I hear so much about quotas, management, etc in Canadian provinces. How exactly does that work and does it work?

google--"Boco".

When you acquire a line, that line has set quotas. A quota is a calculation based on the carrying capacity of the land, that tells us how many of a certain species can be removed froma line and still maintain a sustainable population. Quotas are put in place on animals that can suffer easily from overtrapping. Fisher and Marten have maximum quotas. It is known that you can take one fisher per 2000 acres annually and still have a sustainable population. Those are rough numbers, and a more accurate method would be ratios of juveniles to adult females since some areas are just more productive than others. But it is the best general method we have. Marten I believe are calculated at one animal per 3000 acres.

My line has a maximim quota of 17 fisher, and 12 marten. Areas with excellent marten and fisher habitat can have open quotas, and the trapper must keep close watch on their populations to avoid taking too many.

The other animal that has a quota on it is beaver. Beaver has a maximum and minumum quota, wheras fisher and marten only have a maximum. Each trapper must kill between 75% and 100% of their beaver quota annually to keep their line. That is because beaver can be a nuisance and it helps keep them in check, and also prevents overpopulating. Beaver quotas are based on 1.5 beavers taken per active colony. If you constantly fail to trap your beaver quota, your line can be taken from you and given to someone who will trap it. This prevents non trappers from getting a line an using the cabin for hunting...It ensures the line is managed.

All other critters are less prone to overtrapping. Coon, rat, otter, wolf, fox, ermine, and bear have an unlimited quota. You can take as many as you want, however you shoot yourself in the foot if you do. it just gives trappers the ability to manage their lines based on the populations they have. Trappers can have their quotas raised and lowered based on populations...

Hope that helps.

Are there penalties if you don't take your minimum beaver quota?

yes, you can get a fine, then you can lose your line. The MNR will take it from you and give it to someone willing to trap. It usually goes through an application process based on experience. Kind of a points system.

it does take a few years of not taking quota til the MNR gets on your case about it. At the end of the year, you also must send in a season end report listing how many animals of each species you have taken. One report for each license you have. You may only have one line, but you can have a helper license for as many lines as you like, or can get permission on. There is no limit to how many helper trappers you can have on a line.

Hutchy nailed it.Good line management definitely works.There is one line documented near north bay that has been producing the same amount of beaver for 3 generations in the one family.

Cool. What is their beaver quota Boco? And I am going to be looking closely at my fisher ratios for the first time this year. I am always scared of overharvest, so it will probably help me sleep better lol

Around 50.

A picture of the back of my license, showing quotas. Notice that anything with a zero means closed, as in can't take any. I don't have any of those animals, so that's really why. My helper liceces just say "quotas as per head trapper".

What does a blank mean? Take as many as you want? Do you even have possum in your area?

Correct,blank is open quota.O is closed quota.

No possum on my line, and generally no skunk either, however I did see a skunk just south of me a few weeks ago.

That was one of my questions- how do they come up with population numbers?

Read my first post. It is based on scientific carrying capacity of the land. Beaver is 1.5 beaver per active lodge, marten in one marten per 3000 acres, and fisher are one per 2000 acres. This is considered sustainable harvest.

Sorry, you mean population numbers in general? I am not 100 percent sure, and also not sure it matters for quota. Knowing populations is a tough task with the natural cycles. That's why it is important for the trapper to be on top of what is happening on their line. If there are no for one year, try avoid trapping fox. If well managed the population swings shouldn't be as severe.

Certain areas just don't hold as many of a certain animal. Like up in marten country, fisher are more scarce. Where I am, I don't even have 12 marten on my whole line. I only ever get one or two max. Therefore I don't set for marten. The zone next to me has lots of marten. It's not perfect, but works very well.

The carrying capacity for marten varies according to food supplies, not how many acres. My acres never change, but my marten population does.

That's the beauty of management. If you have fewer marten, trap fewer marten. It's nice to know you are the only one trapping so you can manage it properly.

Biologists in different parts on the country have done mark and re capture studies to determine the home ranges of animals that are susceptible to overtrapping because of low reproduction etc in different habitats.Core habitat is identified on traplines and base numbers of resident animals for quota will be set.Quotas are adjustable up and down if the trapper submits scientific data to the fur tech\biologist supporting his request to increase or decrease the quotas.

For example I have as much as doubled my marten quota in years of very high juvenile recruitment,by bringing in skulls to the bio to support my request.In years of low juvenile numbers trappers curtail their harvest.


Beaver quotas can be raised or lowered as required by submitting an aerial beaver survey identifying all the live colonys.

Here is an example of a live colony survey and the resulting quota.

Do you guys have to "buy" a trapline or "bid" on one? This thread has been interesting and made me a bit curious about how one goes about it.
Thanks
Mac

very interesting here too

I have bought both my traplines.If you buy a trapline you are buying the improvements and equipment,not the land.It is on a willing buyer willing seller transaction between the outgoing trapper and the incoming one.Once the deal is made,if there is no documented first nation claim on the trapline then the harvesting rights will be transferred to the new trapper as per the instructions of the outgoing trapper.
Lines that are vacant are allocated on a point system to the applicant with the most points.Points are awarded for years experience,belonging to provincial,and local trapping organizations,completion of the fur management fur harvest and conservation course.Also how close the line is to your home.points are taken away if you already have a trapline and are applying for a second line or for any fur offenses under the fish/wildlife conservation act. If there is a tie in points between one or more applicants the local trapping council will decide who gets the line.This can be done by a members vote.

Can you trap if you can not acquire a trapline? Can you just trap public land?

Here in BC you most often acquire a trapline from a trapper who is selling one or occasionally by bidding on a vacant one put up for sale by the government. When a trapper sells his line the transfer to the purchaser must be approved by the government. Basically the purchaser must be 19 years of age or older and have completed a trapper education course approved by the government to purchase or bid on a line.

This thread has been very interesting and informative. I hope it continues to be civil so that it doesn't get axed.

How much can one expect to spend on a trapline on average?

There are three classes of licences in Ontario,registered trapping licence,resident trapping licence,and farmers licence.
You can get a licence to trap on private land,which is the resident licence.You can sign up as much private land as you want.A trapper on a registered line can also trap on private property if he signs it up.If the private land is within or touches the boundaries of the registered line,no other licence is required(just permission).If not you will have to purchase a resident trapping licence.
A farmer can trap on his own land with a farmers licence to sell pelts.

In BC basically all crown land is covered by a trapline area. You can only trap on private land or a trapline, with written permission, if you do not have a registered trapline. In either case you must have passed and approved course to obtain a trapping licence.

In Ontario if you are awarded a vacant line under the points system,there is no charge.If you buy a line the cost is based on the improvements.Here where I am a line can go from $1000 up to $25,000.There are a lot of variables-remoteness,quotas,equipment,cabins etc.

Some lines may have 2 or 3 cabins and a number of boats and motors,maintained trails,snow machines,4 wheelers,argo,chainsaws,traps,etc.

The vast majority of established traplines will sell between 5 and 10 thousand here in NE Ont.
The fur harvest records are most likely to be taken into account also.

There are always a fair number of vacant lines available each year in the NE.We see more and more going to resident trappers from southern Ontario that want to manage a trapline in the north.I like to see the southern trappers get their feet wet on a northern line.

" How do Canadians manage traplines?"


They do pretty good. but the fur prices suck!

(I'll apologize in advance if there is no room for humor here)

That's how I got my line. It was free. I trapped it as a helper trapper for a few years, then the head trapper signed a succession form. A succession form just says that if the head trapper cannot trap his line any more, the line goes to the helper trapper. He signed the form, then gave up the line. It then went to me. This is how buying a line also works like this. You agree on a price, then the head trapper puts you on his line as a helper, and gives up the line. It is now yours.

And I don't think there is any reason it can't be a civil thread. We aren't saying whose system is better, just exaining what works for us.

Somebody (You almost did)

Apology accepted. Now write out "RTLs are better" two hundred times and go to your room.

Kidding! We don't wanna go there lol

FYI,me and hutchy are just talking about Ontario.It is different in other provinces.Wildlife in Canada is managed by the provincial governments,not federal.

Traplines vary considerable depending production, assets and equipment involved, from a few thousand to $100,000 or more. I would expect a decent line to go for around $25,000 to $40,000. Google BC traplines for sale for an idea of whats being asked currently

Bc guys, are there quotas attached to those lines?

There are provision for quotas but I am not aware of any lines which have had quotas set on them.

I understand that you may have an open quota on lets say fox, however does your government give you and idea of what to take to maintain a healthy population per acre like it does with the animals with the quotas?

When you guys get a trapline is it government regulated or is it yours to do as you wish like build new cabins, cut paths out of timber things like that.

There have been a couple mentions of equipment being sold with a trap line. Is that customary, that a trapper would sell all his gear and snow machine and ATV when he sells the line, or just if he's retiring for good?

That’s cheap!

In BC management of your harvest is up to the trapper. The education course provides you with basic guidelines to accomplish this. The government has the option to establish a quota or close the season on you.

You must get approval for your cabins in BC and trail cutting requires approval if it involves the cutting of commercial timber.

This is interesting to me. I would love just to go one season and watch how you guys trap all season.

When you get your line, is it issued to just you, or are you allowed to have others trap on your line. trapping buddy, family, lease it out??

You can allow anyone to trap or lease it as long as they have a licence and your written permission.

Pretty similar here.

Are there limits on the amount and type of trails you create, and do you have the right to restrict others from using your trails?

Osky

No right to restrict others from using them. And despite trapping policy being the same Ontario wide, my mnr wants me to get a permit to make trails, and most others do not I believe. Government... Boo

As far as I know, in BC there are no restrictions on the amount of atv or snowmobile trails you can construct as long as there is little timber cutting involved and they do not involved any identified sensitive or restricted sites. No you have no right to restrict others from the trails you construct. If any extensive timber cutting, merchantable or immature, is involved then a forestry permit would be required.

Thanks guys

Osky

What if the harvestable surplus is more than your cap? I decide in season by in season information what the harvestable surplus might be and control my harvest based on timely in season data. The government does not know what is going on. I do.

So if you want to raise your beaver quota who pays for the aerial survey? Kinda on the same line as Dirt’s question.

How do the various Ministries handle trap thievery, or hunter/fishermen toying with your traps/cabins, etc.??? Do they (Wardens?) seem to take it seriously?

Our council has a fund from our nuisance beaver program that will cover 75% of the cost for any member wishing to fly.
There are a couple trappers in each council that have aircraft and that know how to properly fly an aerial beaver survey for an accurate count.
Last year the pilot in our council charged $200 for a line.
If you trap beaver in the winter it saves a lot of time and money being able to plan from an aerial survey,instead of looking for live houses from the ground.
Most times a trapper knows his ground pretty good if he has been on it for years,and will only do an aerial survey if there is a problem in the district like a freezeout.
New trappers taking over a beaver line with a big quota will definitely benefit from an aerial survey.
Sometimes the MNR will fly a survey if they think a line is being mismanaged.
Too bad google earth is 5-6 years out of date,if it was real time that would be great.Our fur tech has a meeting for trappers during the season for quota adjustments.The only time data would be required for a quota adjustment would be if it was substantial like doubling the marten quota because of a high juvenile ratio in conjunction with a high early harvest level(75% of quota in 3 weeks trapping for example),or a drastic drop in beaver quota from a freezeout.In both these cases many trappers would be on the same page as these fluctuations are widwspread over many traplines when they occur.In the early 90's here we had a large freezeout of beaver.One local trappers aerial survey indicated a drop from over 60 live houses before to just 9 live houses the year after.

We work closely here with the CO's,they take any offenses against trappers very seriously.
The only time I ever had a problem was the first year I got a trapline I found a couple big beaver floating in the fall killed with a high power rifle.I reported it to the CO,never heard anything but never had that problem ever again.
I have never had anyone tamper with any traps on my remote line,and so far no problems on my line east of town.

For $200 I would do a survey to find live houses every year.

My fur tech has asked me for a map of live houses on a helper line I am on. As for raising quotas mid season, the trend for beaver has been for people to argue their quotas down since beaver aren't worth as much. Around here a trapper asking for a raised quota would be rare and likely granted without question assuming the trapper can back up their claim by counting live houses. As for marten and fisher, just knowing my fur tech, I believe an argument could be made to have it raised based on juvenile to adult female ratios. Doesn't mean he would raise it, but you could make the argument. They tend to be a bit more stingy about marten quota increases here, since our populations are just not what they are up north where there are open quotas. Where the populations have potential to be very high, trappers manage their own quotas, like dirt has said. Down here we don't have a whole lot of marten, so quotas stand. As for fisher, we have a decent population, and have fewer population swings. Fisher populations don't seem to swing as wildly as marten, and the quotas seldom change. In eastern areas of the province with incredible fisher populations, the quotas are open for fisher, and the trapper manages his take. Quotas only generally exist where they need to be in place. Exceptions to every rule, but the system seems to work based on steady harvests year after year.

Are the fur prices set in Canada? I remember seeing a show where a Trapper had a list of what he was to be paid for each species prior to trapping. Would this be similar to the bounty system we occasionally see in the States? Would this be in addition to the fur value?

That is probably the government incentive program in the Northwest territories. They get a guaranteed minimum. The fur is sold at FHA(maybe) If sold for more than the minimum they get Auction value. I'd tell you what I think of it, but it wouldn't be considered civil.

Is there still a bounty on Beaver up there?

Been 10-15 years since i've been up hunting, but remember the guy telling me they had a 25 dollar bounty at that time.

I believe there is a bounty in the western provinces where there are lots of beaver/human conflict in farming areas.

No bounty where I am.

Also no bounty in BC.

Thanks.

It was in Manitboa where the trapper told me that.

I trapped On my buddies line and also his wife's line.
He was only limited for the amount of Lynx he could take. And like others said he needed to take so many beaver.

7 weeks In the bush what a blast.

I think Boco has been hitting that recreational weed already if he thinks Google Earth everywhere is 5-6 years of of date. I use GE almost daily for work and there's no where in the CONUS that doesn't have imagery within the past 2 years. Now maybe in the boonies of his part of Ontario but I even doubt that. Give me some lat, longs Boco, and I'll tell you the last image availability...

Trap lines here get handed down the generations of families. No registered lines anymore but most people still respect others families trapping areas. For some people that don’t have an established line there is open land close to town or as remote as you want. I’ve heard of rivalries at the borders of trapping areas resulting in warning (?) shots and I’ve also heard of 3 families meeting at the border every night during ratting with canoes to roast tails and do some skinning. I’m lucky that my trapline covers land from both my McLeod and Greenland sides of the family tree. No quotas here but when the populations are high we trap a bit harder and we won’t overtrap because the following years would be harder to pick up fur.

Google Earth shows a truck in my driveway I haven't owned in six years. Lol

"Traplines vary considerable depending production, assets and equipment involved, from a few thousand to $100,000 or more. I would expect a decent line to go for around $25,000 to $40,000. Google BC traplines for sale for an idea of whats being asked currently"

I am not making an intentional negative comment as this is a good, informative thread. So please do not take it as such.
It seems that with those prices one would have to be a rather wealthy "sportsman" type trapper. I can see say an outfitter or business man being able to afford that but not an average trapper.
That kind of money would be a serious outlay in cash and one would have to be pretty sure of a couple of things.
One, that there was enough potential and time to make that area profitable.
Two, that you would be able to financially and physical ability to make it all happen.
Different style of trapping. The average guy would be out of business.

Every year though doesn't the weather have a big influence on populations? Can your quotas change during the year because of natural events?

And at the other end of the spectrum,my line didn’t cost a penny , but it came with zero improvements and I stayed in a tent the first season until I had a camp built , many many lines have been reallocated threw the point system in the district I trap south of Boco due to the fact the lines were not getting trapped and managed , my line is 8 hours from home though not just out the back door , I trap all private land here in the south , I’ve said before Ontario is a very diverse and ranges from high dollar flat ag ground where I live to the boeral forest of the north so it’s a different management system in different areas as well , a fella could never hurt the raccoon populations here in the south , but over trapping marten or lynx in the north is a possibility as well as what happens when the beavers are not managed , I’ve learned a lot of interesting stuff in the past 6 seasons trapping northern Ontario and as I head into season 7 I hope to continue.

I have Google Earth Pro at work. It has a "Historical" feature. When I use that, I can see the supposed dates of the imagery used. Within the CONUS (conterminous U.S.), when I use GE Pro, there isn't a place that doesn't have imagery within 2 years. For my house, it is from March of 2018. The people that run Google are extremely liberal progressives and want to save (and make money from) the world but perhaps they really don't give a hoot about having newer imagery over Canada. Go ask them why they only have 6-year old imagery over your house. Maybe the Canadian gov doesn't give them enough cash under the table to get newer imagery, I don't know. If anyone thinks that Google got as big and powerful as it did without the help of certain agencies within the U.S. gov, you're fooling yourselves...

Here are the co ordinates PCFED let me know the actual date of the imagery.
lat-49.7169 n
long-81.5165 w
elev 755ft.

Ok, I'm going into the office either later today or tomorrow so will check that out on my version there. I just downloaded GE on this newer computer here at home and its a "new" version of GE. Not impressed so far.

Boco, this isn't near where you live, right? You're much further north than just under 50 N, correct? From the NW Angle in MN to Puget Sound in WA, the U.S.-Canada border is at 49 N.

Yes that is my trapline.Just south of James Bay.The climate and terrain is sub arctic because of the Bay.

Nice use of decimal degrees!

Ok, Boco, I learned something from you today. I guess I never realized how far north the nw MN to w WA border was with Canada. Or how far south James Bay was. I took your same latitude and bumped up the longitude to 100 W and you end up about 90 klicks north of the Turtle Mts. in ND, so less than 60 miles north of the U.S./Canada border. Very interesting!

2 months or 6 years, the point was google is not that useful for locating live beaver lodges. The photos would have to be from september/october to find live lodges. IMO

Yes RTL trapping is a different style of trapping. You have exclusive rights to a specific area of crown land. No direct area competition providing you the ability to control and manage the harvest over a large area.

Yet, what you consider the average trapper still has the right to trap as much private land they can obtain written permission for.

If there are a lot of trappers who don't trap their existing lines because they can't make decent money, how you going to make decent money if you have to buy one?

I see Mac's point and agree. I also see the way ya'll run your lines and that's good too.

With todays prices, it is kinda a mute point tho. When prices are high, and a fella down here can run and catch hundreds and even thousands of critters, it looks like it would be hard to do up there.

Lots of Canadian trappers catch "hundreds and even thousands" of critters.

Lots of them?

Like i said above, looks like their way would be hard. I'm not talking Muskrats either (big pay critters when there is such a thing).

IMO those that cannot make decent money, or rather what I consider a decent return on investment, either made a poor choice in their investment or are poor business managers, or just plain lazy individuals.

I think this means, "Can't make decent money"

It seems like a big barrier for new trappers.

I trapped up there and If you want to put up numbers you would be way better off trapping In the states.

That's some pretty skinny country to put up numbers.

I catch hundreds of animals on 2 20 mile loops.Very rich fur country up here and lots of species also,not just one or two.Low expense with cabins on the line,and excellent acess in winter.
There was a reason the HBC built their first fur trading forts in southern James Bay.

If a guy has the gumption to develop his own line here,there is lots of country available.
Now if you want to step into a developed line then you will need to pay.
The reason Ontario has more reasonable prices for traplines is because the mandatory minimum beaver quota keeps lines in the hands of fur producers and out of the hands of big money hunters.

Beav you trapped part of Canada.

I thought the minimum beaver quota was to make your lines so productive?

I have seen lines come up with hundreds of beaver quotas. Heck, mine used to be 125 and I could probably up it to 50 or so now without any trouble. Ill see what fall brings.

I recall hearing of an old couple who ran a line up north. They broke down and got a helper because it was getting hard for them to keep up with their 200 beaver quota each year. lol. Cant recall who it was, but I think my trapping instructor knew them.

On the lines I am on, I am going for a hundred beaver this year. Also, marten trappers in highly productive areas can get hundreds of marten. Can you take off and set a thousand traps from one end of the province to the other? No, of course not. But I do know a guy named Murray who lives on his line up north and he claims in forty or more years there are parts of it he has not seen. Boco, Murray has tried to sell me his line a few times. Sounds great, but cant convince the wife. lol

Read back. There can be more than one reason things exist.

Hey Hutchy,how would you like to trap this line-424 live houses,that only an 850 quota.Thats a small line compared to some,only 180 sq miles.

You mean acquiring a new line?

It can be, however a lot of new trappers are not ready to manage a line. That's why the points system exists. In theory, the more points you have, the more experience you have. The idea is that you get on as a helper, either on a line too big for one person to manage, an older person who cant trap it themselves without help, a buddy...and trap as a helper to learn before being thrown into managing a whole line. the more involved you are, the more points you get. Being a helper trapper gets you a point, so does getting your license, being a member of a council, etc. A few other ways to get points I think. Then, when you are experienced, you can apply for and hopefully get a line. Its not perfect, but the theory is there. Also, a lot of people end up getting hooked up with a line through their local council, end up trapping with a buddy, or GASP! realize that trapping is not for them for some reason or another.

It CAN be a barrier for some, however I got a line two years after setting my first trap, and am currently on two others as a helper that I exclusively trap. The people who own the line cant be bothered. Works for me. If you want anything bad enough, and are persistent, doors will open. But then, that is like most things in life IMO

How many helpers are on that bad boy??

With an area like that, it must have been trapped consistently for many years for there to be enough feed to handle that amount of beaver.

And sign me up! Ill stack em up! You just gotta help me perfect that multiple beaver 330 set you love so much!

Just read, that was in 1969 eh. Is that area still at that quota do you know? How are the beaver compared to back then? As I stated, my line was at 125 in those days and coundnt support that now.

I had a buddy in Kapuskasing recently wanted to sell his line.I put it on the CNTA forum and hooked up a guy from the south looking for a line up north.I believe the transaction went thru and the fella from the south is up trapping the line now.Dont know what he paid,I'm sure it was reasonable,and I know that line has some good fur and two cabins.I believe a lot of other equipment went with the line,a turnkey operation right off the bat for the incoming trapper.He will be producing good amount of fur the first year.
Some guys like myself trap on 2 or 3 lines and with the price of fur being down some are cutting back on the effort.It is not uncommon for lines to change hands between trappers,and I don't know of anyone who wants to trap not being able to get on a line around here.

I think for a lot of guys in the south, that trapping in the north is a bit out of reach, a bit far away and a bit too remote. Also, more of a serious endeavour. Not that it cant be here, its just that we seem to have more pressure for lines around here. I could have had one up north two years ago. Near wawa. Five beaver quota, and wasn't right for me at the time. Looking for another close by for the wife...that would be idea.

No the line is now under control.Beaver were overpopulated here in the late 60's,I think the quota on that line now is around 3 or 4 hundred.
That line was where the first OTA trappers college was held(Elliot lake),with instructors like Ralph Bice,Paul Millette,and Lloyd Cook.
Some lines were split into smaller more manageable lines.One old woman trapper had a line here with a beaver quota of 300.When she got too old to manage it,instead of booting her,they split the line in two.My son now has 1\2 of that original line,just east of town.

5 beaver quota?Must be in that high jackpine sandy ground common there.Might be good lynx country,but with no water I think you did well to pass on that one.

He said lots of wolves though. I said, ok, but what will I bait them with???

LOL.Lots of wolves there must be lots of moose too.Cause they aint got no beaver left.

Things like free ADC for Ontario.

Beaver are only a nuisance where there is civilization.Not so much on the vast majority of registered traplines,especially in the Patricia portion of NE Ont.
I have found there are more beaver on well managed traplines than in untrapped areas.True they will boom for a while but then crash to very low levels.
I remember surveying areas of the railroad like the nippissing crown game preserve,where no trapping has ever been allowed,and there were very few beaver there and a lot of degraded habitat.

Then in areas like KL,Kap Cochrane and Hearst where traplies are well managed the landscape was full of beaver.

I understand the strategery, but making people trap beaver only works as a deterrent because beaver ain't worth trapping. When they are worth trapping you have to have a maximum limit like we used to have.

I did.
I met a Ontario trapper at a NTA convention we became friends and he invited me up to trap. 7 weeks In the bush.

But If I wanted to put up numbers on things other then wolves lynx and marten I wouldn't be trapping In Ontario.

I'd be trapping rats and mink In ND fox In PA and beaver In SC. 300 beaver In a year In Ontario? I could do that In 2 months In SC and be warm doing It. Then toss In the 70 or 80 otter.

Yes, lots!

You don't think there aren't guys catching hundreds of coyotes in a year? Marten? Beaver? Racoon?

Why are you looking down on the muskrats? I think I'd rather own 3 or 4 thousand rats than a thousand PA foxes right now.

You need to think outside your box old buddy. I've done 300 beaver in 2 months in MN through the ice. Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Alberta is where it's at.

Beav don't come to western PA for fox...….

Paul Millette did 1013 beaver thru the ice in a couple months by hearst on his own trapline and one other he flew into up north not to mention over 50 otter,300 marten,and lots of fisher wolves lynx rats and mink.
Not only that he put them all up.
He was also the top producer/shipper to NAFA for many years.

If a guy wants to work he can put up phenomenal numbers of high quality fur here.


Like Steven said there are high numbers of fur come out of Manitoba,Alberta,and Saskatchewan.
And Quebec produces more than all including Ontario.

I remember many times back in the 70's and 80's Cree families would come out of the bush in April on skidoos pulling tandem komatiks to meet the train after trapping all winter way north and west of kipling.They had fur bags that would near fill one end of the baggage car.

Ya old buddy but I'm not busting ice. And I can sit on the veranda at the end of the day sipping a mint Julep LOL

Beav if we was both younger I would like to try trapping beaver with you in Carolina.Maybe bring along your buddy steve too.
I don't know about that mint stuff,but I have tried some firewater from down that way before.There are fisher trappers in maine like That former wfsc director who uses beaver for fisher bait.

Figured that would get more out than we only catch enough to keep a healthy line.

Have to go by the live houses.Some lines like shown have extremely dense populations.
I just got a request from the MNR to trap a remote line that has been vacant for a couple years,should be interesting.

Go get em old timer. LOL

How do you know those numbers won't sustain a healthy line.

Boco, the reason I didn't mention Ontario and Quebec is I know little about them and they don't have coyotes lol. But of course there has to be some monster catches coming from the provinces. All one has to do is look at how massive they are, how diverse the terrain is and how few people live in your country. It only stands to reason a trapper is only limited by his own vision.

You know me Beav, I don't imbibe. At night we'll be skinning.

One thing a lot of people don't realize(I even had to remind some new MNR people) is that every inch of Ontario crown land is someones trapline.

No coyotes in Ontario? Oh my friend...we have a lot of really mangy lousy coyotes! lol

Or limited by the line he has. The quota's they showed at the start of this thread tells me they ain't catching hundreds.

Which is it?

The quota's they showed are only on their line at present time. Other lines have different quota's.They also said in the beginning that a trapper can own multiple lines. Also they can trap on private property and still own multiple lines on crown land. The non crown areas don't have quotas or at least that's my understanding.

Don't get stuck thinking inside the box. Marty Senneker isn't catching several hundred of the best coyotes on the planet on crown land.

On my buddies trap line you would be lucky to catch 40 beaver even If you were working at It. But he catches quite a few marten. If I remember we caught 52 while I was there.

They don't count.

I would think having a registered line on crown land would slow a numbers guy down. Except for Beavers that is, saw lots of them on Crown land when i was there.