If it wasn't for the coons and skunks in this area there would be no shortage of turtles I would guess 90 percent or more of the nests are dug out, they track them right from the waters edge to the nests. We used to buy a few from a old guy who tracked them with his dog during egg laying season, if his dog could do it no doubt a coon can.

My dad used to buy a lot from a couple old brothers who used to keep the females they caught early in the spring and put them in a fenced pond they had until they layed there eggs, they would then hatch them and release them back in the fall, this was years ago but they were just trying to put some back, the state eventually came with a 12 inch size limit which meant it was illegal to raise any babies, better to let the skunks and coons dig them up I guess. (you can get a turtle farm lic now if you want to jump through the hoops).

Its just a matter of time before it is shut down here, they don't issue any commercial license's any more just us that have been grandfathered in, I am third generation in my family that has been in the turtle business in some capacity , although it is just a little sideline once in awhile for me now. We used to do numbers comparable to Newt back in the 80's and 90's but it was all for the meat market in the states at that time.

The turtle harvesters would never get the turtles down to where there wasn't any, it just isn't possible, Frogs and salamanders and garter snakes are just a small fraction of what they used to be in this part of the country but nothing will be done about that, agriculture is big business.

My rant for the day LOL

Dang good info on here guys!
Keep posting.
Like the 'mouse', I'm gearing up to trap turtles this coming July.
I'm a nuisance trapper full time, so I can't go at it like I want to but, I will have about 40 hoop nets in the water opening week...
Hope to make it pay but, I won't go at it hard if the money isn't there.
I can't afford to.
We have a 13" law here , which means over half your catch is tossed back...
Sucks to toss a hundred turtles 12" back but, I support a regulated harvest...like it or not.
A lot won't!
It's the reason I stopped using hooks on snappers. Try getting a hook out of a deep caught snapper that swallowed it and it only 12".
And don't injure the turtle...or let it injure you. Easier said than done !

Interesting point on the big males killing females.
I have seen 30 lbs and bigger males 'jump on' smaller females and breed them in tanks before the law changed the slot limit.
They're rough on 'em...

Thanks to Kirk De and Newt and the others who've posted on the turtle market.
Please keep us posted with any up dates.
IMO, the whole China market deal is disappointing both on the fur trade and turtle market...well, all around really...
I can sell a good many here locally.
Not all as buyers in Iowa was my intention.

Regardless guys, keep safe out there. And have a good season !
We're stocking freezers up with fish here and hoping for the best!

I watched turtles mating this spring. Looks frustrating.

Does if you're the one on the bottom!

I got the phone call Monday

What is the product called that those open top bait bags are made of in the picture ?

all i know i wish we could trap them here we can only use 22 and bow

The reason why I said that is because Louisiana, unlike your states, is a free for all with (common) snapping turtles.
From what I've seen, it appears that the states in your area have some sort of regulation that helps to keep the populations healthy. As far as for Louisiana, there isn't for the common snapper. There isn't a season, there isn't a size limit. There's a few gear restrictions, and methods of take restrictions (can't use gasoline to flush them and other common sense laws), but nothing as far as for keeping them, at least that I'm aware of, and I've read the recreational and commercial restrictions.
People can catch them all year, and they can keep all the catch. That in itself wouldn't be bad if people were responsible, but you know that's not going to happen. I've seen someone keep some 6" turtles. "It just takes more of em when they're this size".

It's ridiculous, I know, but that's how it is, for now. Even if the law would change, it wouldn't be followed by the majority. They just don't care.

Any of you have any experience using leads or wings with your turtle nets/traps? If so, do you think it's worth it, or do you prefer not to use them?

aixsponsa are you trapping turtles in La. ? arent there turtle farms there that buy them alive? we cant use wings or leads here in ohio.

It is not ridiculous. We had no restrictions except for endangered turtles. Always plenty of turtles. Now they got restrictions it is not profitable to trap. Never caught fewer from one year to the next when comparing time trapping.

Never saw another turtle trapper while trapping, ever.

How'd those endangered turtles become endangered?

Shrimp trawls?

Haven't done it commercially, just trapped what I wanted to eat or give away. Down here, selling snappers is just a matter of holding one up by the tail when there's people around, and I'm not kidding. I'm not sure how many people eat turtle there, maybe a lot of people do, but down where I am...everyone eats it. I've heard of people getting in a fight over a dang snapper on the road. If you see a snapper down here crossing the road, ya better stop on the first pass, because the second pass it might be gone.

I've heard of the farms, never looked into it. As I said, they're easy to sell to individuals, and most markets will buy them too. Down here it's easy to sell frog legs and snapping turtles.

Mousie, I do like how you wrap your bait individually in foil. I usually freeze bait by 5 trap lots. It's a pain to have to break each trap's bait off of the block. I'm definitely going to start freezing in foil.

The river system went from an unregulated flow to a regulated flow with dams. Starting just before WW2. Help some but hurt others.

In 1960 the screw worm was eliminated and all predators increase more than hundred fold.

More otters, coon, now than ever before. Otters seem to be one of the biggest problems. They are restricted to seasons and cites tags.

We have alligator snappers so plentiful in their areas they prey and kill the other turtles. Just because they are listed as endangered or protected doesn,t mean they are scarce.

We have more alligators than the state will admit. Maybe they don,t know. They are in every drainage here. Hundreds of thousands and only allow the legal harvest of less than 500 under a drawing.

Some thing also, many of the endangered small turtles due to the way they swim and the habitat they need it makes them more appealing and easier to catch for otters.

I definitely agree with that. Being endangered doesn't mean there aren't locations that they're plentiful, perhaps even as many as there's ever been there.

Elsewhere, they may be hard to comeby. Trust me, I get it on the alligators. They were "endangered" at one time, now in some places, I think it's safe to say there's way too stinking many. I guess the market can impact that, if the money's good everyone wants in, if market slacks, not enough of them are being taken out. If I'm not mistaken, the gator farms have to even release a percentage of their gators to the wild. I guess the gator numbers are good in a lot of places, but in other places they look like yellow belly turtles basking because there's so many.

That's interesting about the otters though. Most of my life, I didn't see an otter around my house. They were in the crawfish ponds, but not in the sloughs and bayous near my house. In recent years, I've started seeing them in the sloughs where I turtle trap. Thats probably not a good thing for the turtles, seems like I read about otters doing a number on snappers whenever they're burried in the mud, especially in the winter. Guess I'm going to need to make an otter fur scarf or gloves for the wife, this winter LOL

i also as you see have my bait bags already and filled up for opening day! im using fresh(frozen) carp to start with and skipjack herring in another.
i will use a whole fish or two if needed. often these will go side by side to see which one will produce the best. theres no waiting around until opening day to figure out things for this kid. i ll be chumming ponds before opening day with ground carp to draw the turtles in the area.
opps did i just give that away? lol

mousie

Would some one mind posting a pic on the throats of their hoop nets ?