What firearm do you guys carry while running the trapline? My son is looking for the advice of experts.


P

I don't run a hard core long line or anything, but I do run a ways on snow machine, trapping fox, coyotes, marten, etc. In my area there's three things you need a gun on the trap line for. Dispatch sometimes for toe caught animals, something to stop a pizzed off moose, and something in case you see a wolf or a coyote on the snow machine. I've settled on a single six 22lr on my waist and a 22mag marlin 982 in a gun boot on the snow machine.

I think a 223 would be even better, but I don't really like carrying my AR in the winter that well, and I haven't got a bolt gun yet.

510 Remington single shot 22 rifle for the most part, Ruger MK2 spent a lot of years in the packbasket. Single shot rifle easy to load and clear and make safe, shoots cb shorts to stingers

Any 22 rifle that will shoot a CCI CB short.

Sounds like a BB gun, kills anything with a shot to the base of the brain.

Some may tire of hearing about my H&R 922 - 9 shot revolver. with a 4in. bbl. it fits the front pocket very well and I carry it pretty much every time I'm in the woods. I got rid of the plastic grips and made some nice walnut. Fox, bobcat, coon.

I haven't trapped since I was a wee-'flave but I believe the Ruger LCR in 22LR has to be about the best idea since Guinness.



Travis

S&W 617 22lr and either a Win 9422 mad or Mod 70 222. I haven't varied from that in 30+ yrs.

I usually carry a Ruger SR-22, but any type of .22 handgun will suffice.

I carried a little RG(Saterday night special)for a number of years but it wasn't overly accurate but it went off every time, but when your longest shot is 5 feet 25 yard accuracy isn't a big deal.

Then before I got a carry permit I had a Llamma XXII, very accurate and I could just drop the mag when getting back to the truck.

Now I have a permit and a Smith 34.

On back country lines living in a tent the 22's would keep me in grouse and rabbits for dinner. On the canoe lines I had a single shot 12 ga with the barrel cut to 20", I used the barrel for a kill stick and with the gun together pot a duck or goose for a change in diet over Beaver and Muskrat.

Single Six. We have a weird law in Iowa that allows you to discharge handguns in right-of-ways(ditches) but not rifles.

SW stainless 63 4" for 35 years on the trapline and coon hunting, sighted in for 25 yards with stingers. Prior to that SW blued 17 6". Carry a range of bullets in a flat pack, CB, short hollowpoint for coyote and cat, stingers for longer shots.

Depending on my mood, I use a Single Six or an old K22 but any handgun with shorts will work.
Revolver's are safer and more reliable than auto's. (Shorts won't always cycle an auto.)
JMO

Only things on my trapline that get shot are skunks and badgers. No sense in putting a bullet hole in something if I don't need to. I use a S&W 422 for the badgers and the skunks get a round of .223 from my AR and I re-set the next day. The skunk gets buried nearby with just the tip of its tail sticking out and two traps bedded next to it.

you must not make your own lure.....

No expert trapper here, but I got tired (maybe lazy) of toting my 22 rifle, so I purchased a 22 revolver. I dont have to worry about bear or moose, so it doesnt take much to dispose of an animal at 5'.

See my pic!

I make my own bait, but no lure making here. Skunks are pretty effective for me just planted near the set they were caught in. The bonus is that I deal with them very little and my pickup and clothes don't smell like skunk too bad (just the residual skunk from call lures). I leave the lure making to the experts. Give me a few bottles of MN Brand lures and a few others for change ups and I'm good to go.

smart man.....grin


but, IF you did make yer own, you'd shoot the critters. Lots more full bladders than stomp 'n chokes.....

My grandpa was a big trapper and I inherited his trapping gun.

It's a savage model 1911 in .22 short. It looks like a kids gun, maybe.

Lotta history there and I'm proud to own it.

Bearcat

I trapped in SW GA swamps,the Flint river and the many creeks and Plantation ponds of Thomas,Grady and Decatur Co GA back in the mid to late 70's, started out with a colt 6" match target that looked like hell but shot like a house afire ( as a side note I had it blasted and Ceracoated deep OD green) My daughter was Annie Oakley with that gun and has it now. A very good hunting buddy had his FFL and I ordered a brand new then Browning pump .22mag and a 4X leupold scope with duplex reticule. Folks could not believe how accurate that damn gun is,I hated the -made in japan -stamp, the bluing came off the receiver from many miles of bad weather and riding on dash board of pick up truck. My Dad and favorite younger cousin marveled at the accuracy. I am having the receiver Creracoated a deep bronze color and leaving the barrel and mag tube blue, I may refinish wood. I payed all of $182.00 for the gun back in the day!It never let me down from rattlesnakes,beaver, otter,gator all the way to a whitetail or 3. Great work gun with many miles. very best WinPoor

Ruger single six, only 22 i own it has to work. also carry an AR in my jeep.rio7

S&W Model 34, 2".

How many hunts that been on ? Grin

Thank you for the cool photos of the raccoon and bobcat, FieldGrade. Your dog looks very dedicated also.

When running wolf traps I carried a 10/22, otherwise typically nothing.

Any 22 pistol will work but my favorite is the Colt Woodsman

I bought a savage little rascal -tiny kids 22lr -weighs less than 3 lbs. .
Thought about a pistol but I need something quiet as possible -within reason.
It does not load nearly as easy as it should by the way it's a single shot.

Find an old Remington Nylon 66. Very light, takes a beating and always works.

I havnt trapped for years but when I did a used either a ruger mk1 or single six. Both were on the heavy side. If I were running a line now I would Carry my ruger bearcat

The poly framed 1911-22 browning is small, light, and flat. Fits great in the inner carhartt vest pocket.....

Here in the U.P.... S&W 617 1 7/8" with CB caps and a Savage 24 Camper 22 LR 20 ga. for those grouse and hares....

Trapped Nevada high desert for coyotes and bobcats for a lot of years. S&W Mod 63 .22 kit gun loaded with shorts on my belt. 22-250 in the truck. This was a great combo for that part of the world.

hmmmmm.....you may be onto something.

I carry a PMR-30 22 Mag pistol.

Those trapped possums need lottsa killin'...... You are set.

Great picture Huntsman. Love those S&W's.
To expand a bit on the 22-250 as a trapping gun. I would sometimes run a trap line for several weeks away from home. Space & weight were a problem since I ran a Toyota & only had room for one rifle. I used three loads in that gun.
#1 52gr Speer HP @ 3625 fps. Main calling, 300 yd coyote & blow up jackrabbit load. Sighted in 1.5 inches high @ 100 yds.

#2 40gr Hornet bullet @ 2600fps. Close calling/thin skinned critters. This load would hit dead on @ 100 yds.

#3 55gr Hardball @ 2200fps. Small game load for camp eats. This load was dead on @ 50 yds.
I have fired over 5,000 rounds through that rifle. Lots of good memories.

Single Six on my hip, BL-22 and .22-250 in the truck...


image by mtcurman

That baby 1911 looks like the cat's meow however..

Never ran a trap line but always wanted to.....thought that a Remington Model 25 carbine in .25-20 would be just perfect Even went so far as to find a Model 25 - guess the next step is to start trapping! God knows we have enough coyotes here in PA!!

PennDog

I always carried a rifle when checking traps. Typically a 10/22 but sometimes a 223

The only time I ever ran a trapline ( back in college..) I carried a 4" Colt Diamondback in .22

You still have it?

I used a stick, or a Bearcat 22, nothing biger than red fox when and where I traped, but 12 years ago I picked up a marlin md 27S in 32-20 Was an 80 plus year old Indians trapline gun built in 1914, Oct. barrel been shorten. his kids sold it when he died, boy if it could talk!Came out of the Daks in nY.

Nothing bigger than a coyote. Ruger Mark I I since I bought it in 1992

One that I carried quite a bit was an old Savage 99 take-down in .22 Savage High Power. That is certainly too powerful for trapped animals but I also carried a couple of the Marbles Auxiliary cartridges which allowed .22 Shorts to be fired in the rifle. Most of the time I used CB Caps with it. A fine combination that allowed me to have the power of the rifle if I needed it. That, of course, was some time ago...

When I trapped, decades ago, I carried this Model 34-1.

For years I carried a Ruger Mark I target model pistol (5.5" bull barrel) on the trap line. It was light and accurate as a rifle out to 50 yards (admittedly an optimistic distance on a trap line). Not so much to dispatch trapped animals (I hate to add bullet holes to a trapped animal), but more to collect small game I might come across and occasionally to take out a coyote or bobcat that was a bit "frisky" in the trap.

When hogs began to appear in our area, the .22 LR seemed a bit small particularly if the hogs were not trapped (yes, I did trap the hogs with snares). I began to carry a 4 3/4" barrel single-action in .45 Colt in a cross-draw holster on my left hip with the Ruger on my right side.

I'd sometimes compromise by carrying a 5 1/2" single-action in .32-20 alone instead of the Ruger and .45 (actually a bit small for hogs and a bit too much for small game, but it worked pretty much for everything if you were careful).

In truth, a handgun (or any gun) is not really needed on a trap line (or I should say is rarely needed)....but I've carried one so long I feel naked without something on my hip. I don't carry because I NEED it, I do so because I WANT to and can.

My son and I really like our Ruger SR22s. They are light, accurate, priced right and are not picky about ammo.

One of the big reasons I liked to carry a .22 as a trapline gun was that I was always encountering targets of opportunity on the line. Small tasty critters that would fit in a crockpot when I got home.

last few years, its been either a S&W 317 airlite, a walther P22 when i pack a pistol. last year the wife bought me a Ruger 22/45 lite for my birthday and i'm kinda diggin that one too.

when packing a rifle, its usually a nylon 66, or this old Garcia Bronco single shot skeleton-framed .22 ...

saddlering, I'd like to see pictures of the Marlin 27S if you still have i.

I used to carry a S&W model 63, now I have a Ruger Single Six with 4.5" barrel

I carried a model 17 smith .22 when I was in my Boat,land otter can get a bit spicy when in a mink set,or caught back by the hips in a snare.when I worked the streams I carried my marlin lever gun until 1 thanksgiving morning I had huge Brown Bear tracks following my tracks and working my mink cubby sets,I switch to my .338.

When I ran Snowmachine for marten,wolf and wolverine, I carried a 30-06. I also had a Bear tracks following my snow shoe tracks when I was checking wolf snares one year,luckily I viewed the sets from a distance. Bear in a snare not cricket.

S&W 17, but any .22 would have filled the bill.

been using an old single six, 22 mag cylinder but have been shooting subsonic 22lr out of it, swells the cases pretty good. My favorite is an old remington 510 targetmaster single shot. call me crazy, but I swear the rifle kills quicker, same shot placement, same bullet etc.

Interesting reading. Lots of S&W's that a new trapper probably hard to find or afford.
I'm not a trapper, but I think a ruger SR22 would fit budget & weight targets better. Lot lighter to carry than my 617 or ruger mk 2.

I haven't trapped in a long time but I trapped heavy all through the 70's. My trapline gun was a S&W K-22, I still have it and will never part with it.

I wouldn't either RWL, great looking K22

Great pistol for sure,,I went through the ice and lost mine and my boots,replaced it with a 617!

When I trapped I carried an H&R 929, served the purpose.

I sold a gun to my buddy who is a serious trapper, he said it is the best he's ever used - Springfield Scout o/u folding .22 RF / .410. He uses it for everything from shooting trapped wolves to potting grouse. Not a long range rig, but can be used even with mitts on because of the grip trigger.

Savage 93FS is stainless. Light in weight, shoot .22 CBs in a MCACE chamber insert to kill traded animals and keep the magazine full of .22 Magnum ammo for that "just in case" situation.

I started out with a single shot .22 Ithaca lever gun. I got a little older I picked up a High Standard 9 shot revolver. I used to use .22 short hollow points because they stayed in a head shot fox. We had some seriously big coons around. One morning I checked a railroad bed and the first set had a big coon in it. I shot him in the head and he went right down and just laid there. I was in a hurry and thought nothing of it. I did not bother throwing him in my pack because I was coming back that way anyway. When I got back the coon was sitting there like the RCA dog and really pissed off. I got out a .22 long and shot him. When I skinned him I found the slug had gone through a sheet of muscle across his forehead and just flattened out on the skull. When coons get older they can have muscle a 1/2" thick on their heads. That was the end of the .22 short hollow points for me. I started just using shorts.

I started off trapping in the north country of New York and carried a Winchester 67, single shot 22. I always used the standard velocity solids, mostly because that's what we got at the rifle team and could buy them for 50 cents a box. I progressed to a 22 magnum, but even with FMJ's, it was hard on fur at close range.

In later years when I trapped for a living, I carried a variety of guns. My first trapline handgun was a Charter Arms Pathfinder 4". It really was a great gun for the job. Very accurate and light. Wish I still had it. When I was coyote longlining and trapping big ranches where I could drive to nearly every set, I kept an old 1902 Winchester single shot behind the seat and a handful of CB shorts in the ash tray. That little rifle killed more coyotes than all my varmint guns put together.

Along the way I picked up an old Ruger Single Six, from before they had auxiliary 22 mag cylinders. It became my trapline gun and sent the old 1902 into retirement.

I killed a lot of coyotes, coon, beaver, bobcats and skunk with the CB shorts. The CB shorts are a solid and seem to penetrate better than the short HP's. One of the tricks I learned with skunks was to lung shoot them with the CB shorts and just wait a few minutes. Head shots tend to cause them to involuntarily discharge. The lung shot with the CB doesn't seem to bother them enough to spray. In a minute or less they just fall over. If you step up to the standard velocity LR or high velocity HP and lung shoot them, they'll spray.

If a handgun is out of the question due to his age or state restrictions, I would consider one of the Savage Rascals. They are very light, accurate, and with a synthetic stock, nearly kid proof.

deleted double post

Hi Standard Sport King 22Lr or a Marlin Bolt with Rem CBees.

Hey Mart, do you still have that Single Six? I bet it looks like "It's been there" with a lot of character to it.

Yes, I still have the gun and it is one of those never sell guns. Been with me too long and too many good memories with it to ever let it go. Someday I'll make some young trapper happy with it.

Actually its appearance belies the thousand of miles its traveled or the hundreds of critters it has dispatched. Other than some pretty significant holster wear it has held up very well. I always kept it wiped down and never stored it holstered.

The old holster has more character marks than the gun. I was pretty poor back in those days and I could neither find nor afford a new left handed holster for it. I didn't like the nylon ones as I was about to wear through my second one and wanted a left handed leather holster for it. One of the gun shops in town was always coming across box lots of stuff from estates and he always had used holsters. When I bought this one for $5 it was right handed so I cut the stitching, reversed the holster and resewed it. Twenty years later it's still serviceable, albeit needing a little mink oil.

Great !!! Nice to see stuff used not abused.. Real Character there..

Awesome, thanks for sharing it and the holster. Great story. Love the look of the wear on the gun.

If anyone else has some stories and picks of their well worn trampoline or woods bumming gun, It would be great to have you share them here.

I like Super Soakers for 'trampoline' use......great fun on a hot day....

This is the trapline gun that preceded the Ruger Single Six. It is a Winchester 1902 that I found at the same gunshop I got the holster for the Ruger. That was somewhere around 26-27 years ago. It had a broken and poorly glued together stock and I bought it for $25. I used it a few weeks like that but an inadvertent bump one day and the glue line broke.

I had a slab of maple just thick enough and long enough to make a replacement stock. I stuck the stock back together as best I could and traced the outline. A few hours with a jigsaw, horseshoe rasp, round rasp and sandpaper and I had a utilitarian, workable stock.

It rode behind the seat of my truck for years, even after the Ruger came along. I used it mostly for dispatching trapped coyotes. Most of my coyote lines back then were run on big ranches and farms where I could drive by nearly every set. I used CB shorts and CB Longs to shoot the coyotes. I always avoided using Long rifles in the 1902 as it was stamped for Short and Longs but not LR's. The CB shorts or CB Longs never failed to finish off the coyotes. Along the way I found that skunks shot through the lungs with the CB rounds usually did not spray. They would flinch a little at the shot and within a minute they just fall over. Worked way better than head or body shots with LR hollow points.

When I met my wife I worked seasonally for the Forest Service and trapped coyotes, beaver, bobcat, mink, raccoon and muskrats throughout the winter. The coyotes and beaver were the mainstay where I made most of my income and the rest were welcome additions and a nice diversion from the coyotes and beaver. We didn't have much for an annual income back then but all our bills got paid. We ate deer, elk and wild birds almost exclusively. There are times I miss that life a lot.

Super soaker is a great trampoline gun, you are right about that(DAMNED AUTO CORRECT).

Awesome resourcefulness on making the stock. Great background to your trapline exploits

mart, sounds like you have had a pretty interesting career.. Have you ever considered putting it into print?? Would make fine reading for many of us here on the fire..
I have seen a couple little paper backs telling of hunts, trapping, guns, fishing etc.. They may not make you famous or a million, but some of us sure would enjoy reading them.. I must have a dozen little books like that from years ago, to the present.. Just saw one down town about a guy from Oregon.. Plan to go back and check it out when I have my reading glasses with me.. Think about it.. I'll buy the first one!!

I'll buy the second

It has been interesting and my wife has said the same thing but really there are better trappers and hunters with better stories than mine.

That may or may not be true, but you have great stories to share and can "spin a yarn" so it is enjoyable reading

mart, I agree with Robster, great stories we enjoy reading.. think about it..

I've always found Mart's posts to be polite and informative.


Don't know why bother to I read em though. We obviously have nothing in common.

Field, I am sure you jest!!! Wish I had spent more time trapping.. Something I did a bit as a kid, but then got caught up in schooling, marriage, etc.. Now that I am retired, I should give it a go, but have so many projects going I really don't feel I can start another.. But the stuff on trapping here makes up for not being in the field..
Hope you all have a great season..

Wyo,

Trapping would be a great retirement activity even if you just got out to run a dozen or so traps for muskrats, coon and mink. Great exercise, gets you out of the house early for a short while and lets the fresh air clear your mind so you you can focus on the projects waiting back at home.

Nothing like handling wild fur.

Mart

Yea,,, I was just funning.
There's no doubt that my posts aren't as polite or informative though.

I had a ball trapping in 70s and 80s. Is there now any value for fur from Tenn ?

Fur-Fish-Game magazine has a monthly fur market report written by Gary Schroeder. It sounds like most fur is down right now except for good quality coyotes, pine marten, bobcat, lynx and otter.

The old staples like muskrat and raccoon seem to be low right now but that could change over night, at least on the rats. Raccoon have been low for so long now I don't know if they'll ever turn back to their 1970's prices.

Fur always has value, though sometimes not enough to cover the expense of harvesting it. I trapped a lot of beaver several years when I made more off the castors than I did the fur. A recreational trapper has to sometimes looks at his sport as just that and accept that the low fur prices only serve to partially defray the cost of participating in his chosen sport and enjoy the years when the prices are high enough to reward him with some profit.

I've done a bit of trapping in my past, and I love it. just don't have the time and have a wife that hates it. Can't complain because she puts up with bow hunting, gun hunting, muzzleloader hunting, small game with the dogs, puts up with the dogs, fishing, hunting trips, camping trips with the horses.......

I don't know what Marten is going for these days, but there was a little stretch in there where they were bringing $140'ish per.

When I was a lot younger than I am now my favorite was a H&R Sportsman 9 shot .22.

For what it is worth I forgot how tough a beaver dam is to dig out and remove from a small creek. They built four of them this year. I used a Conibear and didn't have any survive that.

Remington Nylon 66 with .22 shorts. Put one in their ear and save the holes in the pelts.

When I am walking the line I carry a 22 revolver in my pocket one I carry everyday when driving the line I use my kids chipmunk with 22 shorts love that lil gun