No trap check changes

Had a transport today so I got back a little after 2PM when the GFP Commissioner meeting started. The Anti commissioner and the Bird Lady were working together it looked like they were pretty much in lock step. Looking to change the trap check state wide to 24 hours from 2 days East river and 3 day checks West river. The bird lady (Audubon) started out demanding double the time for her as herself and then as representing the Audubon Society as a separate person. She kind of made it clear she looked to have some "issues". LOL The only ones that abused the time allotted was the 2 Anti's by manipulating the board, the other speakers that were signed up had the option to come back for more time.

The GFP was asking for 3 day checks statewide to make the checks consistent across the State (Or maybe to counter the 24 check idea) The only one supporting the 1 day check was the Anti commissioner the rest on the board voted to leave it was it was with no changes. This will come up again you can bet on that!

Our local State Rep was there so we explained about the way the Bird lady and the anti-commissioner work together on the anti trapping issues they have brought up over the last several years. Told her that guy needs to go so I introduced her to the trapping association folks that were in the hall with me.

Will see where it goes but she will talk with another State Rep she knows West river when they meet later this week. Will see where it goes from here.

Glad to hear of a victory for trapping, or at least holding off a presumed attack. Good on ya for attending.

Thanks for the update. I listen to it live at work. I thought that was very fitting the bird lady started off by abusing her 3 min time limit. That right there had to turn the commissioner's off to her.

The other one cheated also had her sister sign up and finish what she had on a paper that she did not have time to read.

A good victory, but Lawdog is right, no doubt this will come up again. Some of the discussion made me nervous. We need to stay on top of this and in contact with our commissioners and Governor. Thanks to John and Craig from SDTA for staying on top of this!

Good win for SD trappers. Stay vigilant and let us know if we can help. I'm more than willing to do anything I can to help fellow trappers in any state or country.

Good to hear and thanks for the update Lawdog. I went to the SDGFP mtg in Spearfish last month and it was kinda weird watching this unfold.

Get rid of the anti-commissioner and that welcome matt will roll itself back up. He was singing a solo for the most part but then he encourages the crazy ladies to partake to support the 1/2 truths they spread.

His story of a rancher that traps and works a 20,000 acre ranch supposedly that the commissioner claims told him a 24 hour checks work just fine. If your working 20,000 acres your not trapping and giving it the respect a trapper should impossible. How stupid does he think people are to believe trapping is such a breeze you can do it on a lark.

I'd like to see a follow up on this rancher with a cape with a big R on his chest total BS!

Law Dog... I am not disagreeing with you or being argumentative with you, but I have always trapped in a state that has a 24 hr. check. I always managed to get everything checked within that 24 hr period, even though it meant I had to burn the candle at both ends. It really wasn't about the number of traps, because at times I was 150 traps and worked a full time job.

Can you please explain to me and others the advantage of a 2 or 3 day check over the 24 hr. check? I have pretty much always trapped within one to 1.5 counties. My home county is 42 X 40 miles. Again don't take no offense to what I am asking, because there is no intent of that, just curious.

Garry-

So you ran 150 traps and put everything up the same night and you would do that for 7 months straight? I like the run one day and put up the next day and repeat if I have a slow put-up and maintenance day then I'd move traps around then. I always add about 6 traps on every check either filling in or adding on at the end.

If I had the 3 day check I'd run 2 lines and put up on the 3rd day. You have never been to Western SD maybe in some place there is nothing for endless miles and what's there when you get there is not much.

Not being a jerk here but you have been restricted so long you think it's OK but to me it sounds like (Stockholm syndrome) maybe. We are in the top 5 on free living why would we give that up. My question would be why not 2-3 days?

No we only have a 3.5 month season here... so that is about half of the time. When I was much younger and running a full line, I only slept about 3 hrs a night. I couldn't do that now, but that many years back. I would get up at 4:00 AM check traps 2.5 hrs., go home, go to go to work … work a full day, start checking traps again, go home grab a quick meal, start skinning, fleshing and stretching until 12 to 1:00 go to bed get up and start over. Of course I was trapping muskrats, coon, fox and once in a while a mink. The only thing I didn't completely finish that day was coon. I would skin them, roll them, and freeze until weekend. I can't do any of that today.

I can see where what you do is more desirable, but at the time, I was selling all of the muskrat and coon meat... so it had to be fresh and done that day.

Thank you.

Garry-

Not saying it could not be done but why not do it all and still get a recharge day when you can it's more efficient this way. Never give up what you don't have to because they only will want more then.

a 150 rats traps in a day would not be hard if you only had a couple stops, actor is only going about 40 miles or so ,so most all them traps have to be for rats , I agree with jerry don't give up anything , we as trapper have given up to much !!!!!

A straight, twenty-four hour check is ridiculous. Unless there is some other provision in the law, twenty-four hours would require a trapper to check a trap no later than the exact same time it was checked the previous day. If you checked that trap yesterday at 6:00 A.M. and checked it at 6:01 this morning, you're technically in violation.

Here in PA someone must have realized this. Our maximum check time is thirty-six hours. It is still basically a daily check but doesn't make everybody who oversleeps five minutes a criminal.

yep

Yep! 100% agree. Any trapper who says differently needs to re-read the story of "If you give a mouse a cookie..."

The larger issue here is from whom the proposed changes originated. Animal rights activists proposing changes to trap checks, season lengths, and other management policies is dishonest at best. They're hostile to the very idea of managing wildlife. Their intent is not to improve policies and practices but to completely destroy them bit by bit. Such conflicts of interest need to be clearly pointed out at these meetings.

It would be like Antifa at a city council meeting proposing to reduce the police force by half and requiring officers to carry billy clubs instead of hand guns. The stated and unstated interests (inherent hostility toward law enforcement) are in conflict with the legitimate day-to-day administration and practices of police officers.

Okay … I guess a person can no longer ask a question on here that SOME think is controversial … or that SOME think they are being attacked … to come and attack me or someone else. I ask the question because I never had the luxury of a 2 or 3 day check … I NEVER challenged anyone about it. I wanted to know, I was interested, and there was a war started. I thought I could ask a question from one of the members that I had looked up to as being respectable and well …..

I have nothing more to say about this and shall refrain from partaking in any further action in the open forum …

Sorry Paul …

Garry-

Our law states now every calender day. It use to state every 24 hrs. Actor. No one was riding you. Gee'z Trapping in the Dakotas is way different then OH. I sure miss the days of running multiple lines in MN with the extended check laws. Glad it worked out for the SD trappers

Same here in WI, daily check, not 24 hour, for dryland and non-submersion (drowning) sets.

A longer check time would help me personally a lot. Getting the Association on board well, be easier to get em to change their shorts lol.

Figures!

Actor the advantage not having 24 hour check laws allows me to run 3 independent trap lines in 3 different directions in 3 different counties...

Are these trap check laws for footholds, snares or dry land body grip traps? Makes sense for snares and BG traps, not so sure about a 3-day check for footholds. But that's just my opinion. We have a 4 day check for submersion sets, but when I'm rat trapping I rarely go 4 days between checks because a trap could connect anytime after I set it and then its plugged up and not catching fur until I reset.

It makes sense if you have a 3 day check you could run 3 lines in 3 different directions. Different environment out there allows for that I'm sure. Since I live and trap in WI and will likely never trap OP's neck of the woods, my opinion doesn't really matter. But I'm still glad you were able to hold off against the anti attack.

Would love to try a 2-3 day check, I need to move west!

Actor no worries it's not you it's a environmental issue most likely, when people think your OK with restricting trapping they see danger but may not understand that's your normal expectation where your at.

The Anti's want to over regulate to discourage our sport it's called the death of a thousand cuts they proposed several costly steps from added paperwork to a 3rd person being able to dispatch or release a catch from a trap. The GFP asked for 3 days Statewide they settled on leaving it as it was before. The same person trying to pass the 24 check for whatever emotional reasons they can make up is the same lady that was against the bounty program using live traps so it adds up to banning all trapping as a goal. The same lady also made proposals last year to restrict trappers.

This lady sells herself as the Audubon Society but I will look into if she really is any part of that origination even, she is the tool of the anti commissioner he loads the gun and she shoots it, like a host/parasite relationship. Might be better to let them continue as the obvious inappropriate relationship is what will work better for us as it goes on.

No shortage of antis at the meeting one was trying to sell the idea that a lot of trappers wanted the 24 hr checks, I'm sure she did some serious cherry picking to come up with that idea. The did look East and pointed out the 24 hr check States but failed to look West because that did not fit their agendas.

When the Mountain Lion season portion started the next anti was going on with the BS they were selling to not hunt lions when they just keep expanding their range in many places.

Just to make it clear I just showed up and looked things over the guys from the Trappers Asso. and other trappers spoke up, I was to late to sign up. I was able to introduce my State District Representative to the West River Asso. President and we brought her up to speed on the dealings going on that were suspicious.

Names were exchanged so other Representatives could get together with her on the issues, she's from farm country so she understands the need for trapping.

Nothing wrong with a good open debate. Some people get a bit passionate about the subject is all. Trapping the wide open prairie and Ohio has got to be a big difference. Also thought you've had some good posts over the years.

I'd bet there is plenty of places even us Dakotas trappers wouldnt go more than a daily check on because if our trap connected it could potentially leave an animal bouncing around for a few days making for bad PR. If only common sense would prevail amongst every trapper we wouldnt be giving the antis any ammo.

Yet I can also say that going two different directions depending on the day due to the amount of miles it takes to get in to different family groups of coyotes is nice. Also when the weather is cold it's an unnecessary waste of fuel when you can let them soak for a while if you're running snares.

When I first came out West the idea of road hunting was unheard of where I came from (IL) to say I was slow to act would be a understatement, that is because I was conditioned from the place I came from that it was not the way it was done. I quickly embraced it and learned a few tricks as I went along, a person adapts to their surroundings.

Here is an example of the advantage of extended check laws.
MN has daily check on footholds and snares, but extended to three days on drowners or body grips. MN also has ongoing controversy about the danger of body grips killing dogs. Snares and footholds are much more efficient than body grips for bobcats, but dialy checks of cat sets are very inefficient due to their large home range and infrequent visits. This essentially forces many cat trappers that have a job to use body grips just to take advantage of extended checks. Not the most efficient for catching cats and encourging the potential for dog/trap encounters which could be reduced by giving trappers the option of extended check on footholds and snares.

They need to understand that the goal of the anti is to stop trapping and not improve it in any way! It's kind of a joke the one approach to the bounty system and really all vermin trapping here is that we are trapping them to improve a invasive species (pheasants).

You can bet if you posted a limit of a good days hunt they would be barking about that also. LOL

Sent this to the GFP Facebook site.

"Went to the Commissioners Meeting in Chamberlain last week it seemed like the Anti's and a Commissioner were working together? You might want to look into that maybe review the tape the State made. Pretty sure Stevie Wonder would of picked up on it! I was there for the trapping part."

Next another email to the Governor.