A Few Favorite Blogs

Maybe I'm more of a reader than a writer; at least I feel that way when I visit other outdoorsy blogs and see how verbose and entertaining some of my fellow sportsmen are.  I thought I'd put out a plug for a few guys who are just as good at writing as they are at the skills of outdoor life.  I visit these blogs regularly and I think TSR readers will get a kick out of them.

Here's an eyefull of the dirty feet of Ian Nance.  Ian is an avid hunter from Florida and tells his tales of outdoor adventure on his blog The Wild Life.  Ian's blog is interesting and diverse, including all kinds of things from hunting stories and tips to game recipes and equipment reviews.  He just cracks me up, too.  He's got a great writing style and injects some good humor into the tales of his adventures.  A true story teller, just what you expect from a true outdoorsman.  I'm going to do a guest post for him soon on coyote hunting, so keep an eye out for that.

I'm also lovin' The Rasch Outdoor Chronicles by Albert Rasch.  Albert has some excellent material on his blog, especially range reviews of different weapons and a lot of great writing on hunter's rights and the animal rights movement.  Here's an "in-your-face" outdoorsman who is proud of our lifestyle.  From his blog description: "Claim the privilege of hunting according to the dictates of your own conscience."  Enough said!   

Last but not least, I want to mention Jeremiah Wood over at Trapping Today.  Jeremiah's blog is THE place to find trapping news, and he brings a truly professional perspective to the sport of trapping.  Jeremiah has degrees in Wildlife Biology and Fisheries Biology, and is currently a state fisheries biologist for the state of Montana.  Jeremiah is one of the first bloggers I met after starting TSR.  He has been very encouraging to me, and I still visit his blog regularly.  If you're a trapper you just have to bookmark his blog.  You'll enjoy it!


Well, there ya go....a few blogs truly worth your time to visit.  Tell 'em I sent ya!

Cold Weather Blues for This 'Coon Trapper

I gotta admit I'm a little bit of a fair-weather trapper.  I still get out and give it my best when the weather goes bad, but my favorite time to trap is late November.  Running a coon line using footholds is what I love to do most and in late November the coons have just reached prime, the temperature is still up, and the ground is not frozen.  This is when I trap my hardest.  Come January when the ground is frozen solid and the coons won't budge from their dens I switch my attention to fox, but the tough conditions kind of make my efforts halfhearted. Here in Southwestern PA the temp has been consistently in the teens at night for about 4 weeks, which is fairly unusual for my neck of the woods.  I've been fighting the freeze and found it to be lots of work trying to keep my sets operational.  I use buckwheat hulls, peat moss, dry dirt, salt and propylene glycol.  Some methods work better than others, but nothing is 100% foolproof.  At the moment, my trapping has pretty much come to a grinding halt.  I'm looking forward to a February thaw when the boar coons are out looking for love, and hoping the late season pelts are not too rubbed.

In the meantime, however, I've decided that I'm going to just see the weather as a challenge to try new things.  I'm pretty new to using cable restraints, as they've only been legal for a few years now in PA.  I've incorporated a few on my line at select locations since late December but haven't had much success with them yet.  I'm still getting the hang of these things, and definitely need to do more scouting for good locations, but I've decided I'm going to run a short line exclusively with cables restraints this week.  Hopefully I'll have a little success to report.

If anyone has some good tips, tricks or stories using cable restraints I'd love to hear from you!

My last 4-H trapping class is this week, and I'm going to demonstrate skinning and fleshing a raccoon.  Should be fun!   

Utah Rejects Extended Trap Check

The Wildlife Board of Utah recently rejected a proposal to change the ordinance that requires coyote trappers to check traps every 2 days.  The proposal, put forth by some hunters and landowners concerned about coyote populations, sought to extend the trap check to 7 days.  Frankly, I'm glad the proposal failed.  An entire week is way too long between trap checks when using footholds.  I can't imagine why anyone would propose such a change, but the only result was negative publicity.  This is a case of asking too much, and giving the anti-trapping crowd a chance to call into question our commitment to humane practices.  No matter how wrong the antis are, we need to be committed to reasonable and humane trapping laws.

Read the story here:  Utah Wildlife Board Rejects Proposal.   

Hate Mail

I don't get a whole lot of hate mail, but when I do I'm reminded about the kind of people we're dealing with in the animal rights crowd.  The grammar and spelling are uniformly atrocious and the curse words would make a sailor blush.  This particular specimen is unusually pathetic.  I don't know whether to laugh or cry, but I thought my fellow trappers should see what kind of things are being said about us.  This email is a crazed mixture of barely interpretable anti-Christian and anti-trapping profanity, so reader beware.  Harsh language ahead....

First PA Fisher Season in 90 Years

Ron Weller with a PA fisher

Jeremiah Wood over at Trapping Today posted a link to a good story on Pennsylvania's first fisher season in 90 years.  I thought I'd pass it along here.  The five day season was designed to limit any great impact on the small but growing fisher population in PA, but it's great to see new opportunities opening up.  This is a hopeful sign for the future for PA trappers.  I don't trap in the areas where the season was limited, so I didn't get a crack at fisher trapping this year.  I'm hopeful that opportunities will expand and I'll have my chance soon enough.  With the ongoing battle we need to fight to preserve the opportunities we have, it's a bit of good news to see those opportunities expand, even if it's just a little step.

When Dirt Holes Aren't Clicking

This article comes from Tim Caven, expert trapper and owner of Minnesota Trapline Products.  It's an excellent illustration of post and walk through sets.  Thanks Tim! 

Trapping and Christian Ethics



Dr. Stephen Vantassel


I recently had the pleasure of corresponding with Dr. Stephen Vantassel, who is dean of students and tutor of theology at King's Evangelical Divinity School.  Dr. Vantassel has done extensive writing and research on human-wildlife relations from a Biblical perspective, and one of his articles will be of particular interest to trappers.  "Should Wildlife Trapping Have a Place in a Christian Environmental Ethic" is a scholarly, Biblical critique of some of the main claims of the animal rights movement.  It is an excellent article, and I highly recommend that you read it and share it with others who are interested in this subject. 

Dr. Vantassel's website can be found here, which includes information on his book Dominion Over Wildlife?  An Environmental-Theology of Human-Wildlife Relations.

We can be thankful that Dr. Vantassel is shedding the light of sound scholarship on the animal rights debate.

Simple Lure and Bait Holders

Randy from Elk City, Idaho, put together this well illustrated article on useful additions to your pack basket.  Randy is a professional hunting guide and trapper who spends a lot of time in the field.  Thanks, Randy, for sharing your insights!