Trapping

[2LEYS]

I am thinking about getting into trapping.

For those who do it or have in the past, is it very productive in western Oregon?

Do you make much money at it? I was thinking it would be a fun thing to get into during the winter and maybe make a little money while I am at it. Saw in a magazine that you can get $30 for a coyote and over $300 for a nice bobcat.

Sounds like fun hobby.

Any input from oldtimers?

Might be interested in going with one of you one day too.

[gottafish]

It is awsome, It will consume your time. I find it very hard to sleep at nite because you can't wait to see what you got that nite. as far as money. yes you can make quiet a bit. I use to make my living off trapping. You wont make a lot at first you have to learn the ropes first and take your time skinning. Also best if you have a small toyota type rig. set your traps fairly close to roads and over a large area I make my sets in places where I can just glass the set from the road this save tons of time checking sets. Be ready for some long nites skinning , I got 20 coyotey one nite and I never got to bed. good luck

I haven't seen fur prices for quite a while but
$300 for a Western Oregon Bobcat is extremely high. Don't go into traping thinking you are going to be into easy money, Trapping is a lot of work but you can get out every day and it is fun.

Get a Fur, Fish and Game magazine and see what their price quotes are, they are fairly close.

[2LEYS]

$300 for a Western Oregon Bobcat is extremely high.
Get a Fur, Fish and Game magazine and see what their price quotes are, they are fairly close.

<font size="2" face="verdana,arial,helv">Actually that was my source. And I was wrong. It is $60-$75 for a good bobcat. It was a Lynx that sold for $300.

$5 for a nutria? Is that even worth skinning?

Don't go into traping thinking you are going to be into easy money, Trapping is a lot of work but you can get out every day and it is fun.

<font size="2" face="verdana,arial,helv">Don't get me wrong, money is just a side note to why I want to do it. I just want something else to get me and my son into the woods.

Start with trapping muskrats with a few coon/mink sets and along your route make a few dog (coyotes and fox) and cat sets. Coyotes are fairly easy to snare. I don't know anything about nutria but I would trap rats @ $3.50 ea and do well. I don't have to travel far to water trap though. Trapping is a lot of work for little money but I always enjoyed doing it. A small truck would be a good vehicle to trap out of.

The $60-$75 price for Western Oregon cats looks more in line with what I would expect. What are rats going for?

[2LEYS]

Coon - $12+
Grey fox - $20
Otter - $100
Beaver - $25
Mink - $10
Muskrat - $2-3
Fisher - $25+
Marten $20

[Prawnasorus]

Trapping is much work for marginal returns, If you are looking to make much money get another job or work overtime. I have trapped for about 26 years. In the early 80's $$ was made. I do it because I enjoy it. Eastern Oregon cats this year should be around 100-300,Western 50-90, Otter 70-100 give or take. Otter and cats are the only thing worth much this year. Finished nutria may bring 4-5$. I catch quite a few beaver and otter that cause problems. Try trapperman.com for info. Not trying to discourage you just being realistic. Here is a price breakdown for the first OTC sale this year (03).

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Here are the results of the OTC fur sale held in Ontario, Oregon on December 20. This was a sealed bid auction, all fur is stretched and dried (finished).

We had 35 sellers and 7 buyers.

Numbers listed are # of skins offered, # of skins sold, % of skins sold, average price.

Badger 11 11 100 % 16.37
Beaver 58 58 100 % 12.25
Bobcat 22 14 63.6 % 166.43
Civet 23 13 56.5 % 4.17
Coyote 436 430 98.6 % 28.13
Cross Fox 8 8 100 % 33.93
Grey Fox 6 6 100 % 22.09
Red Fox 78 78 100 % 23.97
Marten 18 18 100 % 18.25
Mink 2 2 100 % 12.51
Muskrat 282 282 100 % 1.56
Otter 5 5 100 % 94.21
Raccoon 50 50 100 % 9.42
Skunk 6 6 100 % 5.04


Our next sale is January 23-24 in Prineville, Oregon. OTC also handles shipped in fur from any part of the country.

2Elys if you have a buyer paying $25 for beaver let me know who. I have several to sell.

[ 01-03-2004, 09:11 AM: Message edited by: Prawnasorus ]

Otter are hardly worth skinning and stretching for $100. Lots of then around up here though.

[Prawnasorus]

Keta, where do you live?, I will come thin them out for $100 each.

[Birdnest]

Ah, nothing like the smell of fox urine in your truck.

Used to trap a lot with my dad back in the 70's and early 80's. Nothing like running trap lines before school in the morning. It was always a blast to head to the fur buyer with our goods. I am sure that money went a long way around Christmas. Good times.

Joe

Prawn,
I am stuck in Klamath Falls. I like to watch them play and fish when we are fishing on the lake. If you come up you will need a 14'-16' high sided boat to get to where they are. There are some down in the canyon too but the access is limited now due to very bad, narrow, cliff side roads and lots of snow. In the canyon they are better to trap as soon as they get prime. Lots of cats (and a few lions)in the canyon area too. If the lake thaws before the season ends the otters will be easy to get to.

[mcknerkneykak]

Trapping is one of the most funnest/time consuming HOBBIES ever invented. If you're looking for a supplement income-forget it. Eastern Oregon fur commands the higher prices. There is a substantial learning curve to get good at it. There is a subsantial investment in equipment.--I'm pretty sure if you make 'gas' money you will do better than most. Did I say it is fun? It is!!

[jet]

One of my favorite hats that I own is a beaver trapper that was made from a beaver that I trapped with my uncle years ago.

Are there any local people that can make hats from beaver or coyote. I have kids that would like a hat like dads.

Please email me phone numbers. Is it legal to purchase tanned skins from some of you that trap. I am looking for a few dark and light beaver and maybe a nice coyote.

thanks

Jet~~~
scottd@pacnatsales.com

[TonTo]

Back in my early teens I used to make a little extra money off coons,sold em to a local taxidermest who put em in all kinds of strange poses,of course I didn't trap I ran hounds after em and for the good money they don't want em riddled with bullet and teeth holes Even had a few people around that would take the meat off my hands for a small donation,and my partner had a contact where he could get $3.00 for a cased out opossum.

[ 01-03-2004, 04:24 PM: Message edited by: TonTo ]

[2LEYS]

Maybe a dumb question, but I was reading through the regs. There are different seasons for different species. So what if you are targeting one species and accidentally catch an out of season species?

Also, I am confused about the whole ownership tag deal. Can someone explain it to me. The regs don't say a whole lot about it.

The seasons are set (I don't have the current ones) to generally avoid closing the seasons for species that share the same habitat and are likely to be caught in the same sets,like muskrat/mink and beaver/otter. Generally an otter and beaver will just pull out of a rat trap and keep going, I did get lucky on one otter that got the trap chain tangled in a root and drowned. Coon are usually on the bank and won't get into an underwater rat trap. When trapping marten the only non-target catch is usualy birds and squirrels.

PS:
New trapers catch the majority of non target animals.

[ 01-03-2004, 10:41 PM: Message edited by: Keta ]

[KingFisher85]

can we still trap in Washington? I thought the bunny huggers got trapping banned???

KF85,
Go shovel some snow for your mom :grin: or play on the snowmachine. We're talking about traping in the better of the two states, Oregon [img]graemlins/eek13.gif[/img]


Did they realy ban trapping in Washington State?

[MasterCaster]

I dont know if you have done it already or not but go HERE and click on Trapper Education. They will send you the stuff for the course and all the info you need is in there as well.

Jon :smile: :grin: :smile:

[Prawnasorus]

On Bobcat and Otter you need a record card (similar to salmon tag). To sell the otter or cats they must be tagged by ODFW, so you have to save the lower jawbone , and take the jawbone and hide in to ODFW then they tag them. (ownership tag)(Cites Tag) which allows them to be sold and exported. All first time trappers and trappers born after 1985 have to take the trappers education course.

[TonTo]

As far as I know yeah, WA banned all steal hold traps.There was discusion over the wording that made some wonder if we would still be able to trap moles. chalk up another to the bunnie huggers.