100$ bounty

[snow]

While pheasant hunting in central nebraska one year we hunted on a farm/ranch,land owner said kill every yote we see and bring'em to the hardware store in town(broken bow),they paid us between $35 to $45/dog depending on how bad they were shot up and size,seemed to work as the loading dock was full with dogs,helped pay for gas and ammo but it would be hard to be consistant all year.

 

[Davey Crockett]

I miss the good old days of fur prices. My dad taught me when I was real young and then he gave me all his traps and quit trapping. There were a couple years I'm thinking 69-70 maybe when I sold a few rats for Christmas money for $ 6.25 and when I sold more later they were $ 7.50 otherwise rats varied 3-5 bucks. A nice male mink would fetch $ 45 and they were abundant , Like Trapper62 said Mink were easy to trap up in the hills, we have quite a few ponds and small creeks with open water . When trapping muskrats once in a while the mink would kill and start eating a trapped rat so set another trap in the house and catch the mink , I always thought that was a good trade. 10-12 mink was about normal and maybe a couple coons if I was lucky. My dad had farm rules , Let weasels and female mink loose that was always spooky and sometimes a 3 ring circus and always had to fetch a perfect stick for the job. . I ordered books from state library how to trap Coyotes and tried and tried never caught a coyote, only fox. Did all the trapping on the farm and hunted fox on the prairie. The local Dakota hide and fur , AKA Porter brothers fur buyer liked me , It was fun to wheel and deal on prices like I watched the old hillbillies do and I think he would jip them and pay a premium to me. FWIW, Back then I was told that Turtle Mountain mink were among the best mink in the world , don't know if it was true or not.

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$ 100 bounty plus pelt money you might make a little spending money but that's about it . unless they lifted the law, and let you hunt with airplane I'd bet you could make some serious spending money. Uncle was a farmer so was my dad so on nice days thy would fox hunt , I don't know how many they would get a year but it was a lot . If I remember right they could carry 6 on the plane 3 on each side. When it was cold enough they didn't have to tie them just pull the wet tongue out and stick it on the plane .

 

[Trapper62]

Thumbs Up

trapping is not a way to make a lot of money. Its a way to have fun and hopefully make a little money doing it.

My buddy in MT traps bobcats. Now that's a way to make money.

 

[lunkerslayer]

Sharing trapping tips old school style.
big barrel of boiling black dye, then dip in barrel of wax, then let dry, you need a some kind of carrying case for a planters spade, a roll of wax paper, a container of dry dirt, fox urine as well as scent glands which dad took about himself (gross) one front paw either fox or coyote, when setting up your line is best to find areas that will be able to come in from one direction only always following the same tracks back out.
Dad liked to set traps across from deer trails edge of tree rows preferably inside away from wind. Next he would find a spot, dig a hole into the side of bank just above the ground level, once the hole was dug he would use a twig to pull out a little piece of bait push the stick deep into the whole that way the coyote or fox had to stick his nose deep into the hole to get at the bait.
Once the hole with the bait was complete, dad would remove just enough soil about a foot from the hole and deep enough to place trap into. He used digger rods from old potato harvesters’ because they were tempered steel he would break off one side of the digger rod so he could drive it into the ground which the traps had only a very short piece of cable attached to the chain. Trap would be set just right as to only the slightest step would make it go off. He would pull ofF a piece of wax paper and crumple it up like if you were going to threw it away. He would pull it apart lay it gently over the entire trap, since the pieces where usually 1x1 foot pieces they would easily cover the trap and still have enough area to place existing soil to hole it down.
Once the wax paper was set in place he would take out his 200 sieve and his container of dry dirt, which he sprinkled just enough to cover the wax paper. He knew from experience how much dirt it could hold before setting it off. Next he would find a small rock to set just off the side of the trap preferably in an area as for the wind to carry the scent of the fox lure.
He would break ofF a piece of tumble weed or a clump of grass and smooth out the ground around the baited area, He would take his paw make imprint into the ground around the opening of the hole he dug out. Then he would spray either the fox or coyote urine in the area to cover up any scent of us. He would break off a piece of grass and remove any tracks we may have made at least 8 to 10 feet out. The place was vital to the success of the set; the only way the coyote was to be able to get bait was put in such a way that he would need to step on the trap from one direction only.
Dad said once a coyote had been caught in that set he would be able to catch all the coyotes in that area because they would piss and shit all over that area which coyotes are very curious as well as cautious animals. He would usually set out more early in the season then once he was able to determine which sets produced the most traffic he would pull the other sets up and move them to a different area.
The old man actually learned how to trap from my great grandma and also by lots of practice he trapped where ever we lived Glasgow Montana, Dickinson ND, New Wradick ND, Hebron ND, then finally in Walhalla ND. There were so many different types of set ups for each animal he was going after beaver, muskrats, mink, raccoon, badger, fox, and coyote. To the way that he know just how much force it took to stun an animal so he could grab it and either break its neck or he would grab it by its front paw and step on its rib cage to suffocate it, He said raccoons were the hardest animals neck to break which was the reason why he would step on its chest.
IN A NUTSHELL
The end
Next time how to set up for a beaver

 

[snowcat]

What's at rat worth now? I remember in the late 60's, I spent an whole winter chipping ice on a small pond, and when I finely got my rat, took him into Porter Bros and collected my $0.35 cents ! ( had to go everyday and chip a hole for the horses anyway.)

 

[luvcatchingbass]

Last muskrat I got wasn't worth much after the 7mm got him.