Any trappers on here

THEFAN

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I am curious if there is anyone on here who traps??

If so do you trade your pelts??

LMK Don
 

lipoptena

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I have a couple of traps, but I use them mostly to protect my poultry and sheep from small size predators. I do not sell my pelts as there are almost no market at all in Europe (I live in Sweden)
 

~gd

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THEFAN said:
I am curious if there is anyone on here who traps?? I used to but the animal rights nuts destroyed the fur market

If so do you trade your pelts?? Trade? Iused to sell for cash. why would a trapper trade when he could trap his own?LMK Don
required ~gd
 

citychic

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I started using live traps about a year ago to protect my rabbits and chickens but I have this book on snares that I want to get into. I'm going for frogs\turtles later today but not really trapping \ using lines.
 

Bettacreek

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GD, I think he meant trading as in "You want my pelt, I want your apples". I've helped my ex's brother trap. Coyotes are a PITA. It can be incredibly difficult to get everything just right. We had a coyote step right on the pan (perfect little paw print and everything), but moisture got into it somehow and froze it just enough to support the weight of a coyote.
 

mazojoe

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Just an opinion, but and I will see where this goes, as I am new here, but one must have some form of skill to trap to protect their hard work!

I do trap as a hobby, but sell most of my furs, although this year my DGF will be getting a few of my Beaver pelts to see what she can do with them!

THEFAN where are you at or are you anywhere near WI?
 

shaner

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just seend this post? but i traooed for years , mainly to sell them, i did trade some to other outdoorsmen for things, i needed, trapping in my area is a dieing sport, houses and land owners have no use for trappers, we are the bad guys, alot of our wetlands and real animal areas are so shrunk up its hard to even find land to trap. at one time here in my area i had 3 fur buyers, as of last year i know of none in a 50 mile radius
 

Corn Woman

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Trapping some rotten skunks that have killed 6 of my marans pullets and working on catching the 3rd. Any suggestions are much appreciated I think this last ( I hope) stinking devil is on to me.
 

Blaundee

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Find a trapping/trappers association for your state or area. These associations usually host a fur sale every year which is where most people sel their furs- the big name buyers come around and put bids on your furs, and you can get some really nice prices if you have good trapping/skinning/streching techniques. If your techniques are bad, your furs will reflect that, and so will their prices.

Check with your state's game and fish dept to see what the regulations are on trapping, if you need a license, etc. PLEASE please please be an ethical, responsible trapper and check your traps EVERY day, and pull your traps if you cannot check them or find someone to check them for you EVERY DAY. It is cruel to leave an animal in a trap needlessly, illegal in many states, and gives the anti's even more ammo against responsible trappers- don't spoil it for everyone by being lazy and unethical.
 

~gd

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Blaundee said:
Find a trapping/trappers association for your state or area. These assIfions usually host a fur sale every year which is where most people sel their furs- the big name buyers come around and put bids on your furs, and you can get some really nice prices if you have good trapping/skinning/streching techniques. If your techniques are bad, your furs will reflect that, and so will their prices.

Check with your state's game and fish dept to see what the regulations are on trapping, if you need a license, etc. PLEASE please please be an ethical, responsible trapper and check your traps EVERY day, and pull your traps if you cannot check them or find someone to check them for you EVERY DAY. It is cruel to leave an animal in a trap needlessly, illegal in many states, and gives the anti's even more ammo against responsible trappers- don't spoil it for everyone by being lazy and unethical.
I think you are a little out of date at least for the East. I can't remember the last time I found a live animal in a trap unless it was meant to be a live trap like a box trap. I don't know what the legal status of leg hold traps are. all I ever see are kill traps with the extra jaw(s) that kill. Even in the bad old days we never pulled our traps, it was much faster and more productive to spring them in place unless the season was done. That way the little victums had a chance to get used to the trap and find it harmless until we were ready to reset them. if you don't know the procedure we would take switches or reeds and just tap the pan. no man odor or anything un-natural to fear. Since I used to discontinue trapping over the busy holidays I would usually trip around 12/22 and atart to reset 1/2 of the nezt year. Usually a few would get moved because resetting is not a fast process if done right.
FYI I have had landowners begging me to trap their land. Fox and woodchuck [ground hogs]where it was dry but beaver and muskrat near ponds most of which are just dirt and they will dig holes that lets water out.
In fact I was paid before I quit for good. A fancy development had to have ponds for firefighting purposes. The people that bought the houses thought the beaver and muskrats were cute. He didn't since the beavers were eating the trees he had planted and the muskrats were emptying the ponds so the fire marshal was talking about shuting him down because of lack of water. Secret trapping, people would get upset if they saw dead animals or traps so I would be checking trap sites before dawn. bag the bodies and sneak around a lot.
So with the animals gone I made a deal to put ducks and geese on the pond. Fancy domestic ducks and geese But MALES ONLY so no population explosion and the males are usually more colorful. Fence was already required to keep kids from drowning and people LOVE TO FEED THEM. He put in some vending machines that despensed healthy waterfowl pellsts and was in the black by the end of the year! I sold lots of pond ducks after that. The females are in demand for eggs and chicks and many people don't want to send the males to "freezer camp" much nicer to send them off to a nice pond! Half of them were gifts to me and the other half were bargains that I would turn around and charge what the market would bear. I miss that!~gd
 
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