Post by DOC-CANADA on May 1, 2014 22:01:19 GMT
May 1, 2014 11:14:38 GMT -4 rollingsnare said:
Doc- it is really funny you mention the Arapulca as it is definitely on my top 5! In Costa Rica, there is a small farm that my wife and I stayed at. They showed me the Arapulca and I was really surprised at the most common use. That is the go-to way to recapture escaped chickens! They don't have much money so every chicken counts and they don't have all day to chase them either (their chickens are much faster to fly than ours). They use a 3ft wide version of the Arapulca and bait it with whatever they are eating, even scraps of meat. I use it mainly to catch starlings live to feed the snakes that are bird eaters and to give the kestrel at the nature center so she can practice up for falconry season.
(starlings are non native invasive birds. using a no kill trap allows native birds to be released)
There is no particular order to the five but they are the bread and butter traps that I use to take home meat, furs for tanning, and birds to feed the falcon.
Again, no particular order:
Arapulca, for starlings several times a week.
Paiute trigger deadfall (stick or bead trigger), for everything small except rabbit
Snare, mainly spring snares for cottontail but occasionally I will set a drag weight snare for fox/coyote
Weighted fish lift trap with a gorge hook (although you want to be close to them because if they are left overnight you WILL lose your fish to raccoons)mainly for catfish. I set 5 or 6 at a time ten yards apart on a particular section of the gunpowder river and always get fish while camping with them.
Weir-to-Basket-Trap, great for medium fish like bluegill, legal in most places and VERY effective. Most panfish school so once the first one is in it fills up fast. Often you can catch 20 fish in an hour if your in the right spot with it.
There are lots of fun traps to play with but when I need to catch things for meat or bushcrat supplies (fur,hide,bones,etc...) those are the ones I always pull out first. They are simple, fast to set, easy to tune, and they work.
Do you have a trapper's permit, or is it allowable because of your job, or does your state allow so much freedom in trapping? Here in Ontario, the only thing we can legally trap (without a trapper's permit) is Varying Hare (Snowshoe Rabbit - yes, I know that you know what a Varying Hare is but maybe somebody else........). And you can only trap above a demarcation line that occurs mid-province, only use 22 or 24 gauge copper or brass wire and lifting pole snares not allowed. So, as you can see, legal trapping opportunity here in Ontario is somewhat limited. Doesn't stop us from playing with triggers, though.
