Unwanted catch.

What is the strangest thing you have caught in a trap you didn't intend to catch?
Mine was a redtail hawk caught in a #2 double spring trap I had set for 'coon. I had a piece of fish two feet up on a stick with the dirt hole trap at the base of the stick. The Hawk must have swooped for the fish, missed, knocked it onto the trap. It landed on the trap to get the fish and got it's leg into the trap. It didn't break it's leg and I (dumb 15 year old kid) reached to unspring the trap and free the hawk when Mr. Hawk grabbed my wrist with it's free talons.
It trapped ME! I had several puncture wounds in the right wrist. Managed to grab it's free talons what had me and pry him loose.
I'd say I lost that confrontation. I wrapped said bird in my coat and took him home as I was sure Dad wouldn't believe how I got hurt.
We let him fly away apparently much less hurt than I was. :cry:
A friend of mind had connibare body trap set for rats under water and caught a CARP! :haha: :haha:

 

[tg]

I found a Mallard in a 330 conni, set in a narrow channel with a "dive" stick above it, and a cottontail rabbit in a #4 Newhouse Beaver set that had been left high and dry when a dam went out, another broken dam left a Beaver hanging 3 ft. in the air from a Conni suspended between the end of a log and the bank.

 

[buckknife]

Maxi i caught a red tail in a No2 double coil spring set.yotes had ben eaten on a coon carcass i had left along a field road down in the river bottom.you cant use open or exposed bait here.For good reason i found out.I put the carcass not far away from the tracks id seen under a downed tree with plenty of leaves on it.The old red tail found it anyways,but i didnt mess with him :no:
I had some 1 an 1/2 jump traps i used for mink that i had adjusted so they were too light.Keep getting a mouse in em.Guess mice like field tile drains also.did get some mink when i wasnt catching mice. ::

 

[Liver eatin’ Johnson]

When I was VERY young, my brother and I would feed popcorn to the pigeons by the docks. We got this bright idea to put a piece of popcorn on an egg hook tied to some fishline - sure enough in the frenzy to get to the popcorn first, a pigeon grabbed it and took off! After a short tethered flight we captured it and hid it under our jacket just as our folks drove up to get us. After a few miles my Dad asked what the noise was about in the back seat? ( could have been the pigeon or us trying to keep from laughing ) Well, needless to say we had to let it go ( unharmed ) :nono:

 

My most unusual catch was a fox squirrel caught in both 1 1/2 double long springs I'd set for a trap wise fox. The squirrel was evidently caught first by a front paw and then jumped, turned a somersault and was caught square across its back, lengthways, by the second trap. Obviously it wasn't going anywhere so I dispatched it, took it home and had a good squirrel dinner. I kept the tail for tying flies.....oh, I never caught that fox either.

Vic

 

[musketman]

I was setting one of my six double spring beaver traps and the jaws slipped out of my hands while opening them, I was caught by both of my thumbs only...

To make matters worse, it was a water set at the bottom of a beaver's slide, I was in the water when it happened...

I had to crawl onto the bank with my thumbs still caught before I could use my knees to compress the stout springs enough to free myself, good thing it didn't have a drownding lock on it...

I caught a weasel before in a fox set...

 

[robinghewitt]

Taking a vacation on a canal barge and found an accidental trap. Someone had lost their fishing line in a tree on the far bank and a bat had taken the maggot and got caught. There he was flying around but getting nowhere, tiny little thing. We stopped and removed the hook, strange thing to see, a bat on a string.

It's a pity there's no image of Musket Man crawling out of that beaver pond with his thumbs in a trap. I don't want to "enhance" it, I just want to see it :: :: ::

 

[Huntinfool]

I had a real good set on the hillside behind my house. It was next to my pond I took 2 gray fox and one red fox in it 2 years ago. The first day of rifle season for deer falls on the Monday before Thanksgiving.

I went and checked all my traps well before daylight so I could go deer hunting. When I came to the pond set I saw a big black object in the dark. At first I thought I had caught the biggest coon of my life but as I got a little closer a huge hen Turkey started to flap it's wings ferociously. It had been in the trap since sometime Sunday as I had checked it early Sunday morning.

I thanked the Lord for Thanksgiving dinner and went on deer hunting. The hen had dislocated her leg it was blood shot other than that she tasted great.

I've caught red fox squirrels and rabbits both several times. The oddest catch of a cottontail was one I caught by all 4 feet I guess he was trotting along and made a mistake ending up in my dirthole set. I just remembered I once caught a squirrel the same way by all fours. I saw him watching me make the set from about 70 yards away I had a feeling curiosity would get the best of him! LOL!

Chuck Goodall
"The Original Huntin' Fool"
&
Kanawha Ranger Scribe ::

 

Strangest unwanted catch(s) of all time?
My first THREE wives!!!! :haha: :cry: :haha: :cry: :blah: :blah:

 

[leadball]

One was a brook trout in a conibear 110 for muskrat and mink in a feeder creek. one was a dog in my coyote snare(released unharmed).

 

[musketman]

One was a brook trout in a conibear 110 for muskrat and mink in a feeder creek.

Did you eat the trout, otherwise it would have made good 'coon bait...

 

[leadball]

[/quote]Did you eat the trout, otherwise it would have made good 'coon bait... [/quote]


yep. It was still partially alive when i checked the trap but not lively enough to release. I havent trapped since the late 1980's.

 

[musketman]

I havent trapped since the late 1980's.

Me either, since the bottom fell out of the 'coon market, I gor $40.00 per hide one year for a 30+ pound raccoon, the following year I was lucky to get $4.00 for the same size...

"And this was prime fur!

Reminds me of how the mountain men must have felt when beaver prices dropped in the late 1830's...

 

[robinghewitt]

I may live in the middle of a tiny town on the South coast of England, kind of remote to the Rocky mountains, but I still trap foxes.

My wife had her chickens slaughtered twice before I bought the cage trap, I think we have only lost one bird since and taken 18 foxes. (I keep tally with a line of spent shells in the kitchen).

When we started I caught the same cat 4 times before he finally got the message.

It takes 10 days to catch a fox, that's how long it takes them to pluck up the courage to go for the bait.

If there's one in there when I let the chickens out in the morning I give it my Arnie impersonation, "I'll be back" ::

 

[nvbirdman]

I was fishing on a charter boat out of San Francisco. I put a sardine on my hook and dropped it in the water.
Before the sardine hit the water, a seagull swooped down and grabbed the sardine, so I caught a seagull.

 

[robinghewitt]

Me either, since the bottom fell out of the 'coon market, I gor $40.00 per hide one year for a 30+ pound raccoon

You sound like you know a thing or two about 'coon skins.

I have 3 dried coon skins, a chrome tan kit and some beady glass eyes for making a hat. I was hoping for a longer tail. Is it usual to string tails together if you want a long one?

 

[bob1961]

well it wasn't in a trap but....about four of us were fishing one time back in my teens....my brother and two friends at this bowl shaped pond on a friends land it was about maybe 140 -150 foot round....we were fishing for catfish when i saw my line start to pull away.....closed my bail on my reel let him run the line tight then bamm set that hook hard....well it pulled back and i lost my footing on the ground by the waters edge and took a bath.....got back up and fought what we all thought was a nice catfish for about 45 mins till it broke the surface.....we all just bout craped our pants for it was an eel that had a head that was about as fat as your thigh.....it was fighting back to get back under the water and still took 30 more mins to get it to shore.....all four of us had trouble holding this monster still so i can get my hook back....well my good ol brother let the darn thing loose and i got the worst slim bath ever.....the stuff was nasty.....well the thing was 7 feet long and 8 to 10 inches in dia.....we never went swimming in that pond again after we lost it back in the water......................bob

p.s......just wish we had a pics of it....

 

[musketman]

I was hoping for a longer tail. Is it usual to string tails together if you want a long one?

Yes, but watch your tail's bands, light-dark-light, ect...

Careful not to band two lights or two darks together, this would give an unusually long band and the rest would be smaller in comparison...

 

[16gauge]

I haven't done much trapping, but a friend of mine has. He said that one time he went out and was checking his line when he saw something big and brown moving around one of his sets....he thought "Alright! a coyote!" NOPE! turned out to be a great horned owl.....a very P.O.ed great horned owl! Fortunately for my friend, the beggar had both feet caught in the trap, so with the help of a blanket, he was able to get the bird out of the trap, checked over, and released without too much difficulty.
As far as fishing stories go, but Uncle had a friend one time who took up fly fishing. One morning they were out fishing (quite early) with my Uncle drowning worms while his friend was near the bow of the boat practicing his casting. He snagged something on his back cast, which was a bit odd, since they were near the middle of the lake and there were no trees around.........turned out to be a bat! Gives a whole new meaning to the term "catch and release"! ::

 

[Keith]

This isn't a trapping story, but it is about red tail hawks. When I was in college I rode as an intern with a conservation officer. One day we were dispatched to where a DOT crew had found an injured hawk alongside the highway. The bird had apparently been hit by a car. It had some obvious head trauma, but the crew said it seemed to be perking up and getting a little more lively. :shocking:
The officer put on some heavy rubber gloves that went halfway to his elbows for a little protection. We thought the best thing was for Bruce to grab the bird's neck and control the beak. Then he would put the bird in a bag I held.
Now, I don't get scared, but I was a little concerned that thing's beak would rip me a new one. So bruce grabbed the bird's neck. Did you know they can turn their body 180 degrees from the way they're facing wihtout any trouble? LOL, that bird did just that and grabbed Bruce's forearm.
Man did he yowl! :crackup: I was getting very concerned at this point.
He shoved that sucker in the bag, and somehow was allowed to keep his arm.
We took it to a rehabilitator and found out from an expert that with redtails don't worry about the beek, but watch the talons. Gee, no kidding.
Great thread guys I've been laughing my tale off reading your stories. :thumbsup: :crackup: