There isn’t much in the search, but admittedly my search skills are less than stellar. Does anyone talk about or can we talk about trapping here? I wouldn’t expect unflattering pictures would be appropriate or allowed. Owl
There’s been some talk of trapping here at FHC before, not a lot since I’ve joined up, but some. I’ve not done much trapping myself for many years, ( since I got domesticated) but still enjoy it.
There's been discussion, periodically. But proceed and see what comes up. The only trapping I do is nuisance for my chickens...
I used to run a trap line 30 plus yrs ago when I was in high school. Trapped mostly raccoon but also had muskrat, mink and red fox in the mix. I would run them before school and then reset any rhat needed it after school. Had a fur buyer in the nearest town that bought the furs skinned or un skinned. Goo memories and made a little spending money. Sent from my SM-S536DL using Tapatalk
Same as Ronaldo , tried yote trapping several years back with little success. Still have most of my traps from my youth, just can't part with them.
The coyotes were always an available target but scent control and their intelligence level scared me out of really going after them I guess. Prices of pelts these days probably keeps a lot from trapping and interest levels low, I think. Sent from my SM-S536DL using Tapatalk
If anyone around here is trapping for pay and doing well or breaking even, they’re hardcore. Haven’t sold to a buyer or at a sale in years. I don’t think we even have a fur buyer around here anymore and you’d have to ship everything off. Our general targets are beaver, nutria, coon, with the occasional otter or bobcat if we see sign. Daughter would like a skunk blanket so we’ll start collecting for that project. We mostly horse trade with fur or sell to crafters. We also sell whole carcasses for dog meat. Hot tip, do not feed your dog beaver meat unless it’s an outside dog or you’ll be an outside owner, holy hell. Any good or favorite trapping stories? Favorite memories, traps, pictures? Owl
Yeah, I don't even know where a fur buyer would be these days, few and far between, I'm sure. I have had beaver at a wild game feed a couple times, similar to pork. Sent from my SM-S536DL using Tapatalk
It’s supposed to cool off this weekend so with a blown out ocean it’s time to boil and dip traps. Ought to be a lot of fun things to remember this weekend. The boy hasn’t had time in the last few years for trapping or fishing, he’s been missing it. Him and a couple of his friends are going to try running a martin line this year up around the pacific crest trail. He grew up, up there when I trapped and cut timber for a living. We’d go thanksgiving through new years up there in the wall tents. Looking back, that was a great time in life. Pig farmer poor, not a care in the world cause it wouldn’t have done any good anyway. Just a headstrong young family making our way. Beaver is the hands down favorite. Luckily I get the opportunity to trap for a couple local timber companies to help with beaver damage. It’s rare that there isn’t a pint or two on the dashboard warming up for lunch while we’re out. The kids will take beaver over any other meat around, I think they have ESP because they somehow magically appear when that’s on the dinner plate. Nutria is good too. Those swamp rats drive the farmers batty so there’s an endless year around supply. Owl
Ah, the proverbial Alaskan Sable. Nailed two of them last week. On a similar note, some activists attacked a Mink farm in Northern WI, cut the fencing. Estimated 3000 Mink escaped. They are trying to round them up. Might be a good area to do some trapping this fall ,Eh?
A lot of those escapees won’t make it till fall. Them granola grinders don’t realize caged animals for generations have mostly lost the ability to survive wild. Some will make it for sure, most will die a slow starvation or dehydration death. To bad if caught the don’t get charged with animal cruelty along with other charges. Owl
I have trapped pine martin up north for something to do between deer season and ice fishing, and to teach our boys a little bit about trapping. We currently like to set snares for snowshoe rabbits up north, and I run a few snares in the garden here at home to catch nuisance cottontails. The rest of the problem raccoon I shot after dark out the back door with the .223. Haven’t had a problem with them since the year I shot 5 and trapped one in the live trap. In general the number of people trapping is down in our area. We never had raccoon up north the whole time we lived there. A friend of mine who is a hard core trapper said that once people stopped trapping the beaver, and the ponds grew in number, the raccoons moved in due to all the new habitat for their preferred foods which are near water.
Marten is my absolute favorite animal to trap, not enough time to dedicate anymore. Beaver is a very close second. Boiled everything yesterday, mixed some dip and wax for today and started some new pvc beams that will hopefully work out well. The boy should be pretty well set up, 8 dozen between body grippers and footholds. Should keep him and a few friends busy keeping that going. This week he’ll take them up and hang them way back in the trees until it’s time. Got some old long springs in the bunch from my granddad. Owl
We have a lot of martin most years. When I lived and worked on the Indian Reservation I got to help with a few lines and learned the ropes. Fisher, Otter, beaver were the other fairly common catches. A friend of mine from Grand Portage, MN grew up on Kawnippi lake in what is now Quetico Provincial Park, later the reserve was moved to Lac La Croix on the Canadian side of the sprawling border lake. He and his father spend the fall before freeze-up to spring break-up on a 100 mile trap line in the bush serviced with dog teams and small simple log cabins built along the route by his father. His stories are incredible. The Canadian government made him to to school at age 13. A physician from Minneapolis that he guided for summer fishing on Lac La Croix, recognized his character, ambition, and intelligence, and offered to pay for his college tuition and all other expenses at the University of Minnesota. While he was attending his father came to his apartment to visit once. One night he was looking out the window at the highway below about 10:30 at night; seeing all the traffic, turned to Gilbert, and asked in Ojibwa: “What is going on tonight?” Of course Gilbert let him know thee traffic is going all the time in the big city.
Destruction of the market was by design, I’m sure I don’t need to tell ya. Our betters decided that nonrenewable faux fur was preferable to renewable fur. Of course a good fur will last a century or more, and faux fur is throwaway crap. They’re so brilliant, those morally superior betters of ours.
Mittens, me. That’s the dream. Skunk mittens, raccoon in a pinch. I have a lot to learn before the dream becomes reality.
For anything to happen they’d have to be caught and actually prosecuted. In WI? Probably not a chance.
