Where & How did you learn how to trap/snare?

[teddy12b]

I've never trapped anything and I've never used a snare. I've heard good things, but I've never done it myself so I'm wondering where those of you who know how to do it learned.

I'd like to learn and get some actual practice, but I want to learn how to do it right also. Any suggestions?

 

[indiucky]

Fur, Fish, and Game and my Grandfather and Father...But really all they told me was to look for "slides" and "runs" and then set my traps there.

I made about $30 a week in the early 80's trapping muskrats in my hometown and I could see the Louisville skyline a mile away. I learned to be out in the woods chest deep in a creek in leaky K mart waders at 5 am and to not be afraid. I learned how to "read sign" as it were...I learned how the free market worked, I learned independence and respect for the woods and stewardship.(I.E. Leave some for next year.)

Trapping is like a PHD in life and responsibilty. I learned more trapping those two years than I learned at IUS two years later. It's in your nature and you already have the skills...They are just dormant...Pick up a cheap book and a half a dozen traps and just do it...You won't be disapointed and you will cherish the lessons for a life time...

Good Luck,

Indiucky

 

[Hookeye]

Fur, Fish, and Game and my Grandfather and Father...But really all they told me was to look for "slides" and "runs" and then set my traps there.

I made about $30 a week in the early 80's trapping muskrats in my hometown and I could see the Louisville skyline a mile away. I learned to be out in the woods chest deep in a creek in leaky K mart waders at 5 am and to not be afraid. I learned how to "read sign" as it were...I learned how the free market worked, I learned independence and respect for the woods and stewardship.(I.E. Leave some for next year.)

Trapping is like a PHD in life and responsibilty. I learned more trapping those two years than I learned at IUS two years later. It's in your nature and you already have the skills...They are just dormant...Pick up a cheap book and a half a dozen traps and just do it...You won't be disapointed and you will cherish the lessons for a life time...

Good Luck,

Indiucky

Excellent. Similar exp here.

 

[vwarren]

They Actualy teach a class just like the hunters safety course.

 

[Jrod]

I took up hobby trapping about 5 years ago and love. I had the same advice from my father as the other guys. Just grab a few traps and give it a try. I now have bought about 40 traps of various sizes and trap all winter.

 

[blackoak]

If your serious about learning to trap, I recommend this. I went 20 years ago and still use what I learned there today while catching fur.
Fur Takers of America - Trapper's College

 

[tom1025]

Thanks for the link blackoak.

 

[EPD1102]

I learned back in the 70's by reading Fur, Fish, and Game magazine. I read everything that I could get my hands on and then figured out what would work and what didn't work. I lived on the outskirts of a town and the trapping was very good for a kid who didn't mind doing the work. Raccoons would get $30-40 each and muskrats were $7-10 each. I used to catch several of each per day and that was a lot of money to a kid back then.

 

[dekeshooter]

Fur, Fish, and Game and my Grandfather and Father...But really all they told me was to look for "slides" and "runs" and then set my traps there.

I made about $30 a week in the early 80's trapping muskrats in my hometown and I could see the Louisville skyline a mile away. I learned to be out in the woods chest deep in a creek in leaky K mart waders at 5 am and to not be afraid. I learned how to "read sign" as it were...I learned how the free market worked, I learned independence and respect for the woods and stewardship.(I.E. Leave some for next year.)

Trapping is like a PHD in life and responsibilty. I learned more trapping those two years than I learned at IUS two years later. It's in your nature and you already have the skills...They are just dormant...Pick up a cheap book and a half a dozen traps and just do it...You won't be disapointed and you will cherish the lessons for a life time...

Good Luck,

Indiucky

The best all around outdoorsmen I have known were all trappers or had been trappers.

Trapping teaches you to see things in the outdoors non-trappers will never notice.

 

[trapperDave]

Dad taught me a little, Fur Fish Game, Stanley Hawbakers Trapping North American Furbearers was my "bible"

Amazon.com: Trapping North American Furbearers by Stanley Hawbaker (paperback book): Everything Else

 

[03A3]

Nowadays there's more trapping instructional books and videos than you can shake a stick at. You can find them at places like Cumberlands, Minnesota Trapline Products, and Schmitt Enerprises just to name a few.
Coons are everywhere and are easy to trap. That would be a good species to start with. You could buy a dozen 1.5 coils, some slidewires, boots, a tile spade ect and go trapping. Buy yourself a book or 2, and maybe a video.
You don't need a bunch of trinkets and gadgets to trap. It just makes for more weight and too much stuff to keep track of.
Most of us started out trapping muskrats and coons. Anymore we just don't have many muskrats, at least not in my area.

 

[captpaul]

Read Hawbaker, Tom Miranda, Charles Dobbins, and others. Go to trapperman.com, crawled on hands and knees to see the world through the eyes of the target catch, read biology books on prey and their breeding-eating-traveling patterns.

 

[xcalibur]

I remember my father soaking the new traps in a 5 gallon bucket with walnut hulls and water .... my hands would be stained for a week.

 

[Lonnie]

I learned from my grandfather and reading fur fish and game and The Trapper & Preditor caller
I have been to many trappers ed class around the state and I'm also a certified Trappers ed instructor.
There are class hosted around the state , you can find some listed on the DNR hunter ed web site and or on the Indiana State trappers Assoc. web site

Also there are several conventions each year around the state that have guys doing demo's (showing techniques and such)


Also if you can find a trapper around your area many will allow you to tag along once or twice if you buy them lunch lol!

 

[Bounty Hunter]

I learned from my Father.

One fall night a guy stopped buy the house and had a Grey fox he had just hit with his pickup. He said he knew Dad used to trap years ago, and wondered if he wanted it. After he left Dad called the fur buyer and we took it over to him. We got 45.00 for that fox.
That next weekend, Dad started dragging out his old traps, (Which I never knew he had). We gathered Walnuts, and used them to boil and dye the traps. He told me how he used to trap and hunt, and Fox had just a bounty for the ears at that time. I soaked up every minute of it. He made a few calls to some farmers and we set out a few sets.

By the end of the week, we had a couple raccoon and a fox. I was hooked!!!
We bought a few more traps, and spent alot of time at the fur house. Fur Fish and Game was like a Bible, could not wait until the next month came out.

I learned alot from my Father about trapping, the woods, the balance of things. Some of my best memories are from spending time with him and my brother running traps and deer hunting. I think of that often.

I learned responsibility. I learned that morning came early when you had to run a trap line before work and school. It paid our heat bills through the winter, and got us out of Mom's hair on Saturday mornings when we spent time looking for new areas to run.

I still need that balance sometimes, and can not wait to deer hunt in the fall.

My brother is gone now, and my Dad can not get out there anymore, and sometimes it is bitter sweet to go out alone, but after I am out there awhile, I find that is not the case, because all those memories are a part of me always, and I find a comfort in them.

I would dust off the traps if the prices were to get good again. Mine are hanging in the barn, along with Dad's and my brothers. I would never get rid of them, because I smile every time I see them hanging there.

I am grateful to have had that opportunity, not only with my family, but the things I learned will stay with me always. So many people drive past the woods and waters and have no clue at the wonder of it, and how it all works and balances out.

When I need to slow down, I go out for awhile, and just walk, but I do not get to do it as often as I would like too.

Thanks for the question, it brought a smile to me to think of it!!!

 

[irl104]

Trapping

From my father, and numerous books on trapping.

 

[tom1025]

I've never trapped anything and I've never used a snare. I've heard good things, but I've never done it myself so I'm wondering where those of you who know how to do it learned.

I'd like to learn and get some actual practice, but I want to learn how to do it right also. Any suggestions?

Not sure where your located but Hoosier Trapper's in Greenwood In is a pretty good source of information. The staff is very knowledgeable and they have a pretty good library of books and dvds you can purchase. I am new to trapping as well. I picked up a copy of Trapping North American Furbearers by S. Stanley Hawbaker for $9.99. Its 381 pages full of knowledge and illustrations.