Fur trappers here, do you use PCP to dispatch your catch?

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C

cross hair

Member
Jul 15, 2023
82
158
Port Angeles wa
I started trapping in the 3rd grade tail gating my dad, as he did with his dad and grandpa did with grant grand dad. It would have been great to have these air guns to dispatch my coons, bobcats and yoydes plus a few other critters.

Depending on the situation I'd have a few options to kill my catch..club the head, drowning, or .22 to the head.

The club causes a lot of blood clots..blood damage that's difficult to skin out. The .22 head shot is ok but it also causes damage that the fur graders will dock the grade. Drowning is the best option but that's not always possible. To drown a coon is extremely difficult with a forked stick.

Beavers are easy with the drowning wire and as for minks.

It would have been great to have a PCP to dispatch my catches, normally in very early mornings or evenings, to avoid the BANG!.

However....I'm not positive which. Cal I'd use on each particular trapped critters. Coon...most likely. 177cal. Bobcat and yoty...coyote..would have to be .25 cal which would cause much less damage to to hide as a .22 firearm.

I miss trapping, here in Washington it was voted out around 1990? The hound dog hunters hated trappers because they said their hounds would step in the traps, which did happen a few times, but not worth stopping trapping. But the next year hound hunting was outlawed! My best friend and his family were hound hunters, mine were trappers... we both fought each other and turns out we both lost.

Now there are beavers chewing down our yard trees...not really,, but the cougers are running rampant.

Well, back to the original OP..are there any trappers here that dispatch their catch with their airgun? :)

The attached picture is a bear walking around my property. Camera work great!

Is this the longest post here??

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cross hair said:
Trapping is outlawed here in Washington. However, I think that a bolt gun would be way OverKill for small fur critters.
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A bolt gun is probably one of the most humane ways I can think of to dispatch a trapped animal. It’s also practical and cost effective. I was speaking in regards to coyotes, but on animals smaller than that, dead Is still dead. Additionally, I would think that one should know what to expect most often when employing a bolt gun to dispatch an animal. Also the risk of damaging property and/or harming another animal or person is greatly reduced as opposed to using projectiles.
 
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cross hair said:
I guess I don't know what a bolt gun is or how it's used but I do know coons and Bobcats are not like a cow or pig calmly waiting to be slaughtered, they are not friendly nor keep still when in a trap so you have to keep your distance.
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I have hunted both and of the two I only have experience trapping coons. I don’t think many animals (that a person hasn’t raised) are calm before slaughter, especially if they’re stressed or in distress prior to the act. Anyhow, the bolt gun is a suggestion.
 
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cross hair said:
Can you upload a picture of your bolt gun?
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I don’t have a need for one, we live trapped coons and turned them loose after we were done with them. If you look up captive bolt gun you’ll see what I’m talking about. Or if you have a slaughterhouse you can see them there. I’m in a rural area where this is not an uncommon thing.

If you just want information, here’s a link that explains how they work.


If you’re looking for anything further look it up.
 
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I don’t think a bolt gun would be very effective. I don’t want to get that personal with the critters I’ve trapped, and it will do more pelt damage than a pellet.

I don’t run many traps but me and my boys do a little here and there as a hobby. I’ve dispatched up to coon sized animals with a 22cal pcp, works great. I’m not good enough to trap Wylie!

Beau
 
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moodyblues said:
Not less effective in killing ability, it’s less effective as a tool because you have to make contact with the animal which puts you at risk. It does more pelt damage by putting a larger hole or just damaging the fur where the bolt strikes.
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@moodyblues I understand the bit about the use of a bolt gun putting one in close proximity with the animal. The “how” is an important factor here. The explanation of more damage to the pelt I don’t understand. The hole from a bolt won’t be much more than a headshot from a firearm or airgun projectile. Are furriers using the fur from the animal’s heads these days?

I was just curious to your perspective here. In all honesty an air powered gun isn’t the best tool to put down trapped animals unless one has all of the correct tools and assistance to safely use a bolt gun. A firearm would be easier. As for the other details, it’s probably best if @cross hair posed that question on a trapper’s forum. Shooting trapped animals with air rifles isn’t exactly promoting airgun shooting sports in a positive light.
 
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Seems like a legitimate use of an airgun to me man. I don’t understand how it’s perfectly legit to hunt animals with an airgun but not ok to dispatch animals that are legally trapped with an airgun. A lot of trappers run trap lines in and around urban areas, the stealth and safety of an airgun would be very helpful.
Anyone selling pelts wants the tiniest entrance wound they can get with no exit wound. A single .177 or .22 cal hole in a pelt is way better than the 3/8-1/2” head on a bolt gun. That’s where rounds such as the 17 Remington came from, punch a tiny entrance and blow up leaving no exit holes in the pelt.

Only thing he could have done different is post it in the hunting section.

Also most pelts are sold with the head on.
 
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@moodyblues I was thinking in terms of how it may be perceived by the public. You raised a good point about trapping around urban areas. I don’t know anything about that. As for the trapping forums, I meant that I think he’d get better info on those types of forums because the majority of members on them are trappers or interested in getting into trapping . I know from participating on them.
 
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I know what you meant but don’t see this being much more damaging than hunting in the public’s eye. Don’t know that there’s a lot of airgun shooters on trapping forums either, could be though. I love anything about trapping so I get excited when the subject comes up, it’s not very often. Thanks for the good discussion Dave!

Beau
 
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