The thread about James Lucero got me thinking about other names in this game that disappeared.These were guys that used to write a few articles in the '70's and '80's and put up a lot of fur.Names like Tony Taylor from Ohio,Wes Mattern from Vermont,T.C.Dawson out of Alabama(deceased),Larry Rutherford from Michigan,Gary Dunlap also from Michigan,One fella who I believe his first name was John from New York State,along with countless others I've forgotten over the last 40 yrs.These guys took a mountain of fur while they operated during the fur boom,in their own state and state hopping.Any information on these guys or any other names from that period that stood out?

Charles Dobbins. Master trapper, bait maker, author, and all around great Gentleman.


I was fortunate enough to meet him in person and shake his hand.




Charlie

there's a guy out Indiana way...

veterinarian, if I recall...

Larry and Gary both have passed away. Both were darn good trappers.

I believe the John was John Nagel? Could be wrong though. Ray Milligan had some good reading also.

Magel! John Magel.Thank you.Ray did have some good stories about his adventures.I remember one very good article he wrote about how he got started as a long liner.

John Magel passed quite a while ago. Wrote some great articles. Met him at a convention and he was pretty darn quite, and did not want to talk much. Met Wes Mattern a few years ago at Neil Olson's. Wes was there and did a demo or two. Seemed like a nice chap. I remember he wrote some good articles. A couple guys I know took instruction from him back in the day.
Milligan wrote a lot of good articles. There were a lot of good trapping writers from that era. If I heard some names I would remember a lot of great articles. Some were known regionally and others nationally.
Pretty much a different breed of writer in those days.
Dunlap wrote a pretty good little fox trapping book. Don't remember anything that Rutherford wrote but do remember several guys writing that they took instructions from him.

Mac

I had a soft cover book in the late 80s froma coyote trapper named "Grawe" (or something like it, started with a G). I don't know about the numbers he put up but he had pixs of caught yotes from all over the western half of the U.S. I sold that book on e-bay around 2000. Sort of wish I had it back...

Awhile back i was sifting thru old magazines looking for something and ran across an interview with AM Grawe. Cant begin to recall what magazine or who did the interview though. I've got a couple of his books---coon and mink and maybe a fox one. when fur boom got going pretty good started using his lure along with a few others to get away from what everyone else had. went thru bottles of gray ghost

There was a guy from Minnesota,if I recall right his wife trapped too,who really racked up numbers of 'rats during the fur boom. Another guy from Minnesota who wrote a few articles,John Juola?I know I butchered his last name. His specialty seemed to be beaver."The Swede",Isrealson I believe also came from Minnesota. Somebody else from that era deserves honorable mention,Jim Helfrich from Ohio.I believe his insight into trap manufacturing featuring smaller traps for predator trapping helped pioneer what became trap modification.I'm not saying some of these ideas weren't around before.but he brought some of this thinking and new theories into the '70's and '80's.

Jack G. Mell out of Michigan always had good articles on water trapping.

There was a guy from Minnesota back in the 80s into the 90s that racked up a bunch of fur. I think his name was Ken Buege or something like that. Then I never heard a peep since then from him.

Mel Hershberger had some interesting reads.

According to his " professional bobcat trapping " book he claimed to be making $60-65K trapping cats. The cats in Arizona at the time were avg. $300 or so.
Ray Milligan speeks very highly of him. Lots of spots.

Yes he did.Another name from the past I haven't heard of in a long time.Also,seems to me I remember a guy from Nebraska that wrote some pretty darn good articles,one that's ringing a bell concerned 'coon trapping.Scheiderman,I believe Terry was his first name.

Never heard of that guy! LOL

As a kid growing up, I remember every spring or so Jim Spencer would write an article covering his prior mink season. They were always well written and made the reader feel like he was out there on the line with him. I always looked forward to reading them.

Another writer that brings back childhood memories is Mike Lapinski. Like Jim, he would write a spring/summer time article that went over the ups and downs of his prior trapping season in the Rockies of Montana. Really interesting articles. I haven't seen anything from Mike in years.

If you guys can get your hands on old 1980's copies of the Trapper magazine, I highly reccomend you do so. Really great articles from the high rollers of the day, and you will be amazed at the number of guys that sold lure and offered instructions back then. Many of them simply vanished after the market fell apart in the late 80's.

Ha!Thought so!I guess the really informative articles stand out in my mind,I don't know how else I'm remembering them 40 yrs. plus later especially since I'm always looking for my keys that I just set down. Cameron,absolutley right,Jim wrote excellent articles on long lining mink in Arkansas,and I always looked forward to Lapinski's articles on mountain trapping.

I will throw a few more out there. Wiley Carroll always had an interesting column, which ran for many, many years. Jim Comstock had good beaver articles and trapping cats in CA. Don Shumaker had some good reads. Judd Cooney nice articles on calling coyotes. Dennis Kirk, probably the father of coon calling with his coon puppies tapes. Parker Dozhier on his detailed fur market reports, which ran for years and years also. Jeff Richter had some good out of state trapping articles. Also made some good lures, called Coon's Best. Mike Marsyada had some good stuff. I believe Bill Miller of MN wrote about his coyote trips to TX. I actually trapped a ranch in TX 3 years ago that he trapped back in the 80's.

Loved Wiley Carroll's stuff! He was certainly a unique writer. He used to write for Full Cry magazine as well.

Glad you mentioned old Jeff "Coon" Richter. Many of the young guys on here have probably never heard that name before.