I Got A Trap - Edumicate Me, Please!

[Joshua M. Smith]

Hi All,

I figured out how to set it...



Now, I need to know how to use this thing. If I'm any good, I'll buy a few more and set up a small trap line. I know where the paths are; they've just wised up to me.



This is a #1-3/4 trap. Mainly I figure on raccoon and maybe fox. How big an animal can this thing take?

Right now I have it set up on a log, with the chain nailed to the log, by a creek that runs through my property, covered with tuna juice to hopefully kill some scent. Bait itself is canned tuna. The trap is covered with a thin layer of snow.

I've read that you're supposed to boil them first as well.

Mostly I don't know anything about trapping though, and anything would help.

Thanks,

Josh <><

[Momoney567]

Well i dont know much about trapping but i dont know if i would set it up on the log if it was me i would have it around on the edge of the water and put the tuna around or on the button itself so if the said racoon/fox would go to get the fish they woud undoubtedly push down the button and have it crush their skull but idk what your purpose for the trap is?To kill or just do it?Either way i think it would work.

[Joshua M. Smith]

For fur. They buy it and ship it to Russia.

I figure this is a leg hold trap... right? Or wrong?

Josh <><

[Momoney567]

Ok that makes more sense to me and yes thats leg hold but for fur i wouldn't worry about coons you could spotlight them off your backporch assuming they're around your house but as far as foxes go yeah that would work but i suggest a little trap movement if a fox gets out of a trap once or comes close to getting caught it'll stay clear of the whole area and a few more traps wouldnt be a bad idea

[Joshua M. Smith]

Thanks. I got the trap because the raccoons wised up to the spotlighting trick.

I figure any price I get for the fur, I'll sink into another trap, etc, until I have six or so.

Thanks,

Josh <><

[samuel]

Boil in lye,that will make them rusty, and then heat wax and dip them in it.They wont work too good with snow cover.They freeze very easily.To trap in freezing weather you need to mix salt with sifted sand.You embed them in the ground just brlow the surface making sure they are firm and then take your sifter and gently sift sand over them until they are covered and there is no hump.A sifter is an open box with a screen nailed to the bottom that will not let even small pebbles through so all you get is sand on the trap.If you get little rocks on the trap they will catch in the jaws and hold them open so the animal will escape.With coon the best set is at the entrance of a burrow like a woodchuck hole.With fox you need a hole burrowed in the ground like a mouse hole and scent poured in and the trap set just far enough back so he will stick his foot in it when he checks the mouse hole.I wear heavy rubber gloves and set the trap so I can lay my hand between the mouse hole and trap.You need rubber boots so you dont leave scent.The fox euerin they sell for cover scent works but if you look up trapping on the web they have a lot of scents and a lot more info.You also need a choker to kill the animal.They have a cable in a steel pipe that you tighten on them and choke them.Shooting them harms pelts.It is hard to trap in freezing weather unless you are skilled. sam.

[Momoney567]

Sounds good,good luck
come back and post when youget your first catch

[Dale]

I grew up around trapping and trappers and, in my mind.....,trapping is [B]not[/b] a humane sport. The animals die the cruelest death imaginable or the aniaml is severly injured or disfigured only to face a certain and slow death.

I think everyone in "our" sport should emphasize to all hunters to quickly dispatch an animal and lessen it's suffering.

This is my opinion and I'm letting it go at that.

[Momoney567]

Originally Posted by Dale

I grew up around trapping and trappers and, in my mind.....,trapping is [B]not[/b] a humane sport. The animals die the cruelest death imaginable or the aniaml is severly injured or disfigured only to face a certain and slow death.

I think everyone in "our" sport should emphasize to all hunters to quickly dispatch an animal and lessen it's suffering.

This is my opinion and I'm letting it go at that.

I don't agree with that but I can respect your opinion.

[samuel]

Originally Posted by Dale

I grew up around trapping and trappers and, in my mind.....,trapping is [B]not[/b] a humane sport. The animals die the cruelest death imaginable or the aniaml is severly injured or disfigured only to face a certain and slow death.

I think everyone in "our" sport should emphasize to all hunters to quickly dispatch an animal and lessen it's suffering.

This is my opinion and I'm letting it go at that.

I believe they suffer less from a choker than a gunshot usually.You said "our" sport.My trapping wasnt a game or sport,it was for money.I hunted big game for sport.Thats where you ambush an animal and try to put it down in one shot but if it doesnt work use another even if the animal has laid there and suffered for a while.I hear all this good merciful talk but I know in the real world that is what it is.Talk to impress someone.I hunt and trap in nature and deal with nature,honestly,skillfully,and as mercifully as I can.I am proud of it and my accomplishments.If the tables were turned and the animal could kill me,I wonder how much he would worry about hurting me.A true lover of nature and "KILLER"of animals. sam.

[forestgleaner]

That looks like a nice shiney new trap. Sam has it right about treating it. You can also soak it over night in muric acid, and water. the trick is to get all the oil off. once it is clean of oil, you hang it a bit to let it get a light coat of rust. From there you have several choices. If you are only going to use it for racoon, you can paint, wax, dip, dye or boil it with the black stuff from the outside of a walnut, the stuff that starts green and turns black. For fox, you really have to be more careful for about scent.
I have had the best luck for racoons under bridge. In Pa any bridge is considered public property, and therefore open to trapping. The best ones have a small ledge, or strip of land running along one side, though that isn't needed. A lot of small animals travel along those ledges, and for racoon you need not even hide the trap. I do not use any scent in those type of trap set ups. I count on the water to wash away from scent, and I stay in the water while setting up the trap. If you have no such bridges, or are working in a more wild area, the same set ups can be made in places where the bank is over hanging.
As far as what is more humane, I think that is a hair that shouldn't even be attempted to be split. I have shot a fox with a shotgun, and had to dispatch it with a blow to the head, from a mag lite. I have been able to walk right up to a coon in a trap, the coon seems calm and quiet, and dispatch it with a blow to the head. I have trapped beaver in conibear traps, I do not think they even know what hits them. You can also set up a trap to drown an animal, again, it is a quick end. I have killed dear with one shot, and I have lost two deer in my life, one with a bow, one with a rifle.
I know the anti's live for us to fight amongst the differant types of sports, or as Sam said trapping isn't for sport for all, but is for money some. With that said, I guess I won't talk about it any more. If it is legal, then it is ok.

[sunray]

Look into the legalities before you do anything with it. Leg hold traps are illegal for trapping in most places. Just trapping Rocky without a licence is too. If you're in town, putting out a leg hold trap is illegal nearly everywhere. Think in terms of a kid stepping in it. Lawsuit city and criminal charges.

[ArkansasHunter]

I've trapped some or i should say I've helped others. There are products you can buy to boil your traps in.
What we do is find a likely spot and the bait will help draw the animal.
When your in the woods and walking next to a creek have you ever noticed the little diggings in the bank of the creek ?
Coons do that looking for crawfish and insects. Open and bait your trap and put in enough water to cover the trap and then ever so lightly cover with wet leaves you found on the bottom of the creek (under water).
Make sure you ancor all your traps.
Another way is to dig a shallow tunnel in an embankment big enough for the trap to close...open the trap and bait it, slid into shallow tunnel NOW gather up short limbs and sticks and make a funnel to the trap to lead the animal to the trap, also put sticks and limbs on top of the funnel wall you made at the "opening" of the "tunnel"only. You don't want the animal reaching in from top side or sides to get the bait, you got to get them to go straight to it. You can catch every thing with this set up.
For Bob Cat find a sapling or bush in an area you've seen there tracks and tie the bait on a strong cord and tie it to the sappling 3 feet off the ground. Next put the trap right under the bait the Bob Cat will rear up and dance around and end up in the trap. No funnel needed on the Bob cat.

Even if you set your traps on flat ground always build a funnel leading to the trap and in this case you need to put sticks and branches over the traps leave plenty of room for them to close, you also have to cover the traps with leaves and weeds.

It's the saddest hunting you'll ever do, when you see the animal in the trap if it's in water they'll be soaking wet, they want be that cute fuzzy animal you picture in your mind.
They've fought all night trying to get loose. By the way I only tagged along and did help but I will never do it again.
It is very un humane as far as I'm concerned.
When you catch a dog I'll just say good luck to you...A.H

[webs]

Dale and A.H.,although I respect your opinions on anti-trapping,I do not agree with either of you.Trapping is a valuable tool in keeping the furbearer populations in balance.Your comments only add fuel to the ever growing Anti-hunting fire, and to me seem out of place on this pro-hunting site.Again, I respect your opinions but totally dis-agree.

[forestgleaner]

trapping is part of life, heck even insects do it.

[Idaho Dave]

that is a foot hold trap. Sam has the idea he knows what he is talking about there is a lot to do and a new trap in the wild will catch a cat or dog if not treated. trapping often gets a bad name and I am not sure if it is from things in the past or what. most of the time I have come to my foot hold traps and found the animal sitting calmly like they are waiting for me. these animals were dispatatched quickly and with as much haist as possible. other types of trap are different and designed to kill. Due to the possibility of catching a lynx or wolf, our foot/leg hold traps must not really damage the animal belive it or not this is the truth. I have seen domestic dogs and even a couple domestic cats (take a welding glove with me for just this sort of thing), caught held over night and been fine the next day even when released, this includes my own dog that had it happen twice and he is sitting here by me now having not sucumb to the grizzly fate people claim. also regulations require far more frequent checking of traps to ensure none intended speices are alive and can be relaeased. I have also had the experince of tagging along with a a fish and game that were called to aid in the relase of a trapped lynx. Most all of the wolves transplanted here, river otter and other speices were caught in modern leg and foot hold traps and they werent suffering terribly when they got here that is something the anti trapping but pro save the wolves folks have a hard time swallowing.


The evil "steel-jawed leghold trap", a fact sheet
By Keith Dewars*
"Steel-jawed leghold trap". What a misnomer. I cannot count how many times I've seen those words in the last few years. It is a term that was invented by anti-trappers to invoke compassion and solicit donations from an unsuspecting urban public.
Well, first things first. There is no such thing as a "steel-jawed leghold trap". They are correctly called foothold traps or live-hold foot traps. These traps are designed to restrain an animal by the foot. Anti-trappers like to talk about animals getting their feet chopped off by a trap. Do you know what? It does not happen. Modern traps are designed to absolutely minimize the damage done to the trapped animal.
Did you know that wolves are trapped using foothold traps in the United States? That's right. Wildlife biologists in Wisconsin, Minnesota, Idaho and numerous other states use the foothold trap to catch and relocate wolves to other areas where they are trying to re-establish populations of the predators.
Did you know that river otters are trapped using foothold traps in the United States? That's right. Otters have been trapped for relocation (very, very successfully I might add) in New York, Indiana, Missouri, Louisiana and a host of other states.
Did you know that pine martens and fishers are trapped for relocation using foothold traps in the United States? I think you can see where I am going with this.
Today's modern foothold trap, many with offset or laminated jaws, are designed to minimize damage and stress to the animal. Think about it. Would a person who is trapping to sell the pelts want to have damage to that pelt? I don't think so.
Take it from an actual trapper, not an animal rights activist that has never even seen the animals they are "protecting".
Here are the REAL facts about trapping-

1. Animals are not "left for days to suffer". Each state or province has trap check laws, in most areas traps must be checked at least once every twenty four hours. Think about it. Most animals are caught at night and most trappers check their sets early in the morning. It is good business. They want the animal to suffer as little as possible and they want the least amount of damage done to the pelt, so they keep time in the trap to a minimum. Case closed.
2. There is no such thing as a "trash animal". Anti-trappers like to say that "two non-target animals are trapped for each target animal" and that these so-called "trash animals" are simply thrown away. Hmmm, I wonder what they consider a "trash animal" to be. Most of the time, a good trapper will catch only what he intends to catch. A novice trapper will have some non-target catches, he might catch a raccoon instead of a mink, or a mink instead of a muskrat, or a possum instead of a raccoon. There is a market for all of these pelts. The "trash animal" statement is totally false and was made up by animal rights groups to spread misinformation to an uninformed public.
3. Traps are a danger to your pet! Yeah right. As I wrote earlier in this article, foothold traps are used by wildlife biologists for relocation purposes. If your dog or house cat is caught in a trap they can be easily released. Calm your pet, call your local warden or animal control officer and they will take care of the rest. One exception to this is in the use of body-grip style traps. Body-grip traps are regulated by state laws as to where and when they may be used. Any trapper that is using a body-grip trap outside the guidelines of the law is opening themselves up to some potential trouble.
4. Trapped animals do not "chew their feet off". Although this has been known to happen in the past (especially with raccoons), today's modern laminated and species-specific traps have lowered the incidence of chewing to almost zero.

So there you have it. Now that you have the real facts, how about checking out your local trapper's education class? You might find out you like it.
Here are some actual photos taken by trappers showing animals that have been trapped. There is a noticeable lack of stress to the animal in all of these photos.
Wild-About-Trapping.com- The evil "steel-jawed leghold trap", a fact sheet


most of the wild tails anti trapping people tell are about as credible as the anit hunters. I have been involved with trapping for years, known many trappers and in my personal experince I have never seen a trap with a nawwed off leg or an animal that has even chewed its leg to try to get free.
by the way here are some sites to look at for ideas

Wild-About-Trapping.com- The complete internet trapping resource

Trapping Tips and Tales by Buckshot

Trapping

National Trappers Association

there is a little more to it then buying a trap and setting it up. get the facts about what it is and how to do it. the way you discribe your set i think (no offense intended) you will probably be catcing the neighbors cat or dog (be careful letting it go. eventhough they are just sitting there they maybe real excited and hurt you when you get there and try to free them especially the cat)you also might ask around your town and see if anyone else is doing it and ask them about what, how and where. That is actually how I started. the fish and game in your area may have classes. By the way you should get a permit/license to ensure that you are following the law and make sure that you havent got any chance of catching any endangered/threatened species as that would be bad and carry with it lots of fines. even if it is your own property you cant trap endangered animals. there are laws and the DWR wil come and check you and your trap strings sometimes. it isnt bad they are usually really good to give you extra info. Trapping is a skill and each type of animal you are looking for requires a little different methood and trap for taking. take time to learn how to do it and you will find it fun, rewarding and very eduactional. You will really get a new respect for the animals you are trapping.

[rdale501]

I don't know if this of any use to you, but my father used to trap. He would boil them in walnut casings. The heavy green cover that grows over the shell. He said this killed all scent.

[Idaho Dave]

US fish and wild life think that you can trap without killing or harming and they have a few suggestions of how found here. International Affairs, Lynxs

So does Idaho and here is a piece of their offical rules

All trappers should carry catchpoles to allow safe release of any
unintended animal captures. Care should be taken to approach
any trapped animals slowly to avoid excessive movements
of the animal. A trapped lynx will allow the snare loop to be
placed over its head, but it will likely react when the catch loop
is tightened. Do not attempt to choke a lynx with the catchpole
loop but rather force the animal to lie on its side so the trap
may be removed. Then the snare loop should be relaxed and
removed to allow the lynx freedom to escape.
Please notify the nearest IDFG office to report any lynx
sightings or captures.

another quote from Idhao trapping rules

Three Key Messages to Use When Educating
the Public About Traps, Trapping, and Furbearer
Management

l

Furbearing animals are an abundant, renewable resource.

Some people have the notion that furbearing animals are rare
or endangered. We need to reassure them that legally trapped
animals are numerous and their populations secure.
l

Trapping is controlled through strict regulations that are

enforced by conservation officers.
People may fear that trapping is a “free-for-all,” with no sort of
control or regulation. To overcome this fear, we must reinforce the
message that trapping is a highly regulated activity in Idaho and
nationwide.
l

Trapping provides a wide range of benefits to society.

People often ask, “Is trapping really necessary?” We need to tell
them about the wildlife management, economic (to the trapper
and for damage control), and lifestyle benefits of trapping.

Key ingredients for trappers who care:

Maintain Good Landowner Relations

Obtaining permission to trap is more than the law; it’s an
opportunity to earn respect by respecting landowners and their
property. Practice common sense and courtesy by leaving gates
the way you found them, walking or using a four-wheeler when
fields and field roads are too wet to drive, and avoiding sets that
might result in non-target catches.

Respect Other Outdoor Enthusiasts

Autumn and winter are popular times for many outdoor activities
like hunting, hiking, bird watching, and cross-country skiing.
Taking the time to find out which activities are likely to take
place in an area you’re trapping is the first step in avoiding any
misunderstandings between you, the landowner, and others
sharing the property. Most activities are compatible with trapping.
If an area receives a lot of hunting pressure, you can time
your use of a property to avoid peak times that hunters tend to
choose, like opening weekends and holidays.

Keep Familiar With Improvements in Trapping Equipment

and Techniques
Improving efficiency, selectivity, and humaneness isn’t a new idea
for the trapping industry. However, research and development
are occurring at a faster pace today and require more effort to
keep abreast of state-of-the-art developments in equipment and
methods.

Appreciate Perceptions of Nontrappers

Differences in backgrounds, cultures, and experiences can cause
misinterpretation of your words, deeds, and actions. Keep this in
mind when communicating with nontrappers. Most people know
very little about trapping. Make an effort to communicate on their
level. Above all, remember that high standards of ethics and
responsibility form a message that can’t be mistaken.

Respect the Resource

Ethical trappers respect the resource they use. Part of this
involves making the most of your catch, such as looking for
secondary markets for carcasses, castoreum and other byproducts.
Use by-products for baits and lures when possible. If
not, dispose of carcasses properly.
Wildlife laws are designed to conserve our fur resources while
allowing for responsible harvest. Become familiar with and obey
all regulations. Report violations to the conservation officers.
Violators are stealing from trappers and nontrappers alike.
Be proud to be a trapper and a good representative of trapping.
Some Methods for Improving Efficiency,
Selectivity, and Humaneness

Use pan tension devices to avoid non-target catches.

Use extra swivels and center-mounted chains to hold more

animals and reduce the chance of injuries.

Use modern positioning techniques at dirt hole sets to

increase selectivity.

Use short trap chains for most land sets, especially those

targeted for fox and coyote.

Use “stop-loss”traps for muskrats in shallow water or dry

land sets.

Use dispatching methods that are quick and humane.

Use trap sizes that are appropriate for the target species

– pad catches are desirable for fox, coyote, raccoon and
many other animals because they cause fewer injuries.

Use baits and lures that attract target species but not other

animals.

Use cage, box or species-specific traps near barns,

outbuildings and other locations where domestic animals
may be present.

Use common sense in choosing set locations that maximize

opportunities to catch target species and minimize
opportunities to catch other animals.

Use secure methods of attaching traps – tailor methods to

hold the largest species you may catch.

Use traps with padded or laminated jaws where the risk of

non-target catches is high.

Use discretion when setting body-gripping traps or snares.

Use time to your advantage – don’t set more traps than you

there is some other good info in idahos trapping regs and rules
http://fishandgame.idaho.gov/cms/hun...ug/furWeed.pdf

[ArkansasHunter]

webs thats fine if you disagree. It's not what I want to do I've found.
If you or anyone else wants to trap you have my blessing.
A.H

[Dookiebutt]

Did it as a kid. It was a lot of work. Checking traps before school sucked. I understand it. I wouldn't do it again. I have no problems with those who do it.