I recently purchased some land in a state that has endless wilderness. My plan is to move to this state within the next 2 years, work in a smaller city but spend the summers building my cabin on this land plot. I'll just go there for the summers. I've done a lot of big/small game hunting but never trapping. My buddy is trying to convince me that I should trap on the land to get more small animals but I've always seen trapping as cruel and painful to the animals. I love hunting but only legally and ethically. I told him that I'm not a fur seller and I have no interest in eating fur bearers so I'd rather not kill them. He's trying g to convince me that it's not as I humane as it sounds and that the animals you trap are good eating. Sort of a stupid question but what's your opinion on trapping?
If your in rac**** country, do a night hunt, rules depend on where ya are. But they taste good bbq. Better the snapping turtle, not that turtle is awful.
I'm not a fan on trapping. Unless you are so far out in the sticks and you literally need them to get a food source then whatever but other than that I'm not a fan. Most traps definitely aren't humane. The footholds often cause fractures, tear up the animals leg, leave them at the will of elements and predators, etc. Definitely not humane Regular snares aren't all that humane either. Even small animals can take a while to become unconscious, while larger animals can be up to a couple days. Pitfalls would be a pain to make but it probably wouldn't cause much pain to the animal, you would just need to check them pretty often so an animal doesn't starve or dehydrate. The spring tension neck snare would probably be pretty humane as long as the tree is strong enough for the animal.
Hats pretty much my opinion, I'm not really anti trapping or anything but I have a job/career so I don't need to sell PRs to supplement my income especially since I'll spend ~ 3 months at this site a year. I've eaten some of the fur bearing animals before but I much prefer deer/elk/moose/caribou over that stuff.
Just too gnarly? Or you just didn't like it? I saw a film where a guy had a Lynx snared (why you would do that to such a beautiful creature is beyond me) any ways rather than shooting it, he attached another snare around a pole and got the Lynx by the neck and pulled really hard...choked it to death. Seemed more brutal than it needed to be. Just the idea of an animal sitting there stuck and helpless while possibly in a great deal of pain just doesn't sit right within me. I'll shoot stuff with a rifle or bow but hooking their feet then choking them to death....that's not for me.
The thing about traps is you don't necessarily get to decide what you catch. The reason he choked it to death is he was a fur trapper. Shooting it doesn't preserve the fur like choking it to death would.
IMO, you should only use traps in a true survival situation when nothing else (gun, bow, etc.) is at hand.
Up until about 5 years ago I rarely seen them in my area. IMO they're very beneficial to have around. If the fox numbers are up that means the coyote numbers are down usually. I can't shoot at one either.
Like anything I don't personally like, I choose to not participate and reserve judgment. I do think trapping can be viewed as cruel but I understand the pragmatism behind it and have no problem with those that engage in it. Coyotes are a big problem where I live and they're too close to a dog for me to want to shoot at them, but I realize I have the luxury of having that opinion because it doesn't affect my livelihood. Same goes for trapping, I'd rather kill an animal quickly with a well placed shot, but I realize it isn't always practical for someone to patrol a field while there are other mundane, yet necessary duties on a farm. Trap on, you won't get any hate from me.
If you're like the guy's featured on that History channel show called Mountain Men or that Discovery show about people living in the Yukon, where they sell the fur and it's, for some, their ONLY source of income, I can get it. Not a huge fan because the animals CAN suffer, and quite a bit, but that History channel show most of them seem to use "kill" traps like a mousetrap meaning when they go off they snap the beaver or whatever animals neck. But just to do that for the "fun" of it I don't quite get. Kinda like people that hunt JUST for a set of antlers and shit.
Here in far west Texas where the ranches are vast (100,000+ acres) the state actually funds trapping as a way to curve the predation on these ranches, thus boosting the livestock productivity. I have absolutely no problem with this. I have many dear friends that own these ranches and without the state sending out their own trappers, or supplying the ranchers with the snares the ranching industry would take a huge hit from predation. So just because these ranchers don't sell the hides, trapping is still necessary for them to continue their way of life. Plus running a trap line is like Christmas, you really have no idea what waiting for you in the next snare, and that makes it very exciting.
Barely on topic but: Are hogs really that big of a nuisance out that way? I've seen videos of baited TNT to take out a dozen or more at once and heard of helicopter hunts, etc. For clarification, not judging anyone preserving their livelihood and I know hogs can cause absolute havoc. I just never thought about their numbers exploding (no pun intended) on developed properties like that. My great-uncle would tell me about trapping to help his family in the depression. I think he knew I was (still am) a bit too soft for it. He was doing it before his balls dropped (although they may have just gotten stuck from being to @$#%ing huge.)
