No bag limits
12-29-2016, 06:15 PM
#1
Fork Horn
Thread Starter
Join Date: Sep 2010
Posts: 386
No bag limits
It's fur bearing season if you're a trapper. I find it interesting there are no bag limits. You can catch every Raccoon & Fox, and mostly every other fur bearer until there are no more left.
How do they figure that is not going to decimate the population if there are serious trappers in the area??
I'm a weekend trapper, so maybe 1 or 2 nights I'll put out traps, then take them back in on Sunday. But what about the areas that are heavily trapped?
How do they figure that is not going to decimate the population if there are serious trappers in the area??
I'm a weekend trapper, so maybe 1 or 2 nights I'll put out traps, then take them back in on Sunday. But what about the areas that are heavily trapped?
12-29-2016, 06:29 PM
#3
Nontypical Buck
Join Date: Feb 2015
Location: Illinois
Posts: 3,695
Trust me Blur, that aint happinin!! For one, you would have to have some SERIOUSLY dedicated trappers laying MANY traps. And coons aint stupid. Neither are Fox. They catch on pretty quick. And there really isn't many trappers around any more. Not serious ones anyway. If there were, they would set limits.
12-29-2016, 08:13 PM
#5
Super Moderator
Join Date: Dec 2006
Location: Trumbull County, Ohio
Posts: 9,520
I trapped when I was in high school. Haven't done any trapping in the last 8 years. But I plan on doing some weekend trapping in the next few years as my step son gets older to teach him. He's only four now. But has a big interest and I occasionally set out a box trap when I have coons getting into the chickens and he enjoys that.
But I don't think you need to worry about the bag limits. Not enough trappers to damage the population.
-Jake
But I don't think you need to worry about the bag limits. Not enough trappers to damage the population.
-Jake
Last edited by Bocajnala; 12-29-2016 at 08:16 PM.
12-30-2016, 04:19 AM
#7
Spike
Join Date: Aug 2014
Posts: 45
My friend wiped out his coon population. They were ripping up his trash, attic, barn, yard; everything is sight. He was feed up; trapped 16 of them, and hasn't seen one since.
Foxes are not so prevalent. They are far & few between around here. I'd say trapping one female Fox may hurt the population.
Foxes are not so prevalent. They are far & few between around here. I'd say trapping one female Fox may hurt the population.
12-30-2016, 04:36 AM
#8
Boone & Crockett
Join Date: Jul 2014
Location: south eastern PA
Posts: 15,436
Plenty of foxes and coons. Because you don't see them doesn't mean they aren't around We have limits on Bobcat, ,otter and fisher one per year, for beaver the limits vary depending on which MU you are trapping in. No closed season on opossum, skunks and coyotes. I wouldn't worry about the coons and foxes, we have a lot less trappers not than we used to and it is important to keep the populations down because of rabies.
12-30-2016, 08:20 AM
#10
Nontypical Buck
Join Date: Apr 2015
Location: Germany/Calif.
Posts: 2,664
Where you see few Fox you likely see a healthy Coyote population. Where you see low Coyote numbers there is likely Wolves about. Where you see few Raccoons there is likely another predator thinning them out.
Most of this is conjecture, but empirical information is valid if the premise is born out by observable facts.
There are areas here that are devoid of Raccoons, which seem to be in high Fox population areas. The same areas have really low Duck, Pheasant, Hare and Rabbit populations.
Just like areas with high Weasel and Martin populations have very few Squirrels and many common birds are rare there.
We got a mandate, from what is equal to the game commission here, to thin out the Fox population. There was a plague, a really nasty sort of parasite. It lasted ten years. They even offered rifles and shotguns in a sort of Fox hunting derby. The naturalists would say let nature take it's course. The wild card is it is near a village, villages have Cats, children have sand boxes. This parasite is incurable.
Fox are survivors, if you thin out the Yotes you are likely to have a surplus of Fox.
The only real wild card is disease and that is often tied into game population densities.
An example, this square, half mile on a side. Four Fox families living in that square. Average six pups a year. The only real predator they have here is man. The red dots are known Dens, there are probably others I never found.
A side note there is a pond close, but off the square, with no Raccoons and few Ducks.
If you extrapolate that square you end up with a **** load of Fox-
Last edited by MudderChuck; 12-30-2016 at 08:41 AM.