•••Compensation•••?

Just gonna throw this out there, but let’s say I trap 1000 acre fish farm. For one month. And I catch six otters, 50 coon, 50 mink, 50 possum, and 20 beavers. Let’s say that adds up to $500 that I would get from a local for sale. Do you think that the owner of the fish farm would add a $500-$1000 worth of compensation for low fur prices(catching just those six otter probably saved $800-$1000 of fish in one month)? If so how would you approach the owner for that compensation?
(FYI: friend of mine pointed out that otter eat probably 4 to 5 pounds of fish a day)

First, how did you gain access to the place ? did you ask to trap ? or did they ask you to trap ?
What you are considering should have been dealt with on the way in, not out.
Be careful how you do it, sounds like a nice place to trap.
Try to make up for it next time.

Agree with Crowfoot. It's totally dependent on how the original conversation went.

If You're "in" already trapping...to bring it up now might cause friction.

Depends on how much you love trapping that pond and how much you are willing to risk losing access to it if the asking to be compensated urks the owner.
Every where is different. Some places land owners expect to pay for services. In other places they don’t. Around here access to good trapping ground is about all you are going to get.

I think if permission is given because you asked then you trapped you get what you get

I think if they asked you hey we have a real issue , could you help us out basically ADC and you had some sort of a contract they should pay you.

if you asked and then did them this great service but the 500 in fur wasn't hardly enough to cover your expense you can ask for hunting permission as an additional compensation they can say no

then tell them hey , it was great but I really can't afford to do this next year unless the price of fur goes way up or we fins some other way of making it worth my time

then if they ask you next year get a contract

As a service based business when you make the agreement you need to consider the best and worst case scenario. Then base your price accordingly. To come back later and want more money because you failed to consider all options would not be ethical IN MY OPINION!

I trap a place that raises fish. The gentleman has 9 ponds the access is easy, I can drive around every pond. I catch a bunch of critters there like you said. I don't ask for anything even though he found me while trapping a creek near his place. The reason I don't is because it's a great place to teach new trappers to read sign, set traps, and then fur handling. To me that is worth the loss in gas to get there. He has never complained about anything, he let's me decide when to trap when to pull out and will even turn the aerators on high to remove the ice in the winter if I want him to. With a guy like that I'm not going to do anything to lose the place.

I guess the biggest thing you need to decide is are you willing to walk away if he gets bucky about money. That can only be decided by you. Good luck with whatever you do.

if the idea of them paying you was not brought up at the time you started trapping on their property, it shouldn't be brought up now. If you want to trap again next year then you mention it to them before you start.

good suggestions!

Should have started your conversation with him: "I get 200 a day for doing this plus expenses. Do you have a gas barrel I can fill my pickup out of?"

A lot going on with the dynamics of the situation.

If he had to go to the market to hire a company to do what you are doing he would need to pay thousands. However, that company comes with a commitment( I assume if you don't want to trap you don't have to), also insurances, etc.

You are asking us for input. You are wondering if the land owner will help make up the difference with low fur prices. If you are doing this as a fur trapper then the market is what it is. There does not seem to be any discussion regarding doing ADC work at a fee price in your OP and if not I don't know your best options.

Bryce

How much did you pay the landowner when the prices on fur was good?

Lock the landowner in to the future, if you believe in better fur prices. If better fur prices take place all of a sudden trappers will be knocking on the door for “free”. Can you hunt the land?

You need to read Coonman's thread !!

As a farm owner and a trapper that appreciates other landowners that let me trap their land. I know how much they are paying to have said properties for our trapping pleasure and don't expect them to pay anything for my incurred expenses. If someone calls you and hires you to trap then maybe. I have offered to help a farmer out with a beaver problem and they always let me trap after that, when they see how much work it is because they appreciate it.

I would be unhappy if I let someone hunt my property and they later came to me asking for compensation because they didn't get as much deer meat as they had expected.

Obviously you are not in business doing this type of work. If you were you would not be asking this question. Therefore you should not try to create the illusion that you are in the business to retroactively collect payment for non-business services.

There are big differences between fur trapping, hobby trapping, long-line fur trapping, nuisance wildlife trapping, and predator management trapping.

When Swamp Wolf or Savell or Steeltraps or others graciously create a ridealong or singalong it can look fun and easy. But running a business and doing this for a living gets very real. People skills, perceptions, marketing, and agreements are important.

There is too much to know to type here.

You made a deal keep it.

Getting interesting

You are the only one here having a rapport with the owner.
Be honest with yourself, trade shoes, reverse roles in your mind and think deeply about it.
Say a little prayer and most likely you will do whats best for all.
And, I bet you get to go back !

My friend has a 100 acre farm he just inherited. A groundhog hunter said he would hunt groundhogs and not charge him. He looked at me and I looked at him, with both of our eyes rolled and laughed. We both knew that he charged big bucks for his acreage for deer hunting. As for the OPs question, sounds like that 1000 acres is all you need for a fur trapline, other guys go way further with more stops for a lot less fur I would bet. Or let it go for a few years and when he has 3 fish left tell him fur doesnt pay but you could charge him accordingly.

Thats sad that people are so crowded up now they will pay to hunt a hundred acres

What if you had a farm, and for some reason you couldn't harvest all of your... say... tomatoes before they went bad so you invited someone over to do it in exchange for them keeping the tomatoes. They come, pick them all summer long and take them home. Then come September they come back and say, "hey man, it was nice of you to let me pick your tomatoes this year, but when I sold them all at the farmer's market I only got $0.50/lb because there were too many other people there selling them. So, you're going to need to pay me for all the time I spent picking them."

What would you say to that person. I know what I would say.

I feel like this is similar to “ if I catch 40 coyotes on my buddy’s cattle ranch, but prices are down and those 40 dead coyotes maybe mean another calf gets to market in the fall, then maybe I should get half that money because I saved that calf.”

And that idea is crazy. I’ll just be happy I get the pleasure of doing what I do on the lands people let me access and not give them any reason to think I’m a real selfish jerk and send me packing.

Nothing wrong with telling somebody you want paid to remove wild animals. Nothing wrong with doing it for free either. Should be all worked out though before the first trap gets set

Yep. BS, you have what you set up initially.
If you wish to have a different arrangement on the next situation like this, set it up from the git go.

30 days? $500 in fur? Cool, that's trapping for R&R and that's wonderful if you enjoy and can trap for R&R at $15/day.

I trap for fur and I trap for predation control and they are polar opposites, Not my methods. What I expect to make. When I bust tail all day, I get paid for all day and I'm not 21 years old working for nickels. I figure an hourly wage x 24 hours if I stay on the ranch = daily fee, or I might charge a project fee sometimes (not often).

Good luck sir.
Blessings,
Mark

I have trapped a property for a turkey before, but that was discussed prior to trapping. I really can’t believe the initial post was serious…unless he asked you to trap to remove them.

Heck if I caught those numbers on my properties that would be over $5K and I’m cheap, lol.

Spot, unless they asked you I guess there is no choice but to do it for the fur....this season.

JMO, but if you ain't making money at it then quit!
If you enjoy catching critters then by all means do so but quit complaining.

You keep saying interesting but haven't answered folks questions. Did you agree to trap it before mentioning compensation ? Were you trapping it when otter were 100 bucks ? Lots of great comments. Are you trying make more from fur trapping or you getting into damage control ? Daily wage would be my suggestion for next time unless you're just wishing for more $ fur trapping. By the head usually sux especially if you return every year.. you're getting penalized for doing good job.

Guess I should have been clearer when I wrote “but let’s say”, that equals hypothetical. Sorry for the confusion.

Gotcha