A Turtle Hunting We Will Go! by ldchev
The fine art of hunting the Common Snapping Turtle as passed on from my Dad and my personal hunting experiences.
 
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Step 1: Introduction

My dad taught me the fine art of Turtle Hunting; I'm referring to the common "Snapping Turtle". This prehistoric steadfast has an extremely bad temper and if given the opportunity can sever a finger or inflict a horribly bad wound with his vicious bite.If given the opportunity is very relative because your mere presence in his territory is his opportunity.
You can find "Ole Moss Back" in just about any State in the United States, and residing in any place that has year-round water such as a pond, Tank, River, or Creek. Most of my hunting experiences have taken place in various Creeks.

The "Snapper" or common Snapping Turtle can reach weights up to forty (40) pounds, his head and neck can measure approximately two and a half (2½) inches around. He's all muscle and has a hard shell with round scallops on the shell edge directly behind his head, and has distinctive sharp serrated points on the shell edge at the base of his shell and where the tail begins. He has dinosaur scallops that protrude upward on the top of the tail and travel the length to its ending tip. His breastplate is a yellow colored smooth plate with indentations that run horizontally and allows for flexibility. He is omnivorous but prefers meat and mainly feeds on such delicacies as Crayfish, Minnows, Adult Fish, various water insects and, has also been known to take a Duck or two. Yes, you read correctly, this "little Pretty" will swim quietly underneath the unsuspecting fowl and grab it by the feet pulling it under, for its dinner.
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jamie2034034i39042i says: Aug 5, 2009. 1:02 AM
You are an awful person and should be condemned to the depths of hell for killing turtles!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
waco565 says: Apr 15, 2013. 5:21 PM
I totally agree with you Jaime
ldchev (author) says: Apr 15, 2013. 7:48 PM

"How is this under herpetology you heartless jerks !"

After reading the above question that you posed, I can fully understand
why you would be in agreement with Jaime. 

Again thank you for your comments and for reading my indtructable. 


ldchev (author) says: Aug 5, 2009. 7:38 AM
"Jamie, thank you so very much for your well directed comment. I am most appreciative and ask only one thing for your consideration. Being as you are concerned with my fate, would it be too much to ask if you could furnish me with some good old fashion popcorn recipes that might come in handy during my stay in hell.

Thank you and May God Bless"
101yummYYummy101 says: Jan 29, 2010. 7:26 PM
Im part of the the PETP (people for the ethical treatment of plants) and I find this instructable extremely offensive. This is extremely... Crap, thats no plant... Sorry then carry on =/
SIRJAMES09 says: Aug 22, 2011. 1:57 AM
ROFLMAO
ldchev (author) says: Feb 1, 2010. 4:16 PM
Hahahaha, your are correct, this is not about Plants, however your comments are appreciated.....carry on then......
101yummYYummy101 says: Feb 1, 2010. 5:47 PM
Is there even a "real" petp or just the fake ones?
waco565 says: Apr 15, 2013. 5:19 PM
How is this under herpetology you heartless jerks !
ldchev (author) says: Apr 15, 2013. 7:43 PM

Well waco,

it might have something to do with the fact that HERPETOLOGY
is a branch of zoolology dealing with reptiles and amphibians. 

I hope this answers your question.
Thank you for your inquiry and reading this Instructable. 



JACKBARRY says: Oct 24, 2012. 2:49 AM
yeyyeyeyeyww live action
instructa-seal says: Jul 27, 2012. 1:54 PM
Wow.
That must take some guts.
I would hate to reach down and grab the wrong end....
ldchev (author) says: Jul 27, 2012. 2:32 PM
Instructa-seal, certainly absolute attention is necessary to minimize any errors while hunting Ole Moss-Back. I definitely wasn't interested in getting "hit" so being sure where your quarry's head is located is paramount. By using your probe to get a "bump" or "hit" will tell the hunter where to reach. While not always 100% accurate you have to be prepared to withdraw immediately if you find the Turtle has turned on you. So yes it is a little scary at times.

I appreciate you taking the time to read this instructable, and thank you for your input.
bajablue says: Jul 12, 2012. 4:53 PM
lol... this is even crazier than noodling.

I'd love to have a few of the shells. Do you sell them? Maybe you'd like to trade for a few frozen (whole) rattlesnakes?
ldchev (author) says: Jul 12, 2012. 9:46 PM
Sorry bajablue I don't have any Turtle Shells. Currently I am living in Texas and we have the Sweetwater Rattlesnake Roundup every year,so I have access to all kinds of Rattlesnake curios if I want any. Thanks for the offer tho.

I also have Noodled for Catfish. It is quite the experience, and the Catfish were gooooood eatin': Turtle was better.

I don't Noodle, or hunt Turtle anymore due to my age. I used to hunt them a lot in my younger days, but those are times gone by.

I appreciate your comment and thank you for taking the time to read this instructable.


  
bajablue says: Jul 12, 2012. 11:13 PM
Thanks for getting back to me.

That "noodling" is cRaZy! lol... You only live once, I suppose. ;-)
Tabbytha says: Dec 8, 2011. 9:02 PM
While I understand the need to hunt under survival situations, I am rather disturbed at the lack of instructions on how to kill the turtle... and I hope you are not skinning it alive! If I have to hunt to survive I will use your info, but I won't skin them alive!
ldchev (author) says: Dec 8, 2011. 9:53 PM
No Tabbytha, you would not under any circumstance skin the turtle alive. The turtle would be dispatched as quickly as possible.  I purposely avoided going into any detail on how to dispatch your catch so as not to disturb anyones sensibilities. The idea is to be a humane as possible when performing this part of the cleaning process. I hope this answer will set you at ease, and I thank you for your comments.
 
Tabbytha says: Dec 8, 2011. 9:12 PM
If you're the only woman, you'll have to find another way... maybe use a rock to break the shell or something? Survival situations don't always have the ideal conditions for hunting and such
tweetspie says: Jan 31, 2010. 12:58 PM
EXCUSE me?

"No boys, or women, should attempt this process."??

That's extremely offensive and there's no reason for that line to be in your instructable. Actually, there's a lot of lines that shouldn't be in your instructable. It sounds more like you're trying to be dramatic than actually teach something.

Next time, do try to be less wordy and rude.
SIRJAMES09 says: Aug 22, 2011. 1:24 AM
lighten up sweetheart, you missed the joke.
ldchev (author) says: Jan 31, 2010. 2:17 PM
Well tweetspie, it seems that I have succeeded with my Instructable. I thank you for your comments. Indeed the Instructable was in fact meant to be wordy, dramatic, humorous, as well as teach.

Your ID more or less says it all except, I might suggest you lighten up a bit and be a little more tolerant, and less sensitive. It does not become you. Rudeness is obviously in the eye of the reader here and the wisdom of youth and inexperience prevails. You might try reading subject matter more appropriate to your interests and knowledge level, it should prove somewhat less stressful to you.

Thank you for your comments, it is pleasing to me to see that my Instructable has accomplished it's intended goals.
tweetspie says: Feb 4, 2010. 5:24 PM
The purpose of an instructable is to teach. Not to be dramatic. If you want to be dramatic and humorous, write a book. Or, as your "wit" suggest, maybe a short story is more your speed.

My ID suggests nothing, as you have no idea what it means, so I'd suggest you leave what you don't know out.

I will not be more tolerant of sexism, whether it is meant to be a joke or not. It is NOT a laughing matter. I also refuse to be more tolerant of ageism, which you are also guilty of, not only in your instructable, but in your reply.

My view of rudeness has nothing to do with my age or "inexperience" since you know NOTHING of my life OR me, therefore have no idea WHAT I have experienced. Nor do you know what "becomes me" because again, you have no idea who I am.

I did not personally attack you, and therefore, there was no reason to attempt to personally attack me. This is also rude. It seems as though someone needs a little lesson in manners and how to treat others. I assume that because you were in the military and are from Texas, you're probably Christian, and therefore have at least HEARD of the concept of "treat others as you would like to be treated". Maybe you need to brush up on your morals as well.

Finally, you have no idea what my interest or knowledge base consists of, as I did not even bring up the subject matter of your instructable, so much as your lack of manners.
lukish says: Aug 23, 2012. 5:54 PM
I think he is probably just trying to make the instructable more entertaining by making it dramatic and humorous... It would be pretty boring if there was absolutely no humor, it would be like school if it's only educational :O!!
ldchev (author) says: Aug 23, 2012. 8:39 PM
Lukish, you are very perceptive. Of course I tried to make it as interesting and ENTERTAINING as I could using the best word picture I could come up with.

Thank you for your comments and having the intelligence to understand what makes a good instructable.
ldchev (author) says: Feb 4, 2010. 7:50 PM
tweetspie it's too bad that my Instructable has resulted in raising your ire, but it appears you have picked the wrong forum to air your pettiness.
 
My Instructable was meant to be wordy, dramatic, humorous, as well as teach as I stated before.

I do however thank you for reading it,  and regardless of your comments, it apparently caught your attention as all good Instructables are intended to do.  Therefore, I believe it was quite successful in accomplishing my goal of writing a teaching instrument, as well as entertaining the reader. 

Thank you for your input. 
ldchev 
lbrewer42 says: Jan 3, 2013. 7:08 AM
I think tweetspie will, in 30 or so years, understand how it is simple to deduce a likely note that word) scenario of her experience. I would hate to think someone could live through many years of experience in life and post comments such as those she has.

I also have to wonder if she has ever encountered - called actual experience - a snapper. Having done so might change her mind about letting someone with 2 X chromosomes take care of the task. I know of some women who would tackle it, but I think most, with actual experience, would rather leave it to someone else who has a little more arm strength by nature.



kingbirdy says: Mar 9, 2010. 8:45 PM
I agree with tweetspie. And what, because she is a woman, she is automatically petite? (no offense, tweetspie) Stop being a sexist jack@$$. The point of instructables is not to be dramatic and all that other crap, its to teach stuff. Not to let everyone know you have values from the 1920s. Cause I'm pretty sure I could find several kids or women that could get bitten in the arm by a snapper and still kick your butt. So stop drawing conclusions about people and re-write your 'ible.
ldchev (author) says: Mar 10, 2010. 4:00 PM

No boys, or women, should attempt this process.( I'm sure there are some boys and women out there who could accomplish this task, but for the most part it shouldn't be attempted by either) While I don't want to offend anyone's sensibilities I'll just say here, that the "Snapper" is a very strong and durable beast. It takes a lot of strength to skin a turtle, so someone must hold the shell while the other party does the deed. Any further description here would be overkill."

Kingbirdy23 and tweetspie, I have some difficulty understanding why you two want to take issue here, but it is obvious to me your reading comprehension is somewhat lacking. Did you not see and read the words in parenthesis?
 
The sentence following states:"While  I don't want to offend anyone's sensibilities here"....

Apparently your pettiness and focus on trying to pontificate has clouded your good judgment and any semblance of manners on your part seems to have escaped you. Civil and Constructive Criticism is most welcome here but this is obviously not your aim.

Have a good day and thank you for your comments even though they are ill intended

kingbirdy says: May 5, 2010. 4:02 PM
okay, could you explain to me how we are ill intended, please? we merely disapprove of sexism and ageism. is that wrong?
tweetspie says: Mar 12, 2010. 2:24 PM
I do not understand why you decided to bring me back into this, but since you did...

Just because you add in parenthesis and some women and children might be able to do it and then afterward say that you don't want to offend anyone, doesn't mean you don't offend anyone. There was no need to even include any of it, and it speaks volumes that you continue to argue that it's just fine just because you wrote that you don't want to offend anyone.

It's a classic case of CYA.
SIRJAMES09 says: Aug 22, 2011. 1:29 AM
ok so it's CYA....what's your point?
his point & mine, is that you are making a mountain out of a mole hill....over reacting to something that should be left alone....can we get on with the instructable now??PLEASE??
Capt._Kirk says: Mar 9, 2011. 12:31 AM
Someone didn't get the joke.
alabam says: Mar 17, 2010. 8:43 AM
Who made you the instructable format police???? Your manners seem to be the one that needs checking, try stepping back and reread your first comment, it is quite easy to see who is rude here. Enough said.
tweetspie says: Feb 5, 2010. 11:47 AM
I am going to take this avoidance as an admittance of wrongdoing. I hope this means that you will consider your manners in your next instructable.
willoughby2 says: Feb 21, 2011. 6:04 AM
'Avoidance'? I think it's more a case of 'ignoring'. There comes a point when someone is so unreasonable that to further take them on is pointless.
SIRJAMES09 says: Aug 22, 2011. 1:30 AM
AMEN!!!!! :-)
reddevved says: Jul 15, 2011. 3:22 PM
Then afterwards you have a nice helmet/bowl!
jboyle1 says: Jun 16, 2011. 9:57 AM
Despite warnings of attempting this feat without the aid of two big strong men (hahaha!) I will be enjoying fresh snapping turtle for dinner tonight! Awesome instructional, by the way! I found a 22 pounder in the parking lot of my Twin Cities apartment complex this morning. When my boyfriend saw my excitement, he groaned and respectfully declined my offer of a true hillbilly hick meal, requesting instead, a good ol' boy's feast of chili dogs. He did, however, invite one of his best buddies over for dinner, and was given the reply: "It sounds delicious, but tonight i will be jabbing my eyes out with a pointed stick" Oh well, more for me!

My father and uncles found that nailing the top of the shell to a tree eliminates the need for a 2nd or even 3rd assistant in preparing the beast for the pan. A pair of strong snips aid in the removal of the bottom shell, snipping joints, and detaching stubborn sinew from the shell.

I will be dredging the turtle in egg and bisquick, and frying it in butter and garlic until brown, then making a gravy from the drippings and some fresh mushrooms. Toss it all into the crock pot to simmer all day, until the meat is falling from the bones.

I would love comments of recipes from others for next time!
Swo Yo says: Jul 12, 2011. 2:47 PM
Great story, tips, and recipe!
How did it turn out??
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