How much trapping have you actually done?

I assume you are talking about designated walking trails or is it every road trail or opening where someone "Might" walk" If either one is so then hikers dog walkers and bikers should have to pay an access fee OR buy and carry a hunting or trapping license since Gov. Snyder Pittman Robertson funds have been accessed to build trails and streamside parks He designated birdwatchers and hikers were "Sportsmen too"
In this part of Michigan many two tracks that used to be called firelines have been blocked off by the dnr and its no accident these parcels have manicured and maintained walking paths on them with Free Parking at trailheads
its not good but making others pay for accessing public land and putting restrictions on when and how is all i can say to you

As a side note if i do set on public land i'm old and forgetful so a good gob of skunk alongside the road helps me to remember

Since 1986. Not sure why that matters though.

I had permission to trap predators on a National Seashore. The head ranger allowed buckets only with signage on the bucket that said "Danger Trap". You can imagine what a few tourists did to those buckets.
I placed most buckets in extremely thick areas. One day I found a woman digging at the base of a tree, many yards from a pathway. She said she was geo-caching. I had to look up what that was. She had a dog with her on a leash.

Some local residents fed raccoons and feral cats. Park service asked me to keep a daily log of all animals - except feral cats. We agreed to relocate any live cats that were caught in my 220s. Sounded good.

I carried a letter authorizing me to trap on the park property and wore an NPS vest. One ranger challenged me but lost.

Did this for 2-3 years during the season. The Dept of Agriculture trappers came in March with no restriction at all. They were good. Unreal what they removed in one week.

I finally donated all my gear to the NPS. Got a nice tax deduction. Only profitable year I ever had as a hobby trapper.

I can't give a good answer for M I problem. But the public land l hunt and trap has signage at the entrance that read. Hunting=Trapping=Fishing.
this area is closed to all other activity from September 1 thru February 28 . Division of wildlife.

To your first question, I think I only typed that once, but yes I do think some on here think it is their god-given right to put traps anywhere they want.

Second part- let’s say it was someone hunting on the 2-track - who would be responsible for a bullet that was fired indiscriminately?

One thing I'm seeing is this is more of an issue where the public has free access to lands not their own.

It's really not an issue down south where all land is posted by law. Even public lands require some form of written permit.

Right Warrior.

And Utilitarianism generally rules - the greatest good for the greatest number.
News flash - we aren’t the greatest number.

Michigan citizens own 4.6 million acres of state land that is managed by the Michigan Department of Natural Resources (DNR). The land is managed to protect Michigan's natural and cultural resources, provide quality outdoor recreation opportunities, and foster regional economic prosperity.

And posting signs will turn all that around.Hunters are behind the 8 ball too.If you had a referendum on hunting in certain states I got no doubt it would go down too

This will be my last post on this topic.
Be smart my friends, avoid conflict.
Consider these stats:
Trappers in the US ~200,000
Households with dogs in the US ~65,000,000
That is 325 to 1. I don’t like those odds if it comes to a vote.

Well thats too bad that you wont post anymore.
Do you know how many of those 65M walk their dogs along public roadways?
Very few i would guess.
Of those few do you know how many dogs are on a leash?
And of those few how many have a reasonable length leash that they can control their dog?
Control the dog...Control the dog...Control the dog
just

Ok, I lied, this will be the last post

All dog owners (lovers) can vote against trapping, not just the ones with caught dogs.

I understand both sides. But I also understand being smart about what you enjoy. I trap private property and have run into the same issue.

One property landowner just got some “shed dogs.” I asked where they roam and he said his wife will walk them to the first field and that’s it. I told him I wouldn’t set up front is stay midways and back and confirmed via map where all sets were and did I need to move any. The answer was no. Day 3 I get a call, id caught one of his dogs. I told him he was lucky because I was on the property already, he wasn’t. His wife decided to walk the property with the dogs and one got caught. I pulled up and she was hysterical telling me she had the vet on standby and she’d rush him there as soon as I could release him. These were Labs and she held his neck while I released his paw. He licked me and went back to roaming. She couldn’t understand how he was walking because his paw was broke. I called the dog with my “man” voice and he came and sat at my side. I asked her to show me which paw was broke. She was so hysterical at the time she didn’t even know which paw had gotten caught. I called the landowner and all he did was laugh. Still trap his property to this day.

Another property I told landowner and manager I had conibears out for beavers…NO DOGS on the property or Id pull and never come back. A week later my camera goes off of dogs and trucks everywhere. I flew there calling the out of State landowner at the same time. Apparently the manager decided they’d run some hog dogs. But guess what, the hogs don’t go where you think they’ll go and the dogs have pursuit. I told him if a dog got in one before I got there it was on him and the dog owners aren’t going to be happy. Luckily he reached his manager and they got all the dogs rounded up before anything bad happened. I was a little on the ticked off side and made everyone gather around and took a stout stick and set one of the Belisles off. When that stick snapped I told them thats the same sound it would’ve made on their dogs neck. Pulled everything and the next time he called my prices has went up. Still trapping that property and he doesn’t even allow his manager out there the three weeks I’m there now.

Personally I’m all for being smart about it. If there’s a chance a dog can happen upon a trap, especially a conibear then I don’t set there. Footholds are a little different, we get strays all the time, but I still don’t set property lines if there’s a paved road or houses…even on private property. I don’t want the hassle or the landowner getting calls if someone finds their pooch in a set before I get there. It just common sense honestly. It is private property so legally I can set anywhere on that property, but it’s just not good relations for everyone involved. Y’all may have read about me talking to a neighbor of the plantation property and about Sarah his Boxer. She was about 300-350yds from the property line and .65miles from her house when caught. Owner never knew, lol.

Just keep a good relation with those around or use the same lands we do.

I brought this topic up during a g&f meeting to ban trapping.
I suggested maybe add signs in very popular areas by non hunters and non trappers stating something like... Warning: hunting or trapping may be occurring, don't be loud and keep pets on leash. Harassment to hunters and trappers or excessive noise is interference of hunting and is subject to criminal punishment and or fine.

I've had several experiences where non hunters have ruined my hunt because of noise, pet dogs. I've known lots of people to be harassed for hunting. Then there's the whole crowd of people that say I didn't know hunting happened here in the nf or blm

When I first started in the mid '70's there were 2 states with laws that stood out,one was I believe Connecticut and I don't remember the other.One state you couldn't set a predator trap unless it was in the water,the other state it had to be set in a 8" burrow.This was to protect dogs.There.Lets go to that,that'll make um happy

You make a good point. However we must remember your average citizen is very likely to have had a negative encounter with a dog somewhere along the line. Traps, not so much. So yes trappers must exercise restraint but so must dog owners. it's a 2 way street.

4.5 million people
Dog bites pose a serious health risk to our communities and society. More than 4.5 million people are bitten by dogs each year in the United States, and more than 800,000 receive medical attention for dog bites, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC). At least half of those bitten are children.

I'd never put up with having signage of any sort ! I used to trap for a few bird clubs and let them all know where they would be and that they were not hunting in those areas any way due to rotating fields. An exercise in futility, the very next check I had shot up fox, coyotes, coons and skunks because they were helping me !! Had another visit with the land owner who was the one requesting the trapping, told him I would have to charge for lost fur if something wasn't done to control my "help", he suggested flagging them, LOL, thats when I went to night vision and thermal later on with calling, was not as high a take rate as trapping but it was a compromise the owner could live with. You will never stop people from messing with your equipment if they know your are in the area, no matter what some say, there are to many who don't care.

As to leash laws, out here two tracks are usually 6 feet across, if one is hiking on a two track and the trappers is 25 feet off the road setting, just how long is that leash have to be to let that animal get that far off the road, nothing mentioned about leash lengths, which is a big thing now days to keep all dogs and other pets requiring them to be on them and under control, obviously this is not the case when these uneducated misfits go hiking and can't control their pets, I would certainly bring that up for discussion as if they were even on a ten foot leash the animals still could not get near any set 25 feet away.

You can always move out further as well and keep them out, there is no way a leashed animal is going to find a trap on its own while being held, unless that hiker or owner is doing the hiking of trail as well, which is mostly the case or the animals are not leashed until caught !

Alaska has the sign and set back issue come up every year. In my experience, most dog owners think their dog should have the right of way before anyone, or anything, else. As Drasselt posted, dogs are more a danger to humans than trapping. How many children die from being caught in a trap each year? Zero? How many from dog attacks? Between 10-20 per year.
Try googling statistics on dogs hurt by other dogs? If anything should be clear from the SCIENCE of statistics, dogs are what should be restricted on public lands. Not traps. Where I live the borough (Alaska version of county) recently created a definition for dangerous dogs. They did that so they had a definitive reason to confiscate dogs that are a danger to PEOPLE and other dogs. So far there has been no effort to define a "dangerous" trap.
Average Joe wants to pull back. Hide. We are outnumbered. I disagree with that attitude. Trapping is an important tool that controls diseased animals. Some of those diseases can transfer to humans and or domestic dogs. Trapping provides a public service at NO charge to the public.
The person requesting signs made this statement: 3." By doing their job of preventing encounters with traps, the signs would also protect those traps from being sprung through accidental contact."
Notice this person thinks it is the trappers sole responsibility to prevent dog encounters with traps. That is not a workable solution. The dog owner should be just as responsible by keeping their dog restrained and ON the trail/two track.
The nutcase also stated it isn't acceptable for humans to become trapping victims. When has that happened? What isn't acceptable is for humans to become DOG victims and the statistics say that is the more common problem.
Stand up for trappers, Dahlgren. The facts are on your side.

Dogs can be dangerous.
A couple weeks ago a friend of mine had her son attacked by a pit bull.he was able to knife it to death but still had to get a couple stitches on his forearm and inner thigh.