This evening I have the pleasure of entertaining a few local young men (and older young men and older older men) with my limited knowledge of trapping.  I have been looking forward to this for a couple of weeks (since I was asked to do it) and I want to make it a memorable one for the young men.  I have a goal in mind and that is to have at least one of these young people take up trapping as a hobby, or at least take it as a serious interest and at some point in his life to use what knowledge I can share and put it to use in the field.

We all know that to try and make a living at trapping is almost impossible.  You would have to not only lay out a ton of traps at all elevations and during all the “prime fur” seasons in your local area and in areas not so local, PLUS you would have to conduct an animal control business to keep things going year round.  It would not be easy, it would not be fun (at least to me it wouldn’t).  It would be a lot of work, requiring secretiveness and quiet dealings.  I say this because trying to do animal control work within a city diverse with people differing with your point of view would have to be done on the Q.T.

Well, anyway, back to my presentation.  A couple of key points need to be made tonight and those are the fact that there are “stinking rules” that trappers need to follow and that there is an “ethics” involved with trapping.  HMMMMM, rules and ethics and I’m talking about trapping, not little league soccer.  I can not stress enough the importance of being an ethical trapper, after all, you as the trapper need to have some feelings toward the critter you are targeting and when the catch is made you need to dispatch that animal as quickly as you can. In a lot of cases that means you might have to get out of the truck and hike to the set after a blizzard has drifted your road in keeping you from driving that distance.  Sure, the set might be empty, but YOU set it and YOU HAVE to go check it, just in case it holds your animal.

Another consideration any ethical trapper has to consider is “trap placement”.  Let’s say you are a non trapper and you flat out do not believe in trapping.  You are not against others trapping, but you just don’t think it’s right and so you avoid it.  You don’t really care if your neighbor does it as long as you don’t have to see the disgusting things he is doing in his yard in regards to his trapping.  But, you enjoy jogging and you jog every chance you get!  One of your trails takes you into the hills above your home, where you get to see all sorts of wild life while you are jogging along.  One day you are jogging and you see an animal jumping around and is obviously caught and can’t get loose from what has it caught.  It is not happy and wants to get free and run away from you, but can’t.  You see the trap that the animal is caught in and you suddenly boil up inside and “hate” the person who placed that trap along side your jogging trail…..Do you see my point in “trap placement”?

It is probably perfectly legal to set your trap there, as it’s public land, it’s during the appropriate trapping season, you have your license and you have every right to set the trap there….BUT….

So as a trapper, you have to consider a lot of things and one of the main things you have to think about is “others”.  Place your traps far from public trails or trails that are used frequently by people out enjoying nature.  You have plenty of opportunity to catch your animals away from the places everyone else goes.

Often times a trapper will not consider the fact that he has set a trap where once he catches his target animal it is illegal to dispatch it using a firearm.  How so?  He has set his trap within a city boundary and most cities do not allow the discharge of a firearm within the boundaries.  Something as simple as setting a live trap out to catch an unwanted raccoon or skunk and now you have it caught…what do you do now?  I could go on about ways to dispatch the animals and still be legal, but my point is you need to consider where you are setting your traps BEFORE you catch the animal and have a plan on taking care of it “quickly” and “legally” once you do catch it.

There are a lot of things about trapping that must be considered and these are just talking points that should get the interested and potential trapper to think about before he even purchases his first trap.

I am looking forward to this evening and by the looks of the storm outside, I am going to set up my garage so that the folks will stay dry while I discuss this topic!  If you are reading this and are one of those planning on attending, please come filled with questions, I have answers!

Bears Butt

March 27, 2014

What a wonderful world we live in!  Last night a nice guy from Nigeria sent me an email saying a Dr. (somebody) was willing to pay my $284 processing fee in order that I can get the $3,000,000 that is sitting in the bank waiting for me to send them the transfer information to put that money into my bank account.  The email said it was a court settlement on a claim I made about being scammed by someone.  WOOOHOOOO!!!!

Well, first off I think it’s really great that this Dr. whoever, is willing to do that for me.  Aren’t people around the world just wonderful?  And then secondly to think that a banker in a country I barely know where it is, is concerned that I should get my money quickly.  People are just plain down right considerate and concerned for me.  I would like to know which scam it was that I sued over…there are soooooo many.  I really don’t remember filing any claims against any, but I must have when I was on drugs or in a drunken stupor in the past.  How else would they know who I was and how to contact me?

It’s very tempting to give them my bank account number, which is OYD0u812 in case anyone else wants to know, but I think not at this time.  Why should I collect all that money?  It would confuse my bank personnel because I only keep money in there to cover my auto-pay bills, the rest I withdraw in cash as I don’t trust them with it.  That said, why would I trust them with $3,000,000?  And knowing me I’d just blow it quickly anyway and then not have any to fall back on in the future.  So, I’ll just let it sit in that safe place in Nigeria and collect interest.  Perhaps I should make a statement in my Living Trust about it being there and so when I die, my kids can make sure they get it…Great idea!

AND that is not all!

About this website; there are still those people who are desperately trying to get into it, so they too can write stuff like this, or have other intentions of destroying it.  Little do they know, I can do that all by myself!  Just sayin!  I have to Thank the Weasel for the Watch Dogs he has in place keeping them at bay.  I have a word for them:  Hey fellas, why not just enjoy the postings and forget about creating your own!  Leave me comments and if I think they are appropriate I’ll approve them.  Don’t make it harder on yourselves than that!

To change the subject ENTIRELY!  I have heard the grandkids say “twice” in the last week that there have been some wolves spotted on the East side of town.  Maybe it’s time for a coyote hunt!  $50 bounty guys, as long as what you shoot is truly a coyote and not some hybrid dog.  We already know the Utah DWR has openly said “There are NO wolves in Utah”.  But if someone has let their dogs out and those dogs are prowling around the hills above town, it becomes apparent those animals need to be brought down…dead down…as they are most likely harassing the deer in the wintering grounds up there.  There has also been a report of a family that, just last week, has had a horse injured in it’s pen that had to be put down, that family suspects dogs.

Dogs, Coyotes, Wolves….it all leads up to a good test of your aiming skills in the hills above town!  Anyone got a good scoped .243, 22-250, 30-06, 7mm Rem Mag, 308 British, 50 or 54 Cal ????? they want to go try out?  Now is the time!

Bears Butt

March 24, 2014

I took this picture the other morning and thought it worth while sharing on here…just because.  It was a beautiful “moment” that morning and Winemaker said I was going to be too late to get the picture….I’m glad I didn’t listen to her and not grab the camera.  It was gone as quickly as it appeared.  It looks sort of like a dog playing alongside someone doing a backstroke in a pool…my wild imagination.

Another wild thing is my computer.  After just a little over a week, I have gotten accustomed to it so much I’m not sure I could go back to the old Windows type.  It is “instant on” when I hit a key.  It remembers where I was when I was on it last and goes right to the spot.  It demands little attention and never asks if I really mean I hit a key, except delete…it does ask me about that one.  It is very forgiving when I hit the wrong key on the keyboard, mostly because it doesn’t seem to have all the same keys the old keyboard has.  The keyboard is smaller too and it works just fine for my smaller than normal hands and fingers.

I came with a photo program already to go, just upload a picture and go to town fixing it if you want…all the saves and renames and things have had to be learned but the learning curve was short.  I have used the office programs quite a bit updating the records for the farm and drafting letters and spreadsheets for the trapping year and everything went better than I expected.

Am I happy with it?  ABSOLUTELY!  And if anyone out there is looking to upgrade…and I mean UPGRADE from your old Windows based unit to a Apple type, I highly recommend an iMac computer.  Yes more money, but a lot less headaches and I’m certain there are tons of things going on in the background that I don’t have a clue are going on.

Definitely “Bears Butt Approved”!

Bears Butt

March 23, 3014

It would not be right not to publish this picture of some of our friends, from close left, moving back and then to the right:

Wapiti Dung “Mountain Man Extraordinaire”, Plumb Dog, Fat Duck, Edjukateer, Tracker, Bones and Sara (no name…YET!)

They are enjoying an annual trip to somewhere we all like to go on occasion…let’s just call it…”outareality”!

Well, they happened to pick the right machine and put in the right amount of money to make it pay and they WON!  And WON BIG!  Good on them and I hope this wasn’t the only jackpot they enjoyed!  It would have been very fun to be with them, but this was not to be for this old man and his bride.  Next time!

So, you see, it CAN happen!  Maybe it will be you next time!  YEAAA!  For them!!!  Double down on Sixes!  Enjoy and have a safe ride home!

Bears Butt

March 23, 2014

For the past two full weeks the hackers have been trying their best to get into Bears Butt dot Com and take it over.  Weasel has protected the site so well, the watch dogs over the sites security is having a very fun time banning their IP (Internet Protocol address’) from even accessing the site even just to read the stories.  I love it!  Literally hundreds of attacks in the past couple of weeks or so.  It almost seems like it has become an obsession to them!  What I have to say to them is they might as well go attack the IRS site…they ain’t gettin into this one!

Weasel is the Fort Knox of internet security and I thank him dearly for putting up such a firewall of hoops and motes for them to have to go through to get in…they will drown trying and the alligators will eat their remains.

It sure makes you wonder just what it is that they want to get into the site for.  It’s not like they will gain anything from it and if they could post up some stupid thing it would just be deleted from the site and life would go on.  Dummies.

Bears Butt

March 21, 2014

This video was produced by a local guy who has the web site “lone tree survival”.  He sells a lot of way good stuff that everyone who does much at all in the outdoors needs.  Check it out!

Bears Butt
March 20, 2014

Way back when, like a million years ago, man had to make a plan in order to survive.  That still holds true today, only the time line is much shorter.  Let me give you some examples from my perspective.

Picture a cave man, leaning against the back wall of his little abode, his woman staring at him, wondering just when he is going to get is lazy butt up and go get them something to eat.  The kids romping around in the rock and dirt floor, not caring one way or another about anything. (Not a lot of changes from then til now, huh?)

Well, his stomach begins to growl and he decides if he is going to eat he has to go out and bash something with his club, so up he gets and goes about doing just that.  Once outside he first has to find something to bash and then make a plan as to how he is going to get close enough for the bashing to begin.  This usually takes quite a long time to accomplish, but before dark he comes back with something and throws it on the dirt and rock floor for his woman to deal with.  He wants to eat!

For her part there is deciding how to process the bashed item and she alone must make the decisions  as to the need to cook it, or just eat is as it is.  However she decides will be just fine with “him and the kids”…let’s eat!

Later in the time line we find “him” busy working, making some money to buy stuff as he comes home from his busy day.  He enters the small house they call home and tosses the bags of things on the table for her to deal with.  She has to sort through it and try to decide what he was thinking when he bought the stuff.  It usually involves cooking and this is where her planning comes into play, fried, baked, boiled or some of each.  It won’t matter too much to him and the kids, they are just hungry and want to eat before too long.  And with one kid on her hip, she gets it ready as quickly as she can.

Still later, we find “him” coming home and upon entering the house gives her a big kiss, the kids come running and find his legs and wrap their little arms around them and yell up all the things that they did that day and tell him how much they love him and appreciate all that he does for them.  He can smell the good food already prepared for them and it’s in the oven keeping warm and awaiting his return from his laborious days work.  She was able to plan this meal way ahead of time because they have a freezer full of good meats and other food she can chose from.  Life is full of blessings and they sit right down and eat.

Today, we still have the freezer, a cold storage unit called a fridge, a microwave, electric or gas stove, ovens, toasters, slow cookers, BBQ cookers outside and of course the quick food place just down the street or the nice restaurant with the big menu to choose from.  We can eat there or take it home to eat OR phone in and have someone bring it to us!  SO very much planning has to take place it’s a wonder we get anything done!

Take me and Winemaker for example, this very morning!  We had drank our 3 cups of coffee each and I asked the every day question, “What would you like for breakfast”?  This time she actually named something besides “I don’t know”…she said “How about steak”?  BINGO!!!!  I can do steak!  In fact I could do steak every day!  The steak we have is mostly elk, and so out to the freezer I went!

Not too many years ago a decision to have steak for breakfast would have had to of been made “yesterday” or “last night”, but with the advent of the microwave we have the option to wait until we are ready to cook to thaw out the frozen goodies we have at hand!  A far cry from the guy with the club!

I often wonder how long those guys with the clubs lived, I’ll just bet if they lived to be 15 they were considered old.

Bears Butt

February 16, 2014

We all, (well, I’m assuming something here about my readers) have our favorite guns, whether they are rifles, shotguns or pistols and we also know that they need to be cleaned every once in awhile!  I’m probably the worst one for not cleaning my weapons on a regular basis and one day it will cost me…maybe it already has…I missed a deer and an elk this year…hmmmm.

Anyway, I received an email the other day from my friends at Smith and Edwards and they asked if I wouldn’t mind posting up a story about how to properly clean a rifle, by Eric Halter, one of the gunsmiths at Smith and Edwards.

I’m pleased as punch to share this with my readers and hopefully your rifle won’t fail you the next time you take it out hunting or to the range!  Copy and past this in a new tab on your computer and read the great article!  This guy knows his stuff!

http://blog.smithandedwards.com/how-to-clean-your-rifle/

Eric has been in the gunsmithing business for MANY years and if you need some service done to any of your weapons, he is your man!  He even does that coating to guns called “Cerakote”…do you want to be invisible to the predators?  Have your weapons coated with that stuff, and remember, don’t lay the gun down, you won’t be able to find it in the grass if you do!

Eric can be contacted at:      hhhsharps@aol.com

Keep those guns cleaned!

Bears Butt

February 14, 2014

I’m not sure what is going on with this computer and this site, but someone is apparently trying to hack into it.  I have a security system that seems to be better than the IRS and this would be hacker has made many, many attempts to figure out how to enter Bears Butt’s site.  Of course they are hard pressed to think like me and so have been unable to figure out my secret code words.

My guru is also on high alert and is looking into things from his side of the fence.  It’s amazing how the computer security works these days and I’m glad I have all the blocks and fences up and running.

Hacker beware!  I know your address and YOU WILL BE TAKEN DOWN!

Bears Butt

February 12, 2014

This morning I read a message from the all knowing Weasel who informed me that some of you visiting this site would like to see my Category called “Hunting/Fishing/Trapping”, broken down into the three categories individually.  Some like one or the other but not necessarily all three.

So, I have taken some time and created those three categories individually and I have moved some of the old stories into those categories.  But, with trapping on the schedule, I am not able to move each of the 306 stories found under that 3 part category into their individual places and maybe I will just have to change the title of that category to something like “Old Hunting/Fishing/Trapping stories” and let it go like that.  I’ll decide…..later!

I have moved any story that was created since January 2014 over to their new category and will continue to place them in the new categories as they are created.

But, don’t neglect to go into the old category and glean the important stuff that has been put there…just saying!  Someday when I’m very bored I’ll take the time to move all the stories into their appropriate categories….maybe.

Bears Butt

February 10, 2014