Sprucegoose

Thanks for the helpful replies

Thanks, yeah .22 rimfire is what I meant.

Could you safetly and humanely use a .22 rifle to dispatch a fox in a cage trap? What's the recommended method? Thanks

To be honest I wasn't aware there was a difference between the two,( Fenn and Springer). I did get some of these cheap, shiny, shite quality traps stuck in with the order (didn't have the springer stamp), which I'm returning. The Springer traps look fairly quality though, but I'll go and have a look at the Fenn for comparrisons sake. I haven't made much of an effort to hide the rafts, I'm not sure how you would hide the monstrosity, so intereference is a real concern. Ditch_Shitter : How big is the 'base' of the raft your planning on using?

I was unavoidably delayed getting my rafts out, but finally got them out last month,set them for 5days, baited with gland lure and sardine, and caught two juvenile male mink. There was definitely mink still in the area that i failed to catch but I reckon by moving some of the rafts about I'll get them this month. The GCT rafts are an absolute pain in the arse to carry as pointed out previously, but I do think they make a very attractive (for the mink) platform to place traps. Anyone else have experience trapping with rafts?

Thanks for your replies. In Ireland it's my understanding that you need a licence to own any air rifle so being over the 12flb isn't really an issue. Cheers.

I'm looking for a humane way to dispatch mink. Would a .22 spring air rifle (722fps) be sufficient to dispatch live-trapped mink? Could it also be used for rabbits also? Any Advise on this would be appreciated.

I'm basically using the GCT rafts because I could get my hands on some of the things made up all ready. I would agree though that they are too big, awkward and expensive to make. So if it works out I'll be making a simpler version as recommended. Is there legislation in Ireland pertaining to the checking of spring traps on a daily basis? If so I haven't found it. Is this thge recommended practise anyways? Cheers

I hope to use them because I haven't got a gun licence which you need over here for an air rifle, so I don't really have a convenient means of despatching the live-trapped mink. I've also heard their more effective than cage traps. I can't guarantee I'd be able to access all the traps on a daily basis either so the Springer seems to be the better option. Does anyone know much about or use the Conibear trap, they look the business to me? They would fit the legal requirement for Ireland from my understanding of the legislation (that Ditch_shitter kindly posted)?

How'rey', I've got some of the GCT rafts all made up already, I'm reluctant to use them though because to me they just scream ' interfere with me ' to any passerby. Do you know what the legislation is like in Ireland regarding break back traps? I'm going to be using lure made from mink anal galnd, so the trap shouldn't be attractive to pine martens. My thinking was to place them in a wooden box with a 80mm circular opening drilled into either end? Do you catch many?

hello, Anyone have any design plans for non-target species excluders for springer 6 traps. I'm trying to catch mink but want to avoid catching non target species. Any advise would be appreciated. cheers