This is exactly why I don't like trappers. The "ethical" thing for this man to have done would have been shoot it before taking the picture. The wolf would still have suffered for a long time before this SOB even arrived to dispatch it. Pest or no pest, none of god's creatures deserve to suffer like that.

The fact is that trapping isnt pretty when using these types of traps. Regardless of whether this guy took a picture or not does not change what did or would have happened to the animal. Taking a few extra seconds to take a picture isnt the harm here. The animal was already trapped and the damage was done. Like I say trapping can be ugly, but I dont choose to judge those that participate in the act. I think common sense should tell you that you dont need to post pics like that for all to judge though.

Trapper Josh Bransford needs to use his brain. This is a classic example of someone not using good judgement and creating more rules for everyone else. It has been a huge fight to allow wolf delisting and all it takes is one fool to screw it all up. Freedom comes with responsibility. Thanks Josh!!!!!!!

I'm surprised anyone so stupid could set a trap that would catch a mouse. I mean, that's like me getting my photo taken standing next to a wounded deer that's too weak to move. I'm sure there are guys that do that too, just like the ones that put hats and cigars on moose carcasses and photograph themselves smiling over it. These clowns are the exception. This guy does not reflect the ethics of trapping.

I hate leghold traps. A killer snare is more humane. Leg hold traps are illegal across the board up here in Canada and there's still lots of wolves being trapped without them. Sadly, we occassionally find animals on Ward's trapline that get a foot caught in snares and wind up freezing to death but that's the exception. We do the best we can to make sure they die a swift death using conibears or head snares. This idiot revelled in the animal's suffering. He's not a trapper. He's a moron. The world is full of em, unfortunately.

I have mixed feelings about this photo.

I'd agree that the photo is distasteful & sheds a bad light on trappers & hunters through the eyes of others. It also goes to show how Josh would like to be treated right before he dies. Shown in the background of a photo in pain & bleeding, while some ugly mfER poses for his victory photo; that's just how I interpret it. 8] Maybe he'll learn to show some respect in the future

Jake, I see no problem with banning leghold traps when other more humane trapping options are available. And they SHOULD be banned for that reason. Trapping and archery hunting is apples and oranges. More is being done all the time to ensure archery hunting becomes more lethal and therefore more humane. I look at all the developments in just my short lifetime. With leghold traps it's simply a case of IGNORING technological humane developments in trapping technique. I don't see any excuse for that. Hopefully this incident will send a wakeup call to the people in Idaho ... and every other state that regulates trapping. Maybe something good can actually come of this. However, I doubt it. Too many folks with the same "if they do that what will they do next" philosophy. And that gets us nowhere.

Maybe nothing illegal happened here but it was for damn sure unethical. This Jack@$$ hurt the hunting/ trapping community. If we loose our right to trap in Idaho it will be traced back to this deplorable lack of judgement. Thanks for the blackeye Josh.

Here's a caption for the photo: "The beginning of the end of leg-hold trapping in the United States"

I agree, this guy hurt the entire hunting and trapping community. The time that it took to take this photo in front of the live animal should have been taken to clean up the (dead) animal, pose it in an appropriate way, and to choose a nice background. Just as we as whitetail hunters should also clean up our dead animals: put the tongue back in, clean up and blood on the face and body of the animal, clean up and blood an your hands, pose the animal in a respectful way, etc. I understand this may be hiding the REAL facts of hunting, trapping, and natures way of life (gruesome), but there are already so many people in organizations that are against our hunting and trapping communities. Why do we need to give them further support and evidence that we are all just killers and murderers?

I saw the photo and posting on Trapperman before it was closed to the public and neither this story nor the linked one are telling the entire tale.

Some kids driving down the road saw a wolf off in a field so they took a couple shots, winged it, then they noticed the wolf going in circles and realized it was trapped. A few people stopped. A local officer knowing whose trap it was called the fellow and he came out to get his wolf.

That trapper is actually providing a huge public service. Idaho has a huge wolf problem. Elk populations statewide are down 20%, amongst some herds it's more like 50% or 80%. I don't trap, I'm not smart enough to tell you the truth, you have to know the habits of your target animal very well. Like 99% of hunters I'm just interested in getting my elk and sticking it in the freezer.

Josh Bransford has gotten death threats since the enviros started heaping the love on this photo, just like that guy that shot the first wolf when they finally opened it up a couple years ago. Josh deserves support not ridicule. I could frankly care less what the Center for Biologic Diversity says. That org is responsible for the extinction of myriad species due to tying up US F+W funds with useless lawsuits.

Josh, if you read this, go get ten more, but not photos on line please ;-)

Gees, you guys. Read my posts carefully before slinging the minuses! I am out on the trapline too. But I don't care if a trapper checks his traps every day or once a week. There's no excuse for an animal to remain in pain and suffering for even five minutes when a killer trap will end it in a flash. People who use leghold traps, in my humble opinion, are too cheap to use killer traps and show some consideration to their prey. "Well, dead is dead." Pfft. What kind of logic is that? If you had to die, would you rather have to remain in agony for any amount of time or be in heaven in a heartbeat? Kind of a dumb question.

Trapping and hunting goes hand and hand. So people should stop hating on trapping. Leg holds help limit the population of predators. Where I live we need more trappers to keep the coyotes at bay.

I don't think many people here have a good grasp at how a leg hold trap works. The blood in the snow might be from the trap, but its more likely from the wound it suffered when the guy driving by started trying to shoot it. Cripes, some leg hold traps are even padded, and besides even if its the largest wolf trap made, its still not powerful enough to maim. I've snapped my hands in these traps a couple of times as a child, and while it hurts its not horrible. I think people are envisioning an old Grizzly trap when they see this. Wolf traps share very little in common with them. This was probably a #9 by the looks of it, although the photo is from a distance away.

Now, posing for a photo while the animal was wounded wasn't right or ethical in my opinion. I wish I knew more details about the photo though. Who took it? Did they talk this guy into it? Still doesn't make it right. However from how it sounds, this trapper didn't set out to turn his trap line into a freak show side circus. Next time take your traps out of the line of sight of the the road!

Gees, Rocky, do you think every hunter out there puts his animal down in one shot. Truth be told, damn few of them, including this highly experienced hunter, manage that. Wolves take their game down the hard way. And quite a few of them pay dearly for their trouble. There are too many wolves in Idaho, that's a given. And they need to be thinned. But this is no way for ANY animal to end its days.

As to the humaneness of leghold traps: it wouldn't make any difference if these traps are padded (and I havne't seen one of those yet!) The animal is going to be in pain if the trap is strong enough to hold it. Now, a lynx or bobcat may get a toe in a trap or snare and they'll still be there till they are either killed or froze to death. They won't struggle. But cats are the exception not the rule. I have seen a wolf inadvertantly caught in a snare and the bugger dug a crater two feet deep or more all the way around. He was torn up pretty bad when we found him but still meaner than hell. Many animals (e.g. badgers) will actually chew off their limbs to get out of a leghold trap. I'm sure that feels real nice! But not if they're caught in a conibear trap. Snap and they're dead. Not chewing themselves to pieces or hanging out waiting for you to come along whenever and finish the job. By the way, I have two wolf traps mounted on plaques for display - they look like miniature bear traps with the same kind of teeth. Pretty wicked things!

Well, these wolf traps I have were hanging in a barn I helped tear down. They're very old. Teeth or not really doesn't make much difference. Purely cosmetics. You admitted yourself that you didn't know if the blood in the picture was from the trap or the guys who shot at the wolf (I also suspect the latter). Leghold traps of any sort have been banned up here nationally for a long time so no I don't shop for that stuff. Anyway, any leghold trap strong enough to hang onto a wolf or badger or fisher would have to be stout enough to about break the bones. In any event, "padded" or not, it is going to be painful. And therefore cause suffering. Period. Conibear traps cause no suffering. The animal is either dead or the trap missed it. Period. Very rarely an animal gets caught in one of them that doesn't get killed. In my years working with Ward on his trapline I have yet to see this but I know it has occurred. Again, very rare. Ocassionally the snares get something the wrong way instead of around the neck but we do what we can to ensure that doesn't happen. A leghold trap ENSURES that the animal IS going to get hurt and NOT die when it gets caught. As long as there are other options available (conibear and power snares) I just can't see why anyone would continue to use leghold traps. They're cheaper I guess. Leghold traps are banned up here and I have yet to hear a trapper complain about it. Not one! Sometimes if it's super cold we have to remove the trap and animal so that it can be thawed out to spring the trap (so hair froze to it doesn't get torn). Oh my, what an inconvenience ... to us. Not for the animal. But you guys don't get a lot of minus thirty days down there so that shouldn't be a big issue.

"Padded" leghold traps sounds like an oxymoron to me. Some kinda marketing scam probably to help make them look less damaging. Pffft. Perhaps we should put flowered sheets on the lethal injection gurney too?

Something is so way wrong here. Not with trapping, but with this photo. I've been trapping with foothold traps for going on 40 years now and have not accumulated that much blood around a trap site with all the 1000's of animals to my credit combined. A foothold trap will not cause that type of damage and traps with teeth are not legal on land. I highly doubt this Josh guy would have taken the chance and set a tooth trap and then had someone take his picture. DO NOT BLAME THE FOOTHOLD TRAP OR THE FOOTHOLD TRAPPER! I have nothing to do with Canada so I don't know their rules. At least with a foothold I can release any animal whether it be to small, protected, a pet, not prime, whatever. I pin it down, open the trap and let it go, as opposed to killer snares and conibares. Don't get me wrong, they to have there place, as all traps do, but a foothold is a very ethical trap. All that blood did not come from it's foot. I to say the photo should not have been posted, and I also say there is one Hell of a lot of stupid comments posted here from familiar names that I thought would have known better by reading their posts in the past. Especially the ones who "claim" to be "trappers".

Bad photo. Unfortunately this is the type of stigma trapping gets.

I'm sure you won't believe me OntarioHonker, but yes I have released fisher (1) and badger (numerous) from foothold traps. The fisher was in a predator set way out in the open field. I don't remember if I didn't have a tag or if the season wasn't open. One or the other. All the rest of my fisher were in #220's or #160's. And badger are protected in my state and all have ta be released. Get the cable snare from the KETCH-ALL release pole around their neck, push them to the extent of the chain, push the butt end of the pole in your stomach, and use 2 hands to open the springs. They have no choice but to behave. The hardest part about releasing an otter from a foothold is getting the loop around their neck the way they jump around. I have YET to have the plesaure of releasing a wolf. I refuse to let a wild animal caught in a trap get the best of me. That's not the way I was raised. I had one otter bluff "charge" me, everything else got the Hell out of there in a quick hurry once that cable spring was released (Well, as quick as a badger can move).

Did anybody read "ROCKRAT" and "BOUNTY1".
It sems, to me,"Rockrat" told you what happened and
"Bounty1" gave some very good pointers, if you care to go back and read them.

you can say all you want about how distasteful this photo is or how bad it is that he showed the animal in that state of being caught but there is legal trapping there and just like all of you that want to take a picture with that BIG BUCK you shot or that trophy of a lifetime it is no different. this animal was going to have the same type of day as that big buck not a good one. you can pose how you want as long as it is legal. what this trapper likes does not mean you all have to like it. i am not a fan of trapping anymore but i was big into it at one time and if that was my first wolf i would of taken the picture. WTG to the trapper that tagged this animal! Keep up the good trap lines out there and keep us warm with the good furs!

There have been alot of good points made on here in regards to the merits for and against leg hold traps. However, right now it does little good to argue amongst ourselves about our knowledge on the subject matter.

For the non-hunting public, perception is reality. They will see trapped wolf, blood and a gloating hunter. That's it. There will be no consideration given to circumstances, back stories, side stories, reasons or excuses. Is this guy an idiot for posting the picture online? Absolutely. But the real problem is the firestorm hunters as a whole will face when antis start hammering away again at anything they can get ahold of. And make no mistake, they won't stop at just protesting the trapping of wolves.

also could it be located at a bait station and not the wolfs blood?

just thinking out loud... 1 picture is hard to capture everything...

If trapping is what you do, then I won't be one to judge although personally I think hunting is more tasteful and requires more skill but that's just me. Either way, this idiot should not be circulating photos that could cause controversy when we as sportsmen are already getting bad reps and whatnot. Irresponsible and unsportsmanlike if you ask me.

I have trapped for years and have seen deer that dogs have caught and deer that have been hit by an auto and drug off that I have had to track down and it dosen't take much blood to make the snow red such as in the picture. People talk like there is a gallon of blood on the ground. Actually I would say that there is very little blood , again it dosen't take much blood to make it look this way on the snow. I have had nose bleeds that I would guarentee put more blood on the ground than what is in this picture.

C'MON MAN!

If you've ever seen a drowned bloated beaver in a trap it doesn't take a lot of creativity to know that controlling nuisance critters with traps is a bloody business, and mankind has probably been doing it for a long time.

I don't have a problem with trapping in principle - I don't know enough about it to judge. But this photo appears to present 2 modes of unethical behavior: 1) allowing the animal to suffer when it was possible to dispatch it quickly; and 2) compounding the error by taking a photo of a suffering animal instead of putting it down. We owe it to the animals we hunt/trap to kill them as quickly and humanely as possible. Yes, blood and death are always involved which is why ours is a very serious pursuit (which is why most of us decried the antics of post-kill scenes of high fives, etc on TV hunting shows). And then to post the pic online where anyone could see it and disseminate it is at best irresponsible (but he's already shown that by 1 and 2 above, hasn't he?), immoral, and a great disservice to the rest of us who are desperately trying to present our activities in an acceptable manner to the general public. The guy needs to be taken to the wood shed.

While I agree this trapper dropped the ball, he is not the typical example of trapping ethics. No surprise to many reading this blog that the wolf is hated by many out west, thus to many others this photo would be considered "entertainment". I am not condoning this behavior, just giving a different opinion on the topic.
By the way, wolves kill mercilessly, and even begin eating the flesh of their pray before it's dead. Like I said, just giving a different opinion.

I have seen tons of pictures of animals in leg hold traps with no blood and there has been no uproar. If there was no blood in the picture, would there have been the same vitriolic debate?

I think this article should be removed, what good is discussing this open to everyone going to bring? BTW as I understand it the wolf had been shot at by multiple folks passing by prior to the trapper arriving. That kind of injury blood loss is not common with leghold traps, probably bleeding from a bullet hole. Poor taste, yes it was, but do not attack the sport or other sportsman.

I am a hunter myself and I understand that trapping is a type of hunting, and that hunting can be bloody; but the goal of hunting is to get a HUMANE kill. Watching and taking pictures while the animal is suffering is sick. If the animal is caught in a trap... kill it already, don't watch it suffer.