It seems like a big barrier for new trappers.

I trapped up there and If you want to put up numbers you would be way better off trapping In the states.

That's some pretty skinny country to put up numbers.

I catch hundreds of animals on 2 20 mile loops.Very rich fur country up here and lots of species also,not just one or two.Low expense with cabins on the line,and excellent acess in winter.
There was a reason the HBC built their first fur trading forts in southern James Bay.

If a guy has the gumption to develop his own line here,there is lots of country available.
Now if you want to step into a developed line then you will need to pay.
The reason Ontario has more reasonable prices for traplines is because the mandatory minimum beaver quota keeps lines in the hands of fur producers and out of the hands of big money hunters.

Beav you trapped part of Canada.

I thought the minimum beaver quota was to make your lines so productive?

I have seen lines come up with hundreds of beaver quotas. Heck, mine used to be 125 and I could probably up it to 50 or so now without any trouble. Ill see what fall brings.

I recall hearing of an old couple who ran a line up north. They broke down and got a helper because it was getting hard for them to keep up with their 200 beaver quota each year. lol. Cant recall who it was, but I think my trapping instructor knew them.

On the lines I am on, I am going for a hundred beaver this year. Also, marten trappers in highly productive areas can get hundreds of marten. Can you take off and set a thousand traps from one end of the province to the other? No, of course not. But I do know a guy named Murray who lives on his line up north and he claims in forty or more years there are parts of it he has not seen. Boco, Murray has tried to sell me his line a few times. Sounds great, but cant convince the wife. lol

Read back. There can be more than one reason things exist.

Hey Hutchy,how would you like to trap this line-424 live houses,that only an 850 quota.Thats a small line compared to some,only 180 sq miles.

You mean acquiring a new line?

It can be, however a lot of new trappers are not ready to manage a line. That's why the points system exists. In theory, the more points you have, the more experience you have. The idea is that you get on as a helper, either on a line too big for one person to manage, an older person who cant trap it themselves without help, a buddy...and trap as a helper to learn before being thrown into managing a whole line. the more involved you are, the more points you get. Being a helper trapper gets you a point, so does getting your license, being a member of a council, etc. A few other ways to get points I think. Then, when you are experienced, you can apply for and hopefully get a line. Its not perfect, but the theory is there. Also, a lot of people end up getting hooked up with a line through their local council, end up trapping with a buddy, or GASP! realize that trapping is not for them for some reason or another.

It CAN be a barrier for some, however I got a line two years after setting my first trap, and am currently on two others as a helper that I exclusively trap. The people who own the line cant be bothered. Works for me. If you want anything bad enough, and are persistent, doors will open. But then, that is like most things in life IMO

How many helpers are on that bad boy??

With an area like that, it must have been trapped consistently for many years for there to be enough feed to handle that amount of beaver.

And sign me up! Ill stack em up! You just gotta help me perfect that multiple beaver 330 set you love so much!

Just read, that was in 1969 eh. Is that area still at that quota do you know? How are the beaver compared to back then? As I stated, my line was at 125 in those days and coundnt support that now.

I had a buddy in Kapuskasing recently wanted to sell his line.I put it on the CNTA forum and hooked up a guy from the south looking for a line up north.I believe the transaction went thru and the fella from the south is up trapping the line now.Dont know what he paid,I'm sure it was reasonable,and I know that line has some good fur and two cabins.I believe a lot of other equipment went with the line,a turnkey operation right off the bat for the incoming trapper.He will be producing good amount of fur the first year.
Some guys like myself trap on 2 or 3 lines and with the price of fur being down some are cutting back on the effort.It is not uncommon for lines to change hands between trappers,and I don't know of anyone who wants to trap not being able to get on a line around here.

I think for a lot of guys in the south, that trapping in the north is a bit out of reach, a bit far away and a bit too remote. Also, more of a serious endeavour. Not that it cant be here, its just that we seem to have more pressure for lines around here. I could have had one up north two years ago. Near wawa. Five beaver quota, and wasn't right for me at the time. Looking for another close by for the wife...that would be idea.

No the line is now under control.Beaver were overpopulated here in the late 60's,I think the quota on that line now is around 3 or 4 hundred.
That line was where the first OTA trappers college was held(Elliot lake),with instructors like Ralph Bice,Paul Millette,and Lloyd Cook.
Some lines were split into smaller more manageable lines.One old woman trapper had a line here with a beaver quota of 300.When she got too old to manage it,instead of booting her,they split the line in two.My son now has 1\2 of that original line,just east of town.

5 beaver quota?Must be in that high jackpine sandy ground common there.Might be good lynx country,but with no water I think you did well to pass on that one.

He said lots of wolves though. I said, ok, but what will I bait them with???

LOL.Lots of wolves there must be lots of moose too.Cause they aint got no beaver left.

Things like free ADC for Ontario.

Beaver are only a nuisance where there is civilization.Not so much on the vast majority of registered traplines,especially in the Patricia portion of NE Ont.
I have found there are more beaver on well managed traplines than in untrapped areas.True they will boom for a while but then crash to very low levels.
I remember surveying areas of the railroad like the nippissing crown game preserve,where no trapping has ever been allowed,and there were very few beaver there and a lot of degraded habitat.

Then in areas like KL,Kap Cochrane and Hearst where traplies are well managed the landscape was full of beaver.

I understand the strategery, but making people trap beaver only works as a deterrent because beaver ain't worth trapping. When they are worth trapping you have to have a maximum limit like we used to have.