# snapping turtle, take a grown duck? eat the turtle?



## scioto (Jul 13, 2005)

I just rescued one of my Peking ducks from a big Ole snapper in my 1/4 acre pond.

It had it by a leg and I had a hold of the ducks neck, (wasn't sure if I was going to have to find a recipe for duck or turtle for a moment there) I won the little tug a war,, or the duck did I guess, has turtle is on the menu in the near future.

Surprisingly the ducks leg seemed to be fine, all there, and no blood. Ran off into the weeds just fine.

Has a boy and a teenager I ate and enjoyed snapping turtles. Family ate any that came our way. Grandpa cleaned them and Grandma pressure cooked them.
My cousins and I played with the beating heart once grandpa cut it out.

My questions are #1 Are they safe to eat?,, thinking high mercury

# 2 Are they worth the effort? I remember them to be tasty, like roast beef, but a real pain to clean.

#3 Any tricks to cleaning them? i recall them to be very stinky and a pain to clean. Also recall keeping them in a horse watering tank for awhile.

#4 best bait for a throw line? caught a bunch on bank lines back in the day with fish parts. That was in a river tho,, Small pond maybe chicken parts?
(going to Wholefoods and buying duck legs is to darn much money).

#5 Do people still target turtles? I seem to remember folks catching them, not all that long ago for the money. Using traps and bank lines in little ditches and creeks, and in the scioto.


Thanks for any insight.


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## the-fisherman (Sep 20, 2013)

If the turtle came out of a pond then it should be fine to eat. I've seen a snapping turtle cleaned once when I was a kid. It was a two person job. One person steps on the back of the turtle's shell and smashes it in the head when he pokes his head out with a baseball bat. Then the other person whacks his head off with an axe when it's stunned.

It was wild catching that snapping turtle in the middle of the night while fishing for catfish as a 14 year old boy and then two kids doing their best to get the turtle in a metal bin. We did it with a fishing net.


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## scioto (Jul 13, 2005)

Yep, pulling one in a night sure starts a stir on a slow bite nite. Lucky you had a bin to put it in.

Even more fun is checking bank lines in a canoe at nite and pulling one up to the side. Take the hook out or cut the line? Cut the line cause thers no room in the canoe and there darn hard to get on the stringer.


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## 1basshunter (Mar 27, 2011)

For bait some like a good fat duck lol just saying


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## Garyoutlaw77 (Feb 3, 2005)

It's funny how many of us have been fed Turtle as kids growing up in Ohio. It just seems like a lot of old country cooking that has either fallen out of favor over time neglected to be passed along or people have wised up on how much work goes into parting out a Turtle - I am of the latter.. I honestly can say that a Snapping Turtle is a seriously tough critter to butcher when done right & I felt rotten knowing that I killed something that was older than me for a big pot of soup.


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## zack pahl (Mar 8, 2009)

Sounds like you've got some Live Action on your hands, better call the Turtleman!

I'd make up a jug line with chicken liver on it and toss it out there. Turtles love some fresh livers!


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## scioto (Jul 13, 2005)

Garyoutlaw77 said:


> It's funny how many of us have been fed Turtle as kids growing up in Ohio. It just seems like a lot of old country cooking that has either fallen out of favor over time neglected to be passed along or people have wised up on how much work goes into parting out a Turtle -
> 
> I feel bad I never paid to much atention to how he butchered a turtle. He had it down tho. he had made special knives and tools, and had a plywood board with nails to pin the sucker down all spread out. He made it look easy. Wish I had a cam corder back then.
> He loved to eat carp, the muddier the water ment all the more tasty. Only the smaller ones 2 or 3 pounds, never bigger. Cleaned and fried them a certain way,so that there were no bones at all. Never paid atention on how it was done.
> Made a helck of a fish sandwich.


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## USMC-BUCKEYE (Apr 2, 2010)

Is this turtle albino? If so you'll never catch him...


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## lacywbosu2 (Dec 20, 2011)

The Ohio turtle regs. are ridiculous. The shell must measure 13 inches to keep. Which means, if you catch a 12.5 in. turtle or smaller with a stainless steel one inch gapped hook lodged in its neck or gut, you need to release it. The turtle will most certainly suffer and die of infection. Same holds true if you shoot one with a bow. ODNR thinks you can catch and release these critters just like fish. I have turtle hunted over thirty years and have caught on one hand turtles that would measure as keepers.


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## HatersGonnaHate (Jun 4, 2013)

lacywbosu2 said:


> The Ohio turtle regs. are ridiculous. The shell must measure 13 inches to keep. Which means, if you catch a 12.5 in. turtle or smaller with a stainless steel one inch gapped hook lodged in its neck or gut, you need to release it. The turtle will most certainly suffer and die of infection. Same holds true if you shoot one with a bow. ODNR thinks you can catch and release these critters just like fish. I have turtle hunted over thirty years and have caught on one hand turtles that would measure as keepers.


You should be able to tell if the turtle is big enough or close before you shoot the thing. Kinda like shooting a deer in the near dark and not knowing 100% sure it's male or female. Make sure before you shoot. As for the hooking if you would use a normal hook I am sure they would just rust out like they do in fish. Maybe not every time but laws are laws for a reason. They are protecting the species. Small turtles take time to grow to maturity.


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## USMC-BUCKEYE (Apr 2, 2010)

It's private property.... Can't the op do as he pleases? I know hunting laws still apply but fishing laws don't apply the same.


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## lacywbosu2 (Dec 20, 2011)

HatersGonnaHate said:


> You should be able to tell if the turtle is big enough or close before you shoot the thing. Kinda like shooting a deer in the near dark and not knowing 100% sure it's male or female. Make sure before you shoot. As for the hooking if you would use a normal hook I am sure they would just rust out like they do in fish. Maybe not every time but laws are laws for a reason. They are protecting the species. Small turtles take time to grow to maturity.


You don't hunt turtles do you? Can anyone tell the difference between a 12 in. turtle and a legal one before they shoot it with a bow in the water? What is a normal hook, painted with non corrosive substance or stainless steel not a big difference. Old wives tale that it will rust out, not going to happen, the turtle suffers and dies. My point exactly, the ODNR has not put correct regs in place. They are not the "all knowing" even if they claim to have done the research. Only Michigan has a length limit in place for the states surrounding us. Is there a shortage of turtles, no. If there was, put a season limit on them for the handful of Ohio hunters that are devastating the population. Catch and release works on fish, not turtles. I talked to one of the biologist that helped put the regulations in place three years ago. I agree with the new season starting date. It gave the females time to lay eggs. I asked about the 13 inch shell length and she replied that there really was not enough meat on a turtle smaller than that. That is a hog of a turtle over 20 lbs to be legal. I knew then that she had never hunted or butchered a turtle and did not know what she was talking about.


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## scioto (Jul 13, 2005)

yes private property here, so regulations I believe, are not in effect. But I did not stock snapping turtles in my pond, so it sorta migrated to my pond across land from elsewhere, maybe Oshay

When I catch him or them, and I am not up to the task of cleaning it, I suppose it would be against the regs to drop him in another body of water. ??


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## HatersGonnaHate (Jun 4, 2013)

lacywbosu2 said:


> You don't hunt turtles do you? Can anyone tell the difference between a 12 in. turtle and a legal one before they shoot it with a bow in the water? What is a normal hook, painted with non corrosive substance or stainless steel not a big difference. Old wives tale that it will rust out, not going to happen, the turtle suffers and dies. My point exactly, the ODNR has not put correct regs in place. They are not the "all knowing" even if they claim to have done the research. Only Michigan has a length limit in place for the states surrounding us. Is there a shortage of turtles, no. If there was, put a season limit on them for the handful of Ohio hunters that are devastating the population. Catch and release works on fish, not turtles. I talked to one of the biologist that helped put the regulations in place three years ago. I agree with the new season starting date. It gave the females time to lay eggs. I asked about the 13 inch shell length and she replied that there really was not enough meat on a turtle smaller than that. That is a hog of a turtle over 20 lbs to be legal. I knew then that she had never hunted or butchered a turtle and did not know what she was talking about.


another dnr hater. That thinks he knows more then the biologists do. YES the hook will rust out. Any hook even thrown in the water will rust within a week or two not to mention that the animals saliva will break it down further. Stainless of course will not so if you are using those instead of the regular style fish hook then yes the turtle will likely suffer and die.If its private property then yes you have the right to take care of a nuisance animal accordingly. I dont know if you yourself can legaly take it out of season or a trapper is supposed to but who would ever know and they are in season now. Bottom line is that if you dont know for sure the turtle is legal size you shouldnt be shooting it. Not ethical or the right thing to do for the future of the species.


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## Lundy (Apr 5, 2004)

HatersGonnaHate said:


> YES the hook will rust out. Any hook even thrown in the water will rust within a week or two


You don't really believe that do you?


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## HatersGonnaHate (Jun 4, 2013)

yes i have found hooks in the rivers i fish that are rusted out that were from earlier this year plus i have caught bass from my small pond with hooks in their mouth that you can tell are rusting. If the hooks didnt rust and they just suffered and died out then i wouldnt have any bass in my pond left. My son used bluegill to catch them and they swallow the hook often. I imagine turtles saliva will break down a hook the same or better than a fish.


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## ezbite (May 25, 2006)

HatersGonnaHate said:


> You should be able to tell if the turtle is big enough or close before you shoot the thing. Kinda like shooting a deer in the near dark and not knowing 100% sure it's male or female. Make sure before you shoot. As for the hooking if you would use a normal hook I am sure they would just rust out like they do in fish. Maybe not every time but laws are laws for a reason. They are protecting the species. Small turtles take time to grow to maturity.


WOW... WOW!! you have all the answers. its obvious to me you havent got a clue. whens the last time you shot or caught a turtle or even seen a live turtle?? only the head is above the surface when i see them, hell sometimes not even the whole head, just the eyes and nostrils.., so unless you have alot of experience (and i know you dont), you really cant tell the size of the shell.. and let me tell you one more thing my man, the hooks we use dig into the neck of the turtles, no matter if i "cut them loose" they will still have a hook that they have already swallowed and have been fighting causing a hole in their neck or gut or jaw. cutting loose these turtles will do nothing but have them die from infection or starvation. the new 13" rule is bullcrap in my opinion and you acting like you know whats up is too..


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## Putty (Jul 22, 2013)

the-fisherman said:


> It was a two person job. One person steps on the back of the turtle's shell and smashes it in the head when he pokes his head out with a baseball bat. Then the other person whacks his head off with an axe when it's stunned.


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## Lundy (Apr 5, 2004)

We will just have to agree to disagree. Hooks do not rust out in a week or two as you state, not even remotely close, but you can believe what ever you like.


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## Snyd (May 5, 2004)

Yip Turtle Man to the rescue - When I was a kid I would walk the creeks with my neighbor - He would actual stick his hand up under the creek banks and pull them out. I thought he was nuts then and looking back I still think he was nuts. There is no way I am sticking my hand back in a hole under the creek bank.


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## HatersGonnaHate (Jun 4, 2013)

Lundy said:


> We will just have to agree to disagree. Hooks do not rust out in a week or two as you state, not even remotely close, but you can believe what ever you like.


I have so fished the walleye run in the maumee river and pulled massive clumps of year from snags and the hooks are normally always ruined and brittle from rust even early into the run. I am sure the river water flowing helps degrade the hook some but like I said if the hooks didn't rust out then I wouldn't have any bass in my pond. I am guessing every one in my small pond has had a line break off or swallowed a hook that I had to cut the line before. How long Re you suggesting it takes? I am sure that there is variance from scenario to scenario


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## Lundy (Apr 5, 2004)

The rusting away fish hooks is a old wives tale with little factual basis to support it. I have never believed it because of all of the old tangles of lines with hooks and lures that I have pulled from the water over the years along with countless lure found at low water with hooks intact that have been submerged at least 12 months. Metal under fresh water just doesn't rust away that quickly, especially not in a couple of weeks.

There is a lot of information available. This is just a couple with a quick search.

http://www.724outdoors.com/Staff/hooks_don't_rust.htm

http://www.nesportsman.com/articles/article11.shtml


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## bigduck10 (Feb 15, 2009)

Was fishing small farm pond in college. Buddy was paddling the small john boat around the pond with me casting a rubber worm.
Was working the worm along the bank. Set the hook hard on what I thought was a nice bass. 
Our "bass" started pulling the john boat. Mu buddy is yelling it must be a state record. Get it up to surface. Had one very large angry snapper hooked under the edge of it's shell.
Man that turtle was pissed. Buddy cut the line. 
They are great in soup. Use to be a place in Western Ohio on 274 in Keltersville call the K-Ville Inn. Don't know if it's still open but man they had great turtle soup.


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## Flathead76 (May 2, 2010)

I will go to sidecut metropark every year after the walleye run during low water to pick up lead left over from the run. I will fill up a 7/11 44 ounce big gulp cup or two every year for lead for my do it molds. You would be amazed at the old leadheads that I find that have the rusted hooks pretty rusted but still in decent shape. I have a hard time believing that the hook will rust out in a week or two because hardly anybody throws lead head jigs anymore. To impose a 13" minimum on turtles is stupid because the turtle will suffer and probably die because of the hook and injuries from being on a jug or bank set line. The only way that this would be a good regulation is if the state made turtle trappers only use box traps.


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## DLarrick (May 31, 2011)

HatersGonnaHate said:


> but like I said if the hooks didn't rust out then I wouldn't have any bass in my pond. I am guessing every one in my small pond has had a line break off or swallowed a hook that I had to cut the line before.


I dont have a dog in this fight but dang man....every bass in your pond you have had to cut a line on? Do you just let them run and swallow the hook?


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## HatersGonnaHate (Jun 4, 2013)

DLarrick said:


> I dont have a dog in this fight but dang man....every bass in your pond you have had to cut a line on? Do you just let them run and swallow the hook?


i have a small 1/4-1/2 acre pond that is mainly for swimming. there are bluegill and about 20 bass in there. . My 7 year old son will go out there and net the small bluegill in the shallows and put them under a bobber. They inhale the bait rather quickly and he is only 7 so some of them swallow the hook. Those fish over the years from him, cousins and nephews have probably been hooked 5-10 times each at least. When we go out to swim or walk along the pond and spook the bluegill from the shallows its like a feeding frenzy. Pretty much trained to eat when they see people from the swimming we do. Like fish in a barrel which is why i dont fish it. JUst a good place for a kid to hook a 2-5 lb bass easily


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## lacywbosu2 (Dec 20, 2011)

HatersGonnaHate said:


> I have so fished the walleye run in the maumee river and pulled massive clumps of year from snags and the hooks are normally always ruined and brittle from rust even early into the run. I am sure the river water flowing helps degrade the hook some but like I said if the hooks didn't rust out then I wouldn't have any bass in my pond. I am guessing every one in my small pond has had a line break off or swallowed a hook that I had to cut the line before. How long Re you suggesting it takes? I am sure that there is variance from scenario to scenario


I do not hate the DNR or any of our gov't agencies. How can you be so naive to think that everything they put on paper or say is correct. I don't think there is a conspiracy to tick off turtle hunters. I believe they missed the boat big time on turtle regulations, however. Turtle hooks are not the flimsy wire hooks used to catch fish that will rust in a year or so. If they were, the turtle would straighten it in less than a minute.
I would catch and eat about ten turtles a year and was doing so for twenty years and caught some before that. In the thirty years I hunted, I would set lines maybe twice and have plenty. Never saw a decrease in numbers. I ask, "Why the size limit?" They are plentiful. Anything that is too small to eat does not get the regulation big hook in their mouth.


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## HatersGonnaHate (Jun 4, 2013)

Caught this guy today on a night crawler. Ironic that I was just talking about them and the. I hook one.










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## Putty (Jul 22, 2013)

HatersGonnaHate said:


> Caught this guy today on a night crawler. Ironic that I was just talking about them and the. I hook one.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


What did you do with it?


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## HatersGonnaHate (Jun 4, 2013)

after reading what lundy said i carefully with the help of someone else got the hook out and released him. Hook was in the corner of the mouth and my buddy was able to pull the turtles neck out to where he couldnt snap as much and with pliers i got it out. Definitely would have been keeper size. I thought i had a big flathead on for a minute


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## Deazl666 (Mar 30, 2012)

Snyd said:


> Yip Turtle Man to the rescue - When I was a kid I would walk the creeks with my neighbor - He would actual stick his hand up under the creek banks and pull them out. I thought he was nuts then and looking back I still think he was nuts. There is no way I am sticking my hand back in a hole under the creek bank.


You're okay as long as you don't stick your hand back in the hole after missing the turtle first time around...


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## Crazyheaven (Apr 24, 2008)

I caught a turtle once. Only in the mouth so the hook was easy to remove. The turtle had a soft shell that was apart of his body. In my hands he barely moved but he took off when I put him down. I think it's actually called a softshell turtle.


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## Dana.Birrell (Apr 23, 2012)

the-fisherman said:


> If the turtle came out of a pond then it should be fine to eat. I've seen a snapping turtle cleaned once when I was a kid. It was a two person job. One person steps on the back of the turtle's shell and smashes it in the head when he pokes his head out with a baseball bat. Then the other person whacks his head off with an axe when it's stunned..


Humane Alternative:
1. Step on it's shell
2. Encourage it to extend it's had out of it's shell with a stick.
3. Shoot it in the head with a nail gun
4. Sever it's head from it's body with a sharp knife.
5. Keep the head attached to the nail and dispose.
6. Use as much of the animal as possible, even the shell can be used. Hell a storage bowl or decoration! http://www.ehow.com/how_7653578_preserve-turtle-shells-scales.html


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## mick4 (Jun 29, 2013)

Take a hay hook and board get him to pop his head out nail him chop his head off take garden hose put it in the neck clamp hand around hose and turn on it breaks everything lose so much easier to clean. Any one with turtle problem contact me I love catching them. Jugs , traps, lines it don't matter I'll get them.


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## Reel em In (Jun 20, 2004)

It's in the license requirement's that you have to have a fishing license to take frogs or turtles from a private pond since they can migrate from public waters. Always been in there. They are good eating , but tough ,at least for me to clean.Way back when, we ate a lot of turtles.


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## Sciotodarby (Jul 27, 2013)

There's no way a hook rusts out in 2 weeks. No way. Period.
My personal experience from keeping a bait tank with bait caught with "gold" hooks- If I keep bait that was hooked deep with the hook left in them for at least a week, I can usually find the hooks in the bottom of the tank no worse for the wear. They work there way out some how. But that's with bluegill that were on the line for 30 seconds, not swallowing the hook and getting it lodged somewhere internally where it's going to do some real damage from fighting the line for hours like a turtle. 
The best way to selective harvest turtles is with some sort of trap, be it a hoop net or metal cage. I've shot them with my bow before and at bow fishing ranges the shell is easy to see unless the water would be very turbid.


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## jonnythfisherteen2 (Mar 5, 2011)

Dana.Birrell said:


> Humane Alternative:
> 1. Step on it's shell
> 2. Encourage it to extend it's had out of it's shell with a stick.
> 3. Shoot it in the head with a nail gun
> ...


Will a shotgun work as a alternative option?


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## Bleeding Minnow (Feb 22, 2012)

In our pond when I was growing up we just did bank lines. Nice gauge cable with a large hook baited with cheap cube steak and tag end tied to a tree. In the morning the line would be taught and then bring in the turtle. We would shoot it and then a neighbor cleaned it so not familiar with that part. Turtle soup was pretty tasty though.


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## Bleeding Minnow (Feb 22, 2012)

And we would take the big snappers out cause they were pulling our ducks under. Whenever we had ducklings for sure but sometimes full grown as well. Even saw a bass take out a duckling. That's when I started fishing with bigger lures 


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## HamiltonKdog (Oct 15, 2014)

Cleaning turtles is nasty, no doubt about about it. 

I have a 500 gallon stock tank and fill it about half full of well water and let the turtles play for a few days. At least until the water is clear. Change water daily. IMO is improves the taste considerably.

I trap turtles rather than hook and line and will not, no way, noodle for them. I still catch them in ditches along road sides and even in the road.

Cleaning is not that difficult but is time consuming.
First behead the turtle, hang by tail for an hour or so to bleed out.
Dip turtle in hot water to which some lye has been added
Scrub with stiff bristle scrub brush thoroughly
rinse a couple time in fresh water. If you do not have all the gunk off, repeat the lye water and sscrubbing
Place turtle on its back, tie off each leg (nerves are amazing and those claws are sharp and unpredictable)
Separate shell with a short bladed, sharp, heavy knife.
After that, it is fairly simple to remove the meat.

Good luck!


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## JayBird77 (May 14, 2012)

I bank line for turtles, not so much anymore because of the stupid 13" rule. I tried keeping them alive in a cooler for a week or so to let them "clean out", but stopped because the neck meat would be ruined and infected from the rusty hook. So I am calling BS on the hook rusting out theory. A few might make it but I am sure many would also die from a hook being lodged in their throat. As far as cleaning goes, make sure you have a very sharp knife and it isn't that bad. Softshells are a lot easier than snappers.


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## meats52 (Jul 23, 2014)

Snyd said:


> Yip Turtle Man to the rescue - When I was a kid I would walk the creeks with my neighbor - He would actual stick his hand up under the creek banks and pull them out. I thought he was nuts then and looking back I still think he was nuts. There is no way I am sticking my hand back in a hole under the creek bank.


Supposedly a turtle will always go into a hole head first so when you reach in you will be grabbing the back end. I don't know how true this is because I've never tried to catch them like that.


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## Bluegrasser (Apr 11, 2009)

meats52 said:


> Supposedly a turtle will always go into a hole head first so when you reach in you will be grabbing the back end. I don't know how true this is because I've never tried to catch them like that.


I think the main word hear is "supposedly". My luck would be to reach back in a whole and come back with only three fringers. Yep, a dumb turtle backed in. Is this suppose to hold true with muskrats,beavers,minks, or snakes. Do they go head first also? Dang, who knows what could be back in there? Guess I'm a little on the chicken side!!!


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## meats52 (Jul 23, 2014)

Bluegrasser said:


> I think the main word hear is "supposedly". My luck would be to reach back in a whole and come back with only three fringers. Yep, a dumb turtle backed in. Is this suppose to hold true with muskrats,beavers,minks, or snakes. Do they go head first also? Dang, who knows what could be back in there? Guess I'm a little on the chicken side!!!


You're right. You always have a chance that the turtle didn't know that he was supposed to go in head first and you never know for sure if there's something in the hole other than a turtle. That's why I never tried to catch turtles that way.


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