# Hunting > The Magazine >  Possum Traping In The Weekend

## possum trapper

On Friday 15th of June 2012 Hellaman my neighbor and I set out to bait my traps for the weekend. We travelled two kms on our push bikes. I have 12 traps but I only set 6 because where I was trapping was too little for 12 traps. For bait I use flour and cinnamon and spread  it out on the tray of the trap. The possums smell it and walk over to it. They can also see it well because it is white and they get distracted.  Then they put their foot in it and it shuts and their foot gets stuck.

The following Saturday morning I set out to check my possum traps. I walked up the bank to my first two traps and their was a possum in it. It wasn’t very big, but it was better than nothing. I killed it then plucked it. I didn’t get much fur off it but its a start because the week before I sold my 1.28kgs of fur and got $153. Now I have to start again. When I got back home I dried the fur on a tray because it was wet it rained during the night. 	

After I check my traps in the morning I set them off so I don’t catch any stock and then I re-set them again in the afternoon. Before I went to set my traps on the Saturday afternoon I thought I might make up a bait that doesn’t blow off. Because most of the time when it is raining or windy it get washed off. So I mixed together flour,cinnamon,sugar,water and golden syrup	 so it would be a paste. It was brown so I would just put some of the normal powder on it and it would stick to the paste so it would be white and the possums could see it at night. After that I went and set my six traps. Dad gave me a ride on the motorbike to set them. 

On the morning of Sunday Ryan came with me to check my traps. We walked through the paddocks. When we got there we got to the first trap nothing was in it so I set it off. We climbed up the bank to the second trap and there was a big jack possum in it.

Then after I killed it I plucked it. I got quite a lot of fur off this possum because it was big. The one that I caught the day before was too little but it was still worth the money.

That is what I do most weekends.

By Daniel
Age:13

I couldn't put any photos on because they are to big for this forum. :Oh Noes:  :Oh Noes:

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## RimfireNZ

Good on ya mate. I have to get rid of some of the possum fur I have lying around in the garage. I didn't realize it was worth as much as it was. 

Poor little bastards. I've shot hundreds and hundreds of possums but traps seem a bit stink.

I'm not against them and get why they've gotta be used, but there's a difference between trapping an animal in discomfort for a day or two and blowing them out of a tree with the .17 hummer.

How come you don't pluck the tail fur? You do a better job of the rest of them than I do. Squatting in a paddock at night with a torch and a plastic bag makes it a pain.

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## hunter308

Nice work Daniel keep it up. Just watch those ones that get a bit ticked off and try to have a go at ya had that a couple of times, also ask your dad to jack you up with a photobucket account and post the image links into your posts and they will show up with your yarn

Rimfire you need over a hundred possums to get 1kg of tail fur and it can not be mixed with the other fur because it is too coarse to go with the body fur plus tail fur is a prick to hand pluck anyway and it is not allowed to be plucked by machine like you can with body fur.

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## possum trapper

Na, I'm not going to worry about the tail fur. But thanks anyway

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## R93

I have just a couple of tips that may help improve your catch rate young fella.
When trying to lure a possum with baits/rubs like you have dont put it over your trap. Set the trap no more than 6" from your site/tree and rub the lure, starting approx 18" *up* the tree with your hand, like a smear. You dont want the bugger to play wth the trap which they will eventually do and set it off without being caught. Or while smelling the lure around the trap it will spring on there face and they will never go near another. 
Dont give them too much chain either, staple your trap half or 3/4 along the chain. Less is best.
Look for natural approaches to the trap and use what you can too guide them too the trap. An open tunnel of sorts.
Good luck in the future hope you catch heaps.

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## possum trapper

thanks for that ill try it

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## Greyghost

93 has some good points , also when you place your trap put a few sticks on either side to create a wall so to speak so possy has to walk over the trap to smell lure !!!
In the spring try budding willows , In winter try crops on farms or around the outside , 
Good luck and let us know how you get on ?

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## hunter308

Another good lure is flour and curry powder mixed together the possums love it I used to use one whole container of hot curry powder to 1kg of flour, you can smell the stuff as you are approaching your traps rub that all over the tree trunk just like R93 said, so there is another option for you to try as an alternative lure.

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## veitnamcam

Well done pt :Thumbsup:  Good on ya for getting out there and earning your own pocket money :Have A Nice Day:

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## Dundee

I seen that kids face before well done Son.

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## possum trapper

> Another good lure is flour and curry powder mixed together the possums love it I used to use one whole container of hot curry powder to 1kg of flour, you can smell the stuff as you are approaching your traps rub that all over the tree trunk just like R93 said, so there is another option for you to try as an alternative lure.


Thanks I used that bait and caught three possums

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## Greyghost

Well done young man ,Keep killin them .

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## hunter308

> Thanks I used that bait and caught three possums


Keep up the good work Daniel good to hear the bait brew I suggested worked well for you.

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## possum trapper

I made a paste with the flower and curry powder so it doesn't get washed off.

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## Wildman

Would add that having your trapsin a bit of a hollow so the possum cant kick the side and get spooked may help. Good stuff though, keep it going...

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## possum trapper

k thanks

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## possum trapper

Sunday the 1st of July I set off to check my possum traps once again. I shifted them on the Saturday around some native bush about 2kms from home. I had 11 leg hold traps set and used some new bait I made up. Thanks to Hunter308. This bait was flour and curry powder.

When I arrived to my traps I had found that I had caught one in the first trap I set Then down the hill there was another two.


After I had plucked them all. I heard a motorbike coming so I ran to the track and got a ride with our neighbour to where dad was. When he had finished feeding the cows I got a ride back home with him. I put my possums in the freezer for my Granddads dog tucker. The next day I got another one. Now I have a good amount of fur and its only the start of the holidays.

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## veitnamcam

Good stuff :Thumbsup:  Saving up for something?

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## R93

Keep up the good work. I hope ya get heaps.

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## hunter308

Make the most of your school holidays earning cash from the fluffy gold once again really good to see you young fellas getting out there and not wasting all your valuable time with the xbox, make your dad even prouder boys

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## possum trapper

> Good stuff Saving up for something?


yea I'm saving up for a 2 wheeler farm motorbike.

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## Dougie

Good on ya Daniel, can't wait to meet you this weekend and learn a few things off you! Oh and you better say nice things about my baking  :Wink:

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## possum trapper

thanks

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## possum trapper

I caught one n the rain on Thursday and it looked like a drowned rat. I plucked the fur I could get off it and dried it out.

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## hillclima

Good to see you out there, what's the current price of fur, from your post I guess around $120/kg?

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## Dundee

Its $125 a kilo now hillclima

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## Johno

I am trying to get my boys into this ... how many do you have to get to get a 1kg of fur ???

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## R93

Depends on the area and average sizes of the critters I would say Johno.  When I was doing some, south of the Haast it could take 18 to make up a kilo and North of the Haast it was around 13-15 during the winter months.
I was surprised how much I could get in the summer as well. Was just as good as the winter for a few weeks.

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## moonhunt

$130 now i beleave
cool thread young fulla, pester dad for some of this, tell him it wont break the bank(his) and give it a try
http://www.connovation.co.nz/index.p...cts/view/17/60
if the link has the whole page look at the smooth in a tube...

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## Chris

Good to see you knocking a few over , some thing I used in wet weather is Peanut Butter .Don't put it on the trap ,smear on the tree trunk or fence post behind the trap is good.If there some loose earth or dead leaves around sprinkle over the trap to hide it (also works for trapping bunnies). 
My favorite lure is 80g Ground clove in 1.5kg of "Whole Meal flour" ,seems to get better catch rate than plain flour.

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## NZHTR

I used to use oil of clove flour add cooking oil mix it in to a dough ,works sweet as for all weather water proof baits , coones love the stuff .

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## Dundee

Theres some good baits there. I use ground cloves ,cinamin and flour.I'll kick em off the playstation so he can look at this thread.

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## possum trapper

thanks guys  :Thumbsup:

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## Dougie

Possum Trapper, have you seen this?

Best-dressed possum competition 'sick' - national | Stuff.co.nz

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## Rushy

> Possum Trapper, have you seen this?
> 
> Best-dressed possum competition 'sick' - national | Stuff.co.nz


Not for the politically correct faction of society Dougie but a classic example of country folk thinking laterally about their need to raise funds and doing what all New Zealanders would have been quite comfortable with only fifty years ago.  I have dispatched several possums around home this year so for a laugh I might get the next one permanently mounted on the bonnet of my car now that I have seen this article (he says with tongue very much in cheek).  A quick drive down Queen Street should get some of the over politically corrected tongues wagging. 

As to the bunny huggers complaining that such an activity does not teach children to respect animals, that is a matter of perspective and a crock of crap in my opinion.  Does that view then imply that a hunter that has a trophy mounted for display has no respect for the animal he took?  I think not!

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## Dougie

Yeah, sadly I think these people have got the wrong idea. It's all in a bit of fun and good job to the school of only 14 kids, raising eight grand!

I dream of raising my kids in a rural place where I can teach them about respecting animals (and plants). Possums are a pest is this was not intended to be in bad taste. If someone tortured or mutilated them I think it might be a bit different but come on? Good on those kids and families, it looks like they had a blast.

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## Dougie

PS Rushy you've been a bit MIA lately, good to see you kicking around the place today  :Have A Nice Day:

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## Rushy

> PS Rushy you've been a bit MIA lately, good to see you kicking around the place today


Jeez Dougie give me a break.  What between the wife, the mistress and servicing my mate's hareem while he has been overseas, a man has been to knackered to be on the interweb thingy. Or if you want the truth then I was in the bush Friday to Sunday and nursing aching limbs Monday and Tuesday.

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## Dundee

Heres a bit more on what not too use  ffs
Illegal possum traps discovered in Makara bush | Stuff.co.nz

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## Rushy

> Heres a bit more on what not too use  ffs
> Illegal possum traps discovered in Makara bush | Stuff.co.nz


Oh FFS alright Dundee.  You know I am becoming a far less tolerent old bugger the more that time goes by and the more that I hear about the bunny loving, tree hugging trendy lefty brigade losing their grip on reality.  "Leave the possums alone they are beautiful so what if they are pests they do not deserve to die" What bloody planet did that one come from?

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## R93

I am lost or out of touch? The trap looks similar to a victor are they now illegal?????

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## Dougie

Possums...beautiful? Gosh I'd hate to see that hippee's wife!

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## Dundee

Those pricks would have a hernia if we told them we cut the claws off and the tail before we cut them in three pieces too feed too the dogs.Maybe we should dress them up first for the dogs.R93 yes that does look like a Victor trap I'll have a hunt around and find a link for the legal ones.

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## Dundee

Traps and Devices | MPI Biosecurity New Zealand

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## Neckshot

Bring your fur into Hunting and fishing DVK in a fortnight Possum trapper weil hook you up $130 kg and a trap for every kilo mate. buy the sounds you will be bringing a trailer aye :Grin:

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## R93

> Traps and Devices | MPI Biosecurity New Zealand



Cheers Dundee, still confused, but the way I read it is if they can sell them they are legal. I use victors. If they want to come to South Westland to inspect them they are welcome.
Retards.

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## veitnamcam

Sounds to me like it only went to court because he was on someone else's land?

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## Scribe

The rules pertaining to trapping are getting harder and harder to abide by every year. I think it is part of a very long term policy of keeping trappers and hunters out of the forest because it doesnt really fit with the touchy feely tourist image. Its hard to handle that over the last few years our 100s of traps have become illegal and our Lifetime Cyanide licences have been taken away from us. Now thats a great way to reduce the number of hunters and trappers in our forests for a start.  

Take NAWAC... National Animal Welfare Advisory Committee. They set standard for traps that are really stringent and often hard to understand and comply with and dont often make sense. There are rules for Africa about use of gin and leghold traps even if you are using them on your own land.

Take the Kill Trap..We have been through the testing process.... and if you want to test your trap on a mulitude of animals (Stoats rats etc etc) you will have to take out a morgage..The kill trap must kill within three minutes????? or it fails and your money has all gone down the drain.

No such requirement for poisons though to meet any Welfare standards.... Yet 1080 takes anywhere from 10 to 15 hours in some cases more to kill a possum...2 to 3 days of 'unspeakable agony' according to our RSPCA to kill a deer.

Of course there is the fact that the poisoning industry is a 100 million dollar industry and we wouldnt want any  rules about animal cruelty to derail it would we?.

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## Chris

I'm still pissed off about having my life time Cyanide license taken ,use to make a few dollars annually out of possums.Kept my access sweet doing the pest control thing for mates on farms round here. But with a few greenies & tree hugers stuffing the fur industry in this country.Appears that 1080 is the only solution DOC & Central government can come up with.Perhaps they should of controlled the Greenies & there wouldn't be a need for 1080.
Would like my Life time license re-instated but not willing to pay hundreds of dollars to get it so I can provide a pest control service with no  or very little profit in it.

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## stingray

The problem with the trap shown is that it's size 1 1/2. only size 1 traps are legal now! yes PC madness I agree. 

keep at em possom trapper & everyone else your efforts are respected and hugely valuable. 

Get amoungst em!!

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## Dundee

Just seen this on u tube
The Possum Whisperer, fur trapping new zealand - YouTube

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## trapper

hey mate ive just started trapping possums aswell,ive been using aniseed oil mixd with sugar and flour,seems to work but i have alot of traps set off with nothing but a bit of fur in them haha pisses me off.its gud fun tho.



> On Friday 15th of June 2012 Hellaman my neighbor and I set out to bait my traps for the weekend. We travelled two kms on our push bikes. I have 12 traps but I only set 6 because where I was trapping was too little for 12 traps. For bait I use flour and cinnamon and spread  it out on the tray of the trap. The possums smell it and walk over to it. They can also see it well because it is white and they get distracted.  Then they put their foot in it and it shuts and their foot gets stuck.
> 
> The following Saturday morning I set out to check my possum traps. I walked up the bank to my first two traps and their was a possum in it. It wasnt very big, but it was better than nothing. I killed it then plucked it. I didnt get much fur off it but its a start because the week before I sold my 1.28kgs of fur and got $153. Now I have to start again. When I got back home I dried the fur on a tray because it was wet it rained during the night. 	
> 
> After I check my traps in the morning I set them off so I dont catch any stock and then I re-set them again in the afternoon. Before I went to set my traps on the Saturday afternoon I thought I might make up a bait that doesnt blow off. Because most of the time when it is raining or windy it get washed off. So I mixed together flour,cinnamon,sugar,water and golden syrup	 so it would be a paste. It was brown so I would just put some of the normal powder on it and it would stick to the paste so it would be white and the possums could see it at night. After that I went and set my six traps. Dad gave me a ride on the motorbike to set them. 
> 
> On the morning of Sunday Ryan came with me to check my traps. We walked through the paddocks. When we got there we got to the first trap nothing was in it so I set it off. We climbed up the bank to the second trap and there was a big jack possum in it.
> 
> Then after I killed it I plucked it. I got quite a lot of fur off this possum because it was big. The one that I caught the day before was too little but it was still worth the money.
> ...

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