My question to you is, what do you as a trapper want to see our future generation trappers carry on or what advice do you have for them. I have three children, 10 yo daughter, 8 yo son, and 5 yo son. They all love the fact that I am a trapper. Oldest loves to watch me skin and finish furs, middle bought a half dozen of his own traps for coyotes and is very involved, youngest loves the setting and checking portion. Ive tried to instill in my kids ethics, not just for trapping but life in general. As I was a young kid once ( possibly still act like one )I know that sometimes your Ideas seem great in your mind, until real life twist the results. It does matter if you miss a check, it does matter if you leave a trap set, it does matter if you get permission, it does matter to respect others opinions, it does matter to stand for your morals, it does matter to follow rules/laws. I see on here often that someone young or someone inexperienced offers up a idea that in there mind seem legit and we quickly add our opinions good,bad,or ugly. I feel that is a good thing, trappers need to have a degree of thick skin in todays society. That being said, sometimes with my own kids and others I admit I miss teaching opportunities and instead just give the lecture. So for the future trappers my advice to you is this.

Respect the art of trapping as a whole. Trapping is not just dropping a trap in the dirt or setting a snare, there are factors to consider well before you ever get to that point. Utilize the knowledge of other trappers, there is more information in experience than one could probably ever share, but alot of that information is derived from failure, therefore we learned from it. Opinions are like rocks on a river bank, you can take it, leave it, or throw in in the river. You will probably remember that rock no matter what option you choose, so dont be offended by someone’s opinions. Most of all, have fun, use your head, and keep this way of life going to pass on to your kids.

Please share more wisdom than I have, as im sure all of us still have the capacity to learn, willing or not.

To add to this, because I feel it is the main point. Not just to respect the act of trapping, but most importantly, to respect the animal! If you respect the animal, everything else will fall into place. You won't miss checks, or forget traps, or use shoddy equipment if you always keep the respect of the animal in mind. I see videos nowadays of people terrorizing animals in traps and it makes me want to take a ball bat to those so called trappers. They were never taught to respect the animal. If you don't feel a split second of remorse when you harvest an animal, you're not doing it right.

Aside from respecting the animal, respecting the people who allow you to trap on their land is also important. But if you don't, you're mostly just hurting yourself (and other future trappers) because you won't have that land to trap for long.

Not just to respect the act of trapping, but most importantly, to respect the animal! If you respect the animal, everything else will fall into place. You won't miss checks, or forget traps, or use shoddy equipment if you always keep the respect of the animal in mind.

Really glad you added that, it is a huge part of trapping. My mental capacity was tapped as I typed more than one sentence.