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Post by mostinterestingmanintheworld on Dec 30, 2007 9:22:36 GMT -6
In Nevada most guys have gotten to the point of blind setting pinch points against rock ledges, fencing off brush patches, and the like.
The obvious sets with fairly easy access pretty much have something constructed whether it be a few dead pieces of brush blocking a couple of trails to pretty elaborate rock walls.
One guy has rebar stakes with chain and shock springs that he leaves to "mark his territory". Some guys even leave their snapped traps in the set during the off season.
I set a couple of places up this year that had obviously had brush fences from years past in place. The season had been open for a month and no traps there. Two weeks after I had set up the guy came by and set traps 10 feet from mine and brushed the trails out up the wash where he didn't think I'd see I guess.
I met him yesterday and he was grousing about how I had set "his" sets. I told him that I've probably made a 1000 sets like that around the state and I didn't expect other people to stay out of those places that I may never go back to.
I'd be interested in opinions on this matter. This is all public land.
Joel
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Post by thorsmightyhammer on Dec 30, 2007 9:29:22 GMT -6
Public land and no trap near its fair game.
That guy should try to run bridges in the midwest here during mink and coon season.
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Post by bobwendt on Dec 30, 2007 9:34:22 GMT -6
take the bitter with the sweet. private land, 24 hr runs and non residents and mud eyeball high to a camel, you guys have it made. I have asked and received as high as 350 WRITTEN permissions in years past. you never have to ask anyone. your fur is worth 10-50 time the most expensive animals in most other states. tout weather is many times superior to most of the country( havn`t seen the sun but 2 (TWO!) days in december so far and every 3-4 days torrential floods or blizzards). you need to get out more joel to appreciate what you have. one thing nice about a major lifes catastrophe- house burns, go broke, wife runs off, sick kids , death in the family etc. it`s the lords way to tell you nothing else means squat. some guy setting your area or you setting his? doesn`t even rate mention. serious, you have it so good you can`t see it. like oprah styling a dress and telling the audience it`s so cheap, only $2,400.00 each,so anyone can afford it. she has forget what`s real and not. except her overt rascism which gets pretty lame. that`s real and she &*^ #%#%# knows it. it`s just the dumb white women that must not see it. anyway, not downing you at all joel, just saying look around. it`s all good.
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Post by mostinterestingmanintheworld on Dec 30, 2007 9:58:52 GMT -6
I'm not complaining, I'm just doing a poll to see what other guys think.
Being the president of the assoc. I hear this all the time, everybody calls me and tells me their troubles. lol!!
I tell them my feelings and that is that if you stayed out of every canyon that has a trap in it or "off some guys mountain" you might as well stay home.
Just thought it would be an interesting discussion, I'm not that tore up about the situation, it was only in two separate locations.
The psychology is what is interesting. I believe he set one of his sets 10 feet away while there was a cat in my trap. That is what the game warden told me.
I'm going to let him have the places, I think what is gonna get caught has been caught.
It is similar to bridges and hunting blinds around waterholes. Some of those guys fight for hunting blinds.
Joel
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Post by robertw on Dec 30, 2007 10:41:50 GMT -6
Joel, Tell them to grow up and quit griping.....This is public land, everyone owns it and EVERYONE is entitled to trap it.
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Post by ColdSteel on Dec 30, 2007 11:11:24 GMT -6
We use to have a gentlemans agreement around here.I have lost farms I trapped for 3 or 4 years because greys are so hot now.Everyone wants to fox trap now and several years ago everyone was cocking 330's for otter and I hear this story all the time "I don't trap for the money I trap because I love it!".I personally think that statement is a bunch of bull
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Post by Possum on Dec 30, 2007 11:29:43 GMT -6
I don't have a lot of competition because I trap mostly private property. The few times I've found other guy's traps on land where I have exclusive permission, I snap the trap and insert one of my trapping biz cards in the trap with the message, I have permission on this farm, you don't. Call me. Never been called but the guy leaves. I do occasionally have people trapping adjacent properties. When we happen to come in contact I ask about his success, he asks about mine and I figure let the best man win.
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Post by billmeyerhoff on Dec 30, 2007 11:43:49 GMT -6
You did nothing wrong, but in my opinion his actions were unethical. If someone wants to control it they need to buy it, and if it's not for sale they need to find some that is.
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Post by k9 on Dec 30, 2007 12:36:46 GMT -6
First come first served Joel on public land, amdif they areleaving thier traps staked year round I would set right there and move theirs out of the way. I am guessing a fellow will be able to tell if a trap has layed there long term, as opposed to one that has been snapped off by something.
Bob watches Ophra??? I didn't see that one coming!
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Post by mostinterestingmanintheworld on Dec 30, 2007 13:58:00 GMT -6
Yeah I don't know where he gets the time to watch Oprah he's always on here giving us all hell!! lol!!
To bad Beyonce doesn't have a show, course then we'd never hear from him again.
Joel
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Post by bobwendt on Dec 30, 2007 14:45:27 GMT -6
you got that right. I`m leaving on a carribean vacation with beyonce tues or wed, so I`ll see you guys in a month or 6 weeks. hope she can last that long. if she kills me, well, you know how I died and I saw the white light at the beginning, middle and end. dang, I`m getting a woodie right now just thinking about it.
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Post by JWarren on Dec 30, 2007 15:14:53 GMT -6
On keeping with the "you have it easier than me" theme at least you guys don't have the nonresident influx, lol I know exactly what your talking about though a good cat set is like a beacon that every trapper who comes by gravitates toward, not like alot of other species where you can bring them to you
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Post by bfflobo on Dec 30, 2007 16:34:07 GMT -6
Joel, I have found spots where there has been old sets. I usually leave them alone for a while if the season is young, if no one shows up I go head and set them. If the season is well under way I go ahead and set. Haven't had any problems yet. If they ever do show up, I will probably lose my stuff, or have someone checking for me. Do my best to hide all my tracks if I can. My biggest problem is hound hunters running the rims. Some of them are o.k., others are low life.
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Post by mostinterestingmanintheworld on Dec 30, 2007 16:48:16 GMT -6
Yeah I'll usually go find my own place, but sometimes there is really only one good place.
I've found sets made in places where I've stacked the rocks up and I just say good luck.
You know the Smoke Creek desert, how many guys have been in there since the dawn of time.lol!!
As the old saying goes you have to pack your own rock!!
Joel
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Post by bblwi on Dec 30, 2007 16:50:38 GMT -6
Wow Joel, you have a climate where you can leave steel out 24/7/365 and it won't rust bad or get ruined? Also you have some really remote areas where some can leave traps at the site and come back and set them later. We have 2-3 million public acres maybe .5 million more with county land and if I left my hardware out there after season, I would not have any traps or gear. I say set up as you go. What does that say for any new trapper that he/she can't go set up an area. They don't know the long term history and should not have to either.
Bryce
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Post by mostinterestingmanintheworld on Dec 30, 2007 17:18:58 GMT -6
One year I left 90 cat sets in the field, just threw them over a branch so they were off the ground and used them the next year. If somebody else would have come in and set there I'd have just pulled my trap and moved on.
That was 35 years ago and I was the only guy with a snowmobile in town. High cold tough country. Man when the sun would go behind the mountain the temperature would drop 10-15 degrees right now. The shock of that hurt!!
Funny thing about the guy I mentioned, I don't know how long he has been trapping but I don't know him so likely a new guy.
First time I set traps in this area was 1985 so I guess I could question what he was doing on "my mountain" with his sets? Ha ha!!
Really it wasn't that big of a deal, we didn't get in a fistfight or anything. He had his wife along and I felt kind of bad that she was in the middle between me outside and him driving.
I hope to see him at the fur sale, maybe we can sit a spell and discuss the situation.
Couple of cat sets ain't worth hard feelings.
Joel
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Post by JWarren on Dec 30, 2007 17:24:44 GMT -6
Wow Joel, you have a climate where you can leave steel out 24/7/365 and it won't rust bad or get ruined? That goes on alot in WY and we aren't even as dry as nV. Particularly before check times guys would be running close to 1000 traps and just leave them staked in with a 30 in rebar after a couple years you need a handyman jack or bolt cutters to get them out so they wouldn't get stolen. Mostly before my times most of those guys quit when the 72 check came law.
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Post by trapperdog on Dec 30, 2007 17:47:58 GMT -6
Joel,Had A similar event happen yesterday.Set up an area in Oregon strictly for cats.No vehicle access,walk in only,pretty rough country.My first year trapping it,never saw any sign of other trappers,plus I started 30 days after cat season opened so figure it was safe for me to start.Figured no hound hunters as no roads to drive in on,and pretty steep rough country,I had walked about 5 miles in and was almost out back to my truck. I see two guys walking in with 2 hounds,pretty obvious hound hunters.I stop and start a conversation and then let them know I have the area set up for cats.Luckily for me I only set up the log crossings w/ snares that day. I told them to be careful with there dogs on any log crossings.Everything went pretty well considering they have hunted there for years.He also told me he is the only one that hound hunts the area,because of how rough it is.He probably wasn't real keen when I told him I was gonna be in the area all January.But we left on good terms. I won't make any foothold sets that could catch his dogs,and told him that. I don't think were gonna have any problems.Its public ground so we all can use the area as far as I' concerned.bob maier
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