Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Trapping How do you justify trapping, from a sportsman's perspective?

Have them call Jessica Simpson, bet she has some good things to say about Yotes now.

...so do most trappers! That's why the industry here has nearly all converted to quick kill traps wherever practical - beaver, muskrat, fisher, otter etc. are all taken with conibears or similar quick kill body grip traps. Where they are still used in Canada, leghold traps must be padded jaw or offset jaw type, and must be checked regularly. Unfortunately there is only one alternative for fox and coyote - power snare. But power snares can be hard on other wildlife and dogs, so in some ways padded foot hold traps are safer and more humane.
In the end, the only justification for trapping is whether or not you feel it is ethical to harvest wildlife at all. For me' I'd rather wear fur than all the petrochemical synthetics ever made. Furs are environmentally perfect garments. Natural, organic, renewable, beautiful, and Warm.
One other point. The harvest of wild furs makes the environment where they are taken valuable in our modern economy. Valueless wild landscapes are much more vulnerable to "conversion" - and there are NO fur animals in a grain field or housing development.

ranger1, +100000

Sitka, +200000

Toby Joe

My Grandfather was a Trapper in the Great State of Ga. This was a way of life for him! I remember when I was a kid I would run his trap lines with him! This was before all the New Humane traps came along. I do remember him telling me that a Coon would bit his foot off when in a trap! You name it he trapped it. I know that Rabies were a great problem in 1930 and trapping was one way to cut the numbers. Their is a real art to trapping and it's almost a thing of the past. My Grandfather trapped for 40 years and I don't ever remember him telling me that he ran out of anything to trap! Boy I wish he was around to trap these Coyotes we have now!

Hawkeye,as an outdoorsman you should give it a try.I think you would find it very challenging and sporting.

Plus you would become a much better outdoors for it.Trappers are typically much more connected and aware while in the woods than the average hunter.

I don't need to justify trapping any more than I do hunting or fishing.They're all honorable pursuits.

Thanks for your interest and questions about trapping.

Like Art, I see no neeed to justify it.When young,we trapped muskrat,fox and a few mink and coons.Fox had a bounty on them.This was the only money us kids got on a dairy farm.Usually about $50 for the winter.Darn lot of money back in the 50's.
No differt than PD shoting or cyote hunting.
I have seen a lot of animals killed with rifle and arrow suffer a heck of a lot more

I don't have to justify it to anyone......any idea why quail have disappeared from many areas? How about rabbits? Care about facts at all? Predators have thrived and when left unchecked by trapping will wipe out game species.

Now I'll assume you're open to learning.....tell me I'm right: ever see the new leg hold traps and what an animal looks like when you walk up on one caught in it? Usually sleeping and able to be released TOTALLY UNHARMED if not the target species. And the other type of trap legal where I live: body grip trap......know what happens to animals that get caught in one of those? INSTANTANEOUS DEATH.

You do us all a great injustice by masquerading as a "sportsmen". Get a clue.

How do I justify trapping? Like anything else. Man was put in charge of the world, animals included to use as he sees fit. If that doesn't work science will tell you that numbers need to be kept in check for healthy populations. Without writing a book on the topic, if all animals are not in check the balance in disrupted and something suffers unnecessarily be it through over-predation, starvation or disease. Humans are at the top of the food chain because we can think and use tools. So it is up to us to make sure the balance is struck. Some animals are almost impossible to harvest without trapping. Ever hunt a beaver or mink? Good luck without a trap. And don't even get me started on the real fur v synthetic fur or so disgustingly called friendly fur debate. PETA, ELF and ALF ought to have a bounty on them.

Exactly what I was thinking. Ignorance is what has almost ruined trapping. It isn't cruel by any means. What people fail to realize is that animals are not capable of thinking like humans. No matter how smart you think your dog is it does not feel pain like people do or are they capable of the complex thought process associated with it like people are.

I use conibears, kills them harder and deader, they're not hanging on to this life for but a minute. I, for the most part don't see much sport in shooting a deer at under 100 yards with a 3 to 9 leupold but I do it 6 times a year. I don't do for survival, neather one, I do it because I enjoy useing the out doors.Have you found many full set of bones? Fish, fur or fowl, most all meet a violent death if you want to look at it that way. One more thing, when prices are up, what a kick in the ass.

If your reading this, try trapperman.com. They don't let PETA in.

X2
And I am very proud to know the there are trappers like those on this thread who are willing and able to articulate the case for trapping so thoroughly. You have done it extremely well. It is the kind of information that needs to be available to the non-trapping public so they vote based on facts and not on emotion.

I have thought of this question a week after reading it. Trapping isn't a sport, it's about gathering a resource or controlling a problem. That doesn't mean you can't be proud of it. To quote Steelhead "[bleep] a retard may not be sporting, but it is still fun." comes to mind.

I have thought about this for TWO weeks and hunting is no sport by this definition either, because it is about gathering a resource or controlling a problem. I never had any penchant for mixing and matching mucous membranes with retards but have enjoyed shooting a few cerebrally challenged gophers ---that were a problem.

Sport exists in the mind of the perp.

Sport exists in the mind of the perp. Roger that.

People will use this resource the way it's been used for hundreds of years. The market may not look to be needed that much in the US but a lot of the furs get shippped outside. The demand will be there for a very long time. In mid winter it's good for the soul to get out and about. Playing on a web site all day is not for everyone nor is trapping. You could stir the pot by askig how do you justify your own sport.

Hawkeye,
Although I have never trapped myself, good friends of mine did when I was younger. When you live in the country there are not many ways to earn money when you are a kid. Trapping is a way to get fresh air, a cardio workout, and some money.
Much better than sitting around playing video games or selling drugs on the corner IMO.
My mother in law trapped muskrats when she was a girl.
We still call a trapper to get rid of pesky beavers who dam up the creek and flood our property. It is more efficient to trap fox and coyotes than to try and hunt them. Less richochets too!
I see a lot of dead animals on the side of the road but I am not calling on the anti-trappers to stop driving their cars around to save the critters.
Years ago there was a young woman who heard about a trap (shooting) seminar and was going to protest it, but when she found out it was in the evening, she decided it wasn't worth killing all those bugs to drive over there at night! True story!
whelennut

Trapping is a way to manage the fur bearing pop. Hunting does the same thing for the deer herd. Just imagine what would happen to those numbers if we couldn't hunt!. I don't trap but I respect those that do!

It prevents over population of some species that can have an adverse effect on people, other animals and the environment.
Muskrats overpopulate and die in huge numbers at times. This then spreads and may kill the majority of rats in a area the size of a county or larger. Beaver also tend to do this as well. Both also damage stream banks, earthen dams, beaver cut peoples trees. Etc.
The Skunk is prime source of rabies as is the Raccoon. So keeping the numbers down helps reduce rabies outbreaks, pet quarantines (can't take your dog out of your county) etc.
And trapping helps pay the bills when the fur price is high enough to make money at it.

Over population of Coyotes is hard on deer, Antelope, domestic sheep and anything else they can kill and eat. Cats, dogs etc. Wolves kill game animals for fun and force others (like Moose) from their winter range where they then perish. This is most common in places like Northern Canada and AK.

I don't hunt or trap for sport really. I eat better if I hunt than if I don't and it provides exercise. You seem to be trying to set a trap for someone who "sport traps".If you don't liek trapping don't read Fur, Fish and Game. Some folks are compelled to trap just as others are compelled to hunt.

Trapping is a game management tool just like hunting.
Yeah, you can use all sorts of killer or immobilize without killing traps. But for some things the leg hold works best. Its actually better for beaver and muskrat in many situations if you know how. Snares or leghold is about the only option for the Coyote. Cats can be caught in almost anything but the live traps that are in use often damage the fur and can cost the hunter/trapper 100s of dollars (on 1 cat) if the price is high.
If you worry about animals suffering think about the "natural" hunters like the wolf. Typically they bite the flank on a running animal and the guts fall out or are pulled out by the next wolf to strike. They then scamper off to kill something else or eat it as it slowly dies of blood loss and shock. Depends on if they are hungry or just partying.
The concern voiced by the animal rights types is just a way to attack the activity. They don't want you harming the furry woodland creatures at all so just like gun control if they win the sportsman loses. When they get done with trappers they will start on someone else and sooner or later they will be knocking on your door for something so quit following their line of thought they are not your friend.
People will attack the trapper but will eat steaks, wear leather shoes and have leather seats in their Caddy SUV.
Never mind the misery the cattle endure over months to supply hamburger and leather.
Its all Bull*hit intended to infringe *your* liberty in some form or another in the name of some cause that makes someone a LOT of money by skimming donations via large salaries. Ever see PETA paying to feed starving elk or deer? Ever see them spend money to improve habitat? They just want to keep the bleeding heart dollars rolling in. The animals are just a means to an end.
So the next time you see some bleeding heart ad on TV think about the dollars rolling in. Like PT Barnum said, there is one born every second and there is always someone with a way to relieve the sucker of his extra cash...

Dan

If I could effectively hunt enough (impossible) I wouldn't have to trap.

You do realize they have traps that kill right away right ?