ZEP, I think the ones I have trapped live in communes. Like back in the 60's and 70's. in the past 5 yrs I have trapped about a dozen. along with 4 beavers. All I need now is a big beard and a buffalo or beaver fur coat to be what I picture as a full fledged trapper.
It unfortunate that extremists have been so successful at green-washing so many things. Then they show great pride in using a paper straw. I simply skip the straw all together. Wild fur is a very sustainable textile and requires that wildlife habitat be maintained. Funny that they pollute the environment by throwing paint on fur which is very biodegradable, while wearing fashionable plastic-based clothing. Well, the world turns on...
Im with ya RAH. Some around here don't like deer hunters. I say if your going to eat them or just not kill for the fun of it have at it. Let just one of their family members get hurt or killed by hitting a deer and they might change there mind. Not that I want that at all. I'm just saying it happens around here. Just about everyone I know here has at least been close to hitting one.
ZEP, I think the ones I have trapped live in communes. Like back in the 60's and 70's. in the past 5 yrs I have trapped about a dozen. along with 4 beavers. All I need now is a big beard and a buffalo or beaver fur coat to be what I picture as a full fledged trapper.
Or a mad trapper hat.
Yep! That's a good look Al.
Do not judge me by the politicians in my City, State or Federal Government.
Mark, that pic's probably 4-5 years and 80 pounds ago when we were having constant beaver problems. Scott(esshup) helped a lot, and I've accumulated quite a stash of cages, conibears, snares, etc. since then.
Trapped 2 opossums this week that didn't play by the very lenient property rules.
esshup I am guessing what u taught Highflyer he then passed it along to me. Now I need to learn how to use snares since I am not finding active slides but finding otters and their fishy scaled poop on my pier. Maybe snares are they way to go right now. Al, esshup any suggestions?
Do not judge me by the politicians in my City, State or Federal Government.
Do you have an overflow pipe coming thru the dam from the surface of your pond? A client uses a MB650 trap right before his and catches a couple of otters per year.
Snare or conibear on the pier, I can only think about putting up a short fence (12" high or so) out of chicken wire, snow fence, etc. and leave some openings in the fencing for the otters to go thru. Put snares or Conibears in those openings. Watch for any pets though, they will be dead if they try to go thru the openings.......
A client uses a MB650 trap right before his and catches a couple of otters per year. Snare or conibear on the pier.
For a guy that can barely figure out how to put gas in my SUV...lol
Is an MB650 any easier to set than a conibear?
You may need to ask HF. I gave him a 330 to set but didn't tell him about the setting tool.... HaHaHaHa. He DID get one spring compressed, but his face was pretty red.
With those MB650's, you can put them on a hard surface and step on the springs on each side with your feet at the same time,then latch the dog onto the pan. It's safer if you have someone show you, lemee see if I can find a youtube video.
In the 2nd video, he's making sure he is keeping pressure on the trap with the heel of his hand while he sets the dog in the pan. Be careful, if your fingers get caught you will be saying LOTS of bad words!!! Then running for someone to let you out of the trap if you can't get your feet on it. THEN you'll be looking for me because I showed you the video. LOL
esshup, I like the idea of the fence and set it up where the walkway to the pier starts. I wont use the conibear traps there because I don't want to catch a dog, neighbors or mine. I have used them many times but always in the water. But a snare might work in the same set up. Now I have to learn how to set it up.
Do not judge me by the politicians in my City, State or Federal Government.
I was beginning to think it was just me with the pond down some foot or two. I watch the projected weather forecast just to see it go around me and peter out just as it approaches my place.
Do not judge me by the politicians in my City, State or Federal Government.
Yes the whole time I was digging on the pond this year it rained nonstop. Now that I'm done nothing. When you want something ya never get it. When ya dont vare or want it things are plentiful. 1st world problems lol.
Full pool when checked today. Some sporadic feeding going on, though much less intense than a couple months ago. Saw a brown duck, but no cormorants.
Bite was very slow due mostly to cold water, saw little activity in shallows. Small bass and large CNBG were caught in a couple of hours, best bait was a sinking beadhead fly fished several feet deep.
Only real activity came around 4pm, when we noticed fish breaking the surface near the dock. My son cast there & hooked something big on his 3 weight flyrod, fight lasted several minutes until line broke. Best guess it was a nice hybrid striper. We decided to call it a day after that battle.
Tube on SMB pond was clogged so I removed the rat guard from the pond side of the 12" pipe and got it cleared. The muskrats got in anyway and with the low fur prices, I set my own live-catch trap. They are running a muck!
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