Any interest in trapping?

[J Francho]

2 hours ago, TnRiver46 said:

Terrestrial  carnivore doesn’t taste very good! I also wouldn’t consider a black bass an apex predator 

Depends on the water.  In many, it is.  In others, it's just ferret a with fins.

 

But seriously, I was thinking more about catch and release for fish like pike and musky.  Take one big one out, and ten little ones fill that spot.  Takes years to get that one big one back, if ever.

[TnRiver46]

4 hours ago, J Francho said:

Depends on the water.  In many, it is.  In others, it's just ferret a with fins.

 

But seriously, I was thinking more about catch and release for fish like pike and musky.  Take one big one out, and ten little ones fill that spot.  Takes years to get that one big one back, if ever.

Ferret with fins, I like that one! Haha

 

yeah I see where you are coming from with big toothy fish, I don’t hear of anyone eating big versions of those often. I’m guessing the top predator fish in my waters is 100 lb catfish, and I definitely don’t think people eat those unless they are hard up. I have admittedly fried up a 40+” gar and it was pretty tasty, but I wouldn’t do it often 

[TnRiver46]

Multiple monster marmota 

 

[J Francho]

[TnRiver46]

Just now, J Francho said:

I caught them at an intermediate school and offered them to the cafeteria staff. They declined and took pictures instead 

[J Francho]

1 minute ago, TnRiver46 said:

offered them to the cafeteria staff

[Smells like fish]

13 hours ago, TnRiver46 said:

Multiple monster marmota 

 

What was the irresistible temptation that Mr and Mrs whistle pig couldn't resist?

[TnRiver46]

On 10/22/2020 at 11:27 PM, Smells like fish said:

What was the irresistible temptation that Mr and Mrs whistle pig couldn't resist?

Apples 

[Smells like fish]

Now a question for you my friend. Of all these problem species you've caught, which ones have you sampled on the dinner table? 

ive had many ground hog, several coons, possum, couple kinds of snakes and presently in freezer is bobcat fox yote among other tasty tidbits ? You guys feel free to share recipes too!!!

[TnRiver46]

55 minutes ago, Smells like fish said:

Now a question for you my friend. Of all these problem species you've caught, which ones have you sampled on the dinner table? 

ive had many ground hog, several coons, possum, couple kinds of snakes and presently in freezer is bobcat fox yote among other tasty tidbits ? You guys feel free to share recipes too!!!

None except hog 

[TnRiver46]

Is that rocky or bullwinkle???

[MN Fisher]

11 minutes ago, TnRiver46 said:

Is that rocky or bullwinkle???

Mighty Mouse!

[Smells like fish]

I got to see a cool sight while deer hunting back in November. In the pre dawn darkness I just happened to turn my headlamp at the right time to catch a flying squirrel make an incredible flight, he started out maybe 70 feet high and covered a space of 40 feet or more and landed about 10-15 foot high on the trunk of another tree. 

[HaydenS]

Hey guys,

I am planning on buying a couple coil spring traps and trapping the coyotes in the back yard, since they killed the turkeys and some of the deer in our area, and maybe selling a couple furs too.  I've got a Benjamin Prowler break barrel .177, and I'm wondering if this will do the job, if I shoot behind the ear or in the head?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated, thanks! 

[Smells like fish]

If it was me, getting a .22lr would be my top priority. BEWARE, If you have wandering dogs that come through the yard, they too will be subject to getting caught. 

[TnRiver46]

20 hours ago, HaydenS said:

Hey guys,

I am planning on buying a couple coil spring traps and trapping the coyotes in the back yard, since they killed the turkeys and some of the deer in our area, and maybe selling a couple furs too.  I've got a Benjamin Prowler break barrel .177, and I'm wondering if this will do the job, if I shoot behind the ear or in the head?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated, thanks! 

Hit them with a stout limb in the noggin. Lots of trappers use this method very successfully, it doesn’t get blood all in the fur . And as always, have a plan for what to do if you catch a skunk 

[J Francho]

18 minutes ago, TnRiver46 said:

And as always, have a plan for what to do if you catch a skunk

[TnRiver46]

6 minutes ago, J Francho said:

No sudden moves! Slowly back away and only run if completely necessary haha

[J Francho]

Not much in nature scares me, but skunks and rutting bucks are terrifying.

[Smells like fish]

That noggin nockin works, I’ve cracked many a venison’s head finishing em off caveman style but I have removed postage stamp size patch of fur from the head of a bobcat once too and I’ve found best to be a small piece of lead say 36 to 40 grain moving around 1200 FPS give or take and applied to the upper thoracic cavity of the menace ur neutralizing to be optimum. Skunks are bad dudes!!

[HaydenS]

Thanks guys!  My grandpa also suggested noggin' knockin', but with a hammer.  I've see only a few dog wandering in my backyard in the 5-6 years I've lived here.  I'll be on the lookout for that skunk.?   

[billmac]

On 9/23/2020 at 5:19 PM, TnRiver46 said:

Turned out people saw a regular cat and claimed it was a tiger 

I watched a documentary that showed that this kind of thing is pretty common.  From a distance, a cat silhouette looks like any big cat you care to imagine.  Not so much anymore, but I used to hear about "mountain lion" sightings quite frequently.  And believe me, no one wants to be told they probably "didn't" see a mountain lion (or a wolf for that matter).  And don't get me started on "coydogs".

[Paul Roberts]

On 2/10/2021 at 12:32 PM, TnRiver46 said:

 have a plan for what to do if you catch a skunk 

Hmmm, I've caught quite a few in live traps. No worries there. They don't like to spray, esp in such closed quarters. Seems like a last resort thing. I think I'd have to grab one to make it spray. In a box trap:

1). Move slow.

2). Ignore the butthole pointed at you. The toughest part.

3). Open the door.

4). Pin it open with a stick. 

5). Let em leave. Sometimes they just curl back up and sleep until evening.

 

With a leg-hold trap? Only had two. The first leaked about a minute or so after it died. Kinda sneaky of him I thought. The second I had to shoot with a blow-gun (Was out of .22 shells). Peeked around a tree, put one in the brain, and a second between the shoulder blades. It never sprayed.

 

 

[TnRiver46]

1 hour ago, Paul Roberts said:

Hmmm, I've caught quite a few in live traps. No worries there. They don't like to spray, esp in such closed quarters. Seems like a last resort thing. I think I'd have to grab one to make it spray. In a box trap:

1). Move slow.

2). Ignore the butthole pointed at you. The toughest part.

3). Open the door.

4). Pin it open with a stick. 

5). Let em leave. Sometimes they just curl back up and sleep until evening.

 

With a leg-hold trap? Only had two. The first leaked about a minute or so after it died. Kinda sneaky of him I thought. The second I had to shoot with a blow-gun (Was out of .22 shells). Peeked around a tree, put one in the brain, and a second between the shoulder blades. It never sprayed.

 

 

I’ve had to pick up quite a few skunks that would gladly spray!  It usually happens in a huge cage that someone set for a raccoon or if the skunks have encountered the household canine. If I set my own traps that are small and pre wrapped with a cloth, I have an estimated 95+ percent successful no stink rate. I could write a fairly long book about all my skunk encounters. I’ve got some good videos and lots of ruined clothing. Some of the more interesting situations are when you have one caught and another is trying to assist in the escape effort, it happened to me everyday right here for a week

 

We had an intern back in 2015 that was always right next to me no matter what. We were inspecting a customers crawl space and when I got to the HVAC, a live skunk emerged from under the unit and was 5-6 feet from my nose. I slither in a circle to leave and the intern is right in my face asking me what’s up. I think all I said was “exit” but I wanted to scream “get the %*+ out of the way!” Haha

 

when I tend to stink the worst is when I have to pull dead skunks out of places, usually in an HVAC unit. Like this particular fine specimen pictured here

 

I also have a coworker that was filling in a burrow inside of a crawl space with loose dirt. He said all of a sudden a skunk covered in dirt emerged from the burrow and ran right by him and went out the crawl space door haha. He refers to that as the zombie skunk incident. We’ve also had 4 (yes 4) skunks that my boss put into the freezer that were not 100% deceased . Guess who was the lucky guy that opened the freezer to find a live skunk 3 out of 4 times? Yours truly. 
 

We are nearing the tail end of breeding season here, been getting skunk calls non stop and I’ve been catching 1-2 a day since New Years . We will have a bit of a die down in activity until the middle of summer, that’s when the young ones become mobile and start running all around, even during midday. Then the complaints start again and I’m usually riding around with 3-4 of them in my truck during summer

[Paul Roberts]

Seemed the worst time of it was when skunks seemed to have a territorial dispute going on. At least that's what I was guessing it was. Do you think this is a possibility? One guy had a particularly bad time of it. Seemed his house was worth fighting over. The whole area around his house stunk. He said it had happened before and asked if I was interested in removing them. I said, No. That I was working on a raccoon study and was avoiding skunks if at all possible.