Was going through an August 1986 “The Trapper” and came across this ad. A while back in Trapperman, someone mentioned this name and instruction.

Gotta love that "Guaranteed the best anywhere at any price" pitch.

I remember him.

I got his book and cassette tape, long long time ago

Scam artist.
He gave his first class at my house. There were 8 trappers there not one paid the fee and they all walked out.

What do you mean by "Not one paid the fee" ?

Tell us more Beav.

My brother went to his class, and the only hing I remember is he used 2 traps at every set. I told him to go ahead and try it , I will have twice as many sets out.

Didn't Dan Bishop sell/invent 'Wisconsin Snow' set. Was a freeze proof set.

My brother-in-law bought 'Wisconsin Snow' from him. A bag full of styrofoam beads with instructions for setting.
Brother-in-law didn't like setting in styrofoam beads and didn't reorder.
We met Dan at a Pa. rendezvous.

Its been said many times, you can skin a critter once but you can skin a trapper many many times......how many books were written showing how to make a dirthole set (baithole, dirt set, old indian set, double dirt hole what ever): same with a pocket set for mink. How many bottles of lure were sold and each one had the special mixture to draw animals from a mile away.

The trapping industry is what you make of it. There were many more honest dealers/trapper/lure makers that bad ones. Many were big names, Dobbins, Dailey, Hawbaker, Butcher, Walker, Colvin, Lennon, Thorpe, Nelson, O Gorman, Mast, Eckhart, Arnold, Cronk.....and many many more. They all sold what worked for them. The bad one did not last long, they never do.

They sold you dreams of success and motivation. The drive to be better.

When you look at lures and the available ingredients, its very limited and over time laws have made it even more restrictive, you just cannot get some of the original material. So the majority of lures are pretty common: same with methods.....see dirthole..

I have studied this industry for many years, talked to experts, spent alot of time on the line, collected and documented alot of paper. What i have learned is you get out of the industry only what you put into it. If you have bad memories then you need to learn from them, but the majority of trappers are pretty good people and help create great memories..

Enjoy what you can, you never know when it will be the end of the line.

Some said he was a dealer, idk if it's true
His lures looked like water

He was no different than alot of the other fly by nights that showed up in the fur boom. Trapped a few years. Wrote some copycat books. Sold some worthless lures. When the fur boom ended they were gone. Haven't trapped since though some are still peddling their lures. Total frauds in my opinion. Would like to name a few but figured it would not be a good idea. All the guys that have kept trapping all these years have my respect. Not the fly by nights!!

If you look closely at some of the pictures and wording In his books you can see where he copied them from other lesson books.
Dan was a school teacher and very gifted as a speaker.

He was I believe the first person to go on the road giving trapping instruction.
I could say a lot more about Dan but I won't.

Not good at all.