- Hunting is regulated and hunters are generally penalized for shooting the wrong species. Hunters have a season, wear orange, have a bag limit, and are not allowed to bait animals.
- Hunters are not permitted to leave their guns set unattended ready to shoot. In Montana it is illegal to leave a fishing pole unattended. A trapper can set and leave as many traps and snares as they choose. Trappers tell FWP they set 50,000 traps.
- Montana residents do not need to purchase a $28 trapping license except to trap furbearers and wolves. The traps do not discriminate whether they are set by a licensed or non-purchaser.
- Less than 1% of Montanans purchase a trapping license, 5900 approximated. This does not cover the salaries and benefits of the Montana furbearer division. It's the hunter and anglers who cover this.
- Trappers do not need to report their "Incidental" non-target catches unless they are classified as furbearers or wolves and the season is closed or quotas are met, game species, migratory birds, protected species, or dogs.
- Records are absent or incomplete on the number of trapped wildlife including protected species, family pets.
- No provisions exclude all species from being trapped or snared, costing us losses in game species, pets, and protected species. Costing us lawsuits as well.
- Unlike guns and ammo, there is no excise tax on traps.
- Trapping is legal year round in Montana.
- While our public lands and our wildlife are our most valuable assets, Montana has one of the worst score cards in the country for trapping regulations. This facilitates some trapper's attitude of self serving entitlement and results in a child like tantrum to anything that threatens it.
- Trapping commercializes our wildlife which is a violation of the North American Wildlife Conservation Model that wildlife management in Montana is supposedly based upon.
What Hunters Think of Trapping
June 2, 2016FWP Wildlife Commissioners, I hunt. I fish. I travel and I spend money. And I love Montana. The trout of the Big Horn. The wild turkeys. The elk. the deer. I know them well. The commercial trapping of predators for their fur, which is sold for cash, is NOT hunting and the fact that this is allowed, to benefit a tiny fraction of your population, is hurting your state more than you know. Profit is the motivation, not meat for the freezer. The mechanics of the equipment used mean suffering and pain versus the "quick kill" ethical hunters strive for. Makes me sick. As you make your decisions regarding trapping, know that the world is watching and we care. As a hunter, I care. Thank you!
Trapping isn't hunting - it's needless torture Bob Quarteroni
"Never, ever, will I forget the soul-rending wails of pain. "
Pressure for trap reform is growing in the U.S. and for very good reasons!
Trap Free Montana
A nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization
Connect people's heart and mind through science, truths in trapping, & compassion for wildlife, biodiversity, coexistence, & responsible stewardship.
