"He was born to it." I overheard my father telling that to a friend of his. I guess he was right.

Nature.
Needed to get rid of some varmints many decades ago, found I enjoy the chess game.
Been trapping off and on ever since.

I am nurtured by nature so it works well for me. No trappers in my family before or now and in the future from what I can see. I credit FFG while in HS as the magazine that got me interested in trapping. The Jim Kjelgarrd (spelling) books gave me a love of the outdoors.

Bryce

I would say a combination of both. No one in my family trapped when I started trapping, but my uncle and my grandfather had in the past. But, it was nurture in that I was basically raised in the outdoors. My family took me camping from the time I was an infant... real camping, in a tent. All of the men in the family hunted, and all the women fished. So being outside was ingrained in my from the time I was born.

But when i found those old Victor traps hanging in a shed and asked my grandfather what they were and he told me and showed me how to set them... it was all over. I became consumed by trapping in a way i never had with hunting or fishing. I eat, slept and breathed trapping. My family would tell me, "Would you shut up about trapping already?" LOL. So, I think there's definitely some nature in there too.

I read my Jim Kjelgaard books until they were falling apart, LOL. I still have all of them to this day. My favorite was Haunt Fox.

Nature I ques being the desire for spending money when a teenager.

[/quote] But when i found those old Victor traps hanging in a shed and asked my grandfather what they were and he told me and showed me how to set them... it was all over. I became consumed by trapping in a way i never had with hunting or fishing. I eat, slept and breathed trapping. My family would tell me, "Would you shut up about trapping already?" LOL. So, I think there's definitely some nature in there too.[/quote]

.This is awesome! Wish it had happened to me. Lol.
thank

True hunters/trappers, who do it to eat or for some extra money are a rare breed. They are born to it. Dragging a random kid into the wild will not create a hunter or a trapper. They have to have it in them already.
I do it because it is the only way that I can escape from stress which the rest of humanity causes me. When I get there, I am in "Carl World", whereas, while I am there, nothing else matters.

My poor kid from a very young age got dragged along on my boat line in all sorts of nasty western Oregon weather.... day after day. From early morning 'til dark. For him the buzz of seeing the first few catches wore thin by the end of the day. He's 25 now and doesn't have any interest at all in hunting or trapping.

If my dad had been taking me out trapping as a youngster I think I would have felt I was in heaven. So obviously the calling can skip generations. LOL

Probably both. Dad took me with him at a very young age and it stuck. If it wasn't for the nature, I'd never have stuck with it as a full time job for the past 28 years, now going on 29.

Early pic of dad and me. It was probably taken around 1950 or thereabouts.

You're quite a bit older than me and I hope you've got somebody trained on how to make your lures in case you kick off. If you need any help mixing that Skunky Backbreaker, you let me know.

Paul, looks like you and those mink would all would fit in the basket.

I would say nurture more than nature. Grew up in hunting and trapping with my Father until high school where my brother and I were consumed with basketball. Being 6’6” and 6’8” we spent a lot of time on the hardwoods. After college and grad school I was able to get back home and start trapping with Dad again. It has been our love for trapping and the outdoors that make up my best memories.

Dad doesn’t get outside very often anymore so I’m over by Mom and Dads house often relaying what I’ve seen while setting, where traps are located and then show what “we” have caught. I think there is still a big drive to please my Dad even at my age of 51.

Dave

In my case, a little of both. As a kid growing up on a farm some 50 to 60 years ago, I was taught by my dad to hunt and fish......and I coon hunted with dogs with neighbors, but virtually no trapping, even though nearly every farm had a few long springs hanging on a wall in the barn. Back then, in that part of the world, traps were tools to keep varmints preying on farm livestock at bay. No different than a shovel, a hoe or a gun. But very few of those traps ever got used.

A nearby neighbor was my adoptive grandfather, and he came and got me one day and said he was going to teach me to trap coyotes. They raised sheep and he wanted help keeping coyotes at bay to protect the newborn lambs. What he taught me then I now recognize as a hay set. But I never saw much success and when he and the sheep were gone, so was I. We still shot coyotes on sight, but mostly left them for the buzzards. Then it was a home in town for nearly 40 years and trapping never crossed my mind.

Now that I'm back out in the country, I once again have livestock and am surrounded by varmints.......so trapping is very much back in the picture.....but mostly as a form of ADC. Some trap types and animals I have experience with, others'....traps and animals, I'm learning.....and having fun doing it.

But as for trappers and trapping, in the world of sportsman and outdoorsman, I've always thought of trappers as being on a higher plain than the rest of us. To be successful, their understanding of animals and their behavior has to be far above what the average person would have. I think part of it is learned and part of it is instinct. I marvel at the guys when driving down the road can spot a deer, a coyote, etc.......they see what others can't, even when you point it out to them. So yes, I think you can learn a lot, but it helps if you were born with a knack.

I would say nature. My dad took me hunting and fishing but never trapped. I am a self taught trapper that really enjoys the outdoors. So not being a real good instructor I am still learning after 40 plus years of trapping. Now my dad in his 70's is the 1st to get up and check sets. I always set a few for him to look at, it keeps him going.