Hunting for meat intake/trapping for income (Dixmont: 2014, how much)

[TheKezarWoodsman]

I have to ask, its come up many times throughout my year on this forum, and ive been watching tv on crazy people out west who hunt for meat and trap for their maine income source (making i think they said 15-20k). I realize its reality tv and probally fake, but its got me wondering, whats the possiblity of this being attainable up in maine?

ok so here it goes... Legally speaking, how hard would it be to hunt for all of your meat intake up in northern maine? Or atleast enough for wild game to cover the larger portion of your intake. My quess from my research would be probally not possible by a legal standpoint.

And for trapping, how much could one make up there with the seasons (never trapped, dont even know the fur prices), not even sure on whats a "good" season.

Lets see how this takes off, ive become curious

[Northern Maine Land Man]

The success rate for moose is around 75%. You get a lot of meat from a moose, but there are only around 1,500 permits issued. Success with deer is low. This year there are a whole lot of snow white snowshoe hare running around on bare ground. They are pretty easy to spot. There is not much meat on a partridge, but they are very good. Turkeys are still quite new in Maine. They are a nuisance to farmers. It is illegal, but in a survival situation they would be easy to take with a rifle.

[TheKezarWoodsman]

I know illegally its easy, but thats poaching and stealing, which is wrong. I perfer to focus on the legal ability here. If one could get a moose tag its easy, but im not counting moose, to hard to determine when yoy get one.

[Maine Writer]

I had an excellent year hunting in 2014. Turkey, bear, deer and partridge went into the freezer. This year? Partridge. I passed on four bears and couldn't catch up to bucks I saw on opening and closing days. I raise, barter and buy meat locally because hunting is unreliable. I know a lot of trappers but none who make a living trapping. They're trapping for conservation and a few extra dollars if they have a good year. IF&W threw a lot of trappers under the bus over lynx.

[Maineac]

Tagged a nine pointer opening day and my buddy got a crotchhorn. I believe my youngest son thought "hell, this is going to be easy" after we dropped two that morning. He never saw another buck. Hunting can be reliable if you know what you're doing. Never got a moose tag, but watched friends and neighbors whole families get them year after year. That whole system is bull, and I've stopped "donating" to it. As to turkeyrats, five will drop when I slap the 32" barrel on the Browning with 3" mags out the back window. Hundreds are shot a year and thrown on the trash pile. With the advent of silage pits versus silos for storage, dairy and beef farmers kill them constantly. Once a flock of turkeys gets into silage and crap all over it, it can't be fed to the bovines. Turkeys were a bad idea, and as much as I'm into hunting, I've never had the urge other than to drop them and toss them into the woods. I saw my first one on top of Dixmont Mountain in the late 1970's when IF&W was putting little flocks here and there. It is simply a revenue generator for the Dept. They compete with deer for the same foods.

[TheKezarWoodsman]

as to being unreliable, it can be if your not going for straight out food. And being this fictionous disccussion i would take it as you are a master hunter, and can get a really good success rate each season due to sheer skill and knowing that if they dont take anyhome, they very well may starve.

I also assume if you were to eat the animals you trapped (after selling fur) you could get even more meat, a beaver weighs what, 50ish pounds, not sure how much of that is fat, and what is actually good protein, but i think that could add some meat.

The average person eats what, 300 odd lbs of meat total a year, so lets assume your yearly goal would be 150-200+ lbs of meat, enough to take out a massive chunk of your food bill.

[TheKezarWoodsman]

Originally Posted by Maine Writer

I know a lot of trappers but none who make a living trapping.

I assumed regarding trapping this would be the case, it seems to survive comfortably up in maine one would need 30ishk on a normal lifestyle, these crazy people lifestyle where one can ditch radio, electronics, gas, internet, heating costs, ect, would probally need 15-20k a year i assume, or about the same as a min wage, or slightly higher than min wage job.

now with a job, many of those things ole'nutjob can ditch would be needed, due to lack of time to hunt for meat as vigerously, more gas for commuting, may or may not have time to get wood for a woodfuled home, ect.

[Submariner]

I do not know how time spent on trap-lines compares to pelts. Though I do know a few guys who run trap-lines every season.

I let them trap on my land.

First beaver, then bobcat / coyote.

[TheKezarWoodsman]

Originally Posted by Submariner

I do not know how time spent on trap-lines compares to pelts

not sure where this comes in, please post with the quote suggesting this?

overall i would think more than enough time would be bad, scare off all the critters, but if you spend more time you can check more traps, which gives higher chances.

[399083453]

I doubt someone who makes 15k a year and hunts/traps for a living, is going to be hanging out on the internet in this forum.

City folks forget....... there is no internet in the woods.