Quote:
Originally Posted by Rabbit Snarer
Any open minded person can see the comparison between furbearers, fish, and big game, as all being owned by all citizens of the province and therefore should be equally available to all.
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I'm open minded, mainly because I don't know enough about the subject to have an opinion.
I don't understand your logic at all, hunting & fishing are not similar to trapping at all, IMO.
Hunting and fishing is managed by ESRD, they tell you where you can and cannot keep fish and how many. It's the same for hunting, they tell you how many deer you can shoot in various different areas. They will issue supplemental tags for places with an abundance while others are a draw. RFMA's for the most part are managed by the trapper, with the exception of species with quotas for them.
As far as the US system goes, it sounds to me like it's a gong show and a very poor way to manage their wildlife. Do they have quotas and how do they determine when a quota is met......by reporting every trapped animal to their F&W office?
Another issue that I'd like to address is the $10K figure that you put out there. This is my first season as a Resident Trapper but I think that figure is very achievable, and some Resident Trappers are making a lot more than that. Names (I could be wrong but I don't think that they have RFMA's) that immediately come to mind are AO members 5911Ryan (coyotes) and G_Godberson (muskrats). If you are willing to put in the effort, it can be done, not just as recreation but as a profession.
I think that these numbers are reasonable:
Muskrats x 300 @ $10 average = $3K
Coyotes x 50 @ $100 average = $5K
Fox, beaver, weasel, badger, bobcat, racoon and squirrel = $2K
I see a lot of trapping opportunity out there without owning an RFMA. Except for not being able to trap class A furbearers due to the requirement for a quota on them for sustainability purposes, there shouldn't be an issue IMO.
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