For those who enjoy my trapping pics... today's gray fox

LOL............if you can't send out unsolicited dong pics without getting in trouble what kind of world are we living in??

 

I am so jealous

 

He got in trouble because you were in the background.




You kill anything out there in Michigan this year dude??

 

Don't worry Germy, I'll send you an updated pic. I have a new phone, so you can see my junk in 8mp.

 

Atlas, it was all about what you were saying and how you were saying it. You sounded like Ingrid Newkirk in disguise. If someone joined the boards today and started posting what you were, everyone would believe them to be a troll from PETA. Just because you've been here for a long time doesn't give you, or anyone, a pass to slam a perfectly legal sport that other sportsmen enjoy.....especially the way you were.

Remember, I'm not talking about your comments on the pictures.

If you want to talk about it anymore, you can PM me. I'm not going to post anything else in the thread on this topic.

 

Just time

 

The hugging and making up in this thread is sickening.

I want to see black eyes and bloodied noses!

 

Oh my.... you are one sick puppy. You and Bernie Fine belong in the same sentence.LOL

P.S. I do NOT want a copy of the picture you sent to Justin.

 

You gonna mount it??

 

If I had the time I decided to coach a travel fast pitch softball team for my daughter, I had no idea of the time commitment.

 

Yikes.........my pinhead brother signed up to bowl every Saturday and shows up like a good soldier even though most of the other idiots skip out. He has ruined his entire hunting season. Oh well, he shot a doe so he's happy.

 

Sorry I was gone all day... did I miss anything?

Let's get one thing out of the way...

There's a reason I entitled this thread the way I did: "For those who ENJOY my trapping pics..."

Don't like them? Stay the hell off this or any other thread about trapping in the future; it's not like I pulled a bait-and-switch tactic of saying "Look at my cute little boys", and you open it to discover there's a trapped animal in the pic as well. You knew full-well what to expect, and if you didn't... you do now. Trust me... it's been YEARS since I clicked on one of your threads.

It's an extremely slippery slope when "sportsmen" who enjoy many aspects of a sport like bowhunting decide that another outdoor activity doesn't stand up to their personal standards and they vehemently attack it with asinine logic that reeks of illogical fallacies which are quickly pointed out en masse by the casual observer. It brings to mind this month's column in the NRA's member magazine about "Who the enemy really is..." It's NOT the minority who doesn't understand the passion outdoorsmen feel in their pursuit of the outdoors -- it's the fighting factions within.

It's okay to send a 28"-long piece of carbon with a metal head outfitted with razors attached into a perfectly serene, beautiful and unsuspecting whitetail deer from a perch of 20' above where they're not used to having danger come from but not ok to trap? If it's not ok to trap... why is it ok to use prehistoric methods to drive an object through the insides of an unsuspecting animal like a deer? I assure you, you don't see on the trapping forums threads at the beginning of the season that we "wounded one and can't find it..." ad nauseum. Perhaps we should outlaw the cruel practice of bowhunting?

What about firearms hunting? How unfair is that? Firearms hunters regularly brag about shooting big-game animals from 500+ yards; there's even a show on t.v. devoted to nothing but kills longer than that. What's the chances of miscalculating wind speed, trajectory – even the animal simply moving before the bullet arrives? So murdering animals with a gun up close is no fair... murdering them from long range is even more unfair at best and perhaps unethical at worst ... let's banish that then.

What about ripping a steel hook through the jaw of an unsuspecting fish and yanking it out of its environment while it suffocates before your eyes? How many of us take pictures of the trophy (with -- gasp! KIDS in the picture as well!) before we put them on a stringer, or choose to release them back into their environment -- since they were determined a non-target catch (not big enough, incorrect species, etc.).

Yes, all absurd examples to us that frequently participate in those activities... sounds like a PETA-type attack, wanting to infringe on what we believe is our God-given rights to actively participate in the outdoors -- whether that be a hike through nature, or by controlling the population of a given species by hunting methods. And, yes... to enjoy that "right" even in the midst of killing the target animal. Watch ANY of us from a distance shooting a deer with a gun or bow and tell me we don't enjoy it. Remorseful for the taking of a created life? Absolutely... but we enjoy it none the less.

People forget that EXACT same set of beliefs/rights/actions... whatever you want to call it -- however you want to think of it --had BETTER be extended to the trapper, and you better be PRAYING it never gets taken away. When it does, you are THAT close to having your hunting and fishing rights taken away... because after all, any instance of doing what YOU call "normal" can be shown to be "vicious", "inhumane" ... or "unevolved" to anyone else -- because THEY DON'T LIKE IT. I pray to God we don't ever lose our rights to participate in the outdoors because someone doesn't LIKE it.

I'll tell you this: I don't PERSONALLY choose to gun hunt, but I'll fight to the DEATH for anyone else to have the RIGHT to gun hunt -- including atlas. Just because "I" choose not to participate in a method that others use to enjoy the outdoors, I am fully cognizant of the importance of not allowing one ***** in the armor for the opposition to exploit. Bowhunters (especially those who choose to ONLY bowhunt, as I do...) NEED the gun hunter's numbers and voice in upholding our right to hunt.

Decide to turn against one activity in the umbrella of outdoor pursuits, and you're INVITING your own pursuit which YOU like to be attacked, torn down, and taken away from you -- plain and simple.

Enough of that.

As to why I -- and almost EVERYONE who traps take pictures of the animals alive -- and often with our kids in them, is that in what OTHER wildlife-related activity can you get a picture of the animal ALIVE and virtually UNHARMED? (Read back through this thread for verification of that, instead of having a knee-jerk reaction and showing ignorance.) It's one of the very few activities kids can tag along on and get SO close to wildlife, and not have to worry about being super-still for two hours, to not have to talk, and to not be their own inquisitive selves. My boys -- and ALL trapper's children who have the benefit of tagging along on our lines -- have an education about wildlife that is PRICELESS. And almost NOBODY's kids have ever been within a few feet of a live coyote, bobcat or fox... it's an AMAZING experience for us as fathers, and them as kids -- one they sometimes don't even realize HOW amazing, as they take it for granted. My son has is just starting to realize how lucky he is getting to see a live predator THAT up close.

So... we like to capture that and wrap that whole preceding paragraph into one snapshot in time -- through a picture. Many on here have written of such fond memories of tagging along with an uncle or their fathers, on the trapline when they were barely big enough to keep up; is it any wonder they love my pictures?? I’d bet a hundred dollars they’d love to have pictures of themselves on the trapline with their dads – and with the animal alive. It’s how we remember them. Anyone can pick up a dead roadkilled coon or coyote off the side of the interstate and take a picture of it… VERY few can be in the same picture up close with a live predator save the wonders of Photoshop. My kids are sure as heck going to have those pics to look back on and remember those times with Dad.

Let most choose which picture they are more drawn to… this:



Or this:




And I can tell you unequivocally that the casual bystander is enthralled with the latter. I get ten times as many compliments on the second picture because of the very reasons I stated; they know they’ll NEVER be able to afford their children that opportunity.

Don’t make the mistake of PETA’s number-one error: ascribing REASONING to an animal. The animal is calm and is NOT being tortured. It’s NOT sitting there thinking to itself “Wow, they’re going to kill me in 30 seconds… wait, nope. It’s going to be an extra minute now that this guy’s taken a camera out… Sure do wish he’d hurry up and get this over with by putting me down those couple of minutes quicker…”

For those truly interested in educating themselves further, I suggest you watch this short video clip… you’ll learn a lot more about what I said above, as well as the integral role trapping plays in conservation. It’s entitled “Destroying the Myth.”

http://www.fntpost.com/index.php?page=91

 

Great post Greg !! Looking forward to more pictures of the critters trapped and your boys !!

Tim

 

FTR....I also thought that taking pictures of the kids with the live animal was a little different and odd.

Greg, your post is 100% spot on and extremely well written. The first half I have always agreed with and understood, and now I have a better understanding of the pictures, thanks to the second half of your post.

Have a blast and keep those kids involved.

 

<<<<BAM>>>>

 

I love the pics, both alive and dead and thrilled that you are doing this with your kids. What a great thing to share.

 

I don't think people realize how hard and tough it is to fool a coyote and get him in a trap. I mean, scent control has to be rediculous. My brother boils traps with shumack and all sorts of vile crap to kill stink. Wears boiled gloves etc etc. And then if you catch a big one in the wrong dirt he hauls off your trap and you go gun hunting. LOL It's tough stuff.

 

I wish there was a standing ovation smilie ..... post of the year

 

Greg- Great post. It's truly amazing that you can share these experiences with your boys and preserve the memories forever in photos. IMHO two guys laughing, high fiving, and telling you how they "just smoked a giant" (which was clearly gutshot) is what is disturbing.

 

But wait.... I don't like Greg/MO.... his post must be all wrong. LOL Nice post Greg.... even though I don't like the pictures with the kiddies.