Squirrels Mk Iv Fenn (Only Males)

[polonose00 21]

hi all i have a shooting permission in some woodlands the owner uses as the place to teach people horse riding originally he was happy with me and another lad having a go with the air rifles.
anyway a few week ago the dog chased off a squirrel which dropped a dead chick (dont quote me but i believe blackbird/starling) anyway he said he wants some trapping too now.
so i bought 3 mk 4 fenns and i already had 3 baited areas so i set the traps on the floor behind the bait stations behind a tree in a cubby so the young dears riding their ponys wont see a dead squirrel.
i have had up to now 7 squirrels. 3 from one trap 3 from another and 1 from the last, all but one are males/bucks
why is this? are the males more dominant and pushy or are my traps set with too much weight?

i try to push the pan down and make it a hair trigger as much as possible after getting 3 males in a row, it hasnt made much difference.
is there anything i can do?

owner is very happy this is more for my own knowledge and whatnot??
ill be gratefull for any replys or pointers cheers

also i prefer the double bar catch as i call it but have a look at this quite a lot of blood compared to normal catch

Edited May 3, 2017 by polonose00

[EDDIE B 3,159]

I presume the females are less active this time of year, mainly because they have young, and spend a lot of time in the drey's. Males are more active, looking for breeding females, and fighting other males.

[polonose00 21]

sounds about right, cheers atb

so i shouldnt worry about trying to make the trigger pan lighter?

[micky 3,325]

hi all i have a shooting permission in some woodlands the owner uses as the place to teach people horse riding originally he was happy with me and another lad having a go with the air rifles.

anyway a few week ago the dog chased off a squirrel which dropped a dead chick (dont quote me but i believe blackbird/starling) anyway he said he wants some trapping too now.

so i bought 3 mk 4 fenns and i already had 3 baited areas so i set the traps on the floor behind the bait stations behind a tree in a cubby so the young dears riding their ponys wont see a dead squirrel.

i have had up to now 7 squirrels. 3 from one trap 3 from another and 1 from the last, all but one are males/bucks

why is this? are the males more dominant and pushy or are my traps set with too much weight?

i try to push the pan down and make it a hair trigger as much as possible after getting 3 males in a row, it hasnt made much difference.

is there anything i can do?

owner is very happy this is more for my own knowledge and whatnot??

ill be gratefull for any replys or pointers cheers

 

also i prefer the double bar catch as i call it but have a look at this quite a lot of blood compared to normal catch

That seems to be a lot of blood on that trap ..........its everywhere ?

[EDDIE B 3,159]

 

 

hi all i have a shooting permission in some woodlands the owner uses as the place to teach people horse riding originally he was happy with me and another lad having a go with the air rifles.

anyway a few week ago the dog chased off a squirrel which dropped a dead chick (dont quote me but i believe blackbird/starling) anyway he said he wants some trapping too now.

so i bought 3 mk 4 fenns and i already had 3 baited areas so i set the traps on the floor behind the bait stations behind a tree in a cubby so the young dears riding their ponys wont see a dead squirrel.

i have had up to now 7 squirrels. 3 from one trap 3 from another and 1 from the last, all but one are males/bucks

why is this? are the males more dominant and pushy or are my traps set with too much weight?

i try to push the pan down and make it a hair trigger as much as possible after getting 3 males in a row, it hasnt made much difference.

is there anything i can do?

owner is very happy this is more for my own knowledge and whatnot??

ill be gratefull for any replys or pointers cheers

 

also i prefer the double bar catch as i call it but have a look at this quite a lot of blood compared to normal catch

That seems to be a lot of blood on that trap ..........its everywhere ?

Yes, looks like he got a belt of a pole, or an air rifle pellet betweven the eye's.

[Phil Lloyd 10,738]

An unwise and foolish image,...take it down for feck's sake...

[The one 8,463]

It does look like its had a pellet to the head , as said the males are probably out foraging more while the females might have young in the nest but does the sex ratio in a trap matter its good enough your getting them at this time of year when theres so many eggs and chicks being dealt there death blow . and there not a native species carrying the pox that kills our red so controlling them is correct on whatever front you look at it

[polonose00 21]

just how it was caught, i prefer the catches where it gets them behind the neck and back no blood then, i'll take it down like but this was how i found it.
unless i'm mistaken its an approved trap, it was in a cubby.
why would you sensor real life, especially on a trapping section of a hunting forum.
even in my post i mentioned i hid my cubby from other users of the wood. i wouldnt flash this in someones face who didnt wanna see it.

[polonose00 21]

took the gorey ones off, i left the crown jewels shot on 'cos it relates to post.

[polonose00 21]

oh and defo no whacking involved or air rifle and dog didnt chew on it.
sometimes there is blood around the nose/mouth but i think this happened because of the eye bulging,
unless it survived for a while and bled out, but the spine was really wobbly so i cant imagine that.

[The one 8,463]

there was nothing wrong with the catch it was clean across the ribs and would of did the job just cant explain the blood i like a body gripper myself bait the cubby with a biscuit as everybody seems to feed them at work its a fatal bait , i dont take picts of them as maybe its the shock of getting caught in the trap makes them seem well hung , or maybe its jealousy

[polonose00 21]

haha maybe a bit of both,

to be honest i wish i did buy the bodygrip traps but id already handled mk 6 fenns so i thought best to stick to something i knew

i used Peanut butter as bait but i ran out other day and tried marmalade lol, didnt work back to PB
biscuits sound good and cheap lol
i liked the peanut butter cos they cant run off with it and have to scrape it off but i suppose crumbled biscuit would work

[Phil Lloyd 10,738]

Many thanks for taking those images down,.....it is much appreciated....

Edited May 3, 2017 by Phil Lloyd

[LuckOrJudgement 437]

I use a hot glue gun to fix peanuts to the trigger plate of a mk 6 for squirrels.

Never had a foul catch yet. My theory is it keeps em busy in the killzone and the fixed weight of the nuts lightens the break point.

[Torquemada 288]

I use a hot glue gun to fix peanuts to the trigger plate...

 

I call it peanut butter...