As you all have already realized I’ve been away from the blog for quite sometime now. I’d like to thank each and everyone one of you for reading this blog and I hope that you’ll continue following the SkinnyMoose Bloggers as they bring you the very latest and greatest outdoor news and entertainment. I will be on and off the blog sporadically from here on out because I am tied up building and maintaining an all new message board called www.carolinasoutdoor.com ,an all new hunting and fishing forum dedicated to North and South Carolina outdoorsmen. Come join us or at least check in often to see what the folks in the Carolinas are doing in the field. Once again thanks for your support.

Once again, our friend Doug has submitted another great trapping story to Southern Adventures. Doug has been sending us photos and stories since trapping season began here in North Carolina. Along with the following photos and story, you can read other trapping post at Southern Adventures here.

I Didn’t plan on trapping beavers this year due to the drought. The creeks were dry where I usually trapped them and I figured they had headed to the big river(Cape Fear). After the Christmas holidays I was contacted by a member of a forum I’m a regular on and asked if I could get the beavers for him. I jumped at the chance cause my normal areas were void of beavers. We set a date and I met him and we scouted out the property.Right away I found a few dams and some feed beds and could see the destruction the beavers had caused. He said the land had never been trapped as far as he knew and that made the situation even better. I set four traps,1 at a break in the dam we made,1 at a slide where they were crossing the dam,1 at a castor mound I made and 1 on an area they were traveling through. So far I’ve managed to get 4 beavers from this area,3 were caught at the dam break,(beavers hate running water) and 1 at the cross over. I got a feeling a few more are in here and I’ll keep at them. The best part about all this, I introduced someone new to the world of trapping. He seems to really enjoy checking the traps and seeing what we got. This week I”ll be setting land traps on the property. Doug

I was able to catch back up with our friend Doug from Cumberland County, NC who is very generous in sharing his trapping experience with us here at Southern Adventures. He has sent us a quick story of his recent trapping adventure along with a few photos. Enjoy!!

This was a new farm I set. I set the farm on Friday after work and put in 16 sets. Usually,it takes more then one night to see this activity. But with the cooler weather coming in,the predators were on the move. In fact, I thought I would have more on Sunday but I didnt have a thing. Im setting the same farm this weekend but with a handful of coon sets also. We’ll see what happens…

Doug

With hunting season either over all together or soon to be in parts of the south, I’d like to start on a new project for the upcoming weeks/months. I am looking for harvest photos from across the south. These can be deer, hog, turkey, any small game, coyotes, hunting dogs, trapping photos, etc. Please be sure to include a name and state in which the animal(s) was taken. A brief story to be posted here at Southern Adventures would be awesome if you have time. Once I get enough submissions, I’ll be announcing the week in which I’ll begin to showcase a “Southern Trophy” a day. The contact information can be found at the top of the blog here. Hope to hear from you soon!!

For some across the nation the opening of trapping season is as good a day if not better than any whitetail hunter could ever dream of. The preparation of getting traps cleaned and waxed, the art of placing the sets in an area so precise that just a few feet could mean the difference in a successful catch and coming home empty handed is all part of what trappers live for.

There has been and probably always will be this belief amongst some that a leg hold trap is un-ethical and inhumane. The fact is, when done properly nothing could be further from the truth. Leg traps are used for a variety of game and they serve their purpose very well. The animal simply walks over a set trap and it’s foot is locked in place until the trapper arrives to either release the animal or dispatch it.

When talking about animals such as coyotes and other predators, trapping still remains one of the most effective sources for helping control population numbers. With coyote numbers on the rise here in North Carolina trapping could be an excellent alternative to traditional gun hunting. Coyotes can be very hard to hunt from a stand or blind, a trap can be set with bait which will almost always draw the animal in by mere curiosity. Special attention to scent control is a must. Coyotes are creatures of habit and often use the same trails daily, however, if they sense danger is nearby, they will almost certainly avoid the trap. Before trapping, be sure to check your local and state laws, and do your research before starting to trap.

I’ve ran across a very nice trapping site and anyone looking to get started should definitely check this site out. I’d like to thank Doug from Cumberland County, North Carolina for sharing his photos with us here at Southern Adventures. Doug is an avid trapper and is very good at what he does. Here are a few more photos courtesy of Doug and hopefully we can get a final season photo from Doug once this trapping season is over.

I just wanted to let everyone know that I am working on a post that I should have done by Sunday evening hopefully. I will be posting some very interesting photos from a local trapper here in North Carolina. We are in the process of getting some photos together right now. Stay tuned for some trapping photos that I think some of you will enjoy!! In the meantime be sure to check out some of the other bloggers here at SkinnyMoose Media.