My public land conibears, please read

[mn_archer]

I ran what might be considered a longline for bobcats this winter with my now wife. we had out anywhere between 50-70 traps at any one time and covered more than 100 miles with 65 of it by atv. We got our limit of 10 bobcats and one fisher and zero incidentals. We spoke with 2 grouse hunters on opening day and explained to them everything they needed to know about conibears and they were confident enough to continue down a trail where we told them we just set 4 traps.

We had a total of one trap messed with, but people walked into several others to check them out.

It is a sad story about the Dr and his dog and although this is no excuse, if he had taken the time to learn about conibears his dog would be fine. He talks about his thumb being sore or something, this can only be because he knows nothing about conibears. You would not use your thumb to set a 220. I can remove a 220 with no setters in much less than a minute, which would be more than enough time to get it off a dog.

as I said, I will be taking a bunch of pics when I get a chance of a 220.

Here are some pics of our set up---

see the lip on the top of the box? This is specifically there to prevent a dog from crawling into the box. I've never heard of a dog getting caight in this style of box.

here is a fisher-

here is one with a radio collar...

michael

[mn_archer]

[picksbigwagon]

Mn_archer,

I love the pictures, I have a friend that used to trap when he was in high school and the fur prices were high (mid 80's)but know no one else. I have been educating myself the last few weeks about conibear traps and I am curious as to how that lip on top of the box keeps a dog out of the trap. I don't even own a dog, but I wonder why it keeps them out.

I would love to call in a bobcat, but where I hunt coyotes is in the closed bobcat areas. someday I will call one in.......

I also would like to keep this as an educational post to those of us who don't trap.....keep those pictures rolling

[Dave S]

I'm a dog owner and don't trap. But reading the information here has sparked my interest.

Great pics Michael.

[mn_archer]

Lep, where are you located? If youn want to ride with some day and aren't too far away let me know-

picks, I've tried many times to call cats with no luck. There is too much woods and not enought cats here.

michael

[Dave S]

I live a little over an hour south of Zimmerman (in Le Sueur). How late do you run your trap lines?

[mn_archer]

well we are done now, but next fall if you want to learn anything I'll be trapping mink and coon in nov and cats in dec.

michael

[mn_archer]

i have to change my profile, i am no longer in zimm-

michael

[walleyes12]

For you that are intrested or want to learn to set a conibear, they are really inexpensive, 9.95 at most sporting goods, practice setting it bunch of times!

MN_archer is right, they are not tough to set by hand, just some practice.

[mn_archer]

I made a new post with a bunch of pics on removing a conibear from a dog---

michael

[wishing for walleyes]

It is a sad story about the Dr and his dog and although this is no excuse, if he had taken the time to learn about conibears his dog would be fine. He talks about his thumb being sore or something, this can only be because he knows nothing about conibears. You would not use your thumb to set a 220. I can remove a 220 with no setters in much less than a minute, which would be more than enough time to get it off a dog.

see the lip on the top of the box? This is specifically there to prevent a dog from crawling into the box. I've never heard of a dog getting caight in this style of box.

I really dont see how the lip would stop a dog from sticking its head in the box to smell the bait.Thats great if it stops the dog from getting his head in the trap.what about setting the traps up in trees,where the dogs cant get to them.I hunted coon with dogs for 22 years and yep my best dog fell to a 220 mounted in a 5 gallon pail.No name on the trap either.Its a tough one because yes it is more humane for the animals using a conibear verses foot hold.But on the other hand every dog i had to take out of a foot hold survived to hunt again.

[BLACKJACK]

Originally Posted By: mn_archer

It is a sad story about the Dr and his dog and although this is no excuse, if he had taken the time to learn about conibears his dog would be fine. He talks about his thumb being sore or something, this can only be because he knows nothing about conibears. You would not use your thumb to set a 220. I can remove a 220 with no setters in much less than a minute, which would be more than enough time to get it off a dog.

see the lip on the top of the box? This is specifically there to prevent a dog from crawling into the box. I've never heard of a dog getting caight in this style of box.

I really dont see how the lip would stop a dog from sticking its head in the box to smell the bait.Thats great if it stops the dog from getting his head in the trap.what about setting the traps up in trees,where the dogs cant get to them.I hunted coon with dogs for 22 years and yep my best dog fell to a 220 mounted in a 5 gallon pail.No name on the trap either.Its a tough one because yes it is more humane for the animals using a conibear verses foot hold.But on the other hand every dog i had to take out of a foot hold survived to hunt again.

I agree wishing for walleyes, if trappers really wanted to stop catching dogs they'd put them 3 foot up in trees, all the targeted species can climb trees but dogs can't. Looking at that picture, my labs would have no problem sticking their heads in that box.

What it boils down to is if trappers won't clean up their act eventually lawmakers will get involved after some kid's pup gets killed in a conibear.

[WAG416]

Quote:

I agree wishing for walleyes, if trappers really wanted to stop catching dogs they'd put them 3 foot up in trees, all the targeted species can climb trees but dogs can't. Looking at that picture, my labs would have no problem sticking their heads in that box.

I think we should ask mn_archer how this style of box works to prevent dog catches, before we make it try to sound like trappers just dont care whether or not they catch dogs.

Quote:

What it boils down to is if trappers won't clean up their act eventually lawmakers will get involved after some kid's pup gets killed in a conibear.

What it boils down to is, common sense on both a trappers part, and a better knowledge and understanding of how traps work on the pet owners part. Even if you dont trap, educate ones self and others on how traps work, and prepare yourself if this situation were to unfold. Lets hope it never does. Were all sportsman on the same playing field, the more we know about and respect each others quest, the better experience we all have.

I had an anti stop me while i was making a beaver set this spring(who has had a dog caught in traps before), and I asked him to accompany me while i made my sets. After a better understanding of how lawfully set traps are intended to work, he had no problem with me being down there.

now I understand the sets in question in this topic are mostly conibear landsets, but my point with that story, was that a little education and understanding can go a long way for those that dont how trapping works. Lucky for me, the man was very patient and eager to learn. Plus i got permission to hunt turkeys on his land before he left

[leech~~]

On 6/30/2022 at 5:35 AM, vassapa said:

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