Hints On Baiting The Steel Trap
Category:
STEEL TRAPS AND THE ART OF TRAPPING.
There is a very common and erroneous idea current among amateur
sportsmen and others in regard to the baiting of the steel trap;
viz., that the pan of the trap is intended for the bait. This
was the old custom in the traps of bygone times, but no modern
trap is intended to be so misused, and would indeed often defeat
its object in such a case, wherein it will be easily
seen. The object of the professional trapper is the acquisition
of furs; and a prime fur skin should be without break or bruise,
from nose to tail. A trap set as above described, would of course
catch its victim by the head or neck, and the fur would be more
or less injured at the very spot where it should be particularly
free from blemish.
The true object of the steel trap is, that it shall take the animal
by the leg, thus injuring the skin only in a part where it is
totally valueless.
We give, then, this imperative rule--Never bait a steel trap on
the pan.
The pan is intended for the foot of the game, and in order to
insure capture by this means, the bait should be so placed as that
the attention of the animal will be drawn away from the trap;
the latter being in such a position as will cause the victim to
step in it when reaching for the tempting allurement.
There are several ways of doing this, one of which we here illustrate.
A pen of stakes, in the shape of the letter V, is first constructed.
The trap is then set in the angle, and the bait attached to the
end stake directly over it. Another method is shown in the picture
on our title-page to this section, the bait being suspended on a
stick above the trap. There are various other methods on the same
principle, which will be described hereafter, under the titles of
the various game.
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The Spring PolePrevious:
Requisites Of A Good Steel Trap
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