No Profanity *** No Flaming *** No Advertising *** No Anti Trappers ***NO POLITICS
No Non-Target Catches *** No Links to Anti-trapping Sites *** No Avoiding Profanity Filter


Home~Trap Talk~ADC Forum~Trap Shed~Wilderness Trapping~International Trappers~Fur Handling

Auction Forum~Trapper Tips~Links~Gallery~Basic Sets~Convention Calendar~Chat~ Trap Collecting Forum

Trapper's Humor~Strictly Trapping~Fur Buyers Directory~Mugshots~Fur Sale Directory~Wildcrafting~The Pen and Quill

Trapper's Tales~Words From The Past~Legends~Archives~Kids Forum~Lure Formulators Forum~ Fermenter's Forum


~~~ Dobbins' Products Catalog ~~~


Minnesota Trapline Products
Please support our sponsor for the Trappers Talk Page - Minnesota Trapline Products


Print Thread
Hop To
Trapping an American Tradition #6349748
10/17/18 12:10 PM
10/17/18 12:10 PM
Joined: Dec 2006
Posts: 2,059
Ames, IA
MikeTraps2 Offline OP
trapper
MikeTraps2  Offline OP
trapper

Joined: Dec 2006
Posts: 2,059
Ames, IA
In response to Is Trapping a dying sport?

Trapping the Forgotten American Heritage

(Authors note: I started this story more as a rant than anything else. However the more I toyed with it, the more I liked it and breathed more of my experiences into it. It was published in “Fur Fish Game” in August of 2004 as “Trapping the American Heritage.”)

My friend Mel once asked me “Mike why do you trap?” To which I replied, “I don’t know how not to trap. I have trapped for as long as I can remember and probably before that!” I then started thinking about why I trap. My mind drifted back to my youth spent trapping with my Father and Grandfather.

I remembered as a young child running traplines with my Dad and Grandfather (Pop). I also remembered the names of other trappers who trapped in the same areas that we did. Men like Arnold Favinger and Jack Bonney the raccoon and fox trappers from up in Lenni, Bob Currey the raccoon trapper who let my Father trap foxes on his farm, and Jack Murphy, the long lining trapper who would catch three to five hundred raccoons a season.

Back then you could go into any of the numerous small grocery stores similar to, Ahearns, or the Frogtown Country Store or into any local bar like Martins, Eddie’s, or The Hilltop and ask the name of a local trapper and get three or four responses. People would not only tell you, whom you were looking for, but also what they could catch, and where to find them. Now you’d be lucky to find anyone who knew a trapper at all, let alone where to find them and what animals they specialize in.

To me it is a sin to let this great American heritage fade away like a wisp of smoke. Think of all of the great outdoorsmen and adventurers of the old west that were trappers. Men like Jim Bridger, who helped map out the Oregon Trail, as well as many overland stage routes, and Kit Carson, the famous Indian scout who knew the desert southwest like the back of his hand. These men and others to numerous to name helped map out and settle this country. Their in depth knowledge of the land and waters is what guided them through the wilderness. They had no maps or atlases, all they had to go on what their own knowledge of the land and what they could gather from other trappers and hunters. By running their trapline in the wilderness they came to know and love the land, much like trappers today.

In this day and age it is hard to find a trapper, unless you belong to a trapping organization such as the National Trapper Association. America has more outdoorsmen per capita than probably any country in the world, but only a small handful of those are trappers. Trappers not only have to defend themselves against the anti trappers, but sometimes even against other outdoorsmen, like hunters as well. Trappers have long had their back to the wall, between ever increasing cost of equipment and gas, lowering fur prices, and the ever present antis, some trappers have hung it up and quit. Traps now gather dust in old barns, outbuildings, and musty basements.

My generation was just old enough to catch the tail end of the great fur boom, when fur prices were high and everyone seemed to trap. The boom lasted till I was about twelve and then the fur prices dropped, and dropped and dropped, till by the time I graduated high school, you could hardly give wild fur away. My brothers and sister and their generation never got to experience the type of things I did. Trapping taught me so many things about life and the wild world that I don’t know what I would have done without it.

I learned planning and preparation from watching my Dad and Pop. Every year before the opening day of trapping season, you could find us in the field under the big walnut tree. There would be a large cauldron of water and walnuts boiling over a wood fire (we later went to gas) to dye the trap in. The walnuts were personally gather by my brother Matthew and I by either picking them up off the ground, or shooting them off the branches with our BB guns. The traps were arranged in piles on the battered sheet of plywood that Dad and Pop had supported on sawhorses every year. Dad would check the pan tension on this one while Pop was checking the springs on other. Only after careful inspection were the traps put in the dye to obtain the proper shade of black. When the traps were dyed properly, they were removed from the cauldron and allowed to dry on a rack. Then Pop would put the wax on to melt. After the wax was melted the traps were dipped in, till they stopped crackling and popping. Then they were removed and allowed to dry. Pop and Dad did this many weeks before the season so that when the season opened they would be ready.

I learned about truth, honesty, and fair play from two different instances I can remember. One morning while checking traps with my Dad, we came to a small creek, and I could see there had been a catch made. “Hey Dad you got a coon” I yelled to him. He walked up the creek, looked at the coon and said “Son that coon isn’t in my trap; my set is up around the bend.” He walked back downstream, and I looked longingly at the coon, knowing it was worth 35-40 dollars. Dad later explained to me that he hated when someone stole his traps or fur and how he despised thieves and would never be counted among them.

One cold November morning I was checking traps with Pop, down in the Darlington Valley. As we were walking down the train tracks we could see three people in the distance. They saw us and waved and we met about halfway down. It was Arnold Favinger, Jack Bonny, and a young kid. “Morning Charlie” Arnold said to Pop. “Morning Arnold, morning Jack” Pop replied. (All local trappers pretty much knew each other back in those days.) “Say, Charlie did you shoot one of my coons yesterday, down under the trestle?” Arnold asked. “Yes I did, it was only held by one toe and I didn’t want it to escape on you” Pop replied. “I appreciate it, but was wondering why a thief would shoot my coon, and then leave it for me?” Arnold said laughingly. Arnold later told me when he and I trapped together that he never feared losing a trap or an animal when he and Pop trapped the same area. Pop unwittingly showed me fair play, and how to establish and honest reputation for yourself.

I also learned that you have to take responsibility. I can remember one year my Dad hurt his foot at work and could barely walk, but he made sure his fox sets got checked every single morning, even if it took him twice as long. I can remember Pop driving through a blizzard to pull his traps just so they would not be operating when he would not be able to reach them.

I learned a few things about honor as well from trapping. I can remember every December 23rd we would either pull or snap all of our traps. “Nothing should die on Christmas” Dad once said to me. I still carry this tradition with my children; all traps are sprung or pulled on Christmas Eve.

Another thing I can remember is a single set of fox tracks on a frosty trestle bridge. I saw them many times as Pop and I walked over that bridge to check his sets. “Why don’t you ever try to catch that fox Pop?” I asked. He just looked at me grinned slightly and said “Someday you’ll know why” and continued on down the tracks. Later I did know why neither he nor Arnold, nor Jack ever tried to try to catch the fox that left the tracks on the trestle. I wish I could tell you but it is something you have to discover for yourself.

I was taught a lesson in respect every year. Although Pop and Dad had been trapping some of their farms for a decade or more, they still stopped by the farmhouse in early October to renew permissions with the farmer. It also gave them a chance to ask questions on where the farmer had seen foxes or coons, get to know the dogs again, and find out if any areas were off limits. The farmers appreciated that we stopped to ask permission and talk again and that we did not take their permission or land for granted.

The greatest thing trapping has taught me, is appreciation and knowledge of the outdoors. I can readily look at a field, creek, pond, river, or woods and know where to look to find whatever animal I am searching for. I have learned how to read just a small piece of track, or identify a single strand of hair I may find in a fence or tree and determine what left it. I now know that no matter how much I know about trapping and animals, that there is always something new to learn. Every fall I am still amazed at the myriad of colors of the woods, the bright burning reds of the maples, the glimmering yellow of the oaks and beeches, blazing through the valleys like an arboreal forest fire. I love to listen to the slow, soft murmuring of the mink stream, which sounds like a distant conversation I can’t quite make out. I chuckle on days when hunters look outside and decide the weather is just too nasty to venture forth, and I am out tending my traps. I love to walk in the falling snow, and hear it sizzle past my ears, and marvel at how the rest of the world seems to have been silenced by the beauty of the snow covered woods. I’ve seen sunrises so beautiful that they are beyond my power to describe. And, even though I have witnessed more sunrises I can remember I still on occasion stop my truck and watch the spectacle of it again.

Trappers are out in the woods and water every day of the three to four month trapping season. They spend hours in and around their location, and know it better than any hunter of fisherman ever could. Trappers know every bump, rock, pool and sandbar on the creeks they trap. They know every saddle, draw, cow/deer path, and trail on the lands they trap. They know a foxes bark from a coons, and can tell you how far away a coyote is just by hearing the howl. Trappers are among the most observant people in the world. Because they have to be, in order to be any good at their sport they have to be. I had always just taken my powers of outdoor observation for granted, but my children helped to bring this trait to my attention. My daughter Teagan (8) walks through our neighborhood and woods like a modern day Osa Johnson (famous woman African explorer). She amazes her friends by pointing out to them rabbits and squirrels, which they cannot see. She also identifies bird songs, squirrel barks or tracks in the snow to her amazed friends. When her class goes on and ECO- trip (an outside field trip) the teacher and students call her the “resident expert” in identifying animal tracks, droppings, sign, and calls. My son Jamison (12) says on field trips he sees many different animals, but for some reason none of his friends can see them. “I keep saying it’s right there, just to the left of that tuft of switch grass” he tells me. And, his friends can’t see the tuft of grass let alone the pheasant that just strutted by it.

Trapping is one of the few sports every member of the family can enjoy and participate in. No matter how old or young everyone can be a part of trapping. My youngest daughter Charly (3) helps Teagan and Jamison collect the walnuts to dye the traps with (much like I used to). The older kids run traps with me on weekend and days they off of school. They are learning to develop the skills to pick their own location, and the ability to read the tracks and other signs. They tough it out despite the sub zero temperatures, the wet feet, the snapped finger, just to catch something. The smile on their faces when they do make a catch is incredible. Even Pop when he had long quit trapping still participated. Most days he’d have me and my partner show him the catch, then heckle us for not catching enough, and ask where we got which animals and in what kind of set. Even when he was losing his battle with dementia and Parkinson’s Disease and didn’t know me from the imaginary people he saw, when I said trapping, a light came to his eyes and they seemed to clear, and for the briefest of moments he knew me, and we talked about trapping. It was the last conversation I ever had with him, and I’m glad it was on trapping.

I hate to see this heritage die a slow death, so I try to keep it alive in my children, and hopefully my grandchildren (when I have some). Someday I’ll be just a shadow following my children on their trapline, much like I feel I am followed on mine at times. When that time comes maybe I’ll meet up with Pop and we’ll try to catch that trestle fox.


Far better is it to dare mighty things, to win glorious triumphs, even though checkered by failure

Theodore Roosevelt
Re: Trapping an American Tradition [Re: MikeTraps2] #6349755
10/17/18 12:26 PM
10/17/18 12:26 PM
Joined: Dec 2017
Posts: 1,132
Kingston, PA
TheBig1 Offline
trapper
TheBig1  Offline
trapper

Joined: Dec 2017
Posts: 1,132
Kingston, PA
That’s absolutely beautiful!


You can't cheat the mountain pilgrim. Mountain's got its own ways.
Re: Trapping an American Tradition [Re: MikeTraps2] #6349758
10/17/18 12:30 PM
10/17/18 12:30 PM
Joined: Aug 2013
Posts: 318
Chillicothe.Il
Trapper Dan2 Offline
trapper
Trapper Dan2  Offline
trapper

Joined: Aug 2013
Posts: 318
Chillicothe.Il
That was a great read.Thank you.


Dan

Re: Trapping an American Tradition [Re: MikeTraps2] #6349763
10/17/18 12:38 PM
10/17/18 12:38 PM
Joined: Dec 2010
Posts: 11,135
Armpit, ak
D
Dirt Offline
trapper
Dirt  Offline
trapper
D

Joined: Dec 2010
Posts: 11,135
Armpit, ak
It was a good read, but Jim Bridger and Kit Carson did not trap for sport. Dad probably didn't either. I know; negative nancy.


Who is John Galt?
Re: Trapping an American Tradition [Re: MikeTraps2] #6349770
10/17/18 12:46 PM
10/17/18 12:46 PM
Joined: Jan 2012
Posts: 8,231
Misery
Michael Morris Offline
"Hombre que mata demasiadas cosas"
Michael Morris  Offline
"Hombre que mata demasiadas cosas"

Joined: Jan 2012
Posts: 8,231
Misery
I wish I had more thumbs, cause they'd all be up smile


Push yourself to be more than you were
Re: Trapping an American Tradition [Re: MikeTraps2] #6349786
10/17/18 01:12 PM
10/17/18 01:12 PM
Joined: Oct 2009
Posts: 1,758
kansas
H
Hal Aggers Offline
trapper
Hal Aggers  Offline
trapper
H

Joined: Oct 2009
Posts: 1,758
kansas
What a good job you done. While I was reading it I was thinking back to the times I trapped with my Dad those were such good times. And I to remember all the other trappers that I new. Most of them are gone now.
Your writing has set my mind a going to the past.
Thank you well done.

Re: Trapping an American Tradition [Re: MikeTraps2] #6349798
10/17/18 01:32 PM
10/17/18 01:32 PM
Joined: Feb 2014
Posts: 7,954
On Georgian Bay, Ontario Canad...
H
Hutchy Offline
trapper
Hutchy  Offline
trapper
H

Joined: Feb 2014
Posts: 7,954
On Georgian Bay, Ontario Canad...
Awesome, thanks

Re: Trapping an American Tradition [Re: MikeTraps2] #6349859
10/17/18 03:07 PM
10/17/18 03:07 PM
Joined: Mar 2014
Posts: 838
North dakota
N
Nd native Offline
trapper
Nd native  Offline
trapper
N

Joined: Mar 2014
Posts: 838
North dakota
Great Article!

Re: Trapping an American Tradition [Re: MikeTraps2] #6349933
10/17/18 05:30 PM
10/17/18 05:30 PM
Joined: Jan 2007
Posts: 152
Northern Illinois
Beavertrapper24 Offline
trapper
Beavertrapper24  Offline
trapper

Joined: Jan 2007
Posts: 152
Northern Illinois
Amazing and beautiful read thank you so much for writing and sharing it!, it brought back the memory of me catching my first red fox with my Dad and made me think of all the memories I can make and pass along to my own kids and why getting more kids into trapping


"There is value in any experience that exercises those ethical restraints collectively called sportsmanship."- Aldo Leopold
Re: Trapping an American Tradition [Re: MikeTraps2] #6349978
10/17/18 06:48 PM
10/17/18 06:48 PM
Joined: Jun 2014
Posts: 18
tucson az
A
azcatter Offline
trapper
azcatter  Offline
trapper
A

Joined: Jun 2014
Posts: 18
tucson az
Thanks for the story.I am doing my part to pass it on my grandson will be 3 in a month it will be his second year long lining he spent the day helping dye traps and make flags nothing like a kids imagination when it come to crazy critters for cat toys

Re: Trapping an American Tradition [Re: MikeTraps2] #6350052
10/17/18 08:20 PM
10/17/18 08:20 PM
Joined: Nov 2007
Posts: 898
N. W. MISSOURI
T
TRAPPER-ED Offline
trapper
TRAPPER-ED  Offline
trapper
T

Joined: Nov 2007
Posts: 898
N. W. MISSOURI
that was a great story we need more of this on here .


50 + years of trapping & some fur buying and i still know nothing.
Re: Trapping an American Tradition [Re: MikeTraps2] #6350053
10/17/18 08:25 PM
10/17/18 08:25 PM
Joined: Jan 2018
Posts: 43
Kansas
T
Toad Offline
trapper
Toad  Offline
trapper
T

Joined: Jan 2018
Posts: 43
Kansas
Great read! Thanks for posting.

Re: Trapping an American Tradition [Re: MikeTraps2] #6350055
10/17/18 08:26 PM
10/17/18 08:26 PM
Joined: Dec 2015
Posts: 613
Northern Missouri
Northmocats Offline
trapper
Northmocats  Offline
trapper

Joined: Dec 2015
Posts: 613
Northern Missouri
^ Agree.

Thanks for posting that!

Re: Trapping an American Tradition [Re: Northmocats] #6350555
10/18/18 11:51 AM
10/18/18 11:51 AM
Joined: Dec 2006
Posts: 2,059
Ames, IA
MikeTraps2 Offline OP
trapper
MikeTraps2  Offline OP
trapper

Joined: Dec 2006
Posts: 2,059
Ames, IA
Thanks for all the kind words, I really appreciate it. Funny how just talking about old trapping days brings them back in crisp color, sound, and smell in your mind.


Far better is it to dare mighty things, to win glorious triumphs, even though checkered by failure

Theodore Roosevelt
Re: Trapping an American Tradition [Re: MikeTraps2] #6350606
10/18/18 12:50 PM
10/18/18 12:50 PM
Joined: Jan 2013
Posts: 1,388
East Pensyltucky
Beaglador Offline
trapper
Beaglador  Offline
trapper

Joined: Jan 2013
Posts: 1,388
East Pensyltucky
Hey Mike- your writing is always well done.

Some still know the names of the trappers- I'm betting that kid tagging along could tell you my name!

Keeping it alive, because how could we not?

Previous Thread
Index
Next Thread