Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Trapping What firearm do you carry on the trapline?

When I was a kid I just carried an army shovel in my pack basket. I haven't trapped since I was 14 or so but I think I'd carry my Bearcat these days. I mostly trapped for muskrats and did well. Back then they sold for as much as 6 or 7 bucks a hide if they were skinned right. The good old days!
Mike
Mike

When I trapped dogs, I just used my Browning Buckmark 22 pistol to shoot them. I carried a 243 in the truck.

nice page here , hope it works well an long , set that steel

I carried a Bearcat in AK, and usually a 22 Hornet for shots at WHATEVER.

Assuming someone doesn't buy it, I will carry my 25/20 with me this time around.

The most important thing I carried was a small axe. I couldn't trap without it.

.22 rifle

RO <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

S&W Mdl. 422 .22LR

m94/22

Before I sold it last year, I always carried around my Bushmaster M4 carbine. I'll be packing a Marlin .22 bolt-action this year, though.

Carried a Ruger Mark I and spent a lot of time reloading magazines! Once had a fox get real excited at my approach and pull out of the trap. Had the pistol holstered with the loaded magazine in my shirt pocket.

I drew the pistol, slid in the mag and cycled it before shooting from the hip. The fox had taken two big leaps and was just coming up for the third when the bullet caught him exactly at the base of the skull. My witness stood there wide-eyed as I unloaded and reholstered the pistol.

Managed to pull it off for a couple hours, until I was faced with a beaver in the willows, just feet away. Managed to empty the rest of the magazine all around him without cutting hair! He finally got bored and swam away...

When I was trapping with my father he usually carried a Savage 24 in .22LR/20ga with the up/down firing pin selector (rather than the rotating style) and remember his displeasure at mistakenly dispatching a trapped fox with a 20gauge mere inches off the muzzle, and shooting 22LR at flushing grouse...
art

Great story Art!

I have never been so scared of an animal as I was when a marten took a leap at me. Those dang otters can be pretty scary also.....

Had me grinnin w/that one Sitka.
coons can be tough to make dead.
Mushrats can be ferocious lil bazturds too!

I read in the AK hunting regs that you can not use a laser sight but after reading the trapping regs the laser sight is not listed in the restrictions?
[img][image]http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y186/375matt/PB070003.jpg[/img][/image]

I was reading the AK hunting regs and they say a laser sight in not allowed but in the trapping regs the laser sight is not listed as a restriction so I assume it is allowed?
[img][image]http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y186/375matt/PB070003.jpg[/img][/image]

I assume you must use a REALLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLY long extension cord on that when you take it afield? It is plugged in, right...........

The freezer is plugged in and I leave that at home as it is not attached to the rifle yet <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />
The only wiring on the AR is from the battery operated laser to the pressure switch on the grip. No cord needed, it's not an electric weed wacker but with the right clip may serve well as one!!!

Steelhead,
I carried a Husdons Bay 2 1/2 lb axe in my packbasket too. I trapped in the suburbs just outside an airport but I was always ready to "winter over" if necessary! Every trip was an adventure.

Mike

Back in the '70's when I'd spend 2 or 3 weeks in the mountains with my lines, I'd have a .25/06 ADL in camp but carried a .44mag SBH and/or an S & W mod 17 .22. Down on the flats, the .22 was the usual WOC but since I wasn't the best shot with a handgun, I sometimes carried a single shot stevens model 15 .22 rifle if I was also hunting rabbits which I sometimes did while trapping. Later, I found an over/under .22/.410 take-down I wish I would have had back then. It was imported by Firearms International (Wash D.C.) and I believe it was called a Garcia Bronco. Steve

I carry my well worn Ruger single six 22 lr......and occasionally a model 67 win single shot.

Joseph

Years ago I did a lot of live trapping for various ecological research projects. I carried a firearm in plain view most of the time, but not to kill animals-- it was for protection against certain people I met out there in the boonies. Usually I carried a 4" S&W M19, but sometimes a 1911. Thankfully, I never had to use them. But, especially on a couple of occasions while I was doing field work in Florida, I am certain that just having a firearm visible kept me out of some bad trouble. In the Florida backcountry some people pronounce the word "unarmed" like we say "victim." For the animals a syringe full of Ketamine HCl was all that we ever found necessary for "self defense." Except for armadillos-- those I frequently shot.

Just a question. Why doesn't anyone use the .17Mach2? Is it the price of ammo? I'm thinking that a .17" hole is that much smaller than a .22" one. Or doesn't that hold true?


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