anyone here ever been a trapper?

[gunsmith]

I have very little income and there isn't much work here in northern NV.
 One thing I do see ( well, hear actually ) is an abundance of coyote- I see them once in awhile and hear em all the time.
In NV you can pretty much kill as many yotes as you feel, and if you have a trappers license
you can sell their fur.
I don't know anything about how to start out, do I need to skin them? where to sell?
Is it profitable?
I can borrow a number of rifles ( including a model 70 in 30-06!)

Anyone have any input?

[Regolith]

If you're going to sell the furs, its better to trap them than shoot them.  And if you're going to shoot them, a .30-06 isn't a good choice.  You want as small an entrance wound as possible with no exit wound. A .30-06 would leave a good sized entrance wound and likely an even larger exit wound.

Other than that, I got nothing.

[Triphammer]

First, make sure there's a market. Check your area to find a local fur buyer, telephone book, local sporting good stores, local hunting clubs. If theirs no buyer in the immediate area it gets more difficult. Then talk to the buyer to see what he wants. If you've never skinned furbearers before he might want whole carcasses but it'll lower price you are paid. He may buy "green skins" skinned but not fleshed or dryed. If there is a ready supply ofhide hunters & trappers, he may only be interested in fleshed & stretched pelts.

If there isn't a local buyer, find acopy of "Fur, Fish & game" (magazine) & check the ads for a national buyer.

 DO NOT salt any hides you may pick up in the mean time!!! Freeze them, case skinned fur side in,  if nothing else.

[Jim147]

That's good advice in my area from Triphammer.

I have only done a little trapping. There is little money in it and it takes a lot of time. You may have a bigger market in NV but I wouldn't invest any money into trapping around here unless that was your last gasp.

Can you find any work in scrap? If you can find old motors. Strip building wire down to the copper or something like that I think you might make more money.

jim

[Jamisjockey]

Think smaller for yotes, something in the .22 family.  .223 is a real good choice.

[charby]

Fur isn't paying squat right now.

I trapped years ago mostly to remove raccoons from barns in exchange for permission to hunt.

Coyotes are probably the hardest to trap because they are pretty smart critters. You can lure them in with scent, usually a couple holes poked int he ground with a couple different scents in each hole, place traps in front of the holes, slighty covered with dirt and leaves also place a set of traps a few feet behind them to catch the coyotes when it backs up if it can smell you on the traps.

Traps need to be boiled, stained and waxed and kept as human scent free as possible.

If you aren't willing to skin, scrape and dry your hide, you will need to store the animal (whole) in a freezer until you are able to sell to a fur buyer.

[French G.]

I mildly entertained dedicated coyote hunting when the county next door put in a $75 bounty. Then they made it for county residents only. Our county will probably have a bounty sooner or later, then it might be worthwhile, or at least an excuse to buy a coyote rifle. What you mean everyone doesn't use a suppressed AR-15 with night vision?  I've never met the guy here that buys fur but I think his ad usually says something less than $10 a hide for 'yote, nowhere near being worth the trouble. 

[41magsnub]

Same experience here, I looked at it and it also was going to end up being about $10-$15/hide.  I decided for $10 it was not worth making the mess so I just shoot em and leave em to feed the crows.

I like the salvage idea if you have the rig to do it.  Around here at my hunting spots there is always lots of old retired farm equipment, junk vehicles, and etc stashed around.  If it could be done profitably, I bet a lot of the land owners would be happy to split the recycling fee with you if you did the hauling.

[220_SWIFT]

I used to coyote hunt to supplement my income.  The pay isn't great, but you can make money.  I still hunt every year and use the money for my "gun fund".

If you are going to hunt them, 30-06 is way too much gun.  I tried 223, 22-250, 220 Swift, 204 Ruger, and finally settled on the 17 Rem.  The 22-250 and the Swift were great rounds, but could put one heck of a hole on the offside. The 17 Rem was a good mix of accuracy, range, and not destroying the fur.  Downside is ammo availability and price.  The 223 would be my next choice.

Also, you will need to learn how to call.  It isn't hard, but it does take practice. 

It is a fun way to make some money.  Last year I took 23 coyotes, and averaged $10/each.  That was for thick winter furs that were skinned, green, and frozen.  Definitely find a buyer before you start, and find out how he wants them delivered.  You can't set a price ahead of time as prices constantly change.  But at least you will know what he prefers. 

As for trapping, that can be an expensive venture to start.  You could easily drop the same money as a new rifle on traps.  At least with the rifle, if you decide you don't like it you can recoup most of the cost.  Used traps don't fetch much money, unless you are the one trying to buy them. LOL

[Tallpine]

Sounds like a good way to make about $0.25 per hour 

[cassandra and sara's daddy]

http://www.nodakoutdoors.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=11&t=20626
is a cheap homemade caller  if anyone wants to make one i'll spring for parts for 2 if they'll make me one too at same time.

[Gowen]

Sounds like a good way to make about $0.25 per hour 

Yeah, but $0.25/hr out in the field with a rifle sounds like a heck of a lot more fun than sitting in a office with some jerk-wad of a boss breathing down your neck.  I'm just say'n.

I would try many different things making money.  I would hunt song dogs in the morning and haul scrap during the day.  Nobody says you only have to have one job.  I see on Craigslist ads for people wanting scrap metal all the time.  Yes, you are one of many, but you don't need a lot of money and you are up in the boonies not competing with the in town crowd.  If you have access to a car, see if you can run errands for some of the folks out there for a fee.  If you can make some kind of craft, there is Etsy.com. 

My wife is full of it ideas, just off the top of her head.

Rattlesnake skin/taxidermy/boots.
Rock hounding ~ turquoise, gems, gold mining (second best bet)
Raising chickens for food~ eggs, meat
produce

(Best bet)You can sell coyote teeth, claws, skulls, bones pieces parts online.  http://www.etsy.com/search_results.php?search_query=coyote&search_type=category&category=supplies

Sells on ebay as well. 

[Tallpine]

Aren't there any ranches left out there that you could hire on with 

Room and board, and all the broncs you can fall off of 

[gunsmith]

Aren't there any ranches left out there that you could hire on with 

Room and board, and all the broncs you can fall off of 

yes, as a matter of fact I'm a serf right now doesn't matter if its 10pm or 4am I'm on call.
Doesn't matter if I like the food, doesn't matter if the ranch owner thought his inherited from father in laws rifle was "some kind of bolt gun, maybe .308" ... he picked it up, looked at it "oh, it's a Springfield"  I look at it & its a model 70, an old one in 30-06, and a real beaut he thought Springfield because it says 30-06 Springfield

[French G.]

I think if you had to have a job picking up stakes and going somewhere that is hiring CDLs, will train is the best. I may go trucking for a year or too. It's better than driving a cab, it comes with a place to sleep and the cargo doesn't talk back. Besides, if you can't find everything needed for life in a truck stop perhaps you need to talk to reality about your high standards. 

[gunsmith]

yeah, I know. ... should have done that when I had the chance, I've got some bruises that now won't let that happen

Well, nice thread but while I don't mind shooting them I am not set up to store them frozen or skin them.

[MillCreek]

So what the heck is coyote fur used for?  I don't see a lot of fur coats in Seattle, but I don't think they are made of coyotes. 

[Gowen]

So what the heck is coyote fur used for?  I don't see a lot of fur coats in Seattle, but I don't think they are made of coyotes. 

Leather handbags, Indian crafts, clothing, with natural aka rustic wood for furniture.

[Tallpine]

So what the heck is coyote fur used for? 

Keeping coyotes warm 

[stevelyn]

So what the heck is coyote fur used for?  I don't see a lot of fur coats in Seattle, but I don't think they are made of coyotes. 

Mostly for fur ruffs on parka hoods, but they also make hats, and mittens from them too.


I trap as a hobby, but just like commercial fishing and farming I wouldn't recommend it for a living. The best price you'll get for a fur is one that is taxidermy quality prepped, i.e. fleshed, toes and paws intact, ears turned and lips split and stretched. Fur industry prepped has the feet cut off at the first joint, fleshed and stretched.

Thishttp://www.trapperpredatorcaller.com/GeneralMenu/ is a pretty good resource information and trapping suppliers.

http://www.trapperman.com/ and http://www.predatormastersforums.com/ are excellent online souces of information.

You may also want to check out http://www.nationaltrappers.com/ as they and most state trappers association have trapping manuals available for beginners.