I am looking into possibly trying to trap next year and I was wondering what would be a good animal to start out with? I am almost completely new to trapping so a few good pointers about pretty much everything ranging from the size of a good beginners trap that is not too expensive to how to kill or skin it without ruining it.

Thanks

Sam

Wow loaded question.


Best animal to start with is raccoon.

Best beginner trap is a 1.5 double jaw.

Beginner tip set on sign. If the target animal isn't there you can't catch it.

How not to ruin a skin is don't put extra holes in it.

How to kill an animal... dispatch is PM only. So make it a drowning set.

Now I have to pop the popcorn.

Where do you live, what animals live in the area, if you have muskrats their easy to catch, easy to put up and usually DOA, and sign is mostly easy to spot and ID, and more trappers have probably started with trapping them then any other

Coon are common almost everywhere, not hard to catch if you do your part, but much harder to put up properly

Beaver are not that hard to catch, once you know how and use the proper size traps, take a bit of effort to skin and put up and not bad eating and have become common in many areas

Canines a bit harder to catch and put up but once you know how very fun and interesting to do, and few thing are more beautiful then a stack of well put up canine furs

Cat are easy to catch and just beautiful

So start with what you have and go from there,

I would recommend that you invest 20 in the Wisconsin trappers association DVD on putting up fur it one of the best resources I know of for doing it properly

And try and attend your local trappers convention it’s well worth any trouble to do so, the pure information you can get at one is awesome and the people some of the best you will ever meet, and will give you what they know freely

For dispatch I would invest in one of Lee’s death rays, nuf said

coon and muskrat are best to learn first, more leeway for rookie mistakes yet still have success

Here’s what helped shorten my learning curve by decades. Join your state trapping assn, and contact officers AND district reps off their site and ask for a mentor to ride along with. MANY states have their own forums. Like here in NC. And TN has 2 and Va has 2 also and KY too. A mentor helps Learn trap prep and techniques and tricks and the laws in YOUR state regarding jaw spreads, shock springs, etc, etc. (( Laws vary a lot from state to state so BEWARE of FB and utube. You can be shown things that are illegal in your state!.)) This gets you in the info loop of FREE trappers ed classes and meets and fur sales/pick ups, and conventions. Then attend ALL YOU CAN, this shows folks you are serious and will be a good student. It sure helped open many doors for me and it could for you as well. ALSO, get several different trapping supply catalogs, like MTP, Murrays, Sterling Fur, FandT, PCS, Flemings, Northern Outdoors, Trap Shack, Schmitt enterprises, Southeastern outdoor supplies, JR & Sons, Grawes, rpoutdoors, etc etc, THEN circle gear you need, and give the catalogs to loved ones to buy your Birthday and Christmas and July 4 and Easter and Anniversary gifts. Explain to them, you want their money to go towards what you will use and need, as opposed to another sweater hanging in your closet. WORKS GREAT in our family.
I was blessed to find 3 guys, so rode with 1 on 1 weekend, another the next weekend, and so on. Always offer to buy their lunch or gas while out with them too.
Hope this helps

here's a couple places to look for a mentor:
http://www.mtpca.com/contact.html
and
https://www.michigan-sportsman.com/forums/michigan-trapping-and-varmint-hunting.51/

I ran a half dozen dp's my first season and did pretty good on coons, they get you to think about setting on sign. Last year which was my second season trapping, I ran a water line for mink rats coon and beaver, and next year I'm trying predator trapping. I would start with coon and then work up from there. The hardest part for me has been learning good fur put up.

So what are your thoughts on possums? because where I live (we have some woods) those are the most plentiful, though sometimes I will see racoon prints and hear coyotes in the woods. I would prefer to start on my own property and we don't have much to any standing water on it

you will catch opossums as a non-target in ANY set, many thin them early season with cages so when the fur is prime they are mostly outa the way.

Possum? Well pretty much any set you make in land, any bait or lure you use will catch possum. Best possum set i know of is a predator set you took a longer than normal time making. Possum will get in line for a "perfect" canine set lol

I’d buy a freezer over the summer that will take the pressure off of you to not to do things your not sure about yet, it allows you a “time out”. It will allow you to do new things when it’s slow and to freeze what your not sure about or cannot get to if things get busy. Depending on who your selling to you might have options to sell in the carcass or in the grease to start as put up supplies are not cheap to gather up.

If you learn how to skin then roll and freeze that option is a space saver you can pack a lot of furs in a smaller space as carcass animals are a pain stuffed into a freezer to work around. Find someone to show you how to case skin so you know where to skin and when to skin VS pulling a hide to speed things up.

Learn the basics first is number one.

Samuel, what county are you in?
(You can P.M. the answer if you'd prefer)

If you dont have access to a good trapping education course at least get a hold of a good trapping manual for your area.Also get a hold of the trapping regulations for your area.
You dont want to go out and break any laws you are unaware of.

Go here and educate yourself!

Trapperman archive

Will do asap.