Wyoming Anti-trapping Bill

[Andouille]

So let's not talk about 1 of the things in this bill, let's talk about all 3 the way it's written.

Would you be okay with banning all trapping near trailheads, along any trail, or near any roadway?

You're misreading my intent and reading my posts through your anti-trapping ban glasses, as I've not spoken a word about bills or banning trapping. I suggest you take a step back and try to read my posts objectively if we're going to have a two-way conversation. If you can't converse with me, a trapping-agnostic and hunter, then how might you convince an anti-trapping person to consider your point of view?

 

[wytx]

Sorry but no on mandatory trappers ed, not going to back that one for every trapper.
I also agree that setting near trailheads is not the best spot.
You're not making many inroads here with your attitude , Andouille has that right.

Conibears kill dogs and can be used almost anywhere, as do snares.

 

[go_deep]

Sorry but no on mandatory trappers ed, not going to back that one for every trapper.
I also agree that setting near trailheads is not the best spot.
You're not making many inroads here with your attitude , Andouille has that right.

Conibears kill dogs and can be used almost anywhere, as do snares.

Honestly, I agree, I got a little defensive. I'm just shocked that there's so much support for an anti trapping bill, the same type of bill that was used up and down the West Coast to start the domino effect of cutting into hunting rights.

 

[go_deep]

I frequently hunt in a unit where you have to be a 1/4 mile from trailhead or trail before you can hunt. Not a big deal.

But regarding your OP I support that bill. Thanks for bringing it to our attention. My dog had been caught in traps set out by lazy trappers right next to popular trails.

Sorry to hear your dog was trapped, but I firmly believe that's where the ethics portion comes into trapper education. And that's really unfortunate that you've lost a 1/2 mile wide (1/4 mile each side of the road) to who knows how many tens of hundreds of thousands of acres, that's not right.
How do limited mobility or disabled people hunt that area where you have to be 1/4 mile from the road? Or is there just no option to even hunt for an older individual that can't hike a quarter mile, or a disabled person?

 

[wytx]

I applaud your compassion on this but what is the status of this bill?
Instead of being so against all of it maybe just look and see that setbacks might be just enough to pacify some anti folks.
Yes it gets a foot in the door but being so adamant about common sense trapping, not at trailheads or along marked trails will not win the fight I'm afraid.
People take dogs hunting, late season and I've seen sled dogs out training on trails.
Get off the trails to set your traps, find private ground , be ethical.

This bill will get modified if it goes forward. I don't see any private LOs or the stockgrowers' association being for limits on private property along roadways, it is still private land and those owners have rights.

 

[TSAMP]

I think optics is everything

Alot of laws wouldn't be necessary if everyone behaved ethically, but we know that isn't how the world works.

As a bird hunter with dogs, And as a trapper I've found many locations where I would love to make a set but realize the likelihood of a inadvertent catch is simply to high. I often ask myself, would I be pissed if I came across a trap right here before I set.

We can trap in ditches here in Iowa, there is just a proximity to a private driveway setback law. It seems to be an old timer thing.They set ditches with foot holds mostly and drive past to check. I dont see many people doing it.

 

[ElDiablito]

I’ve been a trapper (and bird hunter) and trapper ed instructor for 35 years. I’ve trapped in six western states.

I don’t like new regs/laws any more that anyone else. But, a prohibition on setting where there is a high probability for conflict with non-trappers may be what is needed to keep some less than ethical guys from getting it all taken away from us.

It just took one dog getting killed in NM to get all trapping banned there.

 

[go_deep]

I agree setting traps next to popular trails is an ethics issue. But must be addressed with laws because at the end of the day an individual’s ethics may differ from mine. And while the general populace agrees trapping next to trails is wrong, there will always be a sector that sees nothing wrong with doing as such. Thus the law.

I don’t look at the 1/4 restriction as a loss of hunting area, it’s called sharing our resources with others. In fact I would beg to differ that if this wasn’t in place likely there would be no hunting allowed due to hunter conflicts.

To address the disability access they can access it on foot or horse. If they can’t do neither well guess what there are plenty of other areas they can go mark the land with their 4 wheeler or truck. We don’t need to manage land the lowest common denominator.

I appreciate you seeing that 1/4 mile restriction as sharing a resource, but there's no sharing there, you how no legal right to recreate on that portion of public land the way you'd like to.

 

[go_deep]

I never bought into the hunters are their own worst enemy, but I have been proven wrong on that.

 

[go_deep]

So you want no restrictions on public land?

Appreciate the word play but I specifically referenced your comment about hunting, that's it. If you could have hunted there before, then they took that right away, you lost out, period, no sharing, your banned, illegal, not allowed there anymore.

 

[Andouille]

Honestly, I agree, I got a little defensive. I'm just shocked that there's so much support for an anti trapping bill, the same type of bill that was used up and down the West Coast to start the domino effect of cutting into hunting rights.

Right on, I'm fairly certain everyone on Rokslide is on the same team; pro-hunting access and I definitely agree that banning trapping is one of the first steps towards banning hunting.

I live in AK, where hunting and trapping are going strong, but I follow the concerning developments in CO hunting and trapping regulations because my folks live there. Bans that happen in CA, CO, or WA, or other states just provide additional ammunition for similar bans in more pro-hunting states.

For context, I have two dogs that go off-leash on State (illegal) and Federal (legal) lands and I strictly enforce a no-chasing wildlife rule. Keep in mind that most Federal land allows off-leash dogs. Wildlife chasing dogs are a minority, and not a point you can use to counter anti-trapping advocates, because they probably have off-leash dogs. In arguing against trapping bills, you cannot rely on arguments in favor of the minority (trappers) against the popular will of the majority (non-trappers); that's an uphill battle (aka pissing up a rope). Education of both belligerent trappers and the public is the best approach.

 

[Andouille]

I never bought into the hunters are their own worst enemy, but I have been proven wrong on that.

Speaking of hunters as their own worst enemy, do remember the hunter dude who caught a wolf and paraded it around town before killing it? The overall effect was to mobilize the masses against wolf hunting and hunting in general. Trapping near trailheads has a similar effect on the general public.

 

[go_deep]

Speaking of hunters as their own worst enemy, do remember the hunter dude who caught a wolf and paraded it around town before killing it? The overall effect was to mobilize the masses against wolf hunting and hunting in general. Trapping near trailheads has a similar effect on the general public.

The unfortunate thing is that's not a representation of 99% of outdoorsmen and women, but that's the impression thegeneral public gets we are when a headline like that drops.

 

[wytx]

So reading this bill only gives WG&F the ability to establish set backs.

 

[go_deep]

So reading this bill only gives WG&F the ability to establish set backs.

Yep, they figured it would be easier to pass with generic language rather than specific distances at specific places.
I feel like this is even worse, now there could be setbacks placed anywhere, for any distance, for most any reason they could dream up.

 

[pacoalcracker]

Its all the fault of the residents of Montana, Wyoming and Idaho that their states are being ruined by out of staters that don't hold the same values that they do. Who sold them the land and homes for big profits and continue to do so? It's called reaping what you sow. Expect a lot more of it. Oh, and stop bitching about it. You won't stop them. Look at Hawaii as a case study of what its going to look like in 30 more years. Residents were priced out of the state and demographically changed. It will just take a bit longer for those larger states.

 

[go_deep]

Its all the fault of the residents of Montana, Wyoming and Idaho that their states are being ruined by out of staters that don't hold the same values that they do. Who sold them the land and homes for big profits and continue to do so? It's called reaping what you sow. Expect a lot more of it. Oh, and stop bitching about it. You won't stop them. Look at Hawaii as a case study of what its going to look like in 30 more years. Residents were priced out of the state and demographically changed. It will just take a bit longer for those larger states.

Appreciate that insight...

 

[go_deep]

Denied.

Thank you too anyone who voiced their concerns and helped!!

 

[roadrunner]

There is an anti-trapping group here in Wyoming that has got a bill written to be heard in committee during the next legislative session. The bill is trapping setbacks, making it illegal to place a trap near trailheads, trails, and even possibly roadways.
We need to email or call every senator to let them know that we do not want this bill to ever leave committee. Below is the email I sent, done copy and paste and resend it, it's just there for reference. Link to contact information for all legislators, https://www.wyoleg.gov/Legislators/2024/H

I would like to add some facts to a proposed bill that will be coming up at the next session. Trapping setbacks, making it illegal to set traps within certain distance of trail heads, and trails.

First, its illegal to even have your dog off their lease at a trailhead, see response for the USFS to my question of if dogs need to be leashed:

4/27/2024
Hello Trevor,
I will try to paraphrase it a bit and let's see if that is helpful to you, ok? Otherwise, you can call us at 307-739-5500 and we can talk and see if that is more useful to you.

Title 36 CFR 261.16 (k) basically says in any developed recreation area of the forest (and that would be a trailhead, a parking lot, at a campground, a boat launch, next to corals installed by the FS, a swimming beach, a bathroom, etc.) must have their dog on a leash, no longer than 6-feet, or under physical control, ( not voice control). This applies to all National Forests, and all Ranger Districts. The other rule, I am aware of is that Wyoming is a fence out state, meaning if you don't want cattle or other animals (dogs) on your property (your private land abutting the FS), it is a responsibility of the private landowner to put up and maintain a fence.


Why do we need a law to make it illegal to trap somewhere to protect dogs, when it's illegal to have your dog off their leash there in the first place?


A lot of the conversations about this are in the wrong place with the topic, I should not be able to just let my dog run around out of site, or unrestrained. What if it runs around the corner and runs into another hiker who is deathly afraid of dogs, or another dog, or a wild animal? If my dog is out of sight and of my control, I do not know if my dog is killing a squirrel or a rabbit, or chasing a deer, all illegal in Wyoming. Why take away my freedom to trap somewhere, where you legally have to have your dog on a 6' or shorter leash? Nobody is putting a trap within 6' of a trailhead, because no target animal with be in a parking lot. This is purely an effort to chip away at the trapping rights of the Wyoming trapper.

If this bill was written to protect animals, the pet owner would keep their dog on a leash to ensure that their dog, along with any other wildlife from a mouse to a moose isn't harassed or even possibly killed while out on a walk, but they don't want that, they want to let their dog loose and let it run where ever it wants to go, in most cases out of site, doing whatever the dog wants to do at the expense of any wild animal or other person it comes across.

A poll was placed on a hunting forum asking people if their dog had been injured. Being hurt by other people, other dogs, wild animals, trash like old barbed wire, the least was trapping (link below). There are far greater threats and dangers in the outdoors to hurt a pet then trapping. This poll shows that every possibility for a dog to get hurt, trapping was the least dangerous way.
At this date and time response to the survey were instances where your dog was injured:
70 injuries reported by falling or running into something, fence posts and barbed wire were the 2 primary reports
39 injuries by a wild animal
29 injuries by another domestic animal
23 injuries by a motor vehicle
7 injuries by another person
5 injuries by trapping
https://rokslide.com/forums/threads/has-your-dog-been-injured.356117/

There are so many other things Untrapped to go target to protect dogs out on a walk than trapper setbacks, the survey above shows that clear as day.

Third concern I have with this is simple. If setbacks go in place for trailheads, trails, and I have personally heard Untrapped say even along public road ways, how will this effect most elderly, limited mobility, and disabled people? They will not be hiking a quarter mile in to set a trap in nearly all instances.

I urge you to not take away the rights of Wyoming sportsmen and sportswomen. Mandatory trapper education, along with higher fines for illegally placed traps will solve this problem, not taking away ten's of thousands of acres of land from us.

If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me, via email or phone. If you yourself have never experienced trapping, I give you an open invitation to ride along with me someday on the trapline so you can experience it first hand.

I thank you for your time and service to this great State of Wyoming,
Trevor Herrman
Cheyenne Wyoming

This is how it began in NM that led to the eventual banning of trapping on public land.

Keep fighting this with a relentless vengeance. Now that it's surfaced, it will show again at a later date.