I was curious as to how many members here trap or are interested in trapping.

I am interested. I have only read about it, but it seems like fun.

Aquavit -
I've trapped in the past for Muskrat,Fox, and Coon. I didn't do it at all last year but may again this year. I think the trapper permit has gone up again this year though. Are you planning to do some or do you currently trap.
DOA

I do some traping. Most of the trapping I have done is with the youth grupp in the local hunter and fisher club. We gor two martins and one weasel. (I'm not sure about the names in English, in Norwegian it is m�r and r�ykatt)
All where cought in winter in traps that kills instatly.

Last winter me and a friend did some trapping on our own. We didn't get anything. We use honey and grouse heads as bate.

We also built a crow trap this summer. We have bated it ones and have cought on crow. We ran out of bate but I guess the trap will be used all autum and winter.

Johan

DOA,

I mostly go for beaver simply because beaver trapping fits more easily into my current schedule. In the past, I've trapped mink, muskrat, fox, coon, and coyote. Growing up, I had several relatives that made respectable livings long-lining for fox, coyote, mink and beaver - but the fur prices were much better then.

I didn't get out last season either, but caught 20 beaver the season before. I think that I'll go for beaver and fox this year. I've really gotten the bug back lately.

Johan -
I never ever thought about a crow trap. I will make one up as soon as I can and let you know how I make out. Hey Aquavit ! what are the trapping laws on crows in PA?
This should be a gas

I have a pigeon trap, but the crow trap sounds like fun!

DOA - I don't know about crow trapping in PA. They have a hunting season, so I would assume that you are limited only to the firearms listed in the regulations. It's worth a call to the G & F though. I think that I'll be making a call.

I use to trap for fox, bobcat and coon every year, but since the fur prices died, my trapping is mostly limited to nuisance beaver. I still love it though, nothing like hearing that chain rattle from a distance and wondering what you caught!

Chain rattle and crow traps. Aquavit if you find out let me know and I'll check too.
I'm ready!

Trapping was my dad's greatest passion, we never had a Thansgiving or Christmas like other families did. It was always spent making sets, checking traps, skinning and stretching. When my friends in high school went to Hawaii or skiing over Christmas break I was out in the desert with my dad skinning bobcats and putting them on stretchers.
Trapping is the best way to really learn about nature, you see things very differently on a walk in the woods than anyone else does.

CritrChik
Must have been a great way to grow up!

(No hunting/traping in Christmas here in Norway.)

I'll try to draw a picture of the crow trap and a description when I got the time.

Johan

I don't trap as much as I once did but I still manage to run a small line most years for fox and muskrats. This year I am going to lay some steel for coyote and give that a try!

Here is a drawing of a crow trap without the chickenwire.:


Here is the picture I based my trap on:


The crowes goes trough the "ladder" and down to the bate. When they go in they can't get out trough the ladder.

It workes best if it's bigger. Maybe 4x3m in the bottom and 3m high. It will trapp crows, ravens, guls magpie and simulare birds.

Johan

Johan,
What furbearers are you allowed to take in Norway ? And with what equipment ?

I've trapped since app. 1975, although the past few years have seen minimal activity due to the fur market plunge. Most of the recent trapping has been for nuisance coyotes, 'coons & bobcats.

But the fur market shows a glimmer of hope...so my fingers remain crossed.

The fur animals that can be traped here is:
fox, badger, weasel, lynx, beaver, mink, muskrat, marten and an animal we call martenhound(I couldn't find the english name for this on).

Mink, muskrat and martenhound is all introdused and are regarded as pests with all year hunting and traping. Also ferret are introdused.

Different traps of conibear type and simularte traps that killes instantly can be used on fox, badger, martenhound, marten, beaver, mink, muskrat and weasel.

I don't know what you call it but logtraps/trapdoor where a log hits the animal in the head are legal. A big rock can also be used. I belive this type of trap is common in North America.

Bate scissors can be used on fox if plased so that it will snap over the foxes head on not fot. For example in a little stream.

Traps that traps the animal alive can be used on fox, bager, martenhound, mink, weasel and weasel.
This are traps like fox stall, boxstrap and tilting trap. This traps all trap the animnal unharmed and the traps must be lokked after everyday. Minktraps two times a day. 22Lr can be used to kill the traped animal from fox and down. Other rifles with more power can also be used.

The rules for traping is complicated and stict, not all metods are legal all over the contry. All traps must either kill the animal at once or trap it unharmed.

Snare is legal for grouse some places.

Johan

Here are some pictures of traps from a book I have:

Conibear and simulare trap:



Grouse snare:



Martentraping (This is the kind of trap I have used):



Logtrap:



Johan

Now you've done it. I'm going crazy living in FL. I've got several thousand dollars in steel, stretchers, etc... and can't use it. I was a licensed damage control trapper and trapped year round. Peoples houses, agriculture, fur, you name it I trapped for it.
Critter chick is exactly right. If I wanted to hunt deer, I did it while running my line. I ran over 60 miles of trapline before being in formation at 0700 every morning and did resets after work. My partner and I bet each other fur value on which animal we would catch, how we would catch, and which leg he would be caught by (using steel).
Beaver trapping is the manliest sport I know of. Yes, I'd like a cape buffalo, but I've come closer to cashing in my chips trapping beaver than anything else so far. Nipple deep in ice water in 20 below weather is a test. A 74 pound beaver in a coon snare is also. I love them and for all of you who want to get close, ie. archery, short range, etc... try it.
Study though and do it right. We're under fire enough. Make sure you know how to use deer sticks, deter dogs, drown sets, double stakes, etc.... Otherwise, you'll get frustrated and likely make a mistake that gives all outdoorsmen a bad name. Take care and please post trapping experiences. I'm trying to put together a month to travel north and run beaver and canine lines. I'm also going to show some Floridians how to snare the otter and bobcats down here. They don't have a lot of hair but the cats are the size of greyhounds and the otters are huge, too. I'll tan them and make ornaments for trade, sale, or decoration in my office. I already have beaver, coyote, and coon skins all over the walls.
Best,
J

I've trapped coon and fox sporadically for thirty plus years in PA but don't have the time now and the prices are low. Now bobcat are becoming plentiful and I want one bad!

I my self don't trap but the two women across the street from me are fur traders for sure.

I've ran various amounts of steel and cable since I was seven, 22 years of trapping. I've never run a super long line but my best season was over 75 raccoon, three fox, two coyotes, a bunch of skunk and opposum. This was the fall of my senior year at Iowa State University. I put all the coons, fox and coyote up and averaged $26.37 on my coon that year. Not bad coin for a broke college boy.
I'm planning on running a dry line for fox, coyote and those big ridge running coon this fall.

Chris

I trapped with my father when real young and then ran some on my own in high school. Prices were good and it was paying off a little. When I went into the service I sold my traps to my Dad and haven't trapped since. I set for muskrat, coyote, and bobcat. I even tried a few sets for mink and racoon. I would say looking back that I really never became very good at it though. I used baits my Dad was cooking up and think that they were to ripe to really attract coyotes and cats. We found a lot of our sets had been rolled on when we first got into it.

I consider myself a trapper. I'm concentrating on two species of animals that are comparable to feral cats when it comes to killing indigenous species here in Finland. One is called Raccoon Dog in english (Nyctereutes procyonoides), the other is the mink (Mustela vison). Capture them alive and finish them off with a .22

[ 08-16-2002, 09:24: Message edited by: Ares ]

Aquavit,
I wish I could just chuckle and arrogantly call you a "dumb@$$" but that would be the pot calling the kettle black. Haven't caught myself in a 330 yet (knocking violently on wood) but I did get my finger tips in a #5 Montgomery drown set on a steep slick river bank. I finally got the wire cut, stuck my head into the freezing water and pulled the trap. It's amazing about beaver-they're the easiest critter to get in a trap but you damn near get killed setting them.
My biggest embarrassments came from the undead. I had a drowned mink try to eat me. Coons climb me. And muskrats can chew you up like a sewing machine.
One funny trapline story then I gotta go train. Caught a huge coon in a cornfield. Thumped him with my trowel because we were right behind the farmer's house. Put him in my truck and went on. Stopped to get gas. As I was leaning back against the truck, a lady was filling up across from me. She gave me the evil eye (hip boots, muddy, smelled of coyote gland lure, etc...) and then her eyes went wide and she screamed. I turned just in time to catch this big upset coon right in the face. Luckily he didn't bite and I still had a hog noose on him. But he still tried to scratch pieces off me. The fight was loud and the lady's screaming didn't help. I finally got the thing in a box trap, told her he came out of an attic and I was going to release him. She thought I was crazy. After everyone got to see the coon and ask me why all the other animals in my truck were dead, I left. At work I let him out of the havahart into a 220. As I'm writing this, he's still hanging over my desk.
Good trapping.
Jeff

Near as I can figure it, I've been trapping for fourty three years now. Not as much as in the past, my uncle and I used to have a line of over three thousand traps at one time, mainly muskrat, mink, and coon. A tough all day and most of the night job in those years, but it was good money at the time. We used TerraTigers to cover the lines.
Mostly beaver and coyote now.