If you could.only trap one species

Of fur.

What would it be and why.

This thread has nothing to do with current prices or money to be made or not made..

I'd just like to know what yall like to trap and why.

As a kid, my dad had several big ponds he would trap when they had frozen over. He let me set some weasel traps. I loved trapping weasel; still think that's my favorite.

Coyote or wolf but I've never trapped any wolves

Ooo thats a close one. A tie between coyote and coon. Coon for nostalgia and coyote for the challenge.

Bobcat 1st

Coyote 2nd



I would love to trap cougar , wolf , and bear ......all illegal here though

I trap all species,always have.
My favourite is probably lynx in the dead of winter.
Beautiful animal and amazing fur
Beaver a close second.

FISHER! The greatest predator for bit's size.

marten

Bobcat

Mice are the only thing I'm good at. So mice. Lol

Coon, hands down. Huge variety of ways to catch them water or land. Plentiful for big catches if that's your thing. Beautiful fur.

Mink

Marten because they are easy to put up and usually bring a decent price.

Probably Wolf. Fox is a very close second because of how fun it is. But Wolves really use their heads and make it challenging. And they can kill you, so there’s that excitement.

Would be a tough decision!

Would be a toss-up between fox, beaver and muskrat.

I love catching red fox, but love eating beaver ( ) and muskrat.

First critter I ever caught was a red fox, so I’ll go with them since I have a buddy that can supply me with beaver and muskrat meat.

On land red fox in water love trapping muskrats, its a toss up! I was eleven years old in 1968 set my first steel trap, and it went on to trapping every furbearer in Pa.

I'd like to trap a black bear. Realistically, groundhogs.

Going to have to go to Maine for bears!
I have a key to a camp up there, load up and we can get after one each.

1st. Coyote for the challenge
2nd. Coon, because they are plentiful and easy to put up.

Coon

Don't tease me Rob lol. Wouldn't that be an amazing adventure!!! If by chance I didn't get one trapping I'd be ok with treeing one with hounds.

That is a bucket list of mine catch. Bears with hounds, also I’d like to chase a lion with hounds one day.

cats!

Otter

We need to plan a trip, maybe 2024!!

on land fox, love the fur and easy to put up, water hands down beaver love trapping them and love the meat for eating

Bobcats

Since I was never able to catch a Fisher that would be a bucket list animal.

But to answer your question it would be a toss up between marten, mink or muskrat.

Ohh I would have to say beaver as my number one it is the critter the I get the most joy going after and Yote would be a close second for the challenge

Coyotes, the challenge.

Bobcats on land, love to hear the growl.
Beaver in water, because it's what the mountain men did.

I would trap rats until I could not wade marshes and streams, portage canoes to places or be stable and good on the ice. Then I would shift over to a 4-wheeler line for coons which is a whole lot easier on the body.

Bryce

Skunks, always in demand and so is essence. Believe it or not I like the way they smell

.

Probably fox. I like trapping coyotes, and mink, and muskrat, and coon, and bobcat, and otter. But nothing like seeing a cherry red fox or feisty gray in a trap. But, due to low populations here, I don't target either.

Hey Lefty,if thats the "Hill Country of Texas",I'd hate to see what the flat part looks like.

Mink, if had the population and enough good locations using nothing but blind sets with body grip traps.

The challenge of the coyote,bobcat is a close second you never know what type of cat you'll get,color,bellies etc.

How much did you get for that cat Danny-its a beauty.

Coon. 220 trail sets are great for speed checking before work. Dead coon and typically dry too. Bucket list: otter as we don’t have them in my area of michigan

Muskrat.

Wolverine will probably never get the opportunity, but it's a dream.

I would say coyote. They are a challenge. One minute you think you have their number the next the make you feel like a beginner.

That's a nice cat Danny!

And they smell really good; not joking.

Haha naw that was up in Kansas, it was a good day in late Jan so everyone was primed up.

Even though I consider myself a beaver trapper first if I had to pick only one for the rest of my life it would be coyotes.

Beaver are a walk in the park coyotes get into your head. Checkers vs chess.

But the way my luck is running lately I will probably be assigned armadillos, lol.

woke liberals

Winter muskrats.

Count me in on that

Yes I change my answer if this was possible for me.

Badgers, because it is easy to get permission, and I'm very good at it.




Charlie

And they don't weigh much.

I hear that the bait and lure is particularly nasty and disgusting.

I think a lion would be the coolest. But of the few things I've trapped I like coyotes the most. Bobcats are a close second but the number of coons and possums that get into my cats sets drive me mad.

I will choose coyote, just because I think they are the worst vermin that WE have. Plus, I can catch almost anything in a yote set, so the rest would be gravy!

Wolf for sure. It's the ultimate pursuit (when we actually have a season).

Muskrats, I've only trapped them for 15 days which was last season but I was so much happier trapping them than any other animal. I still haven't figured out why I like them so much. Here's a picture from my spring line this last season.

Well, that is just awesome!! Keep on getting after them!

It is hard to beat muskrat trapping.

Probably wouldn’t trap.
Actually I don’t know how to just trap one species. Guess I could raise my pan tension to 5# or more and just catch coyotes, but I’d still bet I’d snag a possum. I can make what I consider my best coyote set and catch possums, coons, bobcats, fox, and an occasional coyote.
I’d really like to trap a place that is loaded with coyote sign and see what I could do.

November 1st is opening day, I'll be putting traps in.

It is very hard for me at least, I have never caught a coyote before though so I don't know the rush of that yet.

Coyotes. It was first thing I tried for and caught 40 some years ago, and is still what I go after every year.
Mink are a close second favorite.
Jim

Agree. Something about being in the marshes and creeks pursuing them.

I've yet to trap a cat or a fisher, So until then Beaver. But hard to beat a coyote dancing in a snare.

I’d have to say Possum. I seem to be able to catch them when I’m not even trying! It must be a sign from above that this would be my calling.

Cats, Coyotes then rats

Mink. Not my specialty but just love catching them, the set types, small light traps, light animal, and easy to put up! I just love seeing that tail floating. Happy trapping! ScottW

Bobcat that is what got me started in trapping and still lights the fire. There's just something about chasing bobcats in the Appalachian mountains as I'm sure it is everywhere else. Come December I will be doing it again I've yet to break the 30lb mark maybe this will be the year.

Wolverine for me! They can be very sneaky

Muskrat for sure. Beaver might be second - they are fascinating animals. But muskrat are plentiful, easy to catch, easy to skin & flesh, and have very nice fur. For every one coyote or beaver trap, you can put out multiple muskrat traps and make more catches with the same amount of time an effort. Maybe it's not as challenging or profitable. But it's just plain good clean fun.

Coyote for me, I would say bobcat but we have a one cat limit on state land and one private with an extended season of 20 days this year instead of 10 as in the past. I enjoy all trapping but coyote challenge me and I like that. I have gotten much better at my scouting but always room for improvement

Picked up these 2 young ones so far this year. Season started the 15th. Only have a small line out now.

Otter followed by beaver.

Thank yall so much for posting. I'm enjoying getting to know yall a little bit and the pictures are a great bonus!

I'm enjoying this thread alot

Grey fox.

Wolves. They're the ultimate canine to pursue. Something about matching wits with something that can kill you. Biggest challenge is keeping freaking bears out of your sets lol.

When I was feeding 18 rabbit dogs the answer was bobcats, grey and red fox, coyotes, hawks and owls.
Couldn't do anything about the hawks and owls.
No longer rabbit hunt. Coyotes are the main target.

Bobcat for sure.

Beaver. Its probably the only animal I really go out of my way to catch. Also probably the most useful furbearer we have in terms of pelt, meat, and other byproducts

Bobcat are by far my favorite. Mainly because they are not quite as highly populated here as some locations and it is a challenge compared to other species to rack up any numbers. I've definitely spent the most time out of anything studying them.

Muskrat because I am a 66 year old kid and I like to have a catch when I check traps.

Where I’m at it would be coyotes. If my situation was different it would be wolves or mountain lion.

Still so many critters I haven’t been able to pursue…..

So far coyotes are my favorite, because the challenge and availability. But beavers are a close second, they’re just cool

Marten

Hands down wolverine. There is so much to learn about them

It’s crazy how some parts of the country look at one species different than another part of the country. Don’t get me wrong, I like catching them, but I’ve never set for them. They are like possums and will clog up your best coyote sets.

Coyotes but if I got the wolf bug I imagine it would be wolves

Thanks for the posts guys. It's nice to get to see yalls preferences.

Jerry actually told me yesterday his favorite thing to trap is marten but if he could only trap one species it would be beaver because there way more beaver out there too catch than marten.
I thought his favorite was beaver.

I like raccoons because while they're not worth much..we got alot of them so there's just about always lots of action on the line

Mink.

Grey fox. Although possums are a close second. LOL

Guess I will play..
I trapped bit of everything when was starting out. But my favorite was redfox. Then manage came followed by coyotes and change in farming. I still like catching them little guys though. Just not enough around anymore and like other fur don't bring much. Definitely easier to skin and handle than stinking coyotes.

Mac

Muskrats.

If I was able to only trap one critter, well I think id just shoot myself.

Red fox....but here in N.C., the fox laws are terrible. County I live in is split into 4 sections, can shoot them in one section, but can't sell, cross the road and can't touch a fox legally, cross another road, can shoot and sell, cross a road from there and back to can't touch one.
If you ever need a headache, get a copy of the N.C. fox laws and try to make sense of them. 100 counties, and probably 150 different regulations concerning foxes.

That's interesting, does that have any thing to do with the fox hunting community?

I feel your pain.