Do we have any Trappers on the forum?

[dennishoddy]

I've been taking up trapping for the last couple of years after seeing tons of coons, and possums at the deer feeders.

Upland birds like quail, pheasant, and turkey have been taking a beating for several years. Reading about this, some of the problem is with critters that rob the upland bird nests, and eating the eggs.

Trapping has faded in years past as PETA and other groups that don't have a clue about wildlife conservation have came out in opposition to trapping, claiming it hurts the animal, causing a downturn in the fur economy.

I primarily use live traps, so that is not an issue, and the leg hold traps must have a device on them to just hold the animal, and not cut off circulation of the blood flow. PETA fails to mention this.

Any other trappers on the site?

 

[Red River Ammo Co.]

Hey Dennis,

I trap with my son when I can get time. Last year we did pretty well for us. I got three coyotes off of 4 sets over about a week. We leg trap and box trap. Leg traps are not the torture devices everyone thinks. I let younger coons go from them often & they are always unharmed. My lab Chief went with me one day to check the traps. He is pretty good about leaving them alone, but that evening I let him out to pee & he back tracked to one of the sets. When he didnt return after a couple of hours I went and found him peacefully laying with a perfect front paw catch. I let him loose & we walked home. Two of the three coyotes I caught were asleep when I came up on them.

Appropriate sized traps are designed to hold the animal there until you can show up and quickly dispatch it. You actually want the leg unharmed. When managed properly, I can't think of a more "green" method of obtaining clothing material. My sons coonskin cap didn't take any fossil fuel to plow a field. It didn't kill gophers, rabbits or ground nesting birds in the harvest process. As a matter of fact, during such a hard winter it freed up that much more forage so that other animals didn't starve or freeze to death. (I'm not knocking cotton farming, it's justna comparison.)

Finally, before I get off of my soap box, wild animals don't go off to a happy bambi retirement village to drift off peacefully in their sleep. Most wild animals meet their death by literally being eaten alive when they get too old or sick and slow. I would be willing to bet that more animals are ran over in given night than by all trapping in a year. So, hurry up and trap that coon before it gets ran over by a Prius.

Trev

 

[Browtine]

My buddy's son traps out in western Kansas. I enjoy checking traps with him on occassion before we go bird or deer hunting. He caught a large tom bobcat one time I was with him. That was exciting!

I did have one of my dogs get caught in a conibear trap one season. it was an illegal set (dry, untagged and landowner not aware) in a culvert under the road. We were pushing a field out to the road and once we got done, the dog got a whiff of the cat food they were using in the back of the 5 gallon bucket and got nailed. If you hunt with dogs, it's a good idea to know how to release a conibear trap. If you are by yourself and not familiar with this type of trap, you wil quickly have a dead dog on your hands. Luckily, we had a large group and were able to get it open after the dog started to pass out and quit struggling. Very scary.

 

[dennishoddy]

Glad to hear there are other trappers on here.

I agree with every thing y'all posted.

All traps with exception of the conibear are pretty safe around domestic animals. Conibear traps are kill traps. One of the reasons they are illegal in ok unless one takes the conibear class.

Your lucky your dog survived. They are almost impossible to release without a tool, or lots of help.
Best used for beaver sets where domestic critters don't go

 

[Ksmirk]

Back in the mid 80's I trapped A LOT! then started driving and found calling to be much more exciting plus we would get more critters and back then you could really make some cash! I do miss it thought, calling is pretty easy these days with the e-callers (yeah I got one) but I do miss the traps as it took a mess of thinking on my part to try and outsmart those critters noses. Later,

Kirk

 

[dennishoddy]

I'm pretty impressed with those that can trap a coyote.
I never have.
As I understand it, one must be totally scent free when setting the trap as the dogs have such an amazing sense of smell.

I'm hoping Red river Ammo will spill his secrets on coyotes.

 

[imhntn]

I'm a trapper too. Don't do it much anymore but still enjoy it when I get a chance.