Trapping in Oregon

[gottafish]

How do feel about trapping in the modern day woods? I just wonder how you all feel about preditor control and trapping.

[Capin' Dan]

Reply, As sportsmen and women we need to all stick together weather we like what one group does or not. Otherwise we all tend to loose the battles. I don't trap but I feel that people whom do should have that right to.

[Jellyhead]

As a trapper,

I feel that RESPONSIBLE trapping is a key to wildlife management. Fur is a valuble, renewable resource and it can be utilized as a bi-product of furbearer population managemnet.

Many people still have in their heads that today's trappers are using big, ugly, and toothed jaw traps, while a animal suffers and starves needlessly for days on end. This is not true. In oregon, traps must be checked every 48 hours, and "regularly" for predators. I do not know any fur trappers that let their traps go un-checked more than 48 hours. Every hour a trap goes un-checked with a catch is a chance for that animal and trap to be stolen or the pelt damaged by another predator. No toothed traps may be used, and most trappers use offset (jaws with a 1/4" gap between them when closed) jaw traps to minimize paw damage and increased comfort. Also, on my line I use shock springs in my chain, to minimize damage from lunging, and I also laminate (welding a strip of steel on top of each jaw a 3/16" thick) my trap jaws to increse the surface area of the jaw on the animals foot (also minimizing damage and incresing comfort).

On a side note, currently the government is doing a study on BMP's (best management practices) on traps and trapping. They are testing the current traps on efficency, damage and the overall well being of the animal after being trapped. The most efficient and catch-freindly traps will be recommeded for use by trappers. These studies are going to be used to shape the trapping laws in upcoming years.

I do not own a foothold trap that I would not stick my own hand in. My traps are restraining devices, not the horrific tooth jaw beasts that were used years ago. Few people relize that almost all wolf and otter re-introductions done in the states, where done using traps as described above, and were done by licensed trappers assisting the states F&W department. None of these animals were harmed during the trap and transplant process.

I feel that all sportsmen should stick together. I think education is the key to preserving trapping as a population control tool. Trapping is an often mis-understood activity that has a very small voice nationwide. The key to preserving all trapping and hunting will be educating the general public (who vote) and ultimatly will decide the fate of the outnumbered sportsmen.

(Sorry for typing so much)

Aaron

[FEAR NO FISH!]

As a former trapper, I feel that your right to trap is in jeopardy. I was disgusted when the good people of Washington decided to bar trapping. I really appreciate all the fur bearing animals littering the sides of the roads. It is only a matter of time before it will change in Oregon. I never trapped in Washington but I did while growing up in Minnesota. It is how I made all my spending money while in Jr. and Senior High School. I really miss those days and to try and tell a non trapper what it was like just does not do it justice. Thank god for the memories.

[Jellyhead]

FNF,

I too hate to see furbearer's wasted along the hiways.

It's to bad that the animal rights activists have twisted the truth about trapping around. Most people belive everything they see on tv as fact, and when the measures come up on the ballot, the animal rights groups do not tell the facts, they play on people emotions to sway a vote that should be decided by the biologists and wildlife managers who are trained to manage furbearers in the first place.

Many people just don't understand that traps can be used efficiently. And they can be adjusted and different sets can be used to target SPECIFIC animals, and non-target catches can all but be eliminated. Trappers in oregon are required to pass a trapping education test before you can get youre license. The education course is very informative and teaches ethics and responsibility to the resource as a #1 priority. I wish that all voters would have to take the course before they could vote on trapping inititives :grin:

Education is the key. You can't change someones mind that is made up already, but the other 75% of the people can be educated so that they can come up with their own conclusions.

Aaron

[SLEDDER]

I too am a trapper. I am no longer a Oregon resident due to the tax/ state Govt. I still reside in Oregon, although I do not trap in Oregon anymore. When I did I was a damage control trapper. I feel it is a necessity(sp)for proper wildlife management. Jellyhead about sums up my feelings on the subject.

[gottafish]

The reasone I asked this question it this. Many of the guys I hunt with think that, trapping should be banned !! yes Banned . Now I Trapped for 18 years In Michigan and 2 years In Washington and I just don't understand How we could hunt and think it is better than trapping or fish and that is better than trapping. Just look at this Board It has hunting and fishing and classified ads and all that but no Trapping home. Why? would the guy's on this board get up set if we talked sets and stratages and harvests? We need to get guy into Trapping again so that it is protected some what If the anti's win here the next target is bow hunters. ( look out Washington it is comeing to you next vote via. H.S.U.S. )and that is how they win cheers Rich

[Jellyhead]

Rich,

I agree that we need to get more people involved and exposed to trapping. The only downside to this is that anti-trapping groups outnumber trappers by a wide margin, and almost any trapping forum I have taken part of on the web (with the exception of a couple) have been plauged by anti's and get de-railed quickly.

Unfortunatly Oregon only has around a 1000 licsenced trappers. At first I thought this was terrific, as I have virtually no competition on my lines, but now I have come full circle and expose everyone I know to trapping and explain how traps work, and the whole process of furbearer management. So far none of the people I have educated on trapping have decided to trap (because it really is hard work) but they have a clear understanding of trapping and that can only help the trapper's cause.

I don't see any problem with discussing trapping on this forum. If you have any questions, post them here. I think that resonable discussion of all aspects of trapping on a hunting board will only help to educate our hunting brethren, and may prompt other people to research and hopefully participate in trapping.

One other thing I would like to add, is that if there are any other trappers on this forum, please join the National Trappers Association, if you do not already belong, they are one of the most important voices of the trapper nationally and helped Oregon keep trapping the last time it was on the ballot here.

Aaron

[gottafish]

Jelly head, I have not yet Trapped in oregon but I do belong to the nta And I think I will trap this year. just a quike question for you Is there a local fur dealer In the portland area that sells equipment and buys fur. I lost all my traps a while back they were stolen out of my garage and I need some more stretchers for coy dogs. I also wonder what you prefer for coy's here I used #3 with a offset jaw and 4 coil kits on them due you use a simaler set up? also wondering about the trapper ed course here can you take the test on-line or due you have to go to class like I did in Washington.

[Jellyhead]

Gottafish,

There are no trap dealers/fur buyers in the Portland area that I know of. Most of the trappers I know ship fur to NAFA, or sell at the Oregon Territorial Council on Fur aucions (OTC) This last season was my first season trapping, and I held all of my fur until this coming season to sell. Luckily I have good access to cold storage.

The closest trap dealer I know of is in Tacoma Washington. Cascade Trappers Supply still operates there (even though there is no fur trapping) George runs the operation and can be contacted at 253-537-3277. He sells new and used traps (and has some good deals on used stuff) Stretchers, lure, hardware, pretty much a full line. He also sells collectable stuff too, nice guy to deal with.

Myself, I make my own coyote stretchers out of cedar fence boards, they are adjustable.

As far as yote traps go, I have had good luck with #3 longsprings, #2 coils and #3 coils, all offset. The #3 coils are a bit overkill in my opinion on the yotes here, but with the chance of a bobcat and thier bigger feet, they are a good option.

I use 2 coiled traps with music wire springs. The biggest obstacle for me at first was all of the rain and clay dirt I trap in. I have had good luck bedding the traps rock solid with a couple of pounds of pan tension and subtle guiding for solid catches. I use moss under my pans before sifting (if you can call it that) clay over the trap and bed.

Contact the ODFW office in Portland, downtown for a trappers ed packet. With you're experience in Michigan and washington, you may be exempt from having to take the test. I hope you give it a go this year, fur prices are coming up, and the local deer herds could use the help.

Aaron

[gottafish]

I have been to cascade fur before but I thought he went out of buissnes he just has it in his garage so he's got low overhead. thanks for the info cheers Rich

[Get Bit]

Trapping gets the thumbs up in my book. Have you ever looked at the statistics that Delta Waterfowl has about the extensive damage that predators inflict on nesting and young ducks ? I agree with many of the guys above, we have to stick together. I didn't know that about Washington! What right does somebody in Seattle have to make biological decisions based on something they have no clue about ? The natural balance is out of whack because of man's involvement. So it is up to us to keep things in balance !

[nerta]

TRAPPING: It is a heritage that should be passed to our youth as much as hunting and fishing. I haven't trapped for years, but my grandson and I will start again when he gets old enough. There is no better way to learn about wildlife and there habits. Just my opinion! :smile:

[Grits]

I think most people think when you trap you go out and just dump a bunch of traps everywhere with not thought (i.e. skill) involved. They don't recognize that there is a lot of thought put into placement and animal movement.

I trap for beaver and only set drown sets or connibear (sp) traps so the animals suffering is minimized.

Hunting and trapping is supposed to be used as a game management tool and there is definetely an over population of animials that are trapped for.

My questions is why is there still hunting in Oregon. If the deer populations are so low in eastern Oregon why are they still giving out tags? It discounts our claim that we hunt and trap to control populations if we hunt and trap for game that is under control.

And finally I agree we all need to stick together. The animal rights groups win by dividing and conquering. Traps, dogs, baits... what is next camo, scopes, rifles.....

"First they came for the musicians and I said nothing for I was not a musician. Then they came for the artists and I said nothing for I was not an artist. Then they came for the scientists and I said nothing for I was not a scientist. Then they came for me and there was nobody left to speak."

[ 07-11-2003, 01:08 PM: Message edited by: Grits ]

[birdhunter]

Man oh man. I trapped for years during high school and christmas breaks when I was back from college. Used to run a big line along the Clackamas for beaver and nutria. Nothing quite like December drift trips for steelhead where you end up with a pile of beaver in the front as well as some steelies and ducks. Mostly did water trapping around here. Muskrat, raccoon, mink, nutria and beaver. Almost all my dry land has been damage control for bobcat and coyote in southern Oregon. Still have all the old traps, just decided to quit when I wasn't able to make enough to pay for gas. Never planned on getting rich or even making any money, but it's nice to break even. Caught plenty of animals, but fur prices had just been too low.

I gotta tell you that the best way to learn about the outdoors is through trapping. You see it all. You have to be an incredibly astute observer and understand animal behavior. You can't just throw down some random set, plaster it with scent and expect to catch something (well maybe possums, those things will get into anything). Like Jellyhead all my foothold traps are offset. As a water guy I'm a big fan of bodygrips though. 120's for mink and rats, 220's and 280's for raccoon and nutria and the good old 330 for beaver. For those unfamilar with them bodygrip traps, or conibears, are kinda like a big moletrap. Two big springs on either side that clamp bars down when an animal passes through. Doesn't get any closer to an instantaneous death than that. Obviously they don't lend themselves to releasing animals which is why they are used almost exclusively for water sets so as to avoid an non-target catches.

When it's done right, trapping is a humane way to use an incredible resource and learn a lot about the land. Make no mistake about it, it's a skill. Some trappers I know make it look like an art. Hopefully we can continue to have the opportunity to trap in Oregon. I'm happy with the way the last vote turned out, but I'm still worried about it's future.

[GutshotApe]

Trapping is an easy mark for the PETAphiles...would be about as easy to ban trapping as it was to ban dogs for cougar hunting.

I trapped the sloughs around Longview when in junior high school...muskrats, beaver and nutria. Never made any money trapping...did it as a sport...and it IS a sport. Later, I supervised a crew of contract mountain beaver trappers using Conibear traps...killed a lot of boomers...saved a lot of young trees.

Trappers have shown their ability to cooperate in wildlife mgmt...i.e. the ongoing voluntary restriction on beaver trapping on coho spawning streams in the coast range. Most beaver trappers, after being counseled by ODFW biologists, have avoided taking beavers in those areas so as to help maintain beaver dams which constitute ideal coho rearing habitat. There are plenty of bank-dwelling river beavers and beavers that dam up culverts, etc, that can stand thinning out...and don't do much for fish.

Trappers do need to think before setting traps, however. My bird dogs have stepped into coyote traps twice...in places well known to locals as popular bird hunting areas. One day over near Denio, on BLM land, my springer was caught in a trap that had a drag hook attached...after I got him free (not seriously hurt - he just thought he was)...I was carrying the trap back to the road where I intended to put it on the gate post where the trapper would find it...and just then, here came an old geezer driving up in an even older jeep...it was the trapper. And the old desert rat accused me of trying to steal his trap!

[Erich_870]

I wondered when we'd hear from you birdhunter :grin: I agree with all you guys, and I don’t trap except for rats around our chicken coops [img]graemlins/dork.gif[/img] That was fun. I would take those shoots that grow off apple trees every year, make a slip noose out of this green wire for wreaths and set it up around a blind corner on the paths the rats would run through the grass. Worked a 100 times better than I expected!

Anyway, I digress. I think it is important that we all make sure to tell people the truth about trapping. Until I had seen one of birdhunters body grips when we were hunting geese on some property he had permission for, I didn't understand what trappers today use. I also think farmers and other land owners should realize, and speak out to help trappers for all the aid they bring in destructive furbearers.

I have a story for all you guys too. I was working in a feed store that was close to my house in high school when a woman walked in and asked me, my boss and some customers we were shooting the breeze with if we wanted to sign her petition. I asked her what if was for and she said to ban trapping. I wasn't impressed and asked her way she thought we should do that? She tells me that some man had been trapping around her neighbor hood and caught a couple ducks and a great blue heron!! She was really ****ed about that. I said, “Well that’s illegal” and she said, “I know! So you will sign my petition then right?!” And I looked and her and said, "No way, I don't think it is wrong to trap and who ever that guy is that caught them has broken all ready existing laws, he should be dealt with, but frankly that’s not a reason to ban it. That’s what the other laws were made for. Let them do the job and get off the backs of the legal trappers". Hehehehe, she wasn't impressed and stormed out.

I'm getting tired of people thinking new laws will stop people from breaking old laws. Anyway, this is all ready too long of a post

[elkaholic]

Ditto to all the comments. Trapping is a necessary tool for wildlife management and control. Have done it for 30 years and have always had great respect for the resources and outdoors I get to explore.

Trapping, hunting, driving a car, atv riding, on and on, can be destructive if irresponsible people don't respect it and abuse the priveleges. The abusers give most of what I cherish the black-eyes with the general public and we all have to make extraordinary efforts the just keep even. I'll keep doing it just to have the privelege. :smile: I hope you will too.

Hey Birdhunter, we agreed again!!! Keep up the good fight.

[spinnermaker]

I was a trapper for years to. I think it o.k. it keeps the virments under control. the only thing that stop me was I don't have the time now to run a trap line.