How do you guys mark your trapline sets?

[nube]

What are you using to mark your lines? I just got an older model Garmin 60 with Bushmaps and I will say it is starting to **** me off. I have no clue how to use these things and wanted to know if there was an easier way. I might just have to go back to pen and paper lol I never was a teck savy kinda guy. I just might say screw is and start marking them with red tape and go on memory like I always have. What's the easiest for you guys?

[Red Bullets]

Memory can be ok when you know your lands well but not good if you get sick and somone has to check your traps for you. Snowstorms change the look of the ground when going on memory. Amazing how different the bush and land can look when you put 2 or 3 feet of snow on it.

I myself, am reserved about using flagging. I once had a line of a dozen various flagged traps stolen. Since then I used flagging for reference points but not right at my sets. After that I used sutle natural things that I would set in a way that only I would know to look for.

Print a satellite image (you can use google earth) of your area and mark your set locations on it. Then your backup person can have a copy too.

[honda450]

Originally Posted by nube

What are you using to mark your lines? I just got an older model Garmin 60 with Bushmaps and I will say it is starting to **** me off. I have no clue how to use these things and wanted to know if there was an easier way. I might just have to go back to pen and paper lol I never was a teck savy kinda guy. I just might say screw is and start marking them with red tape and go on memory like I always have. What's the easiest for you guys?

At trap location hit the MARK button on the GPS. It will then prompt you to give it a name. Or it will give it a default number. Then hilite the OK and press enter button. When you want to find it again hit the FIND button. and it will give a list of waypoints. Hilite the one you want and hit the Enter button. It will tell you where it is. Then you can hit the Page button and use the map or bearing and distance page, offline etc. Hope it helps Phil. Good luck.

That one is set up in UTM, NAD83. You can change that to Lats and Longs though if it is easier for you. I prefer UTM.

That one is also set for true north so if your going to use a compass with it set your declination for the area you are in then it will match the GPS.

Did ya download the instruction manual?

[nube]

Thanks Honda. Been messing around with it but is gets confusing with all the pages. I got a buddy with the same unit and I am going to meet up with him and go through it cause I can't figure it our very well. I looked at the manual but need to spend more time at it.

[honda450]

Originally Posted by nube

Thanks Honda. Been messing around with it but is gets confusing with all the pages. I got a buddy with the same unit and I am going to meet up with him and go through it cause I can't figure it our very well. I looked at the manual but need to spend more time at it.

No problem. I just want it to work for you.

Play with it that's the best way I find. Good luck. Anything I may help ya with I am a PM away.

[Brian Bildson]

Flagging is the only realistic way. I gps my sets but with 20 yds of deviation how can you depend on that. I hang flagging on the trail where my sets are and there's nothing better.

[moose maniac]

Originally Posted by Brian Bildson

Flagging is the only realistic way. I gps my sets but with 20 yds of deviation how can you depend on that. I hang flagging on the trail where my sets are and there's nothing better.

A good portion of mine i don't mark with anything I just know where they are, any other ones are ribboned

[tomcat]

I flag the general location of my sets with blue and yellow ribbon and add a red ribbon when a trap is activated at the location. The red ribbon is removed when the trap is inactive or removed.

[Saskabush]

Originally Posted by honda450

At trap location hit the MARK button on the GPS. It will then prompt you to give it a name. Or it will give it a default number. Then hilite the OK and press enter button. When you want to find it again hit the FIND button. and it will give a list of waypoints. Hilite the one you want and hit the Enter button. It will tell you where it is. Then you can hit the Page button and use the map or bearing and distance page, offline etc. Hope it helps Phil. Good luck.

That one is set up in UTM, NAD83. You can change that to Lats and Longs though if it is easier for you. I prefer UTM.

That one is also set for true north so if your going to use a compass with it set your declination for the area you are in then it will match the GPS.

Did ya download the instruction manual?

Nube, I have always found turning the track function on to be very helpful. Not only will it give you a map of where you've been but it help immensely when trying to find turns and cutlines on the way back in to a location. It beats the hell out of just having a waypoint on a blank screen. I use to use it a lot when guiding whitetails in a new area. Never got lost.

[mark-edmonton]

I use flagging tape but don't have an issue with others using the line

[honda450]

Originally Posted by Saskabush

Nube, I have always found turning the track function on to be very helpful. Not only will it give you a map of where you've been but it help immensely when trying to find turns and cutlines on the way back in to a location. It beats the hell out of just having a waypoint on a blank screen. I use to use it a lot when guiding whitetails in a new area. Never got lost.

HEHEHE I showed him the track feature already with the back track. Ya never have a blank screen less ya have no satelites or your batterys are dead. LOL

[Red Bullets]

Originally Posted by honda450

HEHEHE I showed him the track feature already with the back track. Ya never have a blank screen less ya have no satelites or your batterys are dead. LOL

Key words when relying on global gadgets.

[nube]

I plan on Marking it all with tape but I would also like to mark them all on my GPS. I bought a Bushmap card for my GPS and it has basically a satalite look of google earth with all the cutlines. I want to mark all my spots along the way. That way if flagging is ever taken then I know at least within 20 yards where I need to be looking for a set. I would think at times it might be hard to remember all your sets if you had 100+ out there.

[Predator]

A newer GPS will get you a lot closer than 20 yds. As far as I know, most have been WAAS enabled for a few years, and will average less than 3 metres most of the time.
http://www8.garmin.com/aboutGPS/waas.html

[wwbirds]

Normally I just pee in each corner of the land but I own it. Oh not that kind of marking??
As some have suggested on crown land I would just enter way points on the Rino.
and seriously Nube I am as technically challenged as it gets when it comes to handheld gps and geocaching. My youngest son however loves it and is good. We play practice games toleave and locate spots entered by the other to practice the use and features of the GPS so we should be ready by fall.

[braggadoe]

the last thing you'll want to do is hunt for your sets. time is every thing. flagging is good. but in your area, there is going to be flagging everywhere, aswell as pe pole everywhere. and stopping to check you gps for every set, would suck.

looking/hunting for your sets sucks and waste time. ecspeacialy in the dark.

painted clothespins work well. for snares and such.

i like attractors. feathers and such, on string with weights. and horizontal squirrel poles to mark marten sets at the middens. i use a lot of swing poles because of bears, and they catch your eye.

also, sheds/skulls on the prairie stand out.

wouldn't go more than a few yards to check sets.

[Saskabush]

Originally Posted by honda450

HEHEHE I showed him the track feature already with the back track. Ya never have a blank screen less ya have no satelites or your batterys are dead. LOL

My old 60 Cx does ok gets +5m even in the thick stuff.The base map that came with the older map 60 series is pretty damn close to a blank screen. Not a lot of detail there unless you spent the coin to get better topo layers, which by the sounds of it, Nube has done.

One other thing i find has always helped is to lock the map orientation to "track up" in the "Setup map" menu. This fixes the pointer on the map screen to point to the top of the screen, with everything else rotating around it. Then all you have to do is hold the gps with the antenna pointing straight out from you, walk a few steps and you'll see the map adjust itself to your movement as if you were the arrow. Beats the hell out of going back and forth between the compass and map screens. It's a simple thing that seems obvious, but not to everyone. I also prefer UTMs to lat long. With UTM everything is in meters, so a little easier to wrap your head around at times.

[Brian Bildson]

At the sake of sounding arrogant. Any trapper who runs a real world trapline that i have ever met or been on their line, clearly marks their trap locations and 100% do it with ribbon.

[Bushmaster]

I'm not active anymore abut I used to snare a lot of coyotes. And I marked them with ribbon....and I always put out 8 snares at each site so I always knew I had to check/pick up 8 at each site. Wouldn't do it any other way.

[South west trappin RG]

I have owned two lines in high traffic areas and use a gps on every set but I also put a blaze on a pine or spruce on the opposite side of the trail to the set to make sure I can find it. A piece of flagging makes people look around and mess with stuff, I know, it sucks to see people tracks to your setts with a stick in them or Martin tracks to the set and there is no set anymore. I use to think I could remember where every set was that I have put out but my gps doesn't lie and Iam caught every year by my electronics. Iam not an electronic guy but when you check trapps in an area and you know you have 30 in that run and you come up with 29 you can get really close to where the one you have missed. Good post Nube really good question Iam sure there are more ways.

[nube]

Thanks SW. I just wondered and of course there are many ideas. I got 20 rolls of flagging now and was going to do somthing like you suggested SW. I think I had the thoughts of Flagging and also use the GPS as a backup so I don't miss anything. If you put out a bunch of traps it can get tough to keep track of them all. When I snare I tie red ribbon above each snare just so I can see them better and check at a distance

[South west trappin RG]

All my snares are flagged and before the season I tie them all in bunches of ten so when I set them I can keep track of how many I set.

[jim summit]

Flagging tape, time is everything and don't have time to check a GPS when it's getting dark and you still have 40 miles to run. Flagging allows you to see the set up ahead and slow down as you get close.
Plus the ribbon is an attractor for Lynx as well. I'm in a remote area that might see one other snowmobile over the season.

I use Google Earth to mark my trails and sets, a great tool for planning new area and cutting new trails.

[HunterDave]

Originally Posted by South west trappin RG

All my snares are flagged and before the season I tie them all in bunches of ten so when I set them I can keep track of how many I set.

That's what I'm going to do this season. I did bunches of 10 in an area last year but without the tape I found it a little hard to locate them all and I ended up walking around putting tracks all over. I'm thinking that being able to check the snares from a distance should work better.

I don't have a line but I like the idea of flagging 100m down and on the opposite side of the trail from where your sets are. Maybe mark the side of the trail where the sets are with a leaning branch or something not out of the ordinary for easy identification, something that people wouldn't necessarily think looked out of place.

[tonnage]

Flagging all the time. As Jim said, you'll discover the GPS is far too time-consuming.

[The Spruce]

I use flagging in low traffic areas, I tack a painted "tree tag" in high traffic areas. Just buy some aluminum flashing, paint orange, cut it into 2 x 2" squares, nail to tree. I have even stamped something stupid on the tag so it looks like a logger marking. I always put my sets on the back side of trees in high traffic locations also. But...if you will ever be checking in the dark, flagging is the only way to go.

Spruce

[ROAD HAMMER]

You can take clothes pins and spray paint them what ever colour you want instead of ribbon and you can reuse them .

[davesilva]

That garmin Gps reminds me of the first time I used a fish finder man oh man did it **** me off figuring it out for the first time hahah

[nube]

Originally Posted by davesilva

That garmin Gps reminds me of the first time I used a fish finder man oh man did it **** me off figuring it out for the first time hahah

HAHA, Ya I get it I am ready to slit my wrists every time I turn it on. I think I just need a couple sessions with my buddy to walk me through it all. I just wish there were not so many pages and pages and settings and it was easier to use

[northerntrapper]

Originally Posted by ROAD HAMMER

You can take clothes pins and spray paint them what ever colour you want instead of ribbon and you can reuse them .

I tried painted clothes pins, and was not impressed. When you experience lots of snow, the pins are covered over or very hard to see. I'm back to ribbons which hang below the limbs a foot or so, and stand out much better.