16ga.com ~ View topic - Way off Topic: Thoughts, opinions, attitudes about trapping

I'd like to hear what you have to say.

Member Joined: 27 Jun 2005 Posts: 1545 Location: Michigan

I think it's great. They just don't do enough of it anymore in Michigan.
Price of fur is down and kids have to spend all they're time playing video games, or these stupid computers. Laughing

Trapping is both a useful and necessary method of harvesting fine insulating fur, and also controlling overabundant furbearing animals. Several years ago, the reality challanged, liberal know it alls who run our so called Democratic state decided to banish leg hold traps and all trapping for furbearing mammals.

The local budding beaver population in North Central MA promptly began to produce a bumper crop of beaver kits which then did what any good beaver will do. They proceeded to dam up all the local rivers and streams and managed to flood The Bolton Flats area of the Nashua River Basin. This caused a conciderable amount of flood damage to a fair number of dwellings in the townships within this area. So much for liberal, tree hugging, Bambi worshiping wildlife management. They just don't get it. Never will either. They just know better. Rolling Eyes

I'd guess it might be past time to scrape all the superfluous crap of the land and give it back to the natives. Unfortunately, its probably too late for that anyway. All my NA brothers are now making a very good living catching and skinning caucasians at the local gaming traps/resorts they've created. You gotta love how things work out sometimes. Laughing

Member Joined: 25 Jul 2006 Posts: 781

While I strive for 1 shot kills on all the game I hunt, and I feel remorse at having to dispatch a cripple I understand the traditions and techniques of trapping and accept them.

Why? because it is the traditional and most proven way of doing it well.
Therefore:

I have no issues with dropping a crab or lobster in a blistering hot steamer.

I never think twice about how we kill most fish by slow asphyxiation flopping aqround on the deck of a boat.

Oysters ar eaten while alive and sometimes after torturing them by splashing tobasco all over them.

I'm grateful to be at or near the top of the food chain....and if a bear takes me down on my next trip to Alaska I'll fight back but if he wins I would not begrudge him his right to make some use of my flesh and send me off for that long dirt nap.

Jeff

Member Joined: 26 Apr 2005 Posts: 743

My only issue with trapping comes when my dog gets caught in a trap or snare. Don't much care for that, but have never had any serious damage done.

The most recent issue of the Iowa DNR's magazine points out that trapper numbers are about 1/3 what they were 20 years ago, and number of animals trapped also about 1/3 of 20 years ago. Our raccoon population has exploded, and coons are probably a pheasant's worst enemy. They're nest predators. And I've got one very nice piece of pheasant cover that's quickly being converted to a swamp, thanks to all the beavers. Wish we had more trappers.

Member Joined: 08 Nov 2005 Posts: 3438 Location: Illinois

Trapping died out locally due to
1.Lack of animals
2.The demise of furbuyers-see#1
3.Lack of interest---see #1 and 2
When in high school many moons ago I trapped to earn extra money for the "niceties" that a teenage boy had to have Twisted Evil

I think trapping is down because they make it hard to do. In PA and NY you need a separate license and separate safty classes. The out of state trapping license is as much as the hunting license. It used to be when you bought a hunting license you could hunt and trap. Then they got greedy and tried to cash in the result is only very serious trappers go to all the trouble. I hire 2 local kids in New York to trap beaver,coyote,mink,fisher,otters,bobcat,and coonson my property. I pay them $5 more per pelt than the local fur buyer. They are good kids and there dad is a duck hunting buddy so he keeps them honest for me. I wish more kids learned about running a before school trap line. I had alot of fun as a kid and learned alot about the outdoors.

Member Joined: 18 Aug 2006 Posts: 114 Location: Tucson, AZ

A wonderfully historic, honorable and useful hobbie/profession. I have been a hunter and conservationist my entire life and only wish there were more trappers out there today. An irony is that more could and should be done in some of the areas that have been hit by urban sprawl and the growth of non-thinker communities. Rolling Eyes

I used to trap muskrats when I was much younger. It was cheap to do as opposed to coons and fox which needed bait. Sometimes I encountered a skunk and although not sprayed, everyone on the schoolbus and schoolrooms could still smell the lingering scent. I couldn't tell the difference between that and the cow manure on my shoes!

I'm OK with trapping and leg-hold traps.

I hope we're not being baited by a "hunter & hound" troll?

Joined: 11 Jul 2004 Posts: 92 Location: Pa

I never had a problem with trapping until my GSP stepped in one. All the cryin and yipping was terible. She chipped a tooth bitting the trap and tried to bite me while I was trying to free her.

Id rather someone coon hunt vs trap them.

No, you're not being baited into anything.

It's just that many other so-called "sportsmen" (ie hunters and fishermen) are unwilling to support trappers and their right to trap. Or, they are downright hostile towards what we (trappers) do.

Recently Foxsportsnet decided to run a free advertisement on behalf of PETA and HSUS on their network condemning trapping. I found it extremely hypocritical, considering they televise hunting and fishing shows.

It has struck up debates on my web forums and it amazes me how many outdoorspeople do not support trappers or trapping.

Although we're small in #, trappers consistently support and help other outdoor groups with their fight against the anti's. It's somewhat disappointing that those same groups can sit by and watch trapping organizations fight their battles alone.

I just wanted to see what kind of sportsmen we have on this site.

IMO, there is a difference between an outdoorsman and a sportsman. Outdoorsmen seem to feel the pull of the wild places from the time they were tiny. The woods, fields, and waterways called to them and they had to go. They are the ones who were tracking rabbits and birds from the time they could be on their own, and they insisted on being on their own as soon as they could. They are the ones who would bring a frog, a snake, or a turtle home in their pockets, or would try to save and raise any small abandoned young animal or bird. Every living creature facsinated them and still does. Every tree and bush, every patch of grass had meaning, purpose, and some use.

Outdoorsmen grew up hunting and fishing. Some were taught by a parent or elder family member, others just learned on their own. If they could not have a gun, they'ed get a bow. If that was not possible, they' use stones to hunt. They would gig frogs, set traps, snares, and deadfalls. They would sit on a stump in the woods for hours to look and to listen for anything stirring. They would go to the pond and turn stones to see what nature was hiding for them to find. They would use what was useful to catch fish. They could cut a branch and tie aline and hook to it to land fish no one else even knew were there. They would be gone all day. Lunch would come and go without notice. They were feeding a deeper, more insistant hunger. They would come home filthy with mud, wet to the bone, ravenous, and happy. They grew up free and untainted by society and its norms. This natural process they were experiencing could be arrested, infringed on, but never stopped. If access to nature was denied, they would rebel and go anyway. they would accept any punishment for disobedience as the price of freedom to live and learn from the pull they could not deny.

Outdoorsmen know how and why nature works. They always did, because they were born to it. They accept death as part of life. They understand that taking what nature offers is not destroying but participating in life. And when the time comes, they lay their own bones down grateful to have been part of it all. Is there a difference between a sportsman, and an outdoorsman? Look into your own soul and see for yourself.

to possibly sum up 16GG:
a sportsman would probably play golf on the "nice" days and hunt ducks on the "sour" days, go to deer camp for the food & drink, card games and to network, both hob and knob down at the gun shop/club fund raisers and log more hours dreaming of being outside at his desk than actually being outside.

OK that last one may not be 100% true these days but the rest may...

my opinion on trapping:
An art in the process of being lost; from the lack of positive favor of fur to the pressures of the P.C. anti's, an entire trade and method of taking game is slowly slipping away along with the habitats of the animals themselves.

And yet another connection between man and nature will be lost. Above the phrase "I used to" by more than one. Personally, "I never did" but it doesn't mean I don't/didn't want to learn.

When I was younger and on the verge of starting to chase women/girls, my Dad spoke of setting traps for par-dridge and rabbids (spelling intentional) - anybody here ever do that? Me neither. Wish I had though.

I guess I'm more of a sport than an outdoorsman but I like to use as much of the game I take, with eating as a primary reason - trout flies, pillows and dinners are the main uses for my ducks and geese - every once in a while, a new use pops up(and I'm not talking about trading for chinese food).

Killing a coyote, fox or wolf doesn't really thrill me accept the challenge of luring in a very wiley animal - I don't really have a justification for killing one such as to protect my chickens/baby/cat/etc. and I'm not sure I know anyone that would wear a fur anything knowing it wasn't store-bought.

So as long as skunks and coons stay outta my trash, they get a pass on harassment from me.

I'm good with it as long as reasonable care is given to keeping it low risk to my dog (and others').

pudelpointer wrote:

I understand everyone’s dog concern. I too have a bird dog and I don’t want her caught either. Foot traps are pretty much harmless these days, unless the dog chews the trap or isn’t removed for a long period of time.

However, who has more right to be on a piece of public land? Is it a trappers fault if he has a legal set on public land and a dog is caught? I wish all trappers had at least a shred of common sense and avoided setting traps in areas where dogs are common. But, let’s face it, you can never guarantee a dog won’t find your trap and it’s possible you can catch one anywhere. Is it the trappers fault?

If trappers should avoid dog areas, should dog owners avoid trapping areas?

I’m not looking for answers. I’m just saying it’s a complicated issue and there aren’t any right or wrong answers.

A dog is put at a certain degree of risk anytime we go out hunting. If my dog gets raked while going under a barbed wire fence, do I automatically become a fence hater and despise their use? If my dog chases a crippled pheasant across the road and gets hit by a car, do I automatically hate cars or insist speed limits be reduced to 5 mph in hunting areas? I realize these are somewhat silly examples.

I would hope that dogs being caught in traps is an uncommon event. And, if your dog gets caught, I would hope it wouldn’t automatically turn you against trapping.

I would encourage all of you to understand how foot and body gripping traps work, so if your dog is caught, you’ll know how to safely remove them.