More Than One Way To Catch a Critter...

[buckeyefarmer]

my brand of groundhog trap is Hollowpoint

 

[bullbreaker]

my brand of groundhog trap is Hollowpoint

:laughing: :laughing: :laughing:
Boone

 

[RadarTech]

my brand of groundhog trap is Hollowpoint

Weird name for a trap...:laughing:

what size does it come in? 30.06 30/30 .357 ?

J

 

[beenthere]

Don't release the pest somewhere else. Finish the job.

I had neighbor farmer who lived in town (rented his farm) and trapped several squirrels a week, always talking about how many he caught.

I too was inundated with squirrels, and shot them with the 22 (hollow point ). Come to find out, the neighbor was dumping them off here. I commented that I didn't appreciate the extra squirrels, so he started ending their life span before letting them out of his trap. Remarkable difference on my end.

So, please finish the job at hand.

 

[Jim Thompson]

I've sent many of them to the great nut farm in the sky, actually fed them to a couple of families of Red Tail Hawks who reside in the back swamp. Had the hawks conditioned, fire the gun out back and within a minute or so later, one would land in a live-oak and start calling for lunch.

Houses are too close for a 22 so I used a 20 gauge model 17 Remington pump. Would reach out and touch them pretty good, but I waste a lot less time this way - just set the trap and collect the squirrels. The county has park a mile or so from here next to the river where I release them. It's on the opposite side of a 6 lane highway so they will have to hitch hike to get back.:laughing:

Jim

 

[Chuck52]

I bought the same HF trap a couple years ago. I already had a Havaheart but needed another trap due to having so many coons to deal with, and the HF trap was a lot cheaper. At first, I liked the HF trap because unlike the bottom of the line Havaheart, it had two doors so it was easier to bait. It worked fine for a few young coons and some possums, but then I caught a bigger coon (I guess) and that one forced its way out and bent the trap door in the process. Those traps are made to fold for easy shipping. The metal isn't that much lighter than in my Havaheart, but the trap door is just wire while the Havaheart has some sheet metal to protect the mechanism and stiffen the door. You could probably spot weld on some reinforcement, but I guess that would negate the advantage of it being so much cheaper.

I added some wire to the trapdoor of the HF trap and still use it, but I doubt it would hold the coon that got out of it.

SIL used to do some trapping and still has a few older traps that are much better made than the new Havahearts. They don't have spring loaded doors, just gravity driven. You do have to keep the locking mechanism clean and lubed, but once something gets in there it isn't getting out.

Chuck

 

[Freds]

I wasn't very concerned about squirrels until one day I saw this. The darn red squirrels were eating their way into my toy box I smeared peanut butter and rat poisoning in the hole and he just started at a different spot. I found that some 7-1/2 shot in my .410 Saiga worked much better.


I read the reviews on that HF trap and critters squeezing out the bottom of the door seems to be a common problem for just about anything determined enough to want to leave.

 

[tallyho8]

I keep three traps set pretty much all the time to trap squirrels, raccoons and possum. I have 10 pecan trees and it's astounding the damage that one squirrel can do. Before I started trapping them, there would be 8 -10 in any one tree every day.
Using the Havahart traps, I catch and relocate in excess of 10 squirrels per week. Have caught a number of possum and raccoons but none recently. They don't usually show up until the weather is cooler and the pecans mature.

Jim

What are you using for bait to catch those squirrels so easily?

 

[Jim Thompson]

What are you using for bait to catch those squirrels so easily?

Left over pecans from last year. Sometimes after emptying the traps, before baiting the traps, I will catch them with no bait. I forgot to mention that I set them near the wife's bird feeder where there is steady traffic mostly in the morning and late afternoon.

Jim

 

[buckeyefarmer]

Weird name for a trap...:laughing:

what size does it come in? 30.06 30/30 .357 ?

J

Usually just a 22mag, but 30.06 and 22/250 works also.