Snapping Turtle Traps ?

This is my second year getting the MN Recreational Turtle License & I finally just got around to making a trap today. I’ve read the rules and re-read them, many times. Talking with the federal fish & wildlife guy and my local conservation officer today, before I set the trap, it appears that I am likely the only guy in my area doing this? I’m a little surprised by this but hopefully my $12 homemade trap works & I can make some delicious turtle soup again. For a $25 fee they’ll let you have three trap tags but I can’t imagine needing more than one. Has anyone ever smoked snapping turtle? I’ve used Lupe’s potato soup recipe with turtle in place of the ham and it was fantastic. I’m hoping to get 2 or 3 so I can make that again , smoke one & deep fry one.

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Tasty stuff and no better way to get your daily supply of heavy metals and mercury!

I used to trap them back home, then just started getting into big ones when bowfishing, and man oh man so I love snappers!

Interesting…. what does turtle task like? I would love to cook one if I got my hands on one

Turtle is delicious. I’ve eaten a few (3) over the years.

My favorite is a clam chowder with turtle substitute.

Sounds like you’ve cut one up before. There’s definitely learning curve, but not much too it.

The shells look cool on the wall with a layer or two of poly.

crappie55369 wrote:

Interesting…. what does turtle task like? I would love to cook one if I got my hands on one

Tastes like pork, chicken & seafood. They say there are several types of different meat in each turtle. I just parboiled the one last year with a bunch of seasonings, till it was fall off the bone tender……then I picked all the meat off the bone and vacuum sealed/ froze it til it was time to make the soup during winter. Then I just made Lupe’s potatoes soup and added the thawed turtle meat. Some YouTube vids show the Cajuns pressure cooking it till it was tender, de-boning & breading & seasoning it & then frying in a cast iron pan with butter till crispy. That looks pretty good too.

I’d definitely say to read up on the many regs for turtles. There are a lot of them.