what do you guys do with the meat? always wonder about that? Raccoon is not bad barbecued. not sure about the kitty............
Ultra, it's sort of a reverse way of thinking from deer hunting.. With deer, most of us (again, most) use the meat and throw away the hide. Here, that scenario is reversed -- though you can find uses for it. Bobcat meat can be ground up in lure making, as well as beaver.
I remember my father telling me "You kill it and you clean it and you will eat it" sure made you think before i pulled the trigger.
And I feel the same about edible game as well. I also understand and value the importance trapping has had in our heritage, as well as the role it plays in the management of these animals in today's times. From my own state's website: Trapping is more than an enjoyable and profitable outdoor activity. Regulated trapping can be an effective means to attain desired furbearer population levels. Annual harvest regulations are established by balancing current fur market demands and harvest pressures with the status of furbearer population. If harvest pressures are excessive or if population levels become depressed, season restrictions are adopted to prevent possible over harvests. As an example, a long-term natural decline of Missouri's red fox population, coupled with escalating demand for fox furs, resulted in the complete suspension of red fox harvest from 1977 to 1979. On the other hand, regulations were liberalized in 1978 to encourage increased harvests of Missouri's growing and occasionally troublesome beaver population. Trapping is an important and commonly used wildlife research tool. Research provides information that directly benefits furbearer management programs. Using live or foot-hold traps, researchers can capture animals alive, then obtain biological information or tag and release the animals for later recapture either by researchers or by hunters and trappers. Capture/recapture techniques enable biologists to estimate populations in specific areas or study animals' movements and dispersal. Wildlife Restoration Missouri's currently flourishing beaver population resulted from the relocation of damage-causing animals to unoccupied suitable habitats. Although beaver live-trapping equipment is specialized, basic trapping techniques made this successful restoration effort possible. Conventional trapping techniques have been used in other parts of the country to reestablish furbearer populations. Damage Control In Missouri, trapping is a major tool used in the selective control of predators that attack livestock or furbearers that damage crops an property. Examples of losses that can be controlled in this manner are raccoons damaging corn fields, rodents eating stored grains, beavers causing flood problems, muskrats draining ponds, and coyotes and foxes killing poultry and livestock. The Department of Conservation, through its wildlife damage control program, provides trapping instruction to landowners with problems. Only a few wild animals create wildlife problems; most benefit the environment. While some predators may cause damage or kill livestock, more are beneficial and help control nuisance rodents. Some beaver may flood croplands, pastures, or road culverts, but others preserve precious water during summer droughts and create habitat for other wildlife. Wildlife damage control through selective trapping allows Missourians to deal with problem animals and yet enjoy the benefits of wildlife diversity.
That rug came out GORGEOUS!!! It looks very real. Even the nose looks wet still. Thanks for sharing. Sal
Thanks, Sal... and everyone. I did all the fleshing and turned the nose, lips and eyelids on him. The head mold is a one-off personal from one of the world's best taxi's I am blessed to have as a trapping mentor, taxidermist, and friend. He let me try to do it all myself, but he ended up helping me quite a bit laying down the flesh on the head and getting the eyes right. Tried to pay him for it since he ended up doing most of the work, but he wouldn't hear of it. But then again, do bring him usually a deer a year, plus the occasional pronghorn or elk... so he's still ahead.
The conservation dept is a funny group with there latest views of ''wasting of wanted meat" as to it applies to deer and turkey and you can be ticketed for it. I would like to now how it applies to bowfishing and trapping as a veiwpoint . I know a lot of people dont eat the fish they bowkill. like gar
Raccoons are tasty. Possums too. I can't even begin to count how many muskrats I've eaten. (lots!) Bobcat is supposed to be really good. Like veal. I never eaten one tho'. Beaver is excellent. (seriously! stop giggling.) In some states the meat from trapped critters may be legally sold and often is worth as much as the hide. (raccoons in particular) BTW, gar is yummy too. (provided that the water they're from is cool and clear, like most fish, the warmer and muddier the water.. the more they taste like muddy, warm water.) http://www.illinoisbowfishers.com/gar.html For a different perspective than MO. In Illinois it is perfectly legal to shoot a deer; tag it, call it in.. and then throw the whole thing away. You don't have to eat or salvage a single scrap of it if you don't want to. Same with a turkey.
I love going to wildlife dinners where you can try some creative game cooking I will leave the beaver comment to myself. but i know beavers live near or in water is that why they smell like fish. sorry i had too.
Had a BC cubby set triggered today, empty trap. Reset, rebuilt, and we'll see what happens. It's in a great location.
Ben, did you see any tracks around the set? I'm wonderinf if freeze/thaw conditions may have fired your trap? Are you using any flagging on your cat sets?
I'll take that as a ......"Yes...my 'wildlife' photos are of trapped animals". Just wondering. This is akin to getting one last photo of Bob with the kids, just before we lethally inject him. Everyone smile!
