Pond Boss Forums GENERAL QUESTIONS Wildlife Management Predator managed

Noticed this river otter while on the treadmill last week, in the morning. Bad timing for the otter. Hunting and trapping season are open in Iowa right now, and I hold licenses! I was going to set a trap (for the experience) but decided not to wait, after watching her catch and eat several fish while I watched. The .22 magnum sorted her out. And yes, I was in my workout gear (including shorts) but didn't want to wait..



I have a size 12 shoe, for comparison...

Nice job! I just started a skunk set and will switch to coon and coyote soon. I enjoy trapping and get as much of a kick out of it as I do hunting.

Awesome job! an otter that size will rid your pond of fish extremely fast, and he's probably not alone. that's pretty good for a .22, usually they will still have enough life left in them after a .22 to get to someplace where you cant find them and be able to tell if you got them or not.

I did a head shot, so she was done and done. Surprisingly she stayed afloat.

Such a shame these cute creatures do so much damage.

As long as it's not camo, Sunil doesn't have to critique your wardrobe.

I feel like this is one case where camo is highly recommended, vs. just wearing it as your every-day casual wear.....which we (I) know you do....

We have very few otters out in Utah so if I had that issue I'd probably be hung up for taking care of it... Instead I have the muskrats that tear up the pond banks, guess I need to see if the .17 would help me with my problem... Hard to see them out now with the ice cap on the pond... So are otter skins worth a good price? I'd think they would be really soft and draw a good price.. Maybe make a great ice fishing mad bomber hat... Later J

Since it's the first otter I've ever collected, I think we're going to go a full body mount. There's some pretty cool ones, where they are chasing a fish.

And I basically agree with Sunil, I think otters are pretty cool critters and fun to watch. I just have this abnormal attachment to the fish in our pond. She was diving and catching and eating fish at will when I was watching her. I've spoken to other pond owners in Iowa who had otters show up at their pond, and they all had the story. They cleaned them out down to the last fish.

At one of the Pond Boss Conventions several years back, a vendor had a mount of an otter inverted as it chased a LMB, and there were a few crappie in the diorama also, IIRC.

I tried to convince my wife how sweet it would look in our foyer.

They stay under water for several minutes at a time. believe it or not...if you look real close you can see a fine bubble trail where they are traveling under water and can predict where they are going to pop back up. I have done this 3 times on my 2 acre pond. wait till I see them go under...run as close to the pond as I can get...freeze when they pop up....do this over maybe 3 times until I am at the ponds edge!! I have them pop up within 20 feet of me!! 410 shotgun takes care of the rest!! They float every time. Have used a fishing rod and reel with a crankbait full of treble hooks to reel the carcasses in to dispose of them. Honestly its kind of fun but...I hope I never see another otter again!

Never even seen one

One of the few predators who will catch fish, eat half and go catch more. Rinse and repeat. A big waste of fish.

Most predators are NOT wasteful.

I suspect that reflects how little effort, energy, and risk an otter must generate to catch a fish!

No wonder the pond owners that have them hate the cute little b*stards.