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Post by rangersedge on Nov 12, 2016 14:40:37 GMT -5
It appears there are some trappers on here.
What do you trap and what stands out as your best momment trapping,
I used to trap muskrat, mink, raccoon, fox and coyotes intentionally. Got a few skunks, opossums, etc. as incidental catches. Haven't trapped much for a few years due to lack of time and prices.
Best momment may have been when neighbor stopped by where i was standing near the bottom of a hill to tell me I had a fox on top of a hill and realized I just just removed another fox from a set right there.
Probably second best was my brother and I catching a huge mink in a 220 connibear. One of, if not the, biggest mink long time fur buyer had ever seen. Got big bucks but wish we had mounted.
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ericp
.327 Meteor
Posts: 505
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Post by ericp on Nov 12, 2016 17:19:49 GMT -5
I target coyotes, beaver, muskrats, bobcats, and badgers in that order of frequency. We are only allowed one badger and two bobcats a year.
My first badger stands out most clearly, just seeing the catch circle totally destroyed and him straining at the chain. Such powerful creatures. Didn't help that at the time Michigan had a rule where there could be no holes in a badger pelt (as hunting them was illegal) so I had to club it. Didn't care for that at all.
The other memory that stands out is catching my first coyote after three weeks of misses, I was a pretty good water trapper at the time but still had a lot to learn about canines. Caught him with a post set in the back corner of my grandfathers field.
Eric
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cmh
.401 Bobcat
Posts: 3,745
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Post by cmh on Nov 12, 2016 18:36:48 GMT -5
Seriously considering it once I move.....
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Post by contender on Nov 12, 2016 22:00:52 GMT -5
Well, I'm a certified Animal Damage Control agent. That fancy title says I trap all the time for a living. But more of my memorable stories come from the people I deal with,,, not the animals as much. But I have made some interesting catches over the years. I started trapping at age 13,, and now,,, it's a business. Lets see,,, how about Larry, Moe & Curly,, the 3 stooges,, oh wait,, 3 adult coons in one normal cage at the same time. I figured they were acting like the stooges,, with 2 of them stuck in the door, and the 3rd headbutted them in the door, and all 3 rolled in & got caught. Or,,, maybe the muskrat trapping,, near the waters edge,, 2 holes,, (under & behind a wall,) with the upper hole having a muskrat trying to exit it, caught in a conibear, while the lower hole, closer to the water,, had a bobcat in it, also caught in a coni. I figured the cat went after the rat, and both got caught at the same time. Then there was the skunk inside a plant cafeteria, that I talked into walking into a cage trap. The witness to that was the funniest part. I could go on all night,, but I'll stop.
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Post by bulasteve on Nov 13, 2016 8:20:55 GMT -5
I trapped 7th grade to 11th. Then regular jobs and girls..that didn't like the "funny smell". Yes, fond memories and incidents survived that kids now can't imagine. Up at 4am to run land sets before school. After school the water sets. Traplines were run, really run, while wearing hip boots. Remember taking off upper layers to lay on ice and fish for trap. Then epoxied a hook into the end of a rake handle ! Remember falling thru ice many times. Ya crawl out and peel everything off, wring it out, put it back on and MOVE ! Perfected the grab your hipboot heel behind your back and lift to drain manuaver. Couldn't begin to do that now ! I remember a week of beaver trapping right after a flood then freeze cycle where the water then drained down under the ice and we walked under a roof of 8-10" of ice in a dark tunnel. We chopped holes to get in and under, and back out. If my Mother knew..
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Post by Rimfire69 on Nov 13, 2016 8:47:15 GMT -5
Coyotes, my boys and I entertain our selves through the winter months getting outsmarted by coyotes. We set snares only, usually 2 major sets over bait, about 40 snares apiece, and another 20 randomly around the property on major trails, fence lines, open gates, etc. Usually check 2 - 3 times a week depending on weater and work load, when there is less than a foot of snow which is often, a studded up dirt bike can run the line in about 20 min. Nothing outstanding comes to mind, but have rolled into a bait site and found 4 dead coyotes at one time.
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Post by foxtrapper on Nov 14, 2016 22:08:25 GMT -5
Raccoon trapper here:-) trapping in the suburbs limits me on the use of footholds so 99% of my sets are dog proofs. We have plenty of coon and reds, some muskrat and skunk.
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subdoc
.30 Stingray
Posts: 180
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Post by subdoc on Nov 15, 2016 13:39:57 GMT -5
As a kid up through early adulthood until I enlisted in the Navy all my discretionary income was generated by Trapping. I specialized in muskrats and coons. Possums(always in my carefully crafted dirt-hole sets for foxes)and foxes with the occasional mink and/or weasel.
The Navy kept me away from trapping. Now that I'm retired in western Washington state there is too much legislation e.g. no leg hold traps and fur prices are too low to hold my interest.
My dad is still going strong though trapping coyotes, beaver and coons in central Nebraska.
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bks
.30 Stingray
Posts: 131
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Trapping
Nov 16, 2016 13:19:42 GMT -5
via mobile
Post by bks on Nov 16, 2016 13:19:42 GMT -5
I trap some, love to trap beaver and otter with leg hold traps. I guess it gives me my mountain man fix. Have some coyote and bobcat stuff just never seems to be the time to do it
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Post by mart on Nov 19, 2016 14:37:43 GMT -5
I started trapping muskrats at 11 with my brother. His interest waned shortly. Mine carried through for several decades. When I got out of the Army in 1988 I took a seasonal position with the Forest Service so I could trap in the winter. It was a great arrangement. I'd work 7 1/2-8 months for the FS and spend the winter chasing fur. My primary targets were coyote and beaver, of which we had no shortage in eastern Washington. Few guys were trapping then as prices were very low. I had a couple of counties essentially to myself and more ground than I could cover in a season. It was a great time.
I started dating my wife during this time and when she offered to help me skin coyotes one night I knew I'd never find a better offer so I proposed on the spot. We were married in February when I was taking a short break between coyotes/cats and the spring beaver catch. Back then we had not much for extra money but we kept all the bills paid, grew a big garden and ate a lot of wild game. It was a great time and some of my fondest memories.
The trapping morphed for me into a fairly lucrative sideline business in nuisance wildlife control. I began handling skunks and raccoons in town and trapping coyotes and beaver for some large corporate farms.
While I loved long lining for coyotes and piling up the fur, my favorite memories are of trapping on one of the timber country rivers for cats and mink. That was my time to take a break from the hard driving coyote trapping and enjoy the river and the timber on a more relaxing line and at a slower pace. The cat season always ended in mid January and I'd take a short break and be back to the long line for spring beaver.
We lost trapping in Washington to the polls. Trapping there is limited to cage traps now. That was a severe blow to me. Overnight I lost my favorite pastime. That was a large factor in our move to Alaska. I haven't trapped much in Alaska but plan to once I retire and may do a little before then with a friend who is set to retire this year. I doubt I'll ever do the hard charging long lining again but it was sure fun while I was doing it.
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Post by bulasteve on Nov 20, 2016 8:17:33 GMT -5
Mart, a woman that'll help skin coyotes is a keeper ! Ya done good. A similar thing with my wife. Took her backpacking while dating and she washed her hair in a very cold mtn stream. Help me dress, skin out a deer later that year. Her Dad trapped, hunted and ice fished, so.. she wasn't raised to be a useless princess.
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Post by mart on Nov 20, 2016 13:22:20 GMT -5
Sounds like you got a good one too. Etta has hunted and fished with me since we were first together 26 years ago. She never did skin many coyotes but the offer itself was enough to put me over the edge.
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Post by jfs on Nov 20, 2016 16:29:15 GMT -5
you guys are VERY lucky to have married two wonderful girls that are such a part of your life....All the best
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Post by mart on Nov 20, 2016 16:54:18 GMT -5
This was taken a week before we were married. I had already sold my big lot of coyotes and had just finished my cat line in the mountains. We were getting married the following week and the week after that I started my long line for spring beaver. I wish I had taken more pictures but I was usually by myself.
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