Caught 3 otters on my trapline this weekend...

[alex]

Pain is never easy but you should see what they do to the cows in your big mac.

I think some skills such as the above are good so long as it's done with a conservation for future availablity in mind. Ol' T. Roosevelt had it down.

 

[Manimal]

Pain is never easy but you should see what they do to the cows in your big mac.

I think some skills such as the above are good so long as it's done with a conservation for future availablity in mind. Ol' T. Roosevelt had it down.

+1 on the skills, definitely, it can be an art.

And, generally I dont eat fast food...but most beef is the same. I want to raise my own meats eventually...that and hunting.

 

[Alaskacajun]

I hate watching things suffer, unless its someone flogging a rapist.

That video made me sad.

Sorry, no one asked me...I know.

It's all good constitutionlover, you are entitled to your opinion, that's what makes America so great!

Otter's are brutal on fish and small animal populations in their home range. From a conservation standpoint I did a good thing for the surrounding ecosystem. There were 6 otters in this group and all were males, they travel for miles under ice or over land eating everything in their path, including young otters, beaver, and muskrat.

By killing 3 of them I also helped the genepool. I took out the big old male and by doing so made it possible for the smaller healthier males to breed this Spring.

I know it looks like the otter suffers in the video but he was dispatched very quickly after the camera shut off. The reason he was struggling was because I caught him by the head. Generally when using a trap like this you would catch the otter by the body resulting in a very quick humane kill. Most times they don't move an inch after getting caught.

- Clint

 

[Manimal]

I definitely value the conservation aspect...and in reality I know that trapping is a reliable way of actually retaining the carcass in those harsh environments.

Dispatching the head of an otter in an ice hold would probably result in losing the whole thing...so I understand.

I've seen some really terrible videos, and I often imagine my cats being caught in one of those traps...which actually brings tears to my eyes.

I respect the skills, especially hand made traps, its just hard for me to see with my eyes.

I don't like any suffering, and I get a little emo when I'm hungry

 

[Alaskacajun]

Clint, that is really cool! I used to do a lot of trapping (in Texas) back in my younger days -- and back when fur used to be worth something (1970s amd 80s). Never did I witness though an animal actually entering one of my traps. Had a deer (doe) hit one of my coyote snares one time though. I was checking some dryland sets one morning and had a snare at a coyote crossing under a fence. When I was about 30 yards from reaching it, a couple of deer jumped up and one ran right into that snare (she was trying to cross under the fence). As it so happened, I had a doe tag and was glad to get the extra meat (I was in graduate school at the time).

Was in Anchorage 2.5 years ago and had a very enjoyable fishing (halibut) trip out of Seward. Was in Yakatat some 20 years ago. That is sure enough gods country up there -- in the last frontier! Hoping to get back up there one of these days for a coastal black bear hunt. You have any recommendations for a good bear outfitter?

I caught an Ermine (white weasel) in a #1 jump once in a Lynx cubby. When I got to the cubby to reset the #3 Lynx trap after a big snow storm I noticed his tracks all over the cubby.

When I knealed down he popped out of his hiding place and started hissing at me. He would run up to the bait and tear a piece off and go underground. Then he would return, I watched him for a couple of minutes then set a #1 right where he kept running. As I got the camera out to video it, he set the trap off and I had to dispatch him before he made off with my unsecured #1 It was amazing...

A buddy of mine set a Marten set a few years ago in a tree about 10 yards off of a trail. He forgot his flagging tape on his snowmachine so he walked back to retrieve it. When he reached the machine he heard the trap go off.

When he returned to the set there was a marten flopping around in the 110 conibear...

You have any recommendations for a good bear outfitter?[/

I don't know any personally, but I know there are quite a few on this website...

http://forums.outdoorsdirectory.com/

Good Luck on your hunt, I plan on shooting a few black bear this year too!

- Clint

 

[Alaskacajun]

SNIP

"Gimme a shotgun, a rifle, and a fourwheel drive and a country boy can survive!"

I don't "like" killin' things anymore than you do.... but sometimes it's just necessary! Fur is a renewable resource, and if I don't farm it somebody else will. I don't take more than I need or what the area can handle judging from the amount of tracks and sign in the area! There is an abundance of fur in my area every year, which is more than I can say about some other trapper's areas....

- Clint

 

[Born4spd]

"you removed the big strong male to ensure the others breed"

lol good job at fkn up their gene pool

You removed the strong one... your supposed to take out the weak so the strong genes get passed on.

 

[Alaskacajun]

"you removed the big strong male to ensure the others breed"

lol good job at fkn up their gene pool

You removed the strong one... your supposed to take out the weak so the strong genes get passed on.

I took out the big old male and by doing so made it possible for the smaller healthier males to breed this Spring

If you're gonna quote me, make sure you get the facts straight... I didn't say the Big Male was "strong"... I said he was old.... actually his teeth were pretty worn, and I doubt he would have made it another year if I wouldn't have taken him out of the mix anyway.

Besides, old males like him are notorious for killing baby otters (kits) in the Spring. So how exactly would that benefit a healthy population?

I assure you there are plenty more where those came from and wouldn't be surprised if I don't see a similar sized pack of otters on my line before the end of the season.

Born4spd, I'm sure you think you know what you are talking about concerning the cultivation of fur in the wild... but this is not a fenced in deer lease, I am not hunting over a food plot, this is the unadulterated wild back country of Alaska........ the "weak" died when it got -40 below zero! There is nothing left but a strong healthy population of otters. Taking a few of the old males will do nothing but help the population!

- Clint

 

[Manimal]

Can you catch a live Kit for me & mail it to Louisiana?

I want a pet otter...

 

[Alaskacajun]

Can you catch a live Kit for me & mail it to Louisiana?

I want a pet otter...

Nope.... illegal man!

- Clint

 

[Manimal]

Nope.... illegal man!

- Clint

Bastards...

 

[rm76]

Clint, thanks for relaying your experiences/photos/videos in the great "last wilderness"! As you say, that truely is the "wild country" and true nature never is as peaceful and sanitary as most people think or would like to believe. Nature is cruel and harse. It is literally a dog-eat-dog world, and natural deaths are rarely clean and swift! That is the way it always has been and always will be. In comparison, hunting and trapping are pretty humane methods of thinning populations. Alternatives can be much more cruel. I realize many people are so far removed from nature it is hard to relate to the suffering that commonly occurs sooner or later in an animal's life. Death from starvation, disease, and wounds can take days, weeks, months and can be very sad to watch. But fortunately (or unfortunately, depending on the viewpoint) most people do not see this aspect of nature -- but it is always there. Just watch a house cat sometimes when its roaming the neighborhood. It will pick up a mouse or baby rabbit and play with it (sometimes for hours). Picking it up and throwing it about -- often breaking legs or tearing tissue. It may eventually eat it or just get bored and leave it to die a slow agonizing death. Well, this kind of tortue happens all the time in nature. A well placed bullet or trap (and often even a poorly placed bullet/trap) will dispatch an animal more humanely than often occurs in nature. But you guys already know this -- it is just not a pleasant thing to admit.

 

[Alaskacajun]

rm76.... how very true!

- Clint

 

[Manimal]

I've always had between 3 & 7 cats, its fun watching them play with stuff(though I save the lizards if I can). Nature is indeed terribly, and beautifully, brutal. That is nature indeed.

I agree with what you say rm76, but it's still hard for me to watch trapping.

Its something to do with the methods and the indiscriminate choice of traps. I can see cats, dogs, endangered animals...etc getting into those traps. Some of that wouldn't be an issue in Alaska.

I'm totally down with hunting...one day I will only eat meat that I hunted myself, and I will have pelts from all of those animals as well.

I am 100% in favor of live trapping, have done it many times myself. Its more humane all around, but it is less reliable as it is harder to get animals to go into the traps. But after that it takes 1 quick shot with a gun or club and that is all she wrote.

 

[rm76]

Constitutionlover, I understand where you are coming from. Most of our society is that way. This stems from our movement away from the hunter/gatherer society and even an agregrian society where people were more intuned to nature. Most people today are only exposed to a sanitized version of nature, and even many outdoorsmen who grow up enjoying the outdoors are not complete students of nature -- having spent a relative small percentage of their existance outdoors -- have an unbalanced or incomplete view. This is not meant to belittle anyone -- it is just the world we live in today. What we often see or experience of nature is like taking a snap shot or 2 or 3 of a 3-hour movie and trying to comprehend it all from those few snap shots. So, I guess what I'm trying to say is dont fret from feeling one way or the other about certain things, just realize that there are different perspectives out here based on others' experiences and perceptions of the world around us.

Regard, foot-hold or body grip traps being indiscriminate and non-selective, you would probably be surprised at how selective these are in the right hands. Sure, amateurs that set traps haphazardly might catch some non-target animals (if they catch any animals at all, depending on their skill level and luck), but the professionals are very much masters of their craft. Trap types and sizes are used very efficiently by knowledgable trappers and their knowledge of the animal they are after and the habitat they are working in make non-target catches much more unlikely than likely. After all, most non-target catches cost professional trappers money and time -- so they try to avoid this at great costs. I think you would be surprised at how proficient most trappers are today. With the cost of fur as low as it is, there are very few amateur trappers these days.

Regarding live traps, well, these are fine for translocating some animals, but they are just not sufficient for many animals and in many habitats. Actually, in many cases live traps are not as humane either. When compared to certain body gripping traps and drowning sets that dispatch the animal very quickly, live traps are really not as good

Anyway, I will shut up now. Didn't mean to sound as if I was standing at a pulpit preaching. I just wanted to interject some different perspectives.

 

[Manimal]

I understand, and appreciate the perspectives.

Its just the animal lover in me that makes me feel that way, as hypocritical as I may be.

I hunt, I fish...etc. I have rung many-a-birds-neck, had to kill raccoons, rabbits, and squirrels with my hands...etc. Sometimes things have to be done in ways that the soft spot has to harden for.

It's just the way it is.

 

[rm76]

Thanks for understanding! So many people dont. Many have the attitude that its either their perspective or else . . .

 

[Alaskacajun]

Thanks for understanding! So many people dont. Many have the attitude that its either their perspective or else . . .

Yeah, we call 'em Anti's....

- Clint