Nasty critters.
Lived with my grandpa and everyone we come across we took home and butchered.
I can honestly say, i never saw the fascination with eating them, other than to say ya ate one.

The smell turned me off before they ever hit the pot.

i love turtle meat. Whats with the feds newt? Did they put some kind of protected status on turtles?

I don't know about the protected status, but they wanted to add them to the cites tready list, and I believe they have. As far as diet goes I have butchered a few here in Iowa that have had corn inside.

The feds made so much paper work. It like every turtle needs a Pass Port

A good bait cage is a metal suet cage used for feeding birds and holding suet bricks. I have a rectangular cage about 3" x 6" that snaps shut easily once filled with fish scraps.

I like to dump about 8 ounces of fish oil in the water by the trap in back waters and if the current isn't too swift. I believe it gets the turtles downstream aware of something good to find and gets them moving.

Also pm on dispatch.

I take several precautions getting them out of the net trap.

They tend to tangle in the net of the trap once on shore. I have several about 12-18" handled picks that have have bent hooks that allow me to pull the net from the turtles body and legs while holding its tail and pulling from net. Keeps fingers from getting to close while untangling the turtle especially around the neck and head. I bought a set of the pick tools at a hardware store for a couple bucks.

I also wear a pair of Kevlar ( knive proof) gloves when handling turtles. It won't save my finger from getting crushed but I figure I'll get the pieces back lol

I was told a large sponge soaked In fish oil works well. And the best bait/lure Is you just leave the female turtle In the trap.

Leaving a turtle in a trap is illegal in most states. When deciding on a good bait try to stay with what they are accustomed to. Beaver meat works great in the early spring and oily fish works good mid/late summer. I do use fish oil the entire season regardless of bait, but never caught a turtle using a sponge soaked in fish oil by itself, tried it a few times.lol

Average vs can live are 2 different things.
I counted/measured the growth rings on about 200 snappers (just like annual growth rings on trees). My results agreed with the literature.

False

The making (rings) mean nothing.

Example- Count the rings on a hatchling. DO YOU SEE ONE RING ONLY ?

IF- you open the cod end of a net turtle trap they will dump out.

I don't care for the net style traps. I made my own out of 2X4 inch metal galvanized wire. The trap collapses flat so you can transport many at a time. Much easier to set and get turtles out of than net traps.

I used to trap turtles commercially, but MN pretty much put a stop to that. Now, you can have a recreational turtle trapping license which allows you to only take 3 a day. Rubber back or soft-shelled turtles are as good to eat as snappers, only there's not as much meat on them.

It's a good idea to wear knife proof gloves when butchering turtles to prevent scratches from the claws. A turtle buyer I used to sell to always wore heavy duty rubber gloves when he butchered turtles. He said he started after he got blood poisoning from getting scratched. The claws can carry a lot of bacteria.

How do you age em Newt?

Ask their mother ?

I have never meet anyone who I trust that said "I can age a common snapper".

I have cought,bought and sold 10's of thousands of pounds of turtles.
We can only guess. Judging from where they were cought,( different geografical areas have larger or smaller turtles)sex,(Males are bigger than females) size and weight.GUESS is the key word

I cought a turtle one time which had a tag wired to its shell. The date and weight was on it.5 years after that date I cought it. When I weighted it. It weighted 6 pounds LESS. Like anythig elst .We reach out peak then go down hill from there.
My mine thinks I'm Still 35. But my body says "NO" I'm 67

Never thought of that. But, it's a good point, Newt. I've never noticed a concave underside on males either. Maybe that's just common on Canadian snappers.

Well those Canadian female beavers can get pretty big...the fellas need to adapt to what they're working with.

Never thought of that. But, it's a good point, Newt. I've never noticed a concave underside on males either. Maybe that's just common on Canadian snappers

That is TRUE.

Some times when sexing snappers you have to look there,to make your final call. At on time females sold for $2.00(even more) a pound more than males.

Haven't noticed anything special about the male beaver I've caught. Another Canadian commonality, I guess.

Beavers ?