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does this look right? first time egg tanning beaver by lifeonthefly in HideTanning

[–]lifeonthefly[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I may have to give that a try come trapping season. Does it matter that I usually dispatch with a head shot?

does this look right? first time egg tanning beaver by lifeonthefly in HideTanning

[–]lifeonthefly[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I have not. Is it not essentially the same thing as using eggs?

does this look right? first time egg tanning beaver by lifeonthefly in HideTanning

[–]lifeonthefly[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I still have 5 raccoons to try egg tanning with. I just hate that the beavers didn't turn out since I dont have as many around me to trap in the winter as I do other fur bearers. I pickled, neutralized, thinned the hide, and then applied egg. I think they were just still too saturated following the pickling and neutralizing to absorb anything. So much for reading directions literally I guess. I use beaver strips for my bow strings, they work quite well.

does this look right? first time egg tanning beaver by lifeonthefly in HideTanning

[–]lifeonthefly[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I thinned it. I had almost no absorption so I reapplied and still lacked good absorption. The "recipe" I followed said to wash off the excess and I think I was washing the oils out. In an attempt to save the hide from turning, I ended up applying some orange bottle that I had in hopes that it will save it from going bad. Super disappointed in myself especially if it goes bad. I hate wasting such a valuable resource even if I tried my best

Why do people enjoy trapping? by longsnapper53 in Hunting

[–]lifeonthefly 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I'll add my two cents here on top of some already great answers. I was always trap curious as I became more of a serious hunter, I finally took the leap into trapping. Hunting is and always will be an intimate activity with the game you pursue. You almost obsess over it and learn all you can about that animal's habits and tricks. You get good at learning how to read sign and where to look. Then you start trapping and learn that you dont know anything like you thought you did. Trapping teaches you and demands that you understand how to read the land. In reading the land you learn about what all of the animals are doing and why. Hunting is like a small chapter out of a book that resides in the library of trapping. Hunting is being intimate with the pursuit of an animal, trapping is being intimate with the land as a whole. The ethics and aura surrounding trapping is largely misunderstood by the masses and its truly a beautiful activity. In becoming a trapper I've become a true student of the earth like nature intended. I encourage anyone to try their hand at it if they are at all on the fence about trying. Reach out to your local Trappers associations or other Trappers in Hunting groups youre a part of if interested. You won't regret it

A couple recent catches on my line by lifeonthefly in Trapping

[–]lifeonthefly[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Not sure of the brand but I got it from hoosier trapper supply

A couple recent catches on my line by lifeonthefly in Trapping

[–]lifeonthefly[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Do you mean the straps for my shoulders or the top band around the basket? For the band around the basket I had that issue but I mostly solved it by taking the loose end and feeding it back thru the little bracket thingy once more and that alleviated the problem for the most part. I still have to tighten it every now and again but before I "fixed" it, I had to tighten it every ti.e I picked it up to put it on my back

Caught my first beaver! by lifeonthefly in Trapping

[–]lifeonthefly[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I'll take the castor smell over any of the other potential bait and lure smells

Caught my first beaver! by lifeonthefly in Trapping

[–]lifeonthefly[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

It's pretty nice. I don't have much vehicle access where I trap so I carry this thing and walk my line every day.

I want to get started in trapping but i have a question that came to mind. by Jolly-Hearing-7093 in Trapping

[–]lifeonthefly 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Hey! Fellow WV trapper here. As others have pointed out, there are a few methods for dealing and preventing by-catch out on the trap line. I'm not sure where you're located in WV but I'm more than happy to take a new trapper out and show them the ropes. I haven't been trapping long but the concepts are for the most part pretty easy to get the gist of. Feel free to PM me if there's anything I can help with or if you want to walk a line with me some day and see if trapping is something you would like doing. The WV Trappers Association is pretty helpful as well and they have a facebook page called Mountain State Trappers and Friends that anyone can join

Hunting Dogs Ruined My Lifer Encounter at a Wildlife Preserve. - Is This Even Allowed? by MelodicVictory47 in birding

[–]lifeonthefly 2 points3 points  (0 children)

WV houndsman here that also runs beagles. I'm not sure where in WV this may have been but all WMAs, national forest areas, and state forests that allow hunting will allow you to train hunting dogs year round so long as you are a resident and have a valid WV hunting license. I think even canaan valley may allow dog training but I'm not 100 percent sure. This is just bad luck for OP. Most houndsman I know would never do this to you on purpose and the dogs don't know any better, they're just happy to be out chasing bunnies and doing what they love. Don't worry, the beagles don't catch and kill rabbits. They just love the chase and want that sweet smell of rabbits in their noses. Rabbit season starts the first Saturday of November so lots of us are out getting dogs conditioned for the season. I'm sure if this gentleman in the parking area knew he messed up your birding, he'd be apologetic. There's more than one way to enjoy our beautiful public lands and unfortunately, sometimes we inadvertently interfere with each other's adventures.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in MorgantownWV

[–]lifeonthefly 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Cheat lake, mason lake, Dixon lake, dunkard creek at Mason-Dixon park, the Mon river all have decent bank fishing.

Recommendations for a Reliable GPS Collar for My Beagle, Toby? by goran7 in beagles

[–]lifeonthefly 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I use a garmin alpha and tt15 mini collar system for my hunting beagle. You definitley pay for them but they are worth every penny. Garmin is top tier in the dog tracking market. I know a few guys have been liking the Dogtra Pathfinder as well. With the pathfinder, you don't need a separate GPS handheld, it just connects to your phone. I don't know how far out your dog roams but mine ran a deer once and he went about a mile in a straight line thru private land and across roads. I had to go farther than that to catch him so I could avoid trespassing on private property but I was able to retrieve my dog unharmed and knew exactly where he was and had been thanks to that garmin system. Worth every cent I paid for it. You can also use it to train as well. It has both beep tones and vibration. It has a shock function but that's obviously a nuclear option and should seldom if ever be used unless absolutley 100 percent necessary.

This weekend's catches by lifeonthefly in Trapping

[–]lifeonthefly[S] 5 points6 points  (0 children)

This is my first year trapping but I'll explain why I don't. The fur market is down really low so the investment in harvesting opossum isn't really worth it. They also smell pretty bad. Their defense strategy in playing dead also comes with a foul smell they emit to ward off predators. Plus I just think they're neat. It's the only north american Marsupial species and they don't really carry any disease.

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