Regular readers of this series of articles will already know how I feel about hunting and trapping for the militia; it just isn't practical. The economy being what it is though, they can certainly help most families achieve a desired level of preparedness. Clearly, the less money spent on this week's groceries means more money available for storage items.
Besides, most of us just like hunting and trapping, and reading about it. So, in that vein, here are two traps that are great food getters, and are applicable to nearly any region in North America.
A Neat (But Expensive) Pigeon Trap
I bought this
http://www.livetrap.com/cgi/search....products.shtml&2_option=1&2=Pigeon+Traps over a year ago, but I didn't get around to testing it until this past August. The maintenance man for an office building near downtown was telling me about the problems he was having with the birds. Besides leaving a nasty mess underneath their roosts, they were getting into the vents.
I mentioned my trap, and told him I'd be happy to see what I could do.
"Cool!" he said. "I'll pay you fifty cents a bird, out of my petty cash funds." That was nice. I didn't tell him I would have done it for free.
He gave me a key to the roof of his building, and the next morning I was up there with the trap and a bag of wheat. Following the suggestions, I tied the trap door open and baited it for a couple days before setting the trap.
This is one of the few traps I have seen that actually exceeded my expectations. My first day's catch was an astounding 18 pigeons. (The trap is advertised as having a capacity of 25 to 30 pigeons. I think this may be a little optimistic.)
the catches dropped off after that. The second day i caught 13, 11 on the third, and 7 on the fourth. The fifth and final day I caught 11; I suspect birds from another flock were moving in. (I had told the maintenance man that any gains from my efforts would only be temporary. Until he installs those metal-screen bird barriers, he will continue to have problems.)
All in all, it wasn't a bad week. I put $30 in my pocket, a lot of compost for our garden (feathers are especially rich in nitrogen), and almost 15 pounds of meat in the freezer.
That, folks, is a lot of pigeon pot pies.
Check your local and state laws before purchasing and using this trap. Here in Oklahoma, the only birds not protected to some degree are starlings and sparrows.
A Cheap Turtle Trap
I'd heard about this turtle trap when I was a kid, but I didn't get around to building one until 1981, when I found myself stationed at Fort Sill, trying to get that danged Copperhead artillery round to work.
First, of course, find a place where snapping turtles hang out. Trust me, you won't want to build this thing and not catch any!
Build a square out of four logs about 5 feet long and about 5 or 6 inches in diameter. These dimensions are not critical; turtles just don't care how square your trap is. Mine was pretty lopsided.
For the net, any kind of wire mesh will do. I used 1" poultry fencing, since that is what I had. Attach a strip of wire mesh about 2 or 3 feet wide around the outside of the logs with fencing stables. Close the netting with wire or hog ties, and close off the bottom with more wire mesh.
Along the inside of the logs, at about water level, drive in some headless nails about every 2 inches, so that they stick out about 2" and are slanted down into the wire mesh net.
Adjust the buoyancy of the contraption with floats (I used plastic jugs), and tie it to the bank so it won't float away. Bait it with old dead fish, or just about anything else. Old road kill works as well as anything.
In shallow water, you can just toss the bait into the net; in deeper water, it might be better to suspend the bait near the surface from a pole driven into the mud in the center of the net.
I caught dozens of turtles with this trap. It works by using the turtle's armor against him; they can climb into the trap easily enough, but the nails catch onto their shell when they try to climb back out, preventing their escape.
Again, check with your local and state game laws before building and using this trap.
-----
As with any trap, keep records of your failures as well as your successes. Include the location, signs of game present, date, weather conditions, and bait and lures used. It may seem silly, but your records are the best toll for learning and improving your trapping skills.
Both of these traps are proven food getters, and may even put a few bucks in your wallet. On the minus side, neither of these traps are very portable, nor very stealthy. Even if someone doesn't know what that turtle contraption is, he will know it's man-made, and probably figure someone will be around to check on it.
No one is likely to steal the turtle trap (Mine, as far as I know, is still beside that pond where I left it over twenty years ago), but you could very well lose the pigeon trap. Try to place it where no one else will see it or get to it.
If you decide to experiment with these traps, be patient. Trapping has a pretty long learning curve, even with these two. Let me know how you do with them.
I'll start another topic soon on wild food recipes. Pigeons and turtles are better than than you think, and they are certainly abundant.
Finally, this series of articles is for you. I welcome your question, suggestions, and comments.
Onward and upward,
airforce
