[namsag]

Who traps snapping turtles? Season opening soon. I built this trap last summer but have had no luck with it.

I built it first out of welded panel, but it was kind of floppy, so I made another one out of re-mesh and wrapped the welded panel around it, it is sturdier now.

I baited it with chicken gizzards strung across the back end well inside the wire, but the next morning gizzards are gone and nothing in the trap. Them gizzards are not real easy to pull off the bait wire so whatever is getting in there and getting out with them must be pretty sly.

Am going to make a bait cage this season and try that. Any other pointers appreciated! I have caught some nice big softshells on jug lines but never a snapper.

One day last week the dogs were going crazy just down from the house. I went to see what it was and they were harassing this:

Would have made a nice big pot of sauce piquante but it's not legal season yet and it's probably a big female with eggs so I pulled the dogs away so she could go about her business.

Let's talk turtle!

 

[bubbat]

Didn't know people trapped turtles or there was a season for it.

 

[infosponge]

So, you're trapping them and eating them? This is new to me, but I am intrigued.

 

[Ellis93]

I didn’t know about there being any kind of turtle season myself……then again,never has mattered either. If too many get in the ponds…….they usually disappear.
Only ones that I’ve ever had any hands on dealings with are gopher and alligator turtles. I remove the alligator snappers or have helped them across a road.
had to go in my old photobucket account for these pictures……probably taken 10/11yrs ago on Hwy63. I threw on some gloves and grabbed him by the tail,helped him cross over. Sucker was heavy.

 

[namsag]

That's cool Ellis that's an alligator snapper, was lots of them in south Louisiana when I was growing up. I have never seen one since I moved here, just the common snappers.

 

[bwct]

Caught it on a yoyo several years ago. Must have weighed 50#. I released it.

 

[namsag]

So, you're trapping them and eating them? This is new to me, but I am intrigued.

Oh yes sir, it is good stuff. My dad was an insurance agent who drove the back roads of south Louisiana all day long and in the month of May he was always coming home with snappers in the trunk of his car. Around here everybody fries everything, but my dad always made a sauce piquante, this pretty identical to what he did:

turtle sauce piquante

I have occasionally had some softshells up here caught incidentally but I am wanting some good old snappers too.

 

[namsag]

@bwct nice on ya sir the alligator snappers are getting rare.

 

[rc]

Those guys are born with a ‘tude. Had one chase my daughter around and around our car, he forgot to read the book that says he’s supposed to be clumsy and slow!

 

[BladeZealot]

@bwct nice on ya sir the alligator snappers are getting rare.

Yes. And they are protected in every state they occur other than Louisiana.

 

[Ellis93]

That's cool Ellis that's an alligator snapper, was lots of them in south Louisiana when I was growing up. I have never seen one since I moved here, just the common snappers.

I rarely come across them,especially in the last 10/12 years. I don’t go to the game management lands much because I don’t want to have my truck and person strip searched every time I come across a power tripping game warden.
Use to see them every now and again in the lakes down here. Find them mostly moving from water to water. I know if they ever get close to water you’ll never get your hands on them. Least I won’t! If I can’t see where those jaws are,I ain’t putting my hands down there! 😂

Talk about live action! Yee Yee

 

[maxhush]

I didn’t know about there being any kind of turtle season myself……then again,never has mattered either. If too many get in the ponds…….they usually disappear.
Only ones that I’ve ever had any hands on dealings with are gopher and alligator turtles. I remove the alligator snappers or have helped them across a road.
had to go in my old photobucket account for these pictures……probably taken 10/11yrs ago on Hwy63. I threw on some gloves and grabbed him by the tail,helped him cross over. Sucker was heavy.
View attachment 307086 View attachment 307087 View attachment 307088 View attachment 307089

Gotta have some respect for something that's been around on the planet for so long that Allosaurs were probably frantically trying to shake them off when they clamped on the unlucky carnivores' massive foot. Worse than stepping on a Lego in the dark.

 

[Ellis93]

Gotta have some respect for something that's been around on the planet for so long that Allosaurs were probably frantically trying to shake them off when they clamped on the unlucky carnivores' massive foot. Worse than stepping on a Lego in the dark.

No doubt. They also ,from my understanding,don’t spawn often. So if I see one,and I think it would be in a precarious situation……I help it along.

 

[RONIN79]

I rarely come across them,especially in the last 10/12 years. I don’t go to the game management lands much because I don’t want to have my truck and person strip searched every time I come across a power tripping game warden.
Use to see them every now and again in the lakes down here. Find them mostly moving from water to water. I know if they ever get close to water you’ll never get your hands on them. Least I won’t! If I can’t see where those jaws are,I ain’t putting my hands down there! 😂

Talk about live action! Yee Yee
View attachment 307100

Hell yeah ole turtle man will get them…let’s go Ernie…

 

[infosponge]

Oh yes sir, it is good stuff. My dad was an insurance agent who drove the back roads of south Louisiana all day long and in the month of May he was always coming home with snappers in the trunk of his car. Around here everybody fries everything, but my dad always made a sauce piquante, this pretty identical to what he did:

turtle sauce piquante

I have occasionally had some softshells up here caught incidentally but I am wanting some good old snappers too.

Thanks for elaborating, learned something new.

 

[Rw]

With some of the crowd on here I envisioned an entirely different subject

 

[Popsquatch]

We kept the softshells that came off our trotlines and set poles so Grandma could cook them. She always said the meat had 7 different flavors depending on which piece you got. Wish I’d have paid more attention to how she fixed it. I know several of her recipes but not that one.

 

[Rommerdale]

I'm on my 3rd snapper. Had to get rid of the first two.

 

[RD Myers]

Better not talk too much about numbers. Alligator snappers are protected, but not endangered
Alligator Snapping Turtles:

A person can only possess and harvest ONE (1) Alligator Snapping Turtle with a minimum top shell length (carapace) of 24 inches or greater per license year.

Common Snapping Turtles, Smooth Soft-shell Turtles, and Spiny Soft-shell Turtles:

A person can only harvest ONE (1) turtle of the three species listed above per day.

Possession and harvest from the wild is no more than FOUR (4) turtles of the three species listed above per license year.

All other non-game turtles:

A person may possess and harvest from the wild no more than 10 other non-game turtles per license year. No more than FOUR (4) can be of the same species or subspecies.

• It is illegal to harvest turtles between April 1 to June 30.

s.

 

[RD Myers]

zold thread but maybe folks will see it that don't know. Got to have a hunting license also