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What got you started? #6713083
01/01/20 02:00 PM
01/01/20 02:00 PM
Joined: Aug 2019
Posts: 40
Ky
S
Slicktreedog Offline OP
trapper
Slicktreedog  Offline OP
trapper
S

Joined: Aug 2019
Posts: 40
Ky
Just curious as to what got everyone started trapping.

For myself, one fall morning I found some old traps in my grandpas barn while trying to locate the dens oh a groundhog I had been seeing run in and out of there- this was in 2007. I was 12 years old. Later that day, I had my mom help me look up trapping on the internet and this site popped up. I found myself reading “Memories of a First Catch”- since that day, I always wanted to catch a beaver in a #4 Victor DBLS and #44 Blake and Lamb. One year later, I had one of two challenges completed- I just needed to acquire a BL #44 to complete by first challenges set in trapping.

12 years after that boy made those challenges, he made many more for himself in trapping and has been fortunate enough to accomplish them all, except the BL #44 beaver. Three days ago, that changed.

0450A3AB-A0FC-4C81-8942-30EFBD50BF96.jpeg
Re: What got you started? [Re: Slicktreedog] #6713101
01/01/20 02:20 PM
01/01/20 02:20 PM
Joined: Nov 2017
Posts: 11,194
Maine, Aroostook
Posco Offline
trapper
Posco  Offline
trapper

Joined: Nov 2017
Posts: 11,194
Maine, Aroostook
I grew up on the edge of town and had a small trout stream that flowed right through our back yard, we mowed right up to it. It was all woods on the other side of it and that was my playground. I must have been about ten or twelve when I set my first trap. A coil spring I believe and I have no recollection of how it came into my hands. I set it along the stream in the late afternoon and checked it just before dark. It was gone, coon I assumed. Didn't know much about anchoring traps it seems.

That was the beginning of my infatuation with trapping.

Re: What got you started? [Re: Slicktreedog] #6713114
01/01/20 02:28 PM
01/01/20 02:28 PM
Joined: Dec 2015
Posts: 2,871
NNY
0
080808 Offline
trapper
080808  Offline
trapper
0

Joined: Dec 2015
Posts: 2,871
NNY
When I was about 10 my dad gave me 2 no 1 longsprings. He then showed me what he called a pen set bailed with apples. No mention of scouting or location. After about a month I had caught 4 ducks. Mom was pleased.

Re: What got you started? [Re: 080808] #6713116
01/01/20 02:32 PM
01/01/20 02:32 PM
Joined: Nov 2017
Posts: 11,194
Maine, Aroostook
Posco Offline
trapper
Posco  Offline
trapper

Joined: Nov 2017
Posts: 11,194
Maine, Aroostook
Originally Posted by 080808
Mom was pleased.


I remember one summer night when my mother came storming in my bedroom demanding I go let the raccoon out of my trap. Seems a couple of coon were having at it across the brook and there was no convincing her I wasn't responsible for it.

Last edited by Posco; 01/01/20 02:32 PM.
Re: What got you started? [Re: Slicktreedog] #6713139
01/01/20 02:58 PM
01/01/20 02:58 PM
Joined: Sep 2013
Posts: 18,382
Green County Wisconsin
G
GREENCOUNTYPETE Offline
trapper
GREENCOUNTYPETE  Offline
trapper
G

Joined: Sep 2013
Posts: 18,382
Green County Wisconsin
when I was little maybe 7 or 8 my dad read me the book Where The Red Fern Grows and there were a few other books.

I couldn't wait to go hunting when I was 12 , when I was 11 my dad bought a Ruger 10/22 I had shot a few times at scout camp but that was my first real exploration into shooting.
later that year after my dad took me to a skeet range to try out shotguns he bought a Remington 1100lt 20ga shotgun.

dad had always had just one gun a 870 wingmaster with slug barrel that he used for deer hunting

we went small game hunting and bow hunting that year , I shot rabbits and squirrel in the back yard with my bow.
went deer hunting

I suppose I watched Jeremiah Johnson around about that time.
I also bought my first youth conservation patrons license and it included a trapping license but I needed trappers education , well I knew what Hunters education was and it had been offered by the gun club just outside of town and held at the sheriffs office , but trappers ed I had no idea were I was going to find that , so I trapped with some cage traps and life happened for a while till my own son was about 8 years old I and my wife had read him many of the same books like Where the red fern grows so he was into shooting and the outdoors and fishing as well . by now the internet was around and useful and I found a trappers ed class and only had to drive a little over an hour to get to it , took my son and in 2 Saturdays we were licensed trappers.
then I found trapperman.

Last edited by GREENCOUNTYPETE; 01/01/20 02:59 PM.

America only has one issue, we have a Responsibility crisis and everything else stems from it.
Re: What got you started? [Re: Slicktreedog] #6713158
01/01/20 03:16 PM
01/01/20 03:16 PM
Joined: Dec 2018
Posts: 173
Buggs Island, Va
lonewolf308 Offline
trapper
lonewolf308  Offline
trapper

Joined: Dec 2018
Posts: 173
Buggs Island, Va
I love learning new things and doing everything "the old fashion way" but to be honest I was playing the video game Red Dead Redemption 2 and a good legal way to make money was hunting for animas and selling their hides. The better the animal and the kill the more money you made. I became fascinated the hundred or so animals you could kill and sell and how much the pay varied. So I read a ton on trapping and got on here, then brought some DP's. That was a year ago and still suck lol but love it. I had never seen any of these animals up close in the wild and didn't even know minks existed till I found the small prints. I thought I was an outdoorsman but I had and still do have a lot to learn!


VTA member
Re: What got you started? [Re: Slicktreedog] #6713166
01/01/20 03:22 PM
01/01/20 03:22 PM
Joined: Jan 2015
Posts: 3,446
Houghton Lake, MI
strike2x Offline
trapper
strike2x  Offline
trapper

Joined: Jan 2015
Posts: 3,446
Houghton Lake, MI
When I was 8 my friend's dad took us along and taught us how to catch muskrat and mink. I loved it and his son didn't. Still that way. That was almost 50 years ago.


Wish I had more time to trap....
Re: What got you started? [Re: Slicktreedog] #6713173
01/01/20 03:26 PM
01/01/20 03:26 PM
Joined: Dec 2006
Posts: 62,661
Minnesota
330-Trapper Offline

trapper
330-Trapper  Offline

trapper

Joined: Dec 2006
Posts: 62,661
Minnesota
Nothing I remember

I was trying to catch birds under a box propped up. At ade 4 wit my neigh friend

And I always read FFGame in school instead of paying attention.

A little later squirrels and rabbits , then Coon

No trappers in my family


NRA and NTA Life Member
www.BackroadsRevised@etsy.com




Re: What got you started? [Re: Slicktreedog] #6713190
01/01/20 03:34 PM
01/01/20 03:34 PM
Joined: Sep 2013
Posts: 4,822
Nevada
N
nvwrangler Offline
trapper
nvwrangler  Offline
trapper
N

Joined: Sep 2013
Posts: 4,822
Nevada
My son inlaw introduced me to trapping about 6 or 7 years ago after my second wife passed away. It gave me a reason to get outside and be active. Id turned in a bull tag and was going to turn in a great late season deer tag. Trapping got me back in the out doors and helped me get out of the funk i was in. My kids joined me those first couple of years before they left for college and those are some great memories.

Re: What got you started? [Re: 330-Trapper] #6713195
01/01/20 03:41 PM
01/01/20 03:41 PM
Joined: Nov 2017
Posts: 11,194
Maine, Aroostook
Posco Offline
trapper
Posco  Offline
trapper

Joined: Nov 2017
Posts: 11,194
Maine, Aroostook
Originally Posted by 330-Trapper
I always read FFGame in school instead of paying attention.

No trappers in my family

Sounds just about like me. I was always looking out the school window eyeing the groundhogs. It was always about the outdoors with me.

Re: What got you started? [Re: Slicktreedog] #6713204
01/01/20 03:53 PM
01/01/20 03:53 PM
Joined: Aug 2011
Posts: 1,589
Ohio
N
newtoga Online shocked
trapper
newtoga  Online Shocked
trapper
N

Joined: Aug 2011
Posts: 1,589
Ohio
The school librarian in 8th grade gave a fur fish game magazine to read while I was in study hall in the library. The trapline section kept me occupied for study hall. I guess I talked to much. That was on a Friday, that evening we were at a store and they had traps # 1 longs and 110. I asked my dad what the 110 were, he didn’t know. So I bought 3 #1’s and set then in muskrat dens on sat. Sun I caught 2 muskrats and that started it 50 years ago. Still going strong.
Anybody that went to Roosevelt jr high in Zanesville Ohio will remember miss conn. Lol


lifetime member NTA, OSTA, GTA
Re: What got you started? [Re: Slicktreedog] #6713220
01/01/20 04:21 PM
01/01/20 04:21 PM
Joined: Jan 2007
Posts: 3,960
Northern Nevada
B
Bob Offline
trapper
Bob  Offline
trapper
B

Joined: Jan 2007
Posts: 3,960
Northern Nevada
When I was 14 I spent a summer with my uncle in Idaho. My older cousin had since left home for the army and while poking around I found some of his traps in a box, a few #1 and 1.5 jumps and a couple 110s. I asked my uncle if I could set them on his property for the rabbits I’d been chasing around with a pellet gun and he gave the go ahead. I set them at the entrances of den holes in the lava rock formations around his property, and the next day I caught a rabbit and a skunk! My aunt was NOT happy about how I smelled lol. The next day another rabbit and ANOTHER SKUNK! Lol after that my aunt said no more lol but it was too late, it was already a lifelong obsession.


"I have two guns, one for each of ya."
Re: What got you started? [Re: Slicktreedog] #6713243
01/01/20 04:48 PM
01/01/20 04:48 PM
Joined: Jan 2009
Posts: 6,683
PA
G
gryhkl Offline
trapper
gryhkl  Offline
trapper
G

Joined: Jan 2009
Posts: 6,683
PA
I found an old #1 1/2 long spring nailed to a chunk of plank in our shed when I was 7 or 8 and asked dad how it worked. He set it for me and I put it in a groundhog trail that came into our garden. I caught the groundhog and dad let me shoot it with his .22. I was hooked from then on.

Re: What got you started? [Re: Slicktreedog] #6713251
01/01/20 04:55 PM
01/01/20 04:55 PM
Joined: Nov 2013
Posts: 1,742
In the south central Pa Mounta...
grayfox54 Offline
trapper
grayfox54  Offline
trapper

Joined: Nov 2013
Posts: 1,742
In the south central Pa Mounta...
I had a strong desire to catch a coyote and I did


I don’t trap because I want to
I trap because I have to
Re: What got you started? [Re: Slicktreedog] #6713273
01/01/20 05:20 PM
01/01/20 05:20 PM
Joined: Mar 2019
Posts: 1,497
Southern NJ
maintenanceguy Offline
trapper
maintenanceguy  Offline
trapper

Joined: Mar 2019
Posts: 1,497
Southern NJ
I grew up hunting and did so until I graduated high school and went off to college. I enjoyed the days off from school but didn't really enjoy sitting in the cold woods all day. When my son was old enough to hunt, I became a hunter again - briefly. He had the same revelation that I had when I was young, there's a fine line between hunting and just sitting in the woods getting cold.

But trapping seemed like a better alternative. More moving, less sitting. So, this is our first trapping season. We trapped a few days over his school's Thanksgiving break and trapped 10 days over Christmas break. We caught a couple of raccoon in DPs but pulled them after a few days. Turns out we like the challenge of snaring better. We're still learning but have managed to snare two raccoon, one house cat, and a squirrel. We released the cat unharmed. I hope I never catch a cat again, they don't' believe you when you tell them you're there to help.


-Ryan
Re: What got you started? [Re: Slicktreedog] #6713282
01/01/20 05:27 PM
01/01/20 05:27 PM
Joined: Aug 2016
Posts: 545
Pennsylvania
C
Claypool313 Offline
trapper
Claypool313  Offline
trapper
C

Joined: Aug 2016
Posts: 545
Pennsylvania
The pursuit is in my blood. From the first time i had any self awareness, i knew what i needed. Doesn't matter if hunting, fishing, or trapping. For me trapping a little on the side is just hunting while i sleep.

Re: What got you started? [Re: Slicktreedog] #6713363
01/01/20 07:06 PM
01/01/20 07:06 PM
Joined: Jan 2018
Posts: 113
NC
G
GoGitter Offline
trapper
GoGitter  Offline
trapper
G

Joined: Jan 2018
Posts: 113
NC
10 years ago I started dating my wife and the beaver s were backing the water up on her property. I sat in the swamp a couple evenings with a rifle but quickly saw that was not the way to get rid of beavers. So I watched YouTube and bought 4 330 conibears. I caught a beaver the first night and that started my addiction and love for trapping. Probably 4 years into trapping beaver i jumped on the coyotes and I enjoy trapping both.


Forgiveness is just a prayer away.
Re: What got you started? [Re: Slicktreedog] #6713382
01/01/20 07:18 PM
01/01/20 07:18 PM
Joined: Mar 2018
Posts: 3,121
Pa.
B
Bigbrownie Offline
trapper
Bigbrownie  Offline
trapper
B

Joined: Mar 2018
Posts: 3,121
Pa.
Late in the 1970s, I got married on a Saturday, and the mine I worked at shut down on Monday. I heard a fella could get $35 dollars for a coon an the carcass, $8 for a muskrat. Bought a dozen 1 1/2 Victors, and 2 dozen 110 B&L. I made $1200 in the next three weeks.

Re: What got you started? [Re: Slicktreedog] #6713410
01/01/20 07:51 PM
01/01/20 07:51 PM
Joined: Mar 2012
Posts: 471
Wyoming
T
ttzt Offline
trapper
ttzt  Offline
trapper
T

Joined: Mar 2012
Posts: 471
Wyoming
My first memory of trapping was Pappaw talking about catching rats (nutria)in steel traps . I was probably seven or eight . He died when I was nine. I have vivid memories of hunting and fishing with him , but unfortunately I don't remember ever trapping with him . When I was 12 we moved from town out to the farm where he had lived and his traps were still hanging on the wall in the potato shed . I started setting them because that's what he did

Re: What got you started? [Re: Slicktreedog] #6713411
01/01/20 07:52 PM
01/01/20 07:52 PM
Joined: Oct 2008
Posts: 537
s.e. mn
T
timbremn Offline
trapper
timbremn  Offline
trapper
T

Joined: Oct 2008
Posts: 537
s.e. mn
$3 muskrat and $20 mink and coon in 1974

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