I'm new to this site but not new to trapping. I have been doing so since I was a little boy with the infatuation of seing what I could capture.

I have trapped in South Africa when I lived and went to university there, and I have trapped and snared many many bears as a wildlife manager for Weyerhaeuser in Wa State.

I have been building my own live traps out of all aluminum and stainless steel. I have one of these that is over 30 years old now. It has been outside all this time and has never been out of the weather. It's more of hobby and challenge than anything else.

I have joined this to read about the catch's made in live traps, or box traps by others. It s really the only way I trap now, although when a neighbor is struggling with beaver damage or other problems I have no issue using whatever is needed to get the job done quick.

Currently I have a request to catch some turtles in a pond. I built a float and set a Havahart #2 ( from 1935!) on this with some fish as bait. Wondering if anyone else has used a live trap like this to catch turtles?

This was the first capture and a surprise, guess this bullfrog was just too curious!

It looks like you only have four species of freshwater turtles in Washington state: Painted Turtle (Chrysemys picta), Pond Slider ( Trachemys scripta), Western Pond Turtle (Trachemys scripta), and some Common Snapping Turtles (Chelydra serpentina). Which species of turtles are you trying to catch? The basking turtles are usually found in higher numbers than snapping turtles.

Since you enjoy making traps, there are many YouTube videos that may give you helpful ideas on how to make turtle traps.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bDfZLMNGuu0

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hNgKtPVBNVQ

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZaNnIJNZ5zY

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W9ZZJ7dI4Pk

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gXGQUtYk2sc

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dp8QswEbbYc

Just did a snapping turtle job today from a large koi pond. Got the turtle in under an hour. This is my goto trap for turtles WCS turtle trap

We don't get much call for turtle trapping, but we do catch turtles in swim through beaver cage traps in incidental catches like you would in a conibear. Since the traps are 18 inches wide and 39 long they will catch any size snapping turtle. We have caught 30 pound turtles.

This photo was sent to us the other day

The turtles I have to remove at the smaller sliders and painted turtles

I walked back there this morning and saw this guy laughing and taunting me!

Well..... You can catch turtles in an 80 plus year old Havahart style live trap with a couple pool noodles and a slice of fish!

Caught 2 more now so I've decided it was not coincidence or luck this will actually work!

This what I make and sale to get the turtles they are about 4 feet long From the first hoop to the third hoop and 30 inches across they start at 60.00 each plus shipping. Dave 318-465-5961