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Ripp
.577 member


Reged: 19/02/07
Posts: 16072
Loc: Montana, USA
Elk Hunt and Antique Trap..
      #90995 - 09/12/07 04:03 AM

I have a client that owns approximately 465,000 acres here in Montana..because of the size of the ranch and all the moutainous area involved, the elk herds have become quite large. So large they are starting to cause crop damage on the lower lands. We were invited to go there yesterday along with several others to cull out some of the cows.. everyone was able to hunt 2 cows if the opportunity presented itself.. My son Trent and I got into the woods at about 7:45 in the morning--it was an absolutly awesome day.. fresh snow on the ground..about 18 degrees F..with light snow coming down.. We cut fresh tracks about an hour into the forest.. the herd split so my son and I did as well ...I heard his shot about 30 minutes later with another follow up shortly after--it was not long when directly in front of me stood about 30 head of elk, all cows, calves and spikes...I slowly inched my way forward and waited for the opportunity to present itself..As they milled around, a cow moved into the clearing presenting me with about a 75 yard shot..I slowly raised the rifle and placed the crosshairs directly on her shoulder.. she fell to the shot while the others stood there wondering where the shot had come from... after about 20 seconds they slowly moved off..

After taking care of my downed elk, I backtracked to my sons prints and followed him up to see if he needed help.. As I was moving through the forest I saw something sticking out of the snow.. walked over and it was the end of an "old trap" . I dug in the snow to remove it as it was still stuck into the ground from when it was set many, many years ago... I finally got it removed.. it is severly rusted and actually had lichen growing on it. I felt really fortunate to find an old relic like this out in the middle of nowhere. This trap will set in my trophy room from this day forward.. and hopefully the next time the stresses of everyday life seems to be mounting, hopefully it will serve to remind me of this day and the great time it was..for both my son and I.

My son had indeed shot a cow at about 30 yards--she ran about 150 yards and layed down--the second shot I had heard was indeed the finishing shot... he was very excited for several reasons. One, he has not shot many elk and they other that he had done it all on his own... he did a great job.

It was an awesome experience and as in most things in life, I sat there wondering why I have not done this more..hunting elk with a rifle...the excitement of tracking game in the snow and getting in on the herd is amazing. It also makes me realize why most of us on this site and around the world do what we do---I can honestly say I NEVER feel as alive as when I am hunting, whether it be in the mountains in Montana,in the bush in Afica or the tundra in Alaska.. GOD has truly blessed us all on this planet..hopefully most of us acknowledge that more often than not...

Ripp

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ALL MEN DIE, BUT FEW MEN TRULY LIVE..

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9.3x57
.450 member


Reged: 22/04/07
Posts: 5501
Loc: United States
Re: Elk Hunt and Antique Trap.. [Re: Ripp]
      #90996 - 09/12/07 04:23 AM

Great story and great experience to-boot, particularly as it occured with your son.

You've got some fine meals ahead of you during which to remember the hunt!

BTW, any chance we can see a picture of the trap? My son and I trap here on my place and I'd be interested to see what you dug up.

--------------------
What are the Rosary, the Cross or the Crucifix other than tools to help maintain the fortress of our faith in Jesus Christ, the Son of God?

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Ripp
.577 member


Reged: 19/02/07
Posts: 16072
Loc: Montana, USA
Re: Elk Hunt and Antique Trap.. [Re: 9.3x57]
      #91022 - 09/12/07 10:01 AM

I will take some today with my digital and when I get to the office tomorrow I will forward a photo to you..

Ripp

--------------------
ALL MEN DIE, BUT FEW MEN TRULY LIVE..

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AspenHill
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Reged: 08/01/03
Posts: 1528
Loc: Vermont, USA
Re: Elk Hunt and Antique Trap.. [Re: Ripp]
      #91077 - 10/12/07 01:16 AM

Sounds like a neat find! I have found fossile bone fragments before out hunting antelope in Wyoming.

--------------------
~Ann

Everyday spent outdoors is the best day of my life.

Aspen Hill Adventures

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9.3x57
.450 member


Reged: 22/04/07
Posts: 5501
Loc: United States
Re: Elk Hunt and Antique Trap.. [Re: AspenHill]
      #91080 - 10/12/07 01:38 AM

Some years ago my son found a knife relic of a curious shape in the cutting above one of our stock ponds. It must have been partly dislodged by the road construction done there in about 1935, then over time and frost heaves rose to the surface. I researched it as best as I could, then I made a duplicate and wrote up a piece for a knife rag. To this day I haven't seen any knife identical to it though there are a couple similar pictured in ML Coles book on skinning knives.

We've used my duplicate for butchering chores here on the ranch and every time I use it I wonder about "The One That Left It Behind" whoever he or she may have been.

Curiousity!!

--------------------
What are the Rosary, the Cross or the Crucifix other than tools to help maintain the fortress of our faith in Jesus Christ, the Son of God?

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Ripp
.577 member


Reged: 19/02/07
Posts: 16072
Loc: Montana, USA
Re: Elk Hunt and Antique Trap.. [Re: 9.3x57]
      #91098 - 10/12/07 06:34 AM

Quote:

BTW, any chance we can see a picture of the trap? My son and I trap here on my place and I'd be interested to see what you dug up.




Per your request--attached are the photos of the trap I found--It is an Newhouse--notice the white in the jaws---upon closer inspection,, it is an actual piece of bone...pretty incredible..

thx

Ripp



--------------------
ALL MEN DIE, BUT FEW MEN TRULY LIVE..

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armbar
.300 member


Reged: 25/05/05
Posts: 201
Loc: So Cal USA
Re: Elk Hunt and Antique Trap.. [Re: Ripp]
      #91099 - 10/12/07 06:38 AM

Ripp,

465000 acres!?!? HS! Tell the owner I'm now up for adoption.

Is there any way to date the trap?

Armbar.

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Ripp
.577 member


Reged: 19/02/07
Posts: 16072
Loc: Montana, USA
Re: Elk Hunt and Antique Trap.. [Re: armbar]
      #91100 - 10/12/07 07:00 AM

Yes --that is correct--the little piece I was hunting on was only 120,000 acres--pretty insane when you think of it--each moutain range as far as I could see in every direction was their property..

Not sure on the age--however I have a really good friend who collects traps--he lives in W Yellowstone..I will have him look at it--

Thx

Ripp

--------------------
ALL MEN DIE, BUT FEW MEN TRULY LIVE..

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9.3x57
.450 member


Reged: 22/04/07
Posts: 5501
Loc: United States
Re: Elk Hunt and Antique Trap.. [Re: armbar]
      #91104 - 10/12/07 07:42 AM

RIPP:

Thanks for posting.

Hard to date that one, though the chain is an older style that was used for years.

Check these out below. You can see the newer style chain:

http://www.nwtrappers.com/catalog/traps/leghold/ovls.asp

What's the width of the jaws when open?

I just lost one the other day. Nope, it ain't yours, it was a Victor Double Coil Spring!

--------------------
What are the Rosary, the Cross or the Crucifix other than tools to help maintain the fortress of our faith in Jesus Christ, the Son of God?

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Ripp
.577 member


Reged: 19/02/07
Posts: 16072
Loc: Montana, USA
Re: Elk Hunt and Antique Trap.. [Re: 9.3x57]
      #91107 - 10/12/07 08:02 AM

9ThreeXFifty7

Not sure on the width--didn't measure it yet.. will do however..

Looked a bit on E-bay and found several that look very similar however there is no date as to when they might have been manufactured..

As to you story on finding artifacts..here is one or two for you..

Back many year ago.. when I was about 6 years old--I was at my Grandpa's place in N Dakota--he took me over to his garage.. showed me a old military saddle, sword and canteen..that was from the late 1800's era--around the Custer Years..which makes perfect sense as there were several old Calvary Forts in the area--during that time period..anyway, apparently one of my uncles was cultivating one of their fields--it was a dryer year so he was able to go in further to the low lying area to work the land--he glanced back at the cultivator and saw something moving back and forth on one of the shanks... he stopped the tractor to inspect..it was a US Calvary saddle, sword and canteen all still together and fully in tact..

to my knowledge my uncle still has all three...


Another instance--I was bowhunting in the Badlands of N Dakota for Muley's... I hiked down a really steep embankment and noticed a horn sticking out of the dirt--apparently it was an area the was used by the Indians to run the bison off the cliff--there were 7 skulls in that one area..

Also have found numerous arrow heads, scrapers, etc out hunting around in the mountains here in Montana...

As you mentioned.. you can't help but wonder who it was that left it there or what was all going on at the time..very fascinating...

Ripp

--------------------
ALL MEN DIE, BUT FEW MEN TRULY LIVE..

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9.3x57
.450 member


Reged: 22/04/07
Posts: 5501
Loc: United States
Re: Elk Hunt and Antique Trap.. [Re: Ripp]
      #91110 - 10/12/07 08:13 AM

A local development here was postponed when a tribal police officer happened to "find" a human skull on the ground in the area. Citing the "Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act of 1990" {thanks alot George Bush "Senior"...} the owner of the land effectively had his property rights rescinded.

We are very careful what we find around here!!

--------------------
What are the Rosary, the Cross or the Crucifix other than tools to help maintain the fortress of our faith in Jesus Christ, the Son of God?

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9.3x57
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Reged: 22/04/07
Posts: 5501
Loc: United States
Re: Elk Hunt and Antique Trap.. [Re: 9.3x57]
      #91117 - 10/12/07 09:36 AM

Pet the kitty cat!!!



--------------------
What are the Rosary, the Cross or the Crucifix other than tools to help maintain the fortress of our faith in Jesus Christ, the Son of God?

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Ripp
.577 member


Reged: 19/02/07
Posts: 16072
Loc: Montana, USA
Re: Elk Hunt and Antique Trap.. [Re: 9.3x57]
      #91129 - 10/12/07 12:54 PM

Was that recently?? Nice looking kitty...

I am heading out east for coyotes and cats next weekend...

Ripp

--------------------
ALL MEN DIE, BUT FEW MEN TRULY LIVE..

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Ripp
.577 member


Reged: 19/02/07
Posts: 16072
Loc: Montana, USA
Re: Elk Hunt and Antique Trap.. [Re: Ripp]
      #91178 - 11/12/07 02:42 AM

FYI..

Just got a call from a friend of mine who sells and collects traps..
He stated with the pan brake on the trap -would guess the trap found was manufactured around 1930's to 1940's...pretty cool...

Ripp

--------------------
ALL MEN DIE, BUT FEW MEN TRULY LIVE..

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dale
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Reged: 28/02/06
Posts: 341
Loc: logan W.V.
Re: Elk Hunt and Antique Trap.. [Re: Ripp]
      #91331 - 12/12/07 01:31 PM

Gentlemen,

I have really enjyed this thread. An older hunting buddy of my Dad's had been a gamewarden and kinda took me under his wing and before he passed away, he gave me his bear trap. He had done a lot of bear hunting with dogs and had found this trap and carried it out of the swamps. It meant a lot to him and I treasure it because he gave it to me. He told me that the trap was left loose and the treble hook slowed the bear down and kept him from chewing his leg off. They look about the same size, the jaws on mine are about eleven inches long and about 7 inches high.



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NitroXAdministrator
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Reged: 25/12/02
Posts: 39209
Loc: Barossa Valley, South Australi...
Re: Elk Hunt and Antique Trap.. [Re: dale]
      #92826 - 28/12/07 03:32 PM

I also have found a trap while hunting.

I was hunting in the arid Flinders Ranges in the mid-North of South Australia for feral goats on my own. A good friend had taken over the management of the sheep station so I was also visiting him.

Walking along a creek system in a river gully between two mountains I found a largish steel trap probably used as a dingo trap sometime in the past decades.

My friend and the owner did not know of it so it was before their time on the property. Things can get lost on these properties, not surprising, they once "lost" a tractor for three years. A previous manager got fed up, resigned and left, and never told anyone where he had left the tractor. They found it three years later a distance from a water bore where he had been repairing fences.

So now I have a nice dingo trap souvenir.

(Photos to be posted once I get it out of storage.)

--------------------
John aka NitroX

...
Govt get out of our lives NOW!
"I love the smell of cordite in the morning."
"A Sharp spear needs no polish"

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bwananelson
.400 member


Reged: 08/10/07
Posts: 1195
Loc: DELTONA FLORIDA
Re: Elk Hunt and Antique Trap.. [Re: NitroX]
      #99249 - 15/03/08 04:15 AM

RIPP YOUR TRAP LOOKS LIKE A NEWHOUSE BY THE CHAIN A 3 OR 4,NICE FIND ,I HAVE A 4,4 1/2,5 AND SEVERAL OTHERS TRAPPING WAS MY FIRST LOVE IN THE OUTDOORS I STARTED IN 3RD GRADE FOR MUSKRATS.THE BEAR TRAP MAY BE A #5 NEWHOUSE WITH A FORGED DRAG ALSO VERY NEAT.TRAPPING IS A FORM OF HUNTING THAT IS SLOWLY BEING WIPED OUT.PEOPLE DONT REMEMBER THAT TRAPPING OPENED THE WEST.I BELIEVE TRAPPING MADE ME A BETTER WOODSMAN,YOU HAD TO PLACE THAT ANIMAL ON A 2 INCH PAN TO CATCH IT,AND DO IT WITOUT LEAVING ANY SCENT AND LOOKING LIKE IT WAS LEFT BY ANOTHER ANIMAL.AS A KID YOU COULD DAY DREAM OF HOW THE MOUNTAINMAN FELT.......AH TO SEE THE WORLD AS THEY DID NO FENCES,SIGNS,OR HUMAN CREATED EYE SORES.THOSE WERE THE DAYS MY FRIENDS WE WERE JUST BORN A LITTLE LATE.YOU GUYS WHO LIVE THERE NOW KNOW THE RIGORS OF THE LIFE,IMAGIN BACK THEN THE HARDSHIPS THEY SHRUGGED OFF EVERY DAY.HAIL TO THE MOUNTAINMAN PROBABLY THE GREATEST HUNTERS THAT EVER LIVED.......

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THERE ARE NO DO OVERS IN LIFE DONT LET A CHANCE AT A DREAM SLIP AWAY.

Edited by bwananelson (15/03/08 04:18 AM)

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gryphon
.450 member


Reged: 01/01/03
Posts: 5487
Loc: Sambar ground/Victoria/Austral...
Re: Elk Hunt and Antique Trap.. [Re: bwananelson]
      #99252 - 15/03/08 06:56 AM

i picked up a trap that certainly had me buggered as to its ID but remembering a book i had on otter trapping (fooling mr otter) i looked it up and found to my surprise that my new trap was a US made num 48 Newhouse otter trap,found all the way down under in the mouth of a rabbit burrow in Kyneton victoria.It is an under water set trap too,what a shame that i sold it along with my rabbit trap collection 20 years ago...fool !

--------------------
Get off the chair away from the desk and get out in the bush and enjoy life.

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9.3x57
.450 member


Reged: 22/04/07
Posts: 5501
Loc: United States
Re: Elk Hunt and Antique Trap.. [Re: gryphon]
      #99263 - 15/03/08 12:10 PM

I better find traps...

...since I set them.

Bwananelson, trapping isn't dead at all, and in many parts of this country trapping is alive and well. You may have given up on it but there are lots of folks who haven't. A copy of Fur-Fish-&-Game will reassure you.

We trap coyotes primarily, not for the fur, since out yotes are not desireable to the fur trade {we sell a few, but for very little} but rather we trap in the summer and fall before hunting season. I am convinced that clearing the area of rubbish like coyotes makes for a better hunting season.

BTW: Found two more dead deer on my hike today. Two more wasted deer, killed by coyotes or wolves.

--------------------
What are the Rosary, the Cross or the Crucifix other than tools to help maintain the fortress of our faith in Jesus Christ, the Son of God?

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bwananelson
.400 member


Reged: 08/10/07
Posts: 1195
Loc: DELTONA FLORIDA
Re: Elk Hunt and Antique Trap.. [Re: 9.3x57]
      #99309 - 16/03/08 02:56 AM

WELL I SEE THE TREND IN THE EAST,FLORIDA BANNED THE STEEL TRAP,IN PENNSYLVANIA I GREW UP SEEINF MUSKRAT HUTS,NOT ANYMORE SAD TO SAY,TOTAL NUMBER OF TRAPPERS IS DOWN ACROSS THE BOARD.YOU WONT SEE IT WHERE YOU LIVE BUT THIS SIDE OF THE BIG MUDDY,NUMBERS ARE DECREASING.I ALWAYS DREAMED OF LONG LINEING FOR YODEL DOGS CATS AND BADGER.MAYBE WHEN I RETIRE.FFG WAS A GREAT MAG,I SURE DO MISS THOSE DAYS OF RUNNING A LINE.ITS THE LOSS OF HABITAT.

--------------------
THERE ARE NO DO OVERS IN LIFE DONT LET A CHANCE AT A DREAM SLIP AWAY.

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