I know there are a few beginners on here who might be helped out with a few safety tips or maybe wise tips from some of the more experienced. Trapping can be the best time of your lives. But as with anything we do on a daily basis, knowledge helps. Sometimes we get so busy with the where and how, we forget the little things. Like............

Always carry an extra pair of clothes. Just in case you get wet or get sprayed by a skunk.

Never drive down into a place you are not sure that you can drive back up out of.

Anybody else???

Always use a conibear safty when handeling conibears.

Always have a winter safety kit in your truck when on the line. Most important thing to me is LUNCH. Never leave home without it.LOL

Most importantly though is to just have fun. If your not having fun on the line, what's the point of running one?

Always pull up your hippers before you enter the water and never wear them to a comferance with your kids teachers or principle (sorry cat, I had to)

alawys make sure you get your hand caught in the first set of the year, that way its out of the way and you don't have to worry about doin it the rest of the season

If you catch a coon with quills in it's face. Chances are, it's got rabies. Handle with caution. As far as that goes. Make a habit of always skinning your fur with rubber gloves.

don't assume the coon is dead....cause you shot it......
just cause the coon is sittin still.....tangled in brush on yer grapple...doesn't mean he won't blow up on you when you try to pull him out of it!!!
if you still see yer drag..and no trap...use yer FOOT to find yer trap!!!! in the water.... LOL!!!
buy LOTS of tomato juice for a direct skunk shot....and don't think you don't smell....you do
beer and fleshing don't mixkeepyour operations always low profile
and above all....respect your landowner....cherish your priveledge to be on his land...don't tear up his fields....don't leave his cattle gates open for "just 2 minutes"...that would be good for you...and ALL trappers...now, and in the future...you may only trap "this" property for 2 seasons till you move on.........but the impression YOU leave....will be the deciding factor when the next trapper knocks on that man's door...LIVE by this!!!!!
Scott

Cell phone incase you get injured like fall and break your leg and cant make it back

a rope for when using them bigger traps and get yourself (practice with one hand)

catch poll

like everyone else said extra boots, cloths

and theres alot more

possums are harder to kill than you think, in the back of the truck is no big deal, in your moms new car, its a big deal

As already said....keep a low profile.

I was out walkin a creek I trap today, and this high school kid and another kid, and who I assume is also a high schooler (never seen him before) came down with their rods and tackle. They asked me if I had caught anything, I said "no, I'm just down here messing around". I didn't tell them I was down here scouting.

LOL. Where to start. LOL.
If you are trapping creeks, Get yourself a pair of safety Glasses. When you are bending over and stick a piece of Brush in your eye, and scratch your Cornea, you will appreciate this tip. LOL.
Practice your set makeing year around. And if you have the capabilities, Video tape it once in awhile. you would be suprised at how much you can learn by watching yourself make a set. sometimes you think you are doing one thing, but you are really not, or you are doing something else. the video will allow you to see these things and correct them before your season starts.
Never ASSUME that anything you dispatched has expired. ALWAYS check to make sure with a stick or your gun barrel before you get too deep into the catch circle.

Study Missed catches. Don't just go stomping into the set when the trap is fired and nothing there. LOOK in the dirt and mud around the area. Learn to read the set and understand what happened. Did the animal Dig the trap, if so how did it react before it dug it. Did you get a flat out refusal, if so how did the animal react. Maybe you have over guided, or maybe the lure was too strong, or what ever, but look at the tracks and try to determine what happened. There is NO BETTER TEACHER THAN THE ANIMAL ITSELF!!!

Many times, Less is more with Lures.

This is not my tip, but it was on the traps 4 Kids video's and it is a very good Solid tip. When trapping beaver, Try not to do it alone, and if you are, or even if you arent, Take a length of rope and tie it to a tree on the bank, and around your waist, so if you fall in you have a way out. Unfortunately, when you fall in to the cold water, you don't always have as much time as you think to recover from the shock of the cold.

NEVER reach through a hole in the ice to check your 220 or 330 when it is attatched to a pole, or staked on a drowner. If you stick your hand into that trap thinking that it was already set off and it wasn't, you are in some big trouble if you get caught in that trap.

If your state has requirements for distances from Beaver Dens and Dams, Carry a tape measure, and DON'T test the distance. If it is 15 feet, don't put the trap in at 14'6" and think that the DEC will let it slide, THEY WON'T!!.

NEVER turn your nose up to someone who is giving you information or advice about makeing sets. It may not all be good information, but it generally isn't all bad information either. When you think you know all there is to know about trapping, Sell your traps, and get out of it, cause your and idiot. LOL>
I bet there isn't one real trapper on here who will not tell you that they learn at least 1 thing new every season.

Always let someone know where you will be or at least where your trap line is so they know where to look if you are hurt.Keep a note book to write down where every trap is and scratch it off when you pull that trap.ASpend as much time as you can learning about the animals you are trapping go out and study tracks and try try and figure out what he was doing and where he was going.

Forgot one know your trapping laws word for word and keep a couple copies in your truck to give to people that don't know them.

Just because you have crossed the water at this spot for a week check the bottom cause there can always be a new hole.

always take more traps with you then you plan to put out. that way when a new spot jumps at you, you have a trap for it.

don't leave shells to gun at house while out on the line

Take a couple wraps of toilet paper with you!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

You Never No!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Habits.
Realize that you, like all humans, are a creature of habit. Develop good ones and shun bad ones like the plague.
The worst habit of all is haste. Be it due to laziness or overwork haste will cause the slips and oversights that will leave the tell tales that spoil a set.

if you think you wont buy anymore traps than you have think again

Always carry your firearm UNLOADED, until ready for dispatch.

The best lure will not make up for poor location.

Good public relations with the landowners. Without them your done before you even get started.

Always carry a extra jug of antifreeze, oil, ect. for your vehicle.

Learn from your mistakes and use them to your advantage.

Always keep your integrity.

Thanks for the info to a newbie like me. keep it coming, Please