Harvesting Black Walnuts

[trapperbud]

I raided my neighbors back yard the other day . This is what I ended up with .



Here's a few I got dehusked and cleaned up .



Going to let them dry out for a couple more weeks .

[Admin]

Are you eating those or using them for trap dye?

[trapperbud]

I'll save some husk to dye traps . All the nuts will be eaten my wife loves them .

[stickbowhntr]

Dec 15, 2011 18:33:20 GMT -5 Admin said:

Are you eating those or using them for trap dye?

WE DO BOTH..

[patricimo54]

When I had reason to travel into Missouri I always looked forward to going in the fall. I would always gather walnuts. I love their unique flavor and cooked a little with them. I also slightly heated them in a skillet and sprinkled them over ice cream.

Thanks for stirring up memories Tbud

[ninedeer]

they are good for dyeing traps and very good to eat for sure

[acewoodsman]

same thing here we eat them an i save the hulls for dyeing traps ;D

[TRAPnHUNT]

When I was a teen, I hucked a boat load of those for the same reasons as stated in here. Eat the nuts and dye the traps. I didnt know my ass from a hole in the ground back then (I still dont now) and my hands were black for weeks. My grandfather laughed at this situation and gave me a hint on how not to get my hand to turn black as the ace of spades. He suggested that I use my feet instead. I had this puzzled look on my face and he then went on to say "Nobody can see your black feet with your boots on".
Now mind you, this is the same man that said that squirrel brains taste good and got me to try them. When he was 100 years old, he also got my son to try them as well!!!

[stickbowhntr]

Yep your gandpa was smart -- look at whet he got the two of you to do...

[billfosburgh]

i like eating them to. i dyed traps this year with them for the 1st time. wasnt to impressed with the results.
we have an amish man that buys them. he pays by the poung. he has a machine that husks them then he weighs the nuts & pays you. i did this one year but when gas went up i didnt feel it was worth my time & gas. if i lived closed i would do it

[stickbowhntr]

Oct 17, 2013 11:59:59 GMT -5 billfosburgh said:

i like eating them to. i dyed traps this year with them for the 1st time. wasnt to impressed with the results.
we have an amish man that buys them. he pays by the poung. he has a machine that husks them then he weighs the nuts & pays you. i did this one year but when gas went up i didnt feel it was worth my time & gas. if i lived closed i would do it

so you were not happy with the results? What do you like to dye your traps better?

[nytrapper23]

Man our walnut crop here was crazy this year.I have dyed my traps with these for yrs ,never found anything that did a better job,or as cheap.

[billfosburgh]

ive always used logwood trap dye. this was the 1st time with walnuts. i used them on some new DP`s i bought. before dying i soaked them in vinagar for 2 days then let them hang on a fence post until i got rust. i boiled the wlanuts until water was black, then added the traps while it was simmering. left them in the water after the fire went out . they just seemed not to be very dark & just had streaks of black on the. the cables i installed on them turned a nice black but not the traps

[Brad H.]

My father in law has a grove of black walnuts that we used the nuts from to dye traps this year. Very impressed with the results. Makes a difference to let the husk sit for a few days in the sun to really blacken up. Our traps turned out darker than ever and it didn't cost a dime.

Going to try to dry a few for eating, but most will get replanted. I love having black walnuts around.

[Deleted]

Dec 16, 2011 9:08:12 GMT -5 ninedeer said:

they are good for dyeing traps and very good to eat for sure

X2

[mitrapline]

We have a black walnut tree about 50 feet from our porch. I didn't use any of them this year but, they sure filled up the driveway.......I can't remember there being so many in years past. We usually try to gather some up for baking and snacks. Maybe next year.

[ninedeer]

as a kid growing up in Indiana their was black walnut trees everywhere.grandpa and dad always dyed traps using them.Granpa always had a bunch of them drying to be eatten later.Where I live now in Wisconsin not many walnut trees.its funny though cause just yesterday while out scouting I found 2 spots with walnut trees.

[Jack's Butt Buddy]

Black walnuts sure are tasty

[jimd]

What do you guys use to crack them ?
As a kid I learned to swing a hammer in our basement during Winter.
Shattered shell fragments all over.
Worked OK until Mom came down to do laundry.

Jim

[hillbillyken]

Here in Iowa we use old corn shellers to clean the husks off the shell of the nut....works great and keeps your hands from getting too black.