I was on my way home from pheasant hunting, cruising down a well used gravel road. I saw a coyote on the left side shoulder of the road about 200 yards ahead. As I got closer, he crossed in front of me and entered the standing corn on my right. As he did this, I noticed a red fox standing on an approach on the right side, directly opposite of where the coyote had been standing. The fox was caught in a leg hold trap and he was struggling pretty hard to free himself, no doubt because of my truck and that the coyote had been there sizing him up. I thought about putting him out of his misery, but all I had with me was my 12 gauge and I knew there was no way to do it without damaging the pelt in some way. I also figured that even if I was able to pull it off without damaging the pelt, the coyote would likely return and eat the carcass. Probably likely that if I hadn't happened along he would have (and may still) killed the fox and eaten it.
I am in no way anti trapping, but sitting there watching that fox struggle wasn't pleasant. In the end I decided to leave him to his fate. Though that was the legally correct thing for me to do, it sure didn't feel like the morally right thing. North Dakota law requires all trappers to visually inspect their traps every 48 hours. It would also have been illegal for me to have tampered with any animal caught in another's line.

i just hate dilemmas. we all do.

knew of a dude who ran up on a whitetail deer in the ditch, with a broken leg and shoulder from a car accident/event.

he didn't have a gun, so he beat the doe to death with the crook of a tire iron.

throwed it in the trunk for later skinning and retrieval of anything edible.

he didn't want the buzzards & yotes and poosums causing a wreck.

You’d feel much better about it...if you knew that the Fox was a “democrat”! I suspect it was.....you should feel better now! That should be the fate of all democrats! memtb

You did the right thing. Trapper may have come along right behind you.

Too often, doing what's right feels like anything but.

so true.

we are under the law.

we are not under morals.

that is to say: pay your taxes.

The only correct answer.

Glad you did that.

Shoot any birds?

Next time, pack a 22 LR pistol with solids. Get it to its fate quicker. I've zapped road-crippled deer more than once.

Not a good idea to interfere with another man's trap, no matter what you are carrying.

You can't mess with somebody else's traps even if the situation is unpleasant. Suppose an anti-hunter spotted you in a tree stand with deer approaching. Something past unpleasant to him, should he spook the deer off?

Society has decided people are allowed to trap no matter how unpleasant a particular situation may be, gotta respect that. If it involves illegality or results in cruelty call a conservation officer.

So some 80 miles south of Fargo and haven't seen a fox in years. Used to have one living in a rock pile in a neighboring hay field. Mange about wiped them out. (Vet friend had farmers asking him about the mysterious pink foxes.) Would be nice to see a few around, some jacks too. Don't know why they disappeared.

the 'yote will take care of him. they run down and kill foxes even when they are not in a trap, no reason to think, as you suggested, that this one would be any different.

I would say, good on you that it bothered you; also good on you you made the right choice.

Ideally the trap would have enough chain so the catch could hide from view.
Ideally the coyote is in another trap now.

How many guys wait 48 hrs to check trap? I always checked at least 1x per day.

There are some real bastards out there that don't give a damn.

Depends on the number of traps, the distance one has to travel to reach their lines, and whether one has another job that actually pays the bills. Those who ran a handful of traps close to home often checked them daily but there are many who aren't able to do so.

At times I regularly went near 48 hours between checks due to my previous job being a 24 hour shift so was able to check only every other day when scheduled to work. Others I knew ran lines after work and had limited time to do so due to distance from home and/or other commitments. A few that trapped near full time ran very long strings in order to make it pay and did half each day.

In some places it may draw unwanted attention to check traps too often. Either curious do gooders or trap thrives may spot you and steal your traps. That is a serious problem in some areas and the more often one is seen going into an area, the greater the likelihood of a problem. When it happens the area is pretty much blown for future trapping.

I hear what you are saying.

But checking traps once a day results in less lost animals, and less encounters with the public that trappers don't need or want.

If you can't check them once a day, then you probably don't need to be trapping, or need to shorten your lines/area.

You did the right thing as tough as it was too watch. It would have been nice if you could have shot the coyote though.

I keep a 22 pistol in my hunting truck but I don't think I would use it on someone else's trapped game. I did use it a few years ago to finish off my 5x5 bull elk. Then I had a European mount done and I have to explain to everyone what the hole in the middle of the skull is. Its heart was completely gone thanks to a 215g berger hybrid but it was still moving a bit and blinking so without thinking or hesitating I put a velocitor in its head.

If your worried about a trapped animal about all you can do is call fish and game and have them check it out. They might know who traps the area and be able to give them a heads up to come take care of it a little quicker then they might be planning on.

If it was a democrat fox it would have chewed off 3 legs and still be caught.

Bb

PR would say to not put traps where they are easy for non outdoors public to see.

Yep.

I wouldn't think of trapping next to the road.

Me too. Check traps every day, even if you don't have to. Can reset traps that caught. Less chance of something else eating the catch. And, of course, cuts down on needless suffering.

Wisconsin laws:

Non-submersion (dry) Set: non-submersion sets must be attended and checked in person at least once each day and any captured animals must be removed from the set, except that weasel boxes may be checked every four days given that:1. the entrance hole is no greater than 1⅜inches in diameter;2. the enclosure set must use a body-grip trap (for weasels this includes a foothold trap and rat snap trap); and3. the enclosure is securely anchored to an immovable object. Water Set: water sets, except submersion sets, must be attended and checked in person at least once each day and any captured animals must be removed from the set.Submersion Set: any trap set capable of capturing an animal and capable of submersing the captured animal. Slide wires or poles, locking devices, slip chains, weighted traps and traps staked in deep water are commonly used in submersion sets. A body gripping trap is not a submersion set when more than one-half of the set trap is located above water. Traps must be attended and checked in person within a 4-day period following the last tending of the set. Any captured animals must be removed from the set unless it is an under ice set. You must monitor water levels to ensure effective submersion sets. Under Ice Set: there are no mandated trap checking periods for sets made under the ice.

You may not molest or take traps, cable restraints, snares or trapped animals that belong to someone else.

Interference with Trapping. No person may interfere with lawful trapping with the intent to prevent the taking of a wild animal: Harassing wild animals, impeding lawful trappers or disturbing lawfully placed traps, among other actions, may constitute unlawful interference.

Stealing or molesting traps, cable restraints, snares, animals or the contents of any lawfully placed trap, cable restraint or snare is a criminal act and is punishable by fine ($300-$1,000), imprisonment (up to 90 days) or both and a mandatory 5-year revocation of license.

I cannot stand to let something suffer.

So what about being caught by the foot means the fox was “suffering”?

The fox was not suffering at all. A trapper can easily release that fox from a foothold trap (if so desired) and he will run away with hardly a limp. The only thing that a foothold does is squeeze the foot and make it lose feeling. There is nothing damaging about it. Most canines are sleeping quietly when the trapper checks his traps, after they have struggled before their foot fell asleep. Snap a trap on your fingers sometime and test it yourself. It's not a big deal.

That fox was struggling because he saw the coyote coming, plain and simple.

And yes you did the right thing, as it is absolutely illegal for anyone to mess with another's traps in NoDak. Most trappers would take major offense and rightly so.

Exactly

Mother Nature is generally much more cruel that people are.

Foot traps are not a big deal. I"ve had em snap on my hands/fingers before. Yep it smarts but if you think animals life is pure pleasure you dont know nature. Any animal including a human naturally would try to escape.

But at least you made the right decision.

Just going with what the OP said about putting the fox out of its "misery". I'd say misery and suffering were about the same thing.

Sucks to be a wild animal. They rarely die of old age and every other way is hard. I don't mind killing something, but trapping it in a leg trap can induce a lot of suffering on the part of the critter if by nothing else being held in place and eaten alive.

You are correct. Not every trapper is ethical, and follows the rules and regulations to the letter.......just as not every hunter does so either, and anyone else for that matter. Caught some local Mennonites setting traps on posted land, and they were checking them every 2 or 3 days, or whenever they had the time. Called the game warden and he ticketed them, they went before a judge and pleaded this "we're just poor working people trying to make a living" to him, and the judge let them walk.

I often set traps for varmints around my farm, both live and leg hold traps, and I always check them every day. If I see that I'm going to get busy and can't check them properly, I'll pull them.

You should have used the 12 gauge on the coyote, and kept on going.

I've never done any trapping. Out of curiosity...

Do y'all identify the traps with contact information?

I bet the trapper would appreciate the call to avoid a messed up pelt from ole Wiley.

This is from the Montana trapping regulations:

Trap Identification (MCA-87-6-601(2)) – Metal identification tags must be fastened to all traps. Metal tags must bear the name and address of the trapper or a personal identification number, which is the trappers date of birth and ALS number. Metal identification tags for snares must have the trap owners name, address, and telephone number. Landowners trapping on their own lands and irrigation right- of-way contiguous to their land do not need to tag traps or snares.

shoot the coyote!

Move on in life and let the legal trapper handle his own business according to the laws of the state. That's the easy thing to do.

It is obvious that the majority here must not and never have trapped much. It also is evident that most have unwittingly bought into the anti-trapping agenda and attendant liberal lies that go with it.

For truth and education's sake, buy a #2 foothold trap to play with at home, and test it on yourself and your pet dog. Your views of trapping would more resemble reality after that than what is being bandied about here.

Only thing to have done differently would’ve been to have backed off a ways, shut down your rig and wait for the coyote to come back out of the corn. The fox is likely squealing and making a fuss and The coyote knows it’s there. I bet you’d have sat for <5min before getting a crack at the coyote.

So how much geezer trapping have you done?

I've done a fair amount. I"ve NEVER seen an animal in a trap eaten.. Not saying it can't happen. But I've not seen it.

What folks think and whats reality is often 180 off