Is it Legal to Trap in Mass.

New laws and regulations

Andrew what are you referring too?

Yes
Cages only. Hancocks ,cages for beaver. Conibears under speical permit. Not hard to get
Don LaFountain

Can you snare? If not you might be worse off than NJ

Best to clear up other possible questions. Cannot use any body gripping trap including snares or cable restraint. Conibears only under permit for damage control. There is a list of things that describes what damage. Not a person / land owners point of view but property damage not loss of use.
But, beaver season runs Nov. 1st to April 25th. No land trapping except CAGES .
Most all trapping is done by adc trappers for fee. We still have about 150 fur trappers who refuse to give up. Good for them. Many ADC trappers use the seasons so not to waste the resource also.
Don LaFountain
Board Chairman Mass.Trappers Association

And "cages" does not include colony traps. Heaven forbid you intentionally catch more than one animal in the same trap.

Yup your right Brian. Also secure your water traps so nothing drowns. Not even by accident. That does NOT apply to conibears.
Don LaFountain

Leftlane does that mean we (NJ) are #49 now?

Massachusetts is the Colorado of the east coast......They have a law for everything , from no leaf blowers on Sunday....to no constitution carry...and a whole list of other things you can’t do...

So you rank California ahead of your state? That is sayin a mouthful right there if you ask me!

No leaf blowers on Sunday. Really?????

What other crazy laws does Massachusetts have?

Sorry for hijacking.

But they do have good college hockey.

No leaf blowers on Sunday say what?
That is more racist than the wall. Y'all should insurect and do it muay pronto

Yup..the town of Newton has that law....and Iam sure other towns jumped on board. The Law list is long.....and them Massholes keep moving into NH for a better life....and bring their liberal mindset with them...and then RUIN NH.

Leaf blowers and lawn mowers are allowed. There maybe local ordinances in a very few places.
Carrying is also legal as long as it is concealed. No hunting on Sunday but trapping and shooting
Your catch is legal. I'm not a fan of most laws in my state but I hate untruths more.
Get the facts straight or say nothing. NO FAKE NEWS!!!
Don LaFountain

So Don.....if my wife has a flat tire in Mass. and she calls me to come fix it ....and I drive into Mass with my loaded Trapline gun with me....do I get one year in jail..if by some chance I get pulled over ?

Don....can you by beer on Sunday ,when your at the Grocery Store ?

After noon time

If you are legal in your state and only passing through or as you say Fix-A-Flat
Your okay. Could or should not go out to lunch with your gun. You can lock it in a lock
Box in your locked car then eat.

Question back at you.
Can you hunt, hike, trap, or fish on private land without permission?
We can. The land owner must post signs on their property completely around the property line
50' appart at eye level, or its open land.
Beer after noon time. Thats one of those church peoples rules. We drink beer 7 days a week never run low either

Don

Thanks for your service Don, with the trapper's association. It's hard to believe the leghold trap has been gone from MA. for 46 years. Back in the late 70's, I was trying to take advantage of the fur boom but leghold's on land were not legal. Glad to hear about the guys that are hanging in there, continuing to trap under those conditions.

Trapping on land ,takes a signed trapping permit,by the land owner...unless you win the draw on State owned land.

Seems like it was forever ago that Mass outlawed or banned trapping.Probably would be best to let the beaver,coons and whatever else continue to breed and populate and not tap a single one.Use that mess as leverage to work on getting your real trapping rights back.Not the lame arse excuse they have for trapping now.

Yeah Thank you
Footholds were required to be in water 1974. The year I got married
That's funny in a sick way. The huggers wanted them on drowning slides to drown
the catch asap. This past year drowning was banned all together. If we don't keep a close eye
they will get it all.
MTA has brought in a number of younger members the ladt 2 years.
Our president is mid 30s. That has helped to continue the good fight.
Stay safe.
Don

Beavers do not drown..there is no water in their lungs..it is called something else..more technical term...

That was from the Terminal Dive Study many years ago.
Its called Dry Drownig AKA CO2 build up in blood.
Considered a humane way to put a xritter diwn by AVMA.
The no drowning law applies to all animals in Mass. It was ment to
Stop breeders from killing over stock, etc. Also litters of kittens and such.
Itgot warpped into trapping as well. Bad miss on the part of our DF&W
for not seeing that.
Thanks

Do you really think that animal populations would be allowed to grow to the point
that the public would screem "bring back trapping"
Heres how it would go down. USDA wildlife services would propose to do Professional
control and the tax payers would foot the bill. There is no way on earth they would pass on a hugh income base like that. The HSUS likes them better then trappers or private wildlife control operators. because they can file FOIA and get the USDA info of where, what, and how they are killing. On that note the 150+ trappers still active in state would loose it all. Its not great here but better then nothing at all.
Many like myself make a very good living trapping in this state. We use the open trapping seasons and remove the problems then. We get to use the harvested resource(fur), solve problems and get paid way more then fur trapping alone. 30 years full time trapper here in Mass. Just beaver...
Don LaFountain
MTA Directors Chairmen