Good morning!
I am grateful you are here and this forum exists. While I am new to trapping, my family is not. My family used to trap commercially in South Jersey. Farmers mostly. I have memories from childhood of the top level of a barn full of leg hold traps attached to long sticks....hundreds if not thousands of traps. Then they were conibear, and then they were gone. The traps went away as the generation of people in my family who trapped got old, infermed, and died. As far as I know there is only one member of my family left who used to trap rats in the salt marshes and he is extremely old, 3/4 deaf, and 7/8 crippled. My parents left south jersey in the 60's and went to California and did the hippy thing and that's where I was born. I was raised in Central PA . When I would come back to the farm to visit my grandfather he would get me to hunt or tell me to set out some muskrat traps or take me fishing. I moved back to CA and spent half my adult life there. When my mom got sick I moved back to PA to help take care of her and met my wife. My mom moved back to South Jersey to die and my wife and I moved here to start an oyster farm. I wasn't raised around hunting or trapping. However, I love hard work and even more love the outdoors. So I am so very grateful you all are here. I am very grateful this community is here. In my opinion, wild animal fur is 100% organic, free range, sustainable, locally sourced, hand crafted clothing with a low carbon footprint. I already make and pressure can catfood from squirrel and roadkill deer and I am going to do the same with the meat from my trapped animals. I feel trapping is ethical when the animals are respected and I intend to do that. So thank you for being here, thank you for continuing to trap in the face of such low fur prices and continuing opposition from misguided naysayers, and thank you for sharing what information you are comfortable sharing. Peace, good health, and success to all of you. David

Well I'm glad you are here. You have information nobody here has just like all of us. It sure is the most interesting site on the world wide web. IMHO of course

Great story. Welcome!

Welcome Oysterman. Thanks for the post. I would like to know more about how oyster farming works. Glad to have you aboard.

Here in KS oysters come from hogs and beef. I like going to the coast for the sea oysters. I have a weakness for just caught lobster. Get down on the gulf and fresh caught shrimp are pretty wonderful.

I knew oysters were farmed but I dont know any details. Are you culturing pearls too?

Welcome and you'll learn more than ya need to around here! lol

Welcome aboard it is for sure s very diverse crowd here on T-man.
As a younger man I dove for shells here on the Mississippi river. Those went to Japan for cultured petal industry. I did find a few low quality river pearls.
I like oyster fixed couple different way.

Mac

Welcome

Welcome aboard the SS TMan.
Grab a lifevest.
Or better yet, nah, TMan is better without one!

Oyster on!

Blessings,
Mark

Welcome to Tman!

Welcome. Pull up a chair and your favorite drink

Ever since your first post I've been craving oysters. Good to see you keeping trapping alive in your family.

I tried oyster farming here in the ozarks but our soil is just too poor. That or I planted them too deep.

Welcome!

Welcome! Don't be afraid to ask any questions. Lot of expert trappers on here that are happy to share.

Welcome!!

Lol!

Welcome. Remember, they are not leg hold traps but paw hold traps.

Howdy,good to see you in the trapping game.

I keep planting those oyster shell seeds for my chickens and haven't grown one yet.......chickens sure eat them oyster seeds up though