That's one lucky snapping turtle...
 

I did my good deed for the day....spared a big ol' snapping turtle his life :). I killed four whoppers last summer....all in the 2' diameter range....this one was similar. Top of the water, head the size of a small football sticking out 10".... easy-peasy head shot. I let this one live another day...

What do you do with the dead turtles?

Watch them sink?

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Yep....the one's from last year...out in the water...shooting down from above....can't retrieve them. The reason they've become so populated and huge....no one's been making turtle soup for a few decades...

I could have easily put a couple of 9mm into the turtle's head today...passed. The one's I took last year....took 4 .357 mag out of a Marlin....no bueno...they don't kill easy. If I decide to take any more out, and don't have a head shot....12 guage 00 buckshot ;)

Btw....I have oodles of big yellow sliders too....I trapped and relocated around 30 of them last summer....biggest was maybe 9". Mess with my fishes spawning beds....and I'll mess with you....humanely.

I hear and read a lot about people killing snappers. People talk about them with animosity. What is it that's so bad about them? Do they eat the bass in the lake? Do they eat people's cats and dogs like coyotes? I always think of a turtle as such a benign creature.

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Serial, them things are dinosaurs!
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Saw a big one take the front leg off of a golden retriever.

There is absolutely nothing benign about a snapping turtle.

Hey John that was cool...never heard it before....right up my alley :)

I've still got plenty though...still too many.
Three ponds with no predators for decades...balance got out of whack.

Now muskrats get a free pass....even when they breach a dam....there were half dozen of them today too....can't hide this time of year...I can see 'em. Got a bunch of them...

They are a nuisance....but they keep me busy...and I'm not Tim Hancock ;)

Live and let live....if possible.

No schit....the largest one I spotted two years ago when I decided I needed to intervene....
probably 30"+ shell, big azz 18" head extended and similar length tail....no lie. Just looking for a mate....cruising the pond. I still have at least 6-8 huge ones....oodles smaller.

Too many turtles, snappers or sliders get the ponds out of balance an muck up the fish spawning beds...

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That's NOT a big ol' Snapper ;).....I've got BIG ol' Snappers! No tellng how many that size and smaller....I'm not relocating them....they die.
Yellow Sliders get a ride in the pickup and freedom in a big lake near my house....gotta take 'em miles away or they will return....so I read.

No way I'm getting my hands near a snapper, and their neck will extend WAY out....too easy to lose a finger or hand....they are nasty, mean critters...

My wife and I spend lots of time in our creek during the summer. Last summer I noticed a huge snapping turtle ‘fishing’ at the bottom of the creek – this was an amazing sight to see. The water was extremely clear so we had a very good vantage point to witness this activity. We were both spellbound for 45 minutes as we watched this turtle attempt to catch his/her dinner. This variety of snapping turtle clearly had the worm-like appendage on its lower jaw used to lure small fish in 'for the kill'. Not once did it come up for air during the time we were watching.

As we were coming back from the creek this past fall, we saw a recently hatched snapping turtle on our path. I picked this angry little creature up and redirected him/her to a safer and less treacherous route.

Just be careful doing that...their heads extend and they can reach the back of their shell....even a small one can take a finger off.
They are NOT friendly critters....but you know that now :)

i had turtle soup in hongkong..it was delicious; until i figured out it was turtle soup..

in my defense, i was 10. :) i think it was a Slider turtle.

You really should cook them up. Turtle soup is about as good as it gets creole style. Just had it at K Paul's in NOLA!

If you can clean them and send the meat please? I'll eat them! SmileWavy

G

I haven't seen 'em in a few months since it got cold, but I fattened up some big ol' nasty grass carp for ya last summer Cliff. They were maybe 13-14" long last April when I put them in, and doubled their size....grass eating machines they are. They'll be small submarines in another year :).

THIS!

https://honest-food.net/turtle-soup-recipe-creole/

Unfortunately, the big ol' Snappers are out in the water where I can't retrieve them after a kill. Yellow Sliders....oh yeah, I plan to have my trap out all year...need to remove quite a few more...maybe 40-50. They get up to about 12", plenty of them too, but usually find the 4-5" in the floating trap. How many do you want ;)?

By clean, do you mean rinse them off with a hose....I can do that :)