Pop Goes the Weasel
January 19, 2017
-Jordan Seitz-


In early January during a bowhunt for rabbits on a different public land section, I cut a set of weasel tracks. 

Then it clicked…why wait for the fall? Furs were prime, I had a little time, why not start trapping now?

It didn’t take long for me to order a pair of #3 Bridger coilsprings for varmints, and clean up some old rat traps I had laying around. I read articles on the internet, and thumbed countless times through my old National Trappers Association Trappers Handbook. The information was as good today, as it was 20 years ago when I bought it.

I built a couple weasel boxes, modified the triggers, and collected trapped mice and rabbit hearts and livers to use for bait. Finally, I had everything I needed. Archie helped me place and bait my two sets on January 8. With the cold weather, I was able to space my checking out to every two or three days. 

I’d read that weasel might not return to the same area for a couple weeks, so I tried to stay patient as the days passed 

On January 19 (night 11), I wasn’t surprised to find my first box empty. The second looked empty too and I took a step to leave. I hadn’t been able to see real well into the hole; usually I removed the box lid to check my traps for sure, but I’d been getting used to them being empty. Something made me turn back around and unscrew the lid. The sight of a while weasel in the bottom of the box took me by surprise! It looked small to me (I’d only seen a few brown ones in my lifetime), but further research told me it was likely a normal sized female short-tail.