I am going to date myself as an old fart with this. In the 80's there were numerous boys that trapped. They trapped for coons and fox mostly. There were no coyotes. The profits from selling the pelts bought beer, guns and other things they needed. It was the wintertime version of the kid with the gas can and lawnmower walking through the neighborhood. Trappers traveled to the South in the month of February and trapped coon, fox, bobcats and beaver. Those guys camped out in a trailer park near my childhood home and the number of pelts they had drying at any one time was incredible. It was a very profitable venture. Now I look at my trapping efforts and I am a wannabe. Most of the guys I know that trap will catch 10-20 coon/possum and mostly trap because they are eating corn out of the deer feeder.
In the past Delta Waterfowl did a lot of research on nest predation and the effects of trapping on nest success. Intensively trapping a tract had a very positive effect on the numbers of eggs hatched and raised to adult ducks. Both species are ground nesters and have the same predators. Maybe those studies have been done for turkeys. If anyone is aware of any please point me in the right direction to read them.
