Trapping.... who's in?

[climber2]

Hi everyone, kinda new here...checking in to see if there are any fur trappers on here.
Let's share personal bests on weight/species or just really cool happenings on the trapline.

[climber2]

Just last night I was checking my fisher line and found a Gray fox who committed to a 160 cubby. Needless to say I was surprised and pleased.
Don't think 160s won't kill dogs...

[sandsawmill14]

havent set any traps since i was a kid i'm to far south for the furs to be very nice :-\

[starmac]

The closest I have come to trapping in years is buying the license. I did get to see 2 linx coming out of the woods with a load of logs this last week.

[beenthere]

climber2
Start it off with some pics.

I hear that hides are at a real low.

@trapper is knowledgeable

[starmac]

I have heard they are expecting lower prices this year, but that is coming off of some pretty high prices 2 or 3 years ago. The money is in martens around here, with a few linx and a wolf or two thrown in.
I don't know what prices were last year, but marten were somewhat scarce, hope their numbers are back up this year.

[ScottInCabot]

Years have gone by since I made any sets.....

I was mostly beaver....picked something I was pretty good at and they also carried a bounty(bonus).  Personal best day was 35 beavers.  Largest ever weighed in at 87lbs.



Scott in Cabot

[gspren]

    I just had a conversation yesterday with a friend about trapping, when I was a teenager I got 6 bucks for a coon, good for a tank of gas, now you can't get anything so they are poisoned or trapped/shot and tossed in the briars around the farm country. Do the anti-fur people think they "saved" all the little animals?

[Chuck White]

I heard just the other day that a nice mink will only bring around $5.00

I wouldn't skin a mink for $5.00

I can remember when I was a teen, muskrats would sometimes bring $12.00-$15.00 each.   

[gspren]

   It might not be what you care about but this morning when I checked my trap line (one trap in the yard) I had a 5" long mole  8) that's 3 this month.

[Chuck White]

   It might not be what you care about but this morning when I checked my trap line (one trap in the yard) I had a 5" long mole  8) that's 3 this month.

Long as I was catching them, I'd keep setting the trap!

I hate moles!

[azmtnman]

My son and I just completed the Arizona Trapper's Education Course yesterday. We plan to get started on a small scale this year.
  Arizona has some screwy trapping laws that include no foothold traps on public land (AZ is 85% public land.) The only thing you're allowed to use is cage traps.

[Gearbox]

.I caught a realy nice fat mouse at deer camp sucomed to  peanut butter . Did better at traping than deer hunting . Sorry no pics of the trophy mouse   Gearbox

[ScottInCabot]

   It might not be what you care about but this morning when I checked my trap line (one trap in the yard) I had a 5" long mole  8) that's 3 this month.

I'm thinking I need to bring you here!
I have morphers, half mole and half gopher....dang things must be 40lbs with the damage they are doing!

Scott in Cabot

[fishpharmer]

havent set any traps since i was a kid i'm to far south for the furs to be very nice :-\

x2

[Magicman]

That plus no $$$ were allocated by the county for a bounty on trapped beavers.   :-\

[WV Sawmiller]

   I'm out. Used to catch (live traps) an occasional coon around my deer feeders and in my barn near the feed bin. Prices so low last year I stopped killing them. I'd relocate the possums. All live traps so no harm to animals. I do sell my deer hides to my fur buyer. Not really worth the hassle but you have to get the hide off to get to the meat anyway. I think last year only about $4 each. Sold a couple this year and several in reefer downstairs. Only got $3 each so not worth a special trip downtown. Wife took them Saturday while I was sawing but she waited too late and he had already left. Maybe next Saturday when he makes his circuit.

[trapper]

Got a few muskrats, not pushing it real hard so far this year.  Was supposed to be in the senior unit of the Horicon refuge this year but that area is closed until the whooping cranes fly south.  With the dismal forecast for coon I havn't tried for them.  Didn't make the furbuyer's first stop this year.  He will be here again Friday so will know a bit more then.  I take deer hides to the furbuyer and trade for leather gloves.

[LaneC]

   I used to love trapping. We would check our sets before school. My best was an xxlarge coon that brought $13.00 and my buddy got a Bobcat that same morning and he got $75.00 for his. We were rich for a few days. this was back in about 1980-81. That Bobcat was in some tall sage grass and almost jumped on me when I got close. I was looking hard at the ground where he drug the drag and not looking ahead much. When I got about 6 feet from it, he lunged at me and was stopped in mid air by the chain. I wished I could do it now, but the prices are not even worth skinning anything.

[trapper]

Many of the trappers I know trap regardless of fur prices. The money is nice but not everything. How much does the average person make hunting or fishing?

[WV Sawmiller]

Many of the trappers I know trap regardless of fur prices. The money is nice but not everything. How much does the average person make hunting or fishing?

  Why trap it if can't sell it or can't use it?

  I only kill game animals I will eat and eat, give away or throw back any fish I can't use. I assume you are talking kill or leg hold traps so you are committed when you put out a trap line. I don't have anything local predators threaten so can't even say doing it to protect the poultry or such.

[beenthere]

Just like trapping mice.. and rats... and raccoon.  I don't eat or sell any of them, but it helps keep the population down. And I kill flies too..  ;D

[climber2]

Many of the trappers I know trap regardless of fur prices. The money is nice but not everything. How much does the average person make hunting or fishing?

Amen trapper. Every time checking the line is like Christmas morning as a kid...you just never know what is around the next corner. If it were about $$ very few of us would be doing it.

[WV Sawmiller]

Just like trapping mice.. and rats... and raccoon.  I don't eat or sell any of them, but it helps keep the population down. And I kill flies too..  ;D

    I'm fine with trapping or killing anything that is a pest whether it is mice/rats, coons, foxes, etc. but I don't have anything the furbearers bother so I leave them alone when fur prices are not worth selling them. Just my choice - not right or wrong.

[LaneC]

  I can't say that I have ever made any money from hunting or fishing. It always costed me a lot of money to partake in those hobbies. I loved doing it while I was able and have no regrets. If I were to put it on paper, I am sure the trapping cost me quite a bit as well. I was just to young to tally it up, and it did not matter, that is what I chose to do. I ate everything I took while hunting, and tried a few of the things I trapped. I did not like them, so I will not take something that will not be used. It is not about the money or I would never have hunted or fished. It is about taking something I do not intend to use for anything.