Frost on snares

[bill9044]

Hey guys just looking for your opinion on hoar frost on your snares. We have been Very foggy and lots of frost. It has been hard to snare yotes with the frost and once I knock it off still quite hard. Anyone else has issues with this?

Thanks
Bill

[coy coyote]

Just have to keep knocking it off and make good and sure your locks aren't froze.

[HunterDave]

I've been dealing with this for a couple of weeks now. I read somewhere that if you put a drop or two of glycerin on the lock it'll help to keep it unfrozen. Maybe someone knowledgeable can confirm this. I'd rather that than walking through all of my snares knocking the frost off of them and disturbing the area. I checked about a dozen snares yesterday and the cams were a little stiff but not bad enough that they wouldn't work like they are supposed to. Gonna have to soon do something if it continues though.

[Tfng]

Tomcat is the one who reccomended glycerin I believe. He also recommended micro locks for just this reason, unfortunately all my supplies were bought already.

I've been dealing with heavy hoar frost as well. I knocked the frost off three nights ago and had a good catch rate on last nights check. I expected a poor check because the frost is pulling trees down and changing travel routes.

[HunterDave]

I wonder how knocking the frost off looks to a coyote. To me the snare stands out like a sort thumb with it being the only thing in the bush that's not white.

[Tfng]

I wondered about that as well. I did not knock the frost off every snare. The snares in the open had built up to be over a half inch thick and was pulling them shut or making them droop. The ones with only a light coating I left alone.

[coy coyote]

Originally Posted by HunterDave

I wonder how knocking the frost off looks to a coyote. To me the snare stands out like a sort thumb with it being the only thing in the bush that's not white.

Imagine how a coyote feels sticking his head into a 14 inch frost covered halo. Guys it's about making your snare less visible. Frost on a snare does not blend in. I wouldn't even bother to snare coyotes if I didn't physically check every snare twice a week. Your not going to catch coyotes with frozen locks and frost covered snares. Your cam lock slides on the size of your cable and not on a 1/4 inch of frost. Your educating your coyotes. If He does stick his head in and feel resistances he's pulling back out. It slows your snare down by 99%. I wonder how many coyotes people miss with snares not working properly or snares that the wind closed or a rabbit bumped and closed to a 4 inch loop just from checking an area from a distance. Just my opinion. I am very successful with doing it this way. I think I figure out why Marty doesn't weigh in on a lot of these posts. It's actually common sense. Lol sure your cams slide shut but do they actually lock down on the snare when they should

[Tfng]

Is your back sore today Coy? Lol. It's just idle chat with people who have a similar interest.

With that said, I do get a visual on my snares every second day whether I'm checking after work in the dark until 11 or have a whole day and some daylight.
Often my after work checks are more about collecting the coyotes so they aren't frozen solid or to minimize green bellies. Running a line with a full time job and a young family doesn't leave a lot of time, sometimes things fall behind. I know next days off I have a lot of work ahead of me to get my line back up to snuff.

I'm not leaving snares that look like 1/2 inch rope, I'm leaving snares that the wind has already knocked the frost off or were protected from buildup somehow.

[coy coyote]

Originally Posted by TFNG

Is your back sore today Coy? Lol. It's just idle chat with people who have a similar interest.

With that said, I do get a visual on my snares every second day whether I'm checking after work in the dark until 11 or have a whole day and some daylight.
Often my after work checks are more about collecting the coyotes so they aren't frozen solid or to minimize green bellies. Running a line with a full time job and a young family doesn't leave a lot of time, sometimes things fall behind. I know next days off I have a lot of work ahead of me to get my line back up to snuff.

I'm not leaving snares that look like 1/2 inch rope, I'm leaving snares that the wind has already knocked the frost off or were protected from buildup somehow.

I only have two days a week to check. After 6 with a head lamp and Sunday afternoon . I didn't mean to come off rude. I'm confined to a lazyboy. For 23 hours of the day. I changed my way of snaring this year. More physical checks, less snares, taking better care of the ones I have set and I m head by 60% of last year this time. It's not an easy hobby. But hard work pays off.

[Tfng]

No worries Coy. It's no fun being stuck in the house. It is so much work my friends think I'm crazy. I think I'm getting addicted to it, I spend my day at work wondering if I have any coyotes.

Making quality sets definitely makes a difference. I can see it when a slow bait doesn't get the attention it needs and then a pack moves in and the bait is gone and no coyotes in my snares.

The hard work is definitely paying off, last year I ran three baits for six weeks and had to check with a skidoo. I only caught nine. Last night I got my 48th off four baits. The learning curve is steep but it seems to be coming together. I only wish I had started years ago.

Sorry for the derail Bill!

[HunterDave]

Originally Posted by coy coyote

Imagine how a coyote feels sticking his head into a 14 inch frost covered halo. Guys it's about making your snare less visible. Frost on a snare does not blend in. I wouldn't even bother to snare coyotes if I didn't physically check every snare twice a week. Your not going to catch coyotes with frozen locks and frost covered snares. Your cam lock slides on the size of your cable and not on a 1/4 inch of frost. Your educating your coyotes. If He does stick his head in and feel resistances he's pulling back out. It slows your snare down by 99%. I wonder how many coyotes people miss with snares not working properly or snares that the wind closed or a rabbit bumped and closed to a 4 inch loop just from checking an area from a distance. Just my opinion. I am very successful with doing it this way. I think I figure out why Marty doesn't weigh in on a lot of these posts. It's actually common sense. Lol sure your cams slide shut but do they actually lock down on the snare when they should

If you are only checking your snares every 4 days, who is knocking the frost off of them the rest of the time?

I check my snares from a distance every day and I periodically check the function of the cam locks on one or two snares but not all of them. If I can, I like to put my snares in where the coyotes are going through the alders so the snares blend in nicely and the coyotes are used to having frosty branches rubbing off of them. Despite the frost, I haven't had any issues with refusals, bad catches or coyotes backing out. The only time that I had refusals was after the dump of snow that we had that changed the height of my snares.

I think that frost will have more or less effect on the snare depending on the method that you use and where you are setting them. If you set your snares so they drop on the coyote's neck vs greater snare resistance at the support wire and the whammy, frost will probably be more of a concern. I set my snares with greater snare resistance so the cam lock slides before the rest of the cable is pulled.....it's too late once they feel the resistance. Like I said, I'm setting in alders/bush where frosty snares blend in but in open country I would imagine that a frosty snare would stick out like a sore thumb.

I hope that your back gets better soon.

[crazyfish]

My check yesterday showed that I had missed 2 , backed out !!!! Locks frozen , have had to unlock them a couple times due to te freeE thaw cycle . The frost I've been leaving on , it seems to blend in with everything else around it !

[bill9044]

Don't worry about a derail. I am in the same boat a full time job. And snareing are hard to keep going let alone friends and family wanting to spend time with the employed trapper. Headlamps and flashlights are a must have tool.

Anyways. The frost is gone and melted away and I picked up 2 more. I knocked off some frost and frost along the snare area so it would blend in better. Still no yotes but my one bait station has slowed down a lot. Caught 25 off of it now 27. So I am guessing the numbers in the area are down. Not as many tracks or sign. So it was hard to use that as a defiantive test. Anyone else tried this technique?