Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Trapping Otters

Caught this thieving bastard today. They sure do love our fish.....

Can't say I blame them. I think they like king crab too - based on all the small king crab carapaces and legs strewn on the beaches when I've been out deer hunting the last couple of times.

Got another one today. Perfect catch on this one.

Buddy of mine has 4 ponds. One stocked with catfish. He told me his catfish disappeared and he thought someone was fishing when he wasn't home. Then he saw what he thought was an otter. I set some #3 coils on trails going in the water. I have caught 6 otters so far. And a bunch of Coons.
His catfish pond he had bought and stocked 400 fish over the course of 2 years. He had taken none out. When I started trapping he only had a couple coming up when he fed them. He has stocked again and is not losing fish. The otters were eating crappie and bass in the other ponds. Hopefully I am thinning the otters some.

Got another one

Got another one today. The belisle hit this one so hard it bent the jaws.

Trapped ALOT of otter when I lived in SEAK. My favorite fur for hats and mitts.

Nice catches!

I'm really only trapping these because I get to keep them instead of taking them on a nuisance permit. Otters are a lot of work! I've only focused on getting the ones that are hitting our fish. Here in a few days I'll get some sets out for mink and marten. Need some snow!

FH, got a question.... I've trapped a few otters, caught them in foot hold traps. Couple of the pics look like 220's and the one with the glove and foot a 330. Those otters seem small compared to what I've caught.

Is that the normal size for otters in your part of the country, or did I just happen to catch some large ones. Maybe I'm guessing the trap size wrong.

About what would those otters weigh. The ones I caught were 20-25 lbs or so.

The traps in those pics are 2 different 330's. These so far have been younger/smaller otters. I'll try to get a weight on one when I get another one. I know there was at least one family group of 5 that were hitting our fish. I've definitely caught them a LOT bigger than these!

Yeah catching them is easy, its the fleshing part that sucks. A pressure washer on the beach at low tide makes easy work of it. Also makes a giant mess, hence the doing it on the beach at low tide. Full Grundens and a face shield make it more enjoyable!

FishinHank, it's all of that fat in your Alaskan Fish that attracts them lol

Seriously, thanks for the education.

Cheers

One day last week I was going down Hwy 38 between Des Arc, and Hickory Plains, Ar, and there was a big otter dead on the centerline of the highway. I have seen a few over the years, but they are fairly scarce here. miles

This was a big one

Yeah, those are just babies. You haven’t got Momma yet!

Back when I still had the trout farm we had some otter trouble. I hired a native trapper, and she pulled out a female that ended up measuring 6’3’ nose to tail. When she brought it to Fish and Game headquarters to be tagged, the whole building emptied out. When it sold at the fur sale, the body was 12” larger than the “jumbo” size minimum, lol.

They can do some damage on a trout farm.

The biggest one I ever got I shot with a 62gr varmint grenade and it didn't exit..It hung over 7ft from nose to the tip of the tail

Shot this one with a camera.

River otters can be very nasty and have canine teeth that can ruin your day. I shot a 30-35lbs otter in Eastern NC years ago from my boat. Thought it was finished so I rowed over grabbed it’s tail and threw him or her in the boat. Couldn’t tell where I hit it as the thick fur and a 22 bullet left no easy ID. My dog was with me and she had to sniff it and nudge it. About ten minutes later the otter came to and attacked my dog biting her in the butt then it jumped overboard and was gone. Neither I or the dog wanted anything to do with that otter. They turn up their lips like a snarling dog showing some serious teeth and make a kind of high pitched scream. Cost me some vet bills.

Rick

I’ve caught two as incidentals in foothold traps and both were very feisty to say the least. Worst of any critter I can recall including wolves.

Osky

Thanks for clearing up my mistakes in the pics. Ones I caught would not have gone 3', I cant imagine a 7' one.

I used to live in coastal Eastern, NC along the big rivers dumping into the Pamlico sound. Years ago the locals would trap and shoot river otters and it didn’t take long to about wipe them out. The furs were worth money but many shot them because they were causing shoreline erosion and damaging field drainage ditches. But back in the late 70’s early 80’s the coast was being invaded by Nutria and these square headed rodents which breed like three times a year increased in numbers almost overnight. They swim like beavers, dive and eat lots of soft shell crab but also come ashore and root out crops. But the biggest problem was their tunneling into the banks and destroying the protective sea grass and vegetation. Before you know it your shore line is receeding. Soon everybody was trapping and shooting them but they seemed to breed faster than they were shot off. While everybody was concentrating on Nutria the otters came back and eventually nobody bothers them much anymore cause they push the Nutria out. It’s illegal to hunt otters in NC now

Rick

Nothing new to report. Saw one otter a couple days ago while out feeding the fish but I neglected to bring my rifle......oops. I think I caught the dumb ones. We need to get a little snow.

I was never successful without a little snow to pattern them. With snow, I would be able to see the active slides into the settling ponds, and call the trapper. Usually a two to three week cycle between visits.

If you live on the shores of a fresh water river or stream here in Floriduh, those little beasts are your friend. Gators fear them more than you might imagine. Toss some fish scraps to them now and then, wave goodbye to the lizards.

I missed one twice the other day with my swift.....if you've never seen an otter in the water then you don't know how hard they are to hit....first shot was maybe 75yds and I hit just in front of it. The second was pushing 120yds and I barely missed it. Only had an offhand shot both times......my buddy asked me why I didn't use a .22lr. Told him I did use a .22, just a higher powered one and I don't like losing them if I hit them. I did get some mink sets out so maybe I will have a good update soon...

Correct choice, the LR is not the weapon of choice for an Alaska river otter. Those things are tough. I tried to .375 one's head off one time while beach combing in Chatham as he came ashore with a fish in his mouth. He started to move as the trigger broke and I hit him in the throat with a 300 grainer. Blood everywhere! I figured he wouldn't go far, but he made it 25 yards into the woods and down a hole. That was years ago, and losing that huge otter still haunts me.

FH, All I ever catch is the dumb ones.

Same here, plenty of smart ones around still.

I see a lot of them in eastern NC. Mostly in the fall and winter. When I'm kayaking I am more wary of otters than alligators and snakes. Some of them are huge. And when they pop their heads up and look at me as I paddle by, I am sure they are wondering if they should mug me.

ain't that what chewed up a woman paddling down a river a wile ago ,saw it on the news. years ago I saw a guys catch dog after he put it on the small otters here, it had about 200 stitches in it

Yes. And they are hardly ever alone. I've seen as many as five on the bank and sometimes they will follow or swim along off to the side keeping an eye on you.

People think they are cuddly, fun-loving animals. But they have heads like pit bulls. I've seen them bringing big crawdads and blue crabs up and eating them whole, shell and all. They will eat smaller alligators, too.

When I was in the 8th grade, I had an after school job at a mink ranch. I thought those were mean rascals. Had to wear mittens with 5 layers of leather on the backside and then you would sometimes feel the teeth just tickle your hand. But compared to an otter.... mink aint nothin!

An otter in a foothold trap is bad MOJO!

Which is why I only use conibears. A buddy of mine killed 4 of them with a crowbar after they made the mistake of getting into an empty raceway. Legend. Otters are crazy strong

I would be very cautious around otters in the water. On land, they are not near as fearsome. My dogs came across about a 4 footer near the gate to the hatchery, at least 100 yards away from any water. In about 5 minutes, they had that otter wore out and they would have easily killed it if I hadn’t called them off. That’s two 45 lb ish bird dogs.

I dont own any conibears. I thought the trails were being made by beavers. Lots of beavers in that area. You can imagine my surprise when I caught the otters. Strong and mean!!!

Drilled a good sized male with the 220 swift today, no exit.........probably going to be a real mess when I skin it out.

Nice

He looks happy and content.....