This isn't to get anyone riled up or anything but a fun discussion. Who would you put as the 10 best trappers of the past 50 years (in no particular order)?

Can't make it even 50. Just here currently AkHowler, Ryan... And many other far north guys are unreal. Boco, Spruce, and many other terrific mid northern guys unreal. A guy here who clobbers fox out east and another who decimates coyotes... Wade and other hardliners in the Midwest and west. The lady and other fellows who have perfected cage trapping cats in CO and other states. Andy in MT, some of the northern prairie guys... Leftover hard New Mexico trappers..gotta add Swamp..and a big bunch of those SE trappers, and thru out the country the guys who put up crazy rat catches....
Many many bests out there.

Osky

Now how in the world can any one answer that and know what their really talking about. Example I have no ideal what you trap in a year and you and most have know ideal what I trap in a year so how can any one know who trap what and how many. That like trying to find who the whitest and the blackest trappers out there.

There are plenty that no one knows about.
I'll put in a plug for the coon combine,and Trapped 4 Ever.

X2

ok then. Instead of past 50 years, lets do all time.

My paw-paw Jesse Phillips---he trapped in the 30's and 40's to help feed 12 kids and keep them from starving in the winter when the crops didn't do well that summer. I trap and know others who trapped a hundred times more fur then him but don't any of us who have to trap for that reason. Ten of the kids live and two didn't so not sure if he was the best but I would say he right there at it.

Its an impossible question to answer. I know several guys that live on their lines full time and are as good as anyone, at any point in history......for northern species. Like me they wouldn't have a clue how to catch a coon. They also don't own a computer or even know how to turn one on, so nobody on here would have ever heard of them.

The geography across NA is so different, that a technique that works out east, might be useless out west. Same goes for the high alpine country vs the lower bush country. I know guys in the Alberta farmland that catch dozens of wolves each winter on bait piles, try that in my country and it doesn't work so well. So those guys putting up big numbers out there wouldn't be used to the sets that work for us, and would therefore be less successful in our areas.....and vice versa. You will catch them here on bait piles, especially if their having a bad winter and are hungry, but it will take some time. Wolves are in my opinion the hardest furbearer to catch by far too.

All that being said...I would have to say that the most successful modern era trapper that I know would be a dead heat between two Alberta trappers. Gordy Klassen and Brian Bildson. I am not putting them out there because of the numbers they put up. Big numbers are a product of the area you trap more than your skill level. Even the most inexperienced trapper can put up a good catch if he or she has access to an area full of furbearers. My picking Gordy and Brian is simply because they truly are modern trappers. They understand not only the animals they trap, but also the politics of trapping and the fur industry as a whole. They have both done a lot for the rest of us. They are good speakers, and have been involved in the industry for decades.

Yukon 254 well put

Of the "big names", I will say Tom Miranda,Tom Krause and Bernie Berringer are among the best.
However, the 10 best PERIOD are likely the guy that lives over there and keeps to himself and few people even realize that they are trappers.

Thanks Harrison. Thats the kind of response I was hoping to get.

According to my 5yr old grandson, I am, and thats good enough for me.

O Gorman

You may be the best but my 4 year old granddaughter says I'm the bestEST!

Any one read about EV Lynch? Those old guys back in the day were tough and a bit crazy. They may not have the catches modern trappers can do with modern equipment, but they had guts.

Those guys still live...at least up here. There is a guy that loves trapping on foot and camping out. One year he snowshoed almost 70-miles to get into a friend of mines trapline. My buddy had given him permission to trap it. Some of his family got worried and sent search and rescue out looking for him two weeks later. They found him alive and well. During this last cold spell he was at it again. He got permission to trap the line near my sons trapline. So off he went. Then the cold hit....-50 and colder. He's still out trapping on foot and sleeping under a tree as far as anyone knows. My son is old school and tough as they come, and even he said it was brutal out there.

IMHO everyone should learn and use some old school skills in this modern era. One should not rely solely on modern technology.

The best trappers are not in print, not out to make a name for themselves, not out to catch a zillion animals, and are not trying to sell something. I have seen some real B.S. artists along the way.

Maybe your question should be who are the best known trappers in 50 years.

The Best....hummmm...let me think.....It would have to be that Frost Scraping, Flat tail Fleshing, Furminator from the North ...yes Tripple FFF was his given name by the Cree Indians.....BOCO !