kill; a clean blow to the back of the head, you can tell by the body position and lack of struggle that the fisher never knew what hit it and died instantly!  There's nothing more rewarding to an outdoorsman that a clean, quick kill.  

So after being just over the moon happy, I tell my son that we need to go get the other two sets because we are done. So we grab the 4th one and pack it up.  Then we come up to the 5th and final set and WHAT!? Another fisher! Same perfect conibear kill, same position, and almost identical size fisher!  

I was so thrilled! I had been worried that I wouldn't fill my one tag this year with the early blizzard, but I ended up getting two animals in one night!

I caught both of them on running pole sets.  Check your regs before making this same set.  I wired a 220 to a tree that has fallen and has one end on the ground, and the other end goes nowhere.  You then wire the bait or scent right up next to the trap on the backside.  In Wisconsin, no sight-exposed bait is permitted so then you take some pine boughs or birch bark to use as a covering so predatory birds cannot get to it, and so the fisher can only enter the conibear from one direction.

Please note that this picture was taken during the set making process.  After, I put skunk gland lure on pine boughs and stack them over the bait to hide from birds and non-target catches.

Now it's unfortunate yes, that I killed more than the one fisher needed to complete my tag, but an incidental catch, as it's called, is nothing but a waste, it is given to the conversation warden in full, and they use the carcass for research and the pelt for trapper education courses and teaching experiences.  
Visit the Wisconsin Trappers' Association website.

I ended the day with two female fishers, and ended up keeping the older, bigger one.

Doe Down! Second deer of the 2014 WI archery season!

After being lucky enough to fill my buck tag on opening weekend, I took this big mama doe last night from the same stand. 

 No glamour shots here, as this doe took me to hell and back tracking just spots of blood every few yards or so with a cell phone light through the swamp.  I didn't recover her until 11pm, but she had only gone about 60 yards.

 I have 2 more doe tags for bow, gun season, 3 fall turkey tags, and a fisher tag left for the 2014 hunting season!!

My First Year with Wisconsin Cable Restraints

Ordering from www.snareshop.com is really great for the beginner
because they already have the cables set up for Wisconsin regulations.

This year, I went through some "winter blues", so instead of laying around the house depressed, I marched my butt off into the deep snow and explored the world of snaring.  While most people are confined to their houses because of the negative temperatures and feet of deep snow outside, my son, Jackson, and I are have a blast on our “trapline”, targeting fox and coyotes with live snares, or in Wisconsin, “Cable Restraints”.  Cable restraints work much like those Chinese Finger Traps that tightened when you pull on them, but loosen when relaxed.  For the sake of ease, most trappers refer to cable restraints as snares.  When a fox or coyote walks through the snare, they push through it much like walking through brush or vines, and it closes just behind their ears, under their chin, ideally.  As they struggle to break free, the locking mechanism tightens much like a dog’s “choke collar”.  When they finally relax and stop fighting it, the relaxing lock loosens and holds the animal in place until you check your line and quickly dispatch the animal.  Wisconsin law requires a trapper check their sets atleast once a day, but in these negative temperatures, it’s good practice to check twice a day.

Coyote missed my snares that are set to the left;
only interested in urinating on this bait site rather than eating.

Fox, again, only interested in breeding instead of eating.

            I have not had the best of luck, as I set up my trapline two weeks ago near bait sites of deer scraps from the November gun season.  As luck would have it, breeding season for coyotes started and much like rutting bucks that pay no attention to mineral sites, the coyotes have not touched the bait areas in weeks.  

Of course, the fox are just coming into their breeding season too, so activity is at its lowest point.  I have seen evidence of this, as there have been a few lone male coyotes cruising the trails right next to my bait sites, but not detouring in the slightest.  

Last week on my way home from work, I had a pair of gray fox run right across the road, a big male chasing a little female, so “the rut is on” for furbearers.  I’m not worried though, because after canines get bred, they’ll be back to scavenging and trying to consume energy they lost during the breeding stage.  February 15^th is the deadline for snares in Wisconsin.  I’ve added some skunky call lure to my snare trails in hopes of enticing their curiosity just enough to make them utilize the trails that have been blazed through this deep snow where my snares are set.  A good friend recommended Blackie's Blend Magnum call lure, and I'm hooked.

Fisher consuming deer carcass in daylight; that tells you how desperate for food they are!

Fisher tracks "loping" right under my snare set.

The only activity I continue to have is a prime-sized fisher that frequents one of my sites nightly.  Unfortunately, I did not draw a fisher tag this year, so he is safe for now.  He uses up my camera batteries, trips the snares in the area, and eats up my deer scraps, but he sure is good looking!  

I am conflicted because the fox were using the same trails as the fisher for the path of least resistance, but I am confident that I will not catch the fisher because they tend to “duck” under obstacles instead of pushing through like canines, and the snares are set at 10 inches above the surface, so his mink-like body can slip underneath easily.  Fisher pelts are currently anywhere from $65-$100, so if he’s around next year, I’ll be sure to try for him.  I’ve seen him the last 2 years in this area, so I’m sure he’s not leaving anytime soon.  It’s nice having him around though, because there were hardly any squirrels to bother me during bow season, as the stand I used to shoot my buck from this fall was only 125 yards from his “home tree”.

  








  

Trap checking buddy!

Jackson is starting to get bored with checking snares every day and not catching anything.  I’m a single mom so I have no choice but to bring him with me to check the line before I go to work in the morning.  I’ve found that pulling him on a sled is best in this deep snow, and he thinks it’s a fun time!

Below are some examples of my snare sets.  It seemed like each day we were getting 4-6 inches of snow, so every morning I needed to adjust the height of my snares to keep them legal following Wisconsin regulations.

Set up for travelers coming up from the river bank in the background.

Looking back on this set up, I can see that I should have concealed and center the cable better.

Example of a set up where the fox chose to go around the snare to the right.

Blackie's Blend Magnum Call Lure smeared on the branch above a snare on the river.
http://www.blackiesblend.com/