Grrrr, Trap thieves!!

[Machias]

I really hate trap thieves.     Had my first trap stolen in several years.  Duke Dogproof.  But I may get the last laugh.  I got the guys license plate, called the Warden and he is going to pay him a visit.  He was also tresspassing, so with Idaho's new law he may lose his hunting and fishing privileges for a year.

[Ghost Hunter]

   Good on you!  Hate thieves with a passion.

[wadu1]

Good for you, great to get the plate number.

[lewy]

 

[idaho guy]

  get him! that's the worst I still dream about catching a trail cam theif from a few years ago 

[Machias]

get him! that's the worst I still dream about catching a trail cam theif from a few years ago 

Yea, I have had one of those taken as well. 

[Boss .300 winmag]

🤔

[Tracker0721]

I caught a trail cam breaker. Smashed it with a rock after wiping the card. But my brother recovered the data from it and I got enough info for a warden to get em. My cage traps I feel I need to put GPS trackers on em. Hope ya get the guy!

[Jpmiller]

Is it hunters and trappers that steal them? I always assumed it was the greenies hiking around that got their feeling hurt and took the traps.

[birddogdad]

I caught a trail cam breaker. Smashed it with a rock after wiping the card. But my brother recovered the data from it and I got enough info for a warden to get em. My cage traps I feel I need to put GPS trackers on em. Hope ya get the guy!

like Montana does in horns.. built into the traps to ping and recover with prejudice! its terrible that we have to go thru this. i recall 50 years ago as a young teen saving my hard money to buy traps and have a whole line stolen overnight in upstate NY. I had spent several months with the owner  (farmer) gaining his trust to allow me access. I told him what happened and he was so pissed the next day he came to my house after school and had me help posted the entire property and only i had free access for my entire middle/high school years for hunting and trapping.

[idaho guy]

I caught a trail cam breaker. Smashed it with a rock after wiping the card. But my brother recovered the data from it and I got enough info for a warden to get em. My cage traps I feel I need to put GPS trackers on em. Hope ya get the guy!

like Montana does in horns.. built into the traps to ping and recover with prejudice! its terrible that we have to go thru this. i recall 50 years ago as a young teen saving my hard money to buy traps and have a whole line stolen overnight in upstate NY. I had spent several months with the owner  (farmer) gaining his trust to allow me access. I told him what happened and he was so pissed the next day he came to my house after school and had me help posted the entire property and only i had free access for my entire middle/high school years for hunting and trapping.

What does Montana do in horns?? I never heard of anything like that  just curious 

[Oh Mah]

Is it hunters and trappers that steal them? I always assumed it was the greenies hiking around that got their feeling hurt and took the traps.

I had 1 stolen last year,Yes trappers are known to steal them also.  Some of them feel if you're in their area it's fair game.

[Humptulips]

I think it is hard to categorize who a trap thief is going to be. Mostly I think it is a moment of opportunity for someone who cannot resist the temptation to steal something when no one else is looking. Occasionally it is anther trapper but I think that is rare.
People with dogs are especially bad because the dogs find the traps and their owners think it justice if their dog gets caught.
I believe most of these traps that are stolen end up hanging in someone's barn or garage and are never used so why do people take them? I have wondered about that.

[Machias]

In this case it was a deer hunter.  The Warden made contact this morning and the guy denied taking the trap.  Says he saw it, but did not mess with it.  Funny, I drove past and trap was there and so was his truck.  I took a photo of the truck and plate number.  Went to my cabin to get a no trespassing letter that the landowner has asked me to place on vehicles in this area.  The area is clearly marked.  Several hundred acres that I have just been given permission to trap.  I was gone for about 12 minutes.  Got back and the truck and trap were gone.  No one else came down the road.  No biggie, luckily its only a DP.

[Machias]

Is it hunters and trappers that steal them? I always assumed it was the greenies hiking around that got their feeling hurt and took the traps.

A lot of times it's other sportsmen, but it can be anyone, crime of opportunity.

[Naches Sportsman]

WTH!

Unfortunately you aren't the only one having problems! I have two different buddies that have had traps messed with this year. Both have one of my cameras up along their lines now for security purposes.

[3nails]

 Every trap I have had stolen could only have been found by a waterfowler or other trapper. Nobody else would have any reason to be in the area. Same thing with the trail cameras I've had stolen. The ones where the general populace could find them were never touched. Only the ones where only other outdoorsmen could find them were stolen. Sad but true.

[rasbo]

That sucks,there are many hunters out there that can't stand trappers. Ashamed you couldn't prove who stole it with positive proof

[Oh Mah]

Mine was tracked all the way to the thief's garage door where his tracks in the snow were cut off by the garage door.

[3nails]

Mine was tracked all the way to the thief's garage door where his tracks in the snow were cut off by the garage door.

  Don't mean to laugh at your expense but sometimes stupidity is funny! 

[Oh Mah]

you think that's funny?about 30 years ago here in Yakima a thief stole all the groceries out of my neighbors house,Stole a wheel borrow to get it all home.

COPS FOLLOWED THE WHEEL BARROW TRACKS ALL THE WAY TO THE THIEF'S HOUSE. 

[Machias]

 

[Hillbilly Zen]

“People with dogs are especially bad because the dogs find the traps and their owners think it justice if their dog gets caught.”


I guess I don’t understand how you would fault a dog owner for getting pissed about his/her dog “finding” a trap?  On private property of course that would be on the dog owner for not being where they should, but I have hiked into marked trap areas several times and didnt see anything posted until I hit a road.  On those occasions I had started hiking on different roads and traveled several miles cross country over public land.  I don’t know squat about trapping but I imagine, like anything,  there’s plenty of people who do it halfassedly and look at an area and say “nah, nobody would hike through here” and just toss them out there.

[Jpmiller]

Is there something that says you can't trap where other user groups are? I thought you could pretty much trap anywhere you could legally access

[Hillbilly Zen]

Yeah I thought that too, but I’m not familiar with trapping regs.  I’m just sayin’, you wouldn’t hook someone’s dog with a salmon rig or shoot someone’s dog with a compound bow and expect the owner to kindly hand back your arrow or lures.  Why would trapping be different?  Didn’t mean to derail the OP’s legitimate complaint about outright theft though.  Thieving dirtbags are everywhere it seems.

[Humptulips]

I guess the problem is that some people think they have more rights to be out then others. Nothing different about people with dogs except the fact that dogs find traps so when a trapper does his best to get that trap out of the public view the dog finds it. If you keep even moderate control of your dog it is pretty easy to get them out and be on your way but a small segment of people seem to go off the deep end even though the dog is almost always unharmed. Especially so here in WA where we are using cages.
In other States it is pretty easy to see that dogs are the hammer the anti groups use to try and get trapping stopped. I think most of the incidences that they use are faked. Most people just  let their dog out and move on.
The salmon rig and the archery scenario are poor analogies. What if a horse back rider meets a dog owner and the horse kicks the dog. Who's fault? Sometimes things happen where you can't place blame. The outdoors get smaller and more crowded. All the user groups need to get along.

[Jpmiller]

If a dog is running around uncontrolled and get hooked by a salmon fisherman I'm having a hard time placing blame on anyone but the dog owner, I'm having a hard time imagining a scenario where a dog gets accidentally shot by an archer though so not sure that applies.

[Hillbilly Zen]

Dog gets caught in hidden trap on oublic land.  Dog owners fault.  Ok I got it now thanks.  😂. I’m not opposed to trapping, and my question was not really aimed at legal “fault” or what people should and shouldn’t do. I was just curious at how you could expect a dog owner to not be pissed at having their dog trapped?  That seems an unreasonable expectation to me.  People are emotionally attached to their animals and get mad or scared when they are in distress.  That’s pretty normal.  But maybe these days dogs are supposed to be on play dates and riding around in front seats in designer cardigans and not out in the mountains running free?  I do know, my dogs probably too fat to get caught in a wild animal trap anyhow.  Lazy old lab syndrome.  Hope they nail the guy whole stole the trap.  I think most of us out there in the woods get along just fine, and user conflicts are largely the stuff of theory, the greed or myopic vision of special interest groups, or the result of run of the mill dips@!$s (like the trap thief mentioned above). 

[idaho guy]

Dogs will get caught in traps occasionally. It’s usually no ones fault just a risk of having your dog in the woods or your trap in the woods. In certain situations you could blame the dog owner for having a run wild untrained deer chasing dog. Or sometimes people set the wrong kind of traps in bad locations and you can blame the guy setting the trap. Most of the time you just realize sheet happens!

[idaho guy]

Caught these two trap thieves a few days ago. Picked up coyote number 4 this morning and a skunk ha ha warming up for wolves 👍 hope you have a great trapping season Fred! Sorry you lost a trap already

[Humptulips]

Dog gets caught in hidden trap on oublic land.  Dog owners fault.  Ok I got it now thanks.  😂. I’m not opposed to trapping, and my question was not really aimed at legal “fault” or what people should and shouldn’t do. I was just curious at how you could expect a dog owner to not be pissed at having their dog trapped?  That seems an unreasonable expectation to me.  People are emotionally attached to their animals and get mad or scared when they are in distress.  That’s pretty normal.  But maybe these days dogs are supposed to be on play dates and riding around in front seats in designer cardigans and not out in the mountains running free?  I do know, my dogs probably too fat to get caught in a wild animal trap anyhow.  Lazy old lab syndrome.  Hope they nail the guy whole stole the trap.  I think most of us out there in the woods get along just fine, and user conflicts are largely the stuff of theory, the greed or myopic vision of special interest groups, or the result of run of the mill dips@!$s (like the trap thief mentioned above).

I don't think you do get it. It's not the dog owners fault or the trappers fault when a dog gets caught. It is just a consequence of multiple user groups using the woods.
Why then should the dog owner or anyone get mad and steal or destroy the trappers equipment? Take the dog out of the trap and move on. Maybe the dog gets a lesson and stays out of the next trap it encounters.

[Machias]

 

Idaho has a great video on how to release your dog from a trap and they go to a lot of places and give dog owners demonstration.  Most modern traps do zero damage to a dog's foot.  Almost all the coyotes I catch could be released unharmed.