The dangers of conibear traps

[oldandnew]

Always interesting to read tough guy talk in the morning....the napalm smell of the message boards, I reckon.
I mentally shiver and shake in response.

For my own thought and as I said, I fret very little about traps.
Saw some in Iowa and have seen a washed out and nearly illegible sign indicating one was set at the parking pull-off of a public hunting area in Pennsylvania...I took pains to watch my setters any time my notice is so drawn, as that appeared to make sense.
If I had a dog that blundered into a trap tho, afraid I don't rate dogs as lowly as some as to their intelligence and traps, I would have worked to free the dog and then proceeded to reduce the trap to the equivalent of kindling wood to pass about the town.
Had someone taken offense to the trap's state then I would have paid for it and done exactly the same were it to occur again.

A hunting dog's life is indeed tough...traps in a very few areas, cars near some, sticks in all, fences in many, wolves in more and more....had a friend's dog crack a windpipe on a fence....stuff does happen.
We should all work through it w/o too much animosity to the professional or ethical hobby trapper while also recognizing the increase in many areas of "trappers" termed in use of equipment only.
Deer hunters in some deer areas are running snares for coyotes more often and a snare bought cheaply and set easily and often checked seldom is little mentioned. Even the so-called "safe" snares that may not throttle as surely or completely but may well cause other physical damage to a scared pup. Same as with a jawed trap...in the event of a bad contact with my dogs, the snare would be history.
Ah, well....the "trapper's" loss at that point concerns me not a whit.
Nor does some imagined collective loss to hunters/hunting in general....many more important dangers there as well than misplaced anger to all who trap wisely.
Trappers do a wonderful service in reducing nest predators in the Apps, moreso in the Past....'course the deerhunters do the opposite by having deer feeders whir 365 in feeding raccoons, skunks and possums...heck, maybe they are both in cohoots. Hmmmm.

Pups get hurt down many paths and the wise hunter blessed with a dog is alert and vigilent to many dangers....traps are but one of the minor ones.
But one for which the extremists and tough guys on both sides of the issue love to toot their message board horns.

Be careful afield, respond as you deem necessary, take responsibility as required and hunt on.
To a large degree we have to blindly assume and pray that any legality of action afield is accompanied by a large measure of ethics and a small measure of selfishness.
With traps, et al.
Not much any other way around it.

I guess that is aimed at me. I can assure you I'm not mad, just worn out! As Browndog says we wore out the subject. Nobody is going to change their mind. Perhaps if I had a dog trapped and killed, I'd feel different. I consider the odds to be almost incalcuable. My point was to expose this fear for the irrational reaction it is. By using extreme humor as much as anything else. If you smell napalm, check your drawers, none here. I don't have pink font. :cheers::cheers:

 

[OldDublin]

Well, the "napalm" was humor and a nod to a dumb, imo, movie.

Word choice is where we all must accept the burden of misintrepretation.
"Coddle" or sh** happens or whatever can imply a degree of toughness felt by any poster...simple as that.
"Mad" I never wrote or implied...mad does not follow tough as a given.

A lot of would be HOF dogs got a bullet in the brain as well years ago...the past as with the present is neither perfect nor serves best as an example for today.

I think we all get tired of some subjects and postings.
Considering that trappers are all perfect in the practice and the right to legally trap trumps all else I find especially tiring.
Rights, capital R, can be very selfish....just depends upon the particulars.
Considering that snares in many areas are not a growing concern or a lazy man's manner of protecting deer rather than pelt sales is short-sighted.
Large problem?..nope but best to walk with eyes open.

Again, traps don't worry me much and I take pains to avoid a reason to worry about them afield...does not mean I am blind or find a need to ignore the presence of bad "trappers", those who trap unethically or a change in who sets snares.
Best with any group, hunters, trappers, whatever to self-police a bit by not ignoring potential destructive behavior and consider raising the bar rather than lowering it to some least common denominator.
May help in the long run in avoiding others policing, others who have not the same interest across the board as hunters or trappers.
Loss of public access can be part of that...as can loss from deer and turkey leases....reasons for loss of access falls at many doors.

I do believe the fear of traps is an overreach for most.
I do believe that those who have lost dogs to traps find little to help them in hearing sh** happens, trappers serve a purpose or toughen up, Milo.
I would not even look to see if I have a pink font.

And yes, I would love to see snares go away.
And the consequences of that worries me even less that a conibear in a prime waterway.