Originally Posted By: mercer lawing
In the end a guy just has to do what feels right to him as only he knows the characteristics of his country. I normally argue that there can be no downside to releasing a female but would never run a guy down for taking them either.
ML
In my humble opinion,THIS is one of the best comments I have seen on any forum, not that I read a lot of them. It is something as trappers and outdoors people fail to understand, that most guys know their country intimately, and therefore should run according to what they see happening in that area.
That being said when I first started in my area 12 years ago I saw a huge number of females that seemed so embred from lack of management that they were some of the poorest cats my buyer had ever seen for that area of the state. BTW he is one of the top buyers around so he knows his fur. Some of the cats had hardly any teeth left and the females were stretching 42" to 46". Old nasty things.
After three years of taking everything my catches increased and the value of my fur went up also, my fur guy saw it and asked if I had moved to new area! All along people telling me I should release all females, because of this reason or that.
One thing I have found in my remote area is that it fills in as fast as you take them till your food source dies (rabbits,praire dogs)it matters not what was trapped before that, the cats leave or die..that is fact.. no food no cats!
The best thing we can do for each other here is run as you see fit, we see most all that goes on out there and you know when things are starting to go down as far as numbers, work accordingly, don't harp on any one that is doing his thing the way he sees fit.