MonsterSkunks

[eelgrass]

I see in the local obituaries that my skunk trapping buddy passed away. RIP, John. I dug through my old photos and found this. I was only about 12 and John was a few years older. He was my mentor and hero. You might say I looked up to him. Literally.

You have to remember this was in the early 1960's when trophy skunks were everywhere. You don't see many trophy skunks now. They've gone the way of the Mule Deer. Poor management and climate change has taken its toll.

 

[2lumpy]

Dang, eel, sorry to hear that. Loosing those kind is the hardest to see go.

Condolences to you today!

 

[LIK2HNT]

Trapped a lot growing up, but never skunks. Don’t know how anyone could get over the smell. Even when I remove one from my cat or coyote sets I smelled of skunk for longer than I or my family liked.
Sorry for your loss.

 

[Tikka]

Sorry to hear that eel….

A side note , I did see two giant skunks in Arizona a couple of weeks ago…

BuzzH will chime in shortly and tell me that I’m full of BS …

 

[Bluehair]

The weirdo’s here call them polecats. Sorry about your old friend.

 

[bullskin]

Good memories of a long-time friend are worth a lot. As are the stories. Glad you got 'em.

Who bought the pelts?

 

[eelgrass]

Good memories of a long-time friend are worth a lot. As are the stories. Glad you got 'em.

Who bought the pelts?

John took the hides, but I don't remember how he disposed of them. I remember I took the skull of one and boiled it out on the kitchen stove. I thought my two sisters were going to move out.

 

[bullskin]

John took the hides, but I don't remember how he disposed of them. I remember I took the skull of one and boiled it out on the kitchen stove. I thought my two sisters were going to move out.

My grandad trapped during The Depression. He told of a skunk he caught but (for what reason I cannot guess) did not immediately kill. He was carrying it back to the house when he put his hand down on top of a stone wall in order to jump over it. I guess the skunk was in that hand, and it immediately sprayed him. I cannot quite picture the mechanics of that deal, but is one of the few details I ever knew of his childhood. I wished I had asked more questions while I still had the time.

 

[eelgrass]

Dang, eel, sorry to hear that. Loosing those kind is the hardest to see go.

Condolences to you today!

John went on to be a log truck driver and we crossed paths over the years.

 

[eelgrass]

There was a theory going around that if you shot a skunk in the spine, it would prevent them from spraying. That's either false or we missed the shot a lot. It never worked for us.

 

[coloradoman]

If you shoot them in the lungs they can’t spray. We used to catch them often on our trap line.

 

[elkassassin]

Sorry To Hear About Your Friend Eel!

We Got 2 Kinds Around Here!

The Smaller/Medium Sized Pepe's!

And The BIG Booners!

 

[2lumpy]

As I looked at that photograph, I thought to myself, “there’s two 1960’s influencers, if ever there were any!”

 

[eelgrass]

If you shoot them in the lungs they can’t spray. We used to catch them often on our trap line.

Now you tell us....

 

[elkassassin]

Here's Another Deal About Pepe's!

We've Caught Alot Of Coon In Live Traps!

Never Had A Dead One In The Traps!

Alot Of The Skunks We Didn't Wanna Catch Die Within A Short Time?

And NO!

It's Not Because We Left Them In The Traps Waiting For Them To Die!

 

[eelgrass]

Here's Another Deal About Pepe's!

We've Caught Alot Of Coon In Live Traps!

Never Had A Dead One In The Traps!

Alot Of The Skunks We Didn't Wanna Catch Die Within A Short Time?

And NO!

It's Not Because We Left Them In The Traps Waiting For Them To Die!

Did you drown them?

 

[elkassassin]

LOL Eel!

No!

Did you drown them?

 

[eelgrass]

I always lived in town as a kid and it was a whole new world to move out to the country. My first gun was a Benjamin pellet gun.

We had a creek that we trapped on. Only about 6' wide at the widest. If you covered the pan of the trap with tin foil and set it under water in a riffle, raccoons couldn't resist. They would be curious and grab the shiny tin foil. Snap!

 

[SS!]

Why did you crumble up that photo?

 

[Homer]

We are crawling with skunks here......I only put the live traps where I can get a gas vehicle close......cover the trap with a tarp and put a hose in the exhaust pipe and under the tarp......and sit in the car MM'ing on the ipad for 10 minutes.....

 

[SS!]

We are crawling with skunks here......I only put the live traps where I can get a gas vehicle close......cover the trap with a tarp and put a hose in the exhaust pipe and under the tarp......and sit in the car MM'ing on the ipad for 10 minutes.....

That’s how we thawed out oil separators in the oilfield. One time after about 30 mins I pulled the tarp off and there were two foxes “asleep”

 

[eelgrass]

Why did you crumble up that photo?

I have no idea. I asked my wife if she remembered it. She disappeared in the closet for about a half hour and came out with it. 50 years of hard life, I guess.

 

[Homer]

That’s how we thawed out oil separators in the oilfield. One time after about 30 mins I pulled the tarp off and there were two foxes “asleep”

For some reason.....diesel exhaust just pisses them off.....

 

[SS!]

I have no idea. I asked my wife if she remembered it. She disappeared in the closet for about a half hour and came out with it. 50 years of hard life, I guess.

I bet it was her. You’re old enough I believe rule of thumb still applies!

 

[bullskin]

I have killed skunks with a shotgun many times, and certainly the pellets must have destroyed their lungs in the process. I have never been lucky enough to have killed even one in this manner that did not make a stinky mess, so I do not know that I would rely on the no lungs=no squirt assumption. The only skunk I have ever killed that did not spray was decapitated with a shovel. It never lost a drop...but I don't know that I would rely on the no brain=no squirt conclusion, either, if I had to do it again, armed with only a shovel.

 

[Bluehair]

I got sprayed in the face by a skunk. But I only tell that story if you’re buying drinks.

It wasn’t good.

 

[Homer]

I got sprayed in the face by a skunk. But I only tell that story if you’re buying drinks.

It wasn’t good.

.....it tastes worse than it smells

 

[Bluehair]

.....it tastes worse than it smells

For days. It takes a minumum of 1 can of copenhagen, 2 bottles of stout cabernet, and 1 bottle of whiskey to kill the taste.

You won’t survive it if you’re not an alcoholic.

 

[eelgrass]

When you're a kid seeking high adventure, you build up an immunity to the smell. It's the smell of success. You're letting the whole neighborhood know you caught a skunk. Wear it with pride. Grownups and sisters couldn't comprehend that.

 

[notdonhunting]

And who said the campfire did not have any good useful conversations anymore!
I have learned how to maybe kill skunks and not get stinky, and I have learned how to get the awful taste of skunk stink out of my mouth and get drunk in the process.
It is a good day to be part of Monster Muleys!

 

[2lumpy]

.....it tastes worse than it smells

That garners more than a six word statement…….

 

[2lumpy]

When you're a kid seeking high adventure, you build up an immunity to the smell. It's the smell of success. You're letting the whole neighborhood know you caught a skunk. Wear it with pride. Grownups and sisters couldn't comprehend that.

is there a different in comprehension and disgust…… you might have misinterpreted their reaction eel.

 

[eelgrass]

is there a different in comprehension and disgust…… you might have misinterpreted their reaction eel.

Their ignorance transformed into disgust.

I adopted this saying many years ago. "Welcome to those who wish me well. The rest of you can go to hell."

 

[hossblur]

My first expensive lab got sprayed one night.

Strapped him to the mailbox and tomato sauces, skink extracted him spraying him with water for a half hour.

Neighbors thought I was killing him.

Whole season whenever he go wet, we relived that great day

 

[Homer]

Nature's Miracle works well.....

 

[Tikka]

Nature's Miracle works well.....

This stuff works fantastic also…

Skunk-Off Gallon Premise Spray

shop.odorcide.com

 

[kickerbuck]

Ell, those are some great memories for you I'm sure! It certainly looks like "The Good Ol Days" to me. My 77 year old neighbor has told me that he is convinced he lived in the greatest era. He says you could buy an OTC Mule Deer tag, pass 20-30 4x4 bucks a season, go fishing and actually catch a Salmon or Steelhead and keep it, and the fields in a summer evening were full of deer and antelope!

So yeah " The Good Ol Days" and this was in Oregon at one time in the past! Sorry about your friend passing!

 

[Homer]

This stuff works fantastic also…

Skunk-Off Gallon Premise Spray

shop.odorcide.com

I wonder if you can gargle with it?

 

[eelgrass]

kickerbuck, I agree with your neighbor 100%. Go to the river and catch and keep 2 salmon a day and 3 steelhead a day. I've often said that my parents picked a good time for me to turn 75.

 

[Tikka]

I wonder if you can gargle with it?

Maybe, let’s ask @Bluehair

 

[Homer]

kickerbuck, I agree with your neighbor 100%. Go to the river and catch and keep 2 salmon a day and 3 steelhead a day. I've often said that my parents picked a good time for me to turn 75.

If you had blanket ass parents......you could still dynamite a dozen a day.....and kill a bighorn by dinner time....

 

[eelgrass]

If you had blanket ass parents......you could still dynamite a dozen a day.....and kill a bighorn by dinner time....

I always wanted a gill net....

 

[Bluehair]

Maybe, let’s ask @Bluehair

I tried licking my ass like a dog, so anything in a bottle or jug was fair game.

 

[feddoc]

.....it tastes worse than it smells

You've been licking his face?


Post in thread 'MonsterSkunks' https://www.monstermuleys.info/xf/threads/monsterskunks.205325/post-2241953

 

[Homer]

You've been licking his face?


Post in thread 'MonsterSkunks' https://www.monstermuleys.info/xf/threads/monsterskunks.205325/post-2241953

There is more than one skunk in the world.....

 

[huntindad4]

I had a black lab when I was a teen, he was our duck dog. One night while walking home from hunting without a flashlight I hear him start to sneeze and snort and look up to see him approach me, tail tucked and cowered like he'd been beat! As he got about 20 feet away I started to smell him.... all he wanted to do was brush it off on me or the ground or whatever. It was hard to keep my distance for the remainder of the walk home but I did...I was highly motivated.

Another evening same dog ran into a porcupine with his shoulder in tall grass. He yelped then snarled then yelped then snarled then yelped again and then returned to me full of quills but smiling like the cat that ate the canary???

I guess the moral of this long post is that skunk pizz seems to work better than porcupine quills in stopping at least that dog's attacks.

The remedy for both took hours. The skunk smell returned every time he got wet for what seems like a year.

 

[huntindad4]

When you're a kid seeking high adventure, you build up an immunity to the smell. It's the smell of success. You're letting the whole neighborhood know you caught a skunk. Wear it with pride. Grownups and sisters couldn't comprehend that.

My grandfather grew up during the depression and attended a Catholic school.

He trapped and often when he arrived to class the nun would proclaim with disgust, "Billy must have caught another skunk".

Apparently not everyone can recognize success when they smell it.

 

[eelgrass]

John didn't get married until he turned 30. It was a year after he quit trapping skunks. What a coincidence.

 

[Rie bread]

My nose was so toast from getting sprayed I’m not sure the tomato sauce worked. Seemed like I still stunk

 

[2lumpy]

I shot a skunk now and then and my labrador killed one next to the back door once, but my skunk trapping career was limited to 1. It was with a live trap and I can’t even remember why I had the trap out. Regardless, termination became a major discussion amongst us seasoned outdoorsmen………. lacking a guaranteed aroma free solution I just shot it and drove way. It was about a year later I dumped it out and brought the trap home.

So……. eel, I’m curious about your process.

I’m assuming you were using leg traps and thumping them on the head. I’ve heard stories about ole timer skunk trappers but did you two actually get use to that smell? As someone already said, a dog will damn near go crazy and having dealt with one that had just been sprayed, up close and personal, it’s an experience in mortal pain.

Give us a run down on the personal sensory evolution you encountered………. did you notice a lost sense of smell….. when you encountered other strong odors? Can you even smell a road kill skunk anymore?

 

[Bluehair]

I lived next to the river in Dolores for a while. I trapped them and then tossed the trap in the river. Neighbors gave me the thumbs up. Not sure I could get away with it now.

 

[eelgrass]

Yeah, we were using Victor leg hold traps. Sometimes they would spray when they got caught and sometimes not. We didn't club them, just shot them. I won't lie and say we liked the smell, but we did develop kind of a tolerance for it. I mean, it's all part of nature.

After word got out in the neighborhood, a guy down the road stopped and said he raised chickens and asked if we would trap the skunks that were always trying to get into his chicken pens. We caught about a dozen skunks there one summer. The skunks in the photo might be from there. He would give us each a dozen eggs once in a while. I really felt grown up when I took them home. With two brothers and two sisters, they didn't last long.

John and I decided we were going to live at Fort Yukon on the Yukon River and trap and live off the land when we grew up. I guess we never grew up.

 

[yoteduster]

Good memories of a good friend.. all we can take with us is our memories

 

[Grouse Legs]

I tried licking my ass like a dog, so anything in a bottle or jug was fair game.

Fall right off the couch doing that