From what I know many of us were exposed to trapping/hunting by our parents, grandparents, uncles etc. And for some of us something clicked and we became hooked. Trapping became a part of us. Others never took to it. (Like my kid).

In my case nobody in my immediate family hunted or trapped. In fact nobody even owned a gun in my family! But something inside my noggin called out to me. I "borrowed" a rusty trap I found hanging in a neighbor's barn and set it on a trail coming out of a canal to a duck pond and caught a nutria. I was 12 or 13. Soon I was devouring the Fur Fish & Games on everything trapping related. Of course it didn't hurt that the local taxidermist/fur buyer started buying those nutria green for $3 each either. The mercenary part of me definitely intrigued by that.

What I wonder about all of this is if there isn't some archaic part of the brain that remembers our hunter/gatherer pasts and calls out for it to be fulfilled once again. There are other parts of my personality that lend credibility to that. Since a very young age I have always had a fascination with preserving and putting up food. Growing/gathering my own food, etc etc.

So for me no "nurture" at all really, except for some high school and college buddies who thought it was pretty cool. But (except for NewHouse 114) nobody as in to it as I.

So for you: Nature or nurture?

I dont know if i have ever analized my feelings or emotions towards hunting and trapping.

I just love the great outdoors .........the West , wide open spaces , mountains and deserts both

Getting away from people while hunting and trapping is an adventure and medicine for the mind

While working in town i find my blood pressure goes up ..............apparently killing people is illegal ....lol .....so to the woods i go

Nature

Nature. Never had a mentor to teach me anything outdoors related besides my involvement in Boy Scouts, but have always had some unexplainable caveman-type urge to hunt/trap/fish, and a desire to get away to the quiet places from time to time.

My dad didn't really hunt, fish, or trap. It was my choice.

Beaverpeeler, my experience was identical to yours. Nature I say.

It's in my blood.

I was told when I was small-3 years old or so I would go off into the bush with the other kids and bring back animals like snakes frogs,etc.Had a catapult since I could remember.
Always spent time in the bush as long as I can remember.Started hunting with a bow and arrows and bb and pellet guns when about 8,shooting birds and squirrels.Started snaring rabbits around the same time. Started hunting with 22 rifle,shotgun at about 12 and same time got traps and started trapping for rats coon,beaver and mink.Moved up north at 15 and started running a trapline for marten fox mink rats ermine beaver,near town,then later at about 20 got to trapping a remote line with a Cree buddy for wolf,lynx,otter as well as the other fur.
My fathers family lived partly off the land when young as necessity but he never hunted or trapped when I was growing up.But I always went out shooting my fathers handguns with him when I was a kid.I already knew gun safety and how to shoot when he bought me my first rifle and first shotgun at 12.
Always went fishing with my Dad ever since I could remember.

I grew up hunting and fishing. Spent every day possible outdoors. My first intro to trapping cane from my best friend. They were a lot “richer” than we were and his Dad had bought him a dozen Victors 1.5’s I believe. We sorta learned together. That back when green coons were $15-18, fox brought in $20-30 and a bobcat was the Holy Grail at $45-60. Now these were all green. We’d run the lines before school on a Motorcycle his parents bought him. I’d run it on my cycle with no motor if he was sick or couldn’t go. While it was fun, it didn’t last once we got 16 and got our drivers license.
Now fast forward 35 years and I was told I needed a new hobby to add to my already not enough time in the day list. The manager at a plantation I probably spend way to much time at, voluntold me congrats, I was the new trapper. I guess it was the challenge that helped me get back started. Now it’s almost like an addiction. I know I need sleep and spend time doing other things, but something keeps driving me to wake up way too early every morning and then keeps me awake at night. I’m constantly thinking of different locations and sets. I’ve always loved the outdoors, just more so the older I get.

Against the wishes of several folks my brothers and I just decided we needed to hunt and trap. Pops didn't have a problem with it, he hunted before he was married but that ended with kids. But we've all been addicted to it since then. It's in our gene's I think. So I'm going with Nature.

My dad died when I was young, there were traps in the basement so I set a few behind the house in the creek. Got a few rats and mink. Never really got in to trapping. Did a lot of small game hunting. After I got out of the Army I got married and had two children.
Some how I got into falconry. Falconry takes up a great deal of your off time. I practiced falconry for almost 50 years. The snow got to deep in the winter and I am getting older. So about 4 years ago I stop flying birds. When I retired I got tired of sitting around and started trapping Nuisance Animals just to kill time. But in my area most people just shot anything they did not like. But no one knew how to trap moles, So now I am Everet the Mole Guy. Nice second income, set my own work schedule etc. I was just the way it turned out.

Nurture. First exposure to trapping was at Colo. State with Major Boddiker. Hooked after that. Moved to Alaska in 78 to be a wilderness trapper........and I was for several years.
mt

I have to say nature. I grew up with guns and my dad took a deer if it wandered into our ravine but it’s not something anyone has taught me. I’m 32 now and my husband(46) did his first deer hunt this year(I’ll be joining next year) and landed a couple (plus a salvage)and so I got to skin and gut them(I wanted to) and tanned my first hides(I’m hooked). This brought on the need to get more hides and the next step for me was trapping/hunting furbearers. I’ve only trapped one so far but It was awesome and can’t wait for more. Hoping to go on my first coyote hunt next week.
We both grew up outdoors and we have 4 kids and they Love being outdoors and collecting anything cool they find. Our oldest 2, 11 & 8 both went hunting for the first time this year and loved it. And out 3 year old “can’t wait to grow up and get her own gun and shoot a buck” as she says. Lol. I’m sure they will start trapping with me next year.

it is just part of me i have been hunting and fishing for 50 years and i still do some but i live for trapping so it is my nature

I have always loved being outdoors and learning about nature. No better way to learn than to participate.

No one in my home were hunters or trappers. My grandfather and uncle on my mother’s side were both avid hunters. When I was 12, it seemed like something I’d like to do.

Fifty years later, I’m hunting and trapping everyday.

My father had always been an outdoors man and the tales of mountain men always caught my attention. After we got FFG I wanted to trap. So after retiring from the Army I got some traps and headed out. My father now traps too. I guess there was nurture to it but it was mostly my own doing.

I started trapping when I was in the fifth grade because I liked animals and wanted to see em up close.

Nature for me. I was a city kid, no one in my immediate family hunted or fished. First gun in the house was a Red Rider BB gun I begged my parents to let me buy around age 12. I subscribed to Outdoor Life magazine always wanted to hunt just didn’t have much opportunity. Didn’t start hunting until I was 22 and started trapping shortly after.

Both Nature and Nurture for me. I was lucky to have a Dad who loved to hunt and fish. He picked it up on his own, however, as there was no one to teach him. He included me in his pursuits as soon as I was able to tag along. Consumptive outdoor activities have been part of my identity for as long as i can remember. I'm grateful to have had a Dad who gave me a head start.