I wrote this article for the spring New Jersey Fur Harvesters Newsletter and figured I would share it here as well...
The sun fades over the trees in the Pine Barrens of South Jersey, driving down a small back road on Port Republic; I have finally arrived at the home of Newt Sterling. I am both excited as well as nervous as to what the weekend will bring, but I know for sure that I am ready to learn. Newt’s shop is a combination of both a museum as well as a working barn. I walk in to find a wood stove burning in the corner, hot soups and stews in crock-pots and trapping banter happening amongst the other students and instructors. Newt and Ron Jones originally founded this school in 2013, to teach trappers what they need to go from a “good” trapper to a “great” trapper. Ron and Newt brought on a third instructor, Morgan Bennett, a few years ago because of his extensive fur handling and water trapping background in the Maryland area. I have been trapping part time for a number of years, and have been able to catch fur on my own, but decided that this year I wanted to go the one step further. A met Ron through trapper education back in 2014 and was immediately drawn to his passion for the trapping. Not having anyone in my family who trapped growing up, forced me to ask a bunch of questions every time I saw Ron (which I am sure drove him nuts) I read a number of Newt’s books back in 2011, and found his methods to be more than effective. I have also been buying lures and equipment from Newt for years, just as I am sure many members do also. Friday night convened with a question and answer session about experience levels, what we wanted to learn, and what the weekend’s schedule was going to be like.
Early the next morning, we jumped right into it, working primarily on snaring techniques and set making for a variety of traps. I learn a lot about why certain parts of the set were made the way they were, taking into consideration factors like wind and travel corridors. Simple little details that are probably overlooked by most trappers can mean the difference between a catch and an empty set. The terrain in and around Newt’s shop was diverse, which gave us the opportunity to work both on land as well as in the water. Later that day we moved out into the marshes and looked for otter and muskrat sign. Coming from an area that is non-tidal, this was quite an experience and taught me so much about how all the water species interact with one another (whether good or bad). We made a few water sets and then explored the marsh finding all the travel corridors for the many furbearers that lived there. The class then broke for lunch and we warmed up with some homemade food and the wood fire in Newt’s shop. For the second half of the day on Saturday, we covered a variety of other trapping techniques, all focusing on trying to catch those critters that have out smarted us in the past. Being able to look at a piece of land and determine the best places to trap on that property was probably one of the most valuable things I learned all weekend. We closed the night with a communal dinner back in Newt’s shop and then headed to bed later that evening.
The cold snap really came in Sunday morning, dropping temperatures into the teens. Each student had the opportunity to see Newt make a few different types of cable restraints on his shop. I tried my best to replicate the techniques that Newt showed us, and was amazed at how much longer it took me to make my cable. I have been making cable restraints for myself for maybe five years, and learned so much of what NOT to do, in only a few minutes with Newt. With a little persuasion, I was able to bang out a working using Newt’s technique. We headed off into the field later that morning and checked the sets from the prior day. For the remainder of Sunday, we learned about beaver trapping with a variety of tools from both Newt and Morgan, cage trapping with Ron, and lure placement with Ron. The final topic of the day, which was covered by Ron, was using the Dog Proof trap effectively. Most of us just stick the trap in the ground put a marshmallow in it and walk away. There is so much more versatility with a Dog Proof trap that is overlooked and most of this has to do with presentation.
Overall, I had a wonderful time at the school and learned so much. Many of us as trappers sometimes get in a rut and fear trying something new. For me, I consider myself an OK trapper but by far, no expert. Coming home this weekend, I have gained so much more confidence in the things I was doing correct in addition to getting the explanations as to what I was doing wrong. Ron, Newt and Morgan taught me to look closer at the small details, and by doing so, becoming a better trapper.
