As schoolboy trappers my brother and I would ride our bikes as close to our sets as we could get. We'd check the line early, before the sun came up. One morning we caught our first skunk. I tell my brother to shine the flashlight in it's eyes while I sneak in and clobber it. As I'm poised for the strike something rustles in the leaves near my brother and he whips the flashlight beam towards it giving the skunk a clear view of what I was about to do. We didn't have to go to school that day or the next.

A few days later I'm riding home with that same skunk hanging from my handlebars by it's back legs. I'm coming down the big hill by Egan's farm at a good clip and that skunk swung into my front wheel and got all tangled up. I went over the handlebars and picked up a good case of road rash to go along with the faint skunk stink still clinging to me from days before.

To this day skunk is one of my favorite smells.

I started in 1974 and now I can't stop

Last year I tossed a drowning weight (concrete block) on a too short drowning cable into a deep creek. Instead of just letting go when the block hit the end of the cable I hung on and got an icy bath for my trouble.

Gosh, I could write a book on my stupidity.

Drags on foot footholds for coon in a dry creek bed, one of my dumbest experiments. They can climb a cottonwood pretty high with that rig.

Concrete block drag for coon, another dumb one I thought would work. Heavy to lug into a location. A Big boar got it up a low bank and out onto flat picked beam field for all the world to see as they drove by. I stake all my coon sets now.

Had a lot of “dead” coon come back to life in back of the truck between stops. Always a good wake up when you reach for something in the back and one grabs you back.

Making coyote sets without thinking about how visible the target is after a catch, what’s it look like from the nearby road. I Always set over a rise, behind some cover, or so far back it’s not readily visible from the road. Get on my hands and knees and can I see the road? That’s one of my yardsticks for choosing set locations. Made a couple sets and catches early on in my ventures that after the catch were highly visible and ended up absolutely shot up to pieces. Around here you have to hide every coyote catch from every truck driving the roads. Private property is no exception.

I’ve shot a jillion skunks in foot traps, and tried every recommended shot placement and even low speed sub sonic rounds. They all spray 100% of the time and seems like the wind will shift to my direction every time. I quit listening to the advice on best methods years ago and have learned to just deal with it.

Trusting thickness of ice on creeks. Always do a sound check ahead of you with a spud. Most inconsistent ice I’ve ever found in winter around here.

Trusting someone else’s waxed dirt ratios. I know mine works here, and I’ve bought a lot of waxed dirt from others that wasn’t sufficient ratio.

Walking a half mile into an awesome location, seeing I have a double on coyotes all yipping and bouncing around, then walking all the way back to the truck to get the clip full of .22 shells I forgot to bring with me and left them in the center console.

Forgetting to bring the conibear setting tongs hat I left back at the truck.

Not marking sets before a snow storm. Amazing how a long fence line can become fairly featureless after a fresh snow. Now I tie a bread twist tie on the fence or nearby weed, or use marking plastic tape by my nearby sets.

Not calling ahead to make sure my buyer is there and open before I make the drive with a bunch of fur.

Locking my keys in the truck.

Getting stuck.

Not paying attention to weather reports.

Thinking I can just drive across that ditch if I go slow and at an angle.

Was spotlighting coon with a friend one night and we shined our light right ahead through the trees at what we thought was reflective bridge stripes on nearby road below us. It wasn’t a bridge, it was the side of a state patrol car parked along the road near the bridge running radar…on a gravel road of all places. I must have put the beam right in his eyes down through his windshield. We were legal, hand held light not attached to a vehicle, guns not loaded, and walking in woods back to the truck, but still had some explaining to do.

Thinking an old RWS snub nose .22 revolver would be a good trapline gun. Most inaccurate gun ever, couldn’t even hit target at a couple feet away. More accurate if you throw it than shoot it. Wasted my dollars, ammo, and time.

Getting started! LOL

Man I'm gonna have to think about this for a little while. It goes from catching a mule and a donkey to falling out of my f250 trying to pick up a coon in the road. Oh yah there was parking my 4 wheeler upside down so the seat didn't get wet. Then there was that day I chased the ghost squirrel through a field edge and shot at it 13 times. Oh yah with a 22 that was dead on you talk about one tired puppy I had a lot of clothes on and big rubber boots boots. Something else I don't recommend is loading your 4 wheeler on a tilt trailer and leaving your manual truck in neutral. A guy did this in his driveway in front of a fire hydrant when that trailer go's flop it must push the truck forward or something. Spending hours upon hours looking for a coyote on a drag that your new trap line dog is trying to show you which way it went. Of course you don't listen to the pup because you have a much better nose. Sorry zippy (RIP). Back to the falling out of the f250 trying to pick a raccoon out of the road you know a stick shift will go a good way in 3rd gear before it stops. Another thing I remember about that day was the sky was blue. Anyway I'm gonna think on this a bit today while I'm doing something stupid on the line and remember just because a cat passes out don't mean it's dead.

I was injecting a skunk in a live trap couple years ago. First round didn't work, second round I'm filling the syringe and stick the needle in my hand after it has been in a skunk, Had to take the head off send it to Madison for rabies testing, was sweating a couple days til results came back.

Had a rat set on s deep cut bank, traps gone no sign, so I lay down and look under the bank head hanging over when a very angry otter comes lunging out at me face. Chane and wire were just short enough.

Had an owl swoop down at me as I was removing a muskrat from a feedbed set once, that was freaky, just missed my head.

First beaver job in a state park, I step down to grab the drowning wire to a number four double spring. Before I know it a large female is swimming around my legs tangling me in heavy wire and a #4 dbl spring. Good thing it was shallow when the whole ended.

Have not done much dumb stuff trapping, yet

Dumbest thing was using swingset/dog/ double loop chain as drag chain on coyote trap. I will never know but I am 99% sure I caught the black coyote I had been seeing. Chain was wrapped around a cedar sapling a little bigger than my thumb and twisted in half. I spent 3 afternoons looking for any sign of drag marks, sound of a jingling chain, etc before I happened to find the drag and half the chain. I never saw that black coyote again

I have done plenty of other dumb stuff though

I forgot to put gas in the the sno-go before I left. That was an 11 mile walk home.

When muskrat trapping in the winter, I came across a feeder hut that had a hole in it and fresh mink tracks all around it. I decided to set a trap in it and reached in with my bare hand to make a spot for the trap. The mink was still in there and latched onto my index finger and tore the heck out of it. I had to wrap my finger with my handkerchief to quell the bleeding. I set the hut anyway and never did get that mink. I am a bit more cautious about reaching into a rat house now and do it with choppers when I do.

Took the wife!

chopped a small hole in the ice so i could reach down and check a 330 groped around till i realized those thin stiff sticks were the trigger wires
Got permission on a neighboring farm the wife shook her finger at me and said i better not catch one of her cats Sure enough first catch was a housecat Snarling spitting scratching bugger i looked across the field at the house and could feel her eyes boring into me So I managed to release it Sucker ran up a fencepost and jumped at my face the battle that ensued would have made Savell proud As i drove out the Ol Gal was waiting and she thoroughly dressed me down for NOT killing that wild cat wasn't hers and walked away laughing

A couple years ago, I had a beaver drag out the sack of rocks, and head up under the bank. It’s tail was sticking out, and the 1/8” cable was tangled badly on roots and around its back leg.



I didn’t want to shoot it in the butt with my pistol, so I thought I would try to pull it out from the bank. The cable was wound up too tight, so I tried to unwrap it. That didn’t work, so I decided to take the trap off its back foot, unwrap the cable, pull it out and shoot it in the head when I got it out. It had a death grip in hole, so I got in the creek behind it an started tugging with one hand, pistol in the other. Suddenly, it left loose, I fell backwards into waist high water, and the beaver landed on my chest. Pistol was gone, and then the beaver. I was totally soaked, so I left the gun in the creek, and headed to the truck.

The next day, I came back with a long pole with a gaff hook attached, was able to snatch hold of the pistol. I went to check my traps, had that same beaver drowned in a trap nearby. It’s back leg had welts on it from the 1/8” cable being wrapped up on it.

Once setting beaver traps on my farm while slightly inebriated, like Lugnut, I also threw the drowning weight and went with it for a very cold bath.

Took this picture ...










...right before sayin, "Let me get a little closer for a better one."


















I'll take the top 100 dumbest things I've done to the grave with me.

Packing the dirt down on on top of a finished set.

Once had something kill and take the head off a rabbit in our yard in the middle of the night. I heard it happen and found the body stashed in the bushes the next day. I set set a trap right in front of it and figured I’d have a fox or something the next day. Well that something was a big ole angry great horned owl. I never want to release another one of those.

Started trapping beaver.

If you have been a trapper foe a long time there is way more than one dumb thing that we would prefer to just forget . Once after making several fox sets I was returning to my truck To save a few minutes I took a more direct route back to the truck However now I needed to go down a steep bank along the road to get down on the road . Well my feet got tangled in some weeds at which point I fell head first down the bank on to the road I am laying on the road with everything spilled out of my pack basket on to the road .Both of my knees and hands where in a considerable amount of pain because I had landed hard .It was hard to move due to the pain And with everything scattered about there was no clear path to just roll over and get up .And than there was the time i had a large boar coon in a steel culvert .I had cleared enough area of brush and briers when I set the trap in daylight hours . Now using a flashlight while checking traps on the way to work I had a big unhappy coon .With all the junk in the way I was having a tough time trying to shot it I was somehow squeezed into position to shot it I thought .However my aim was not so good .The bullet missed the coon and splattered against the steel pipe . And some of that splatter hit me .It was not like it really hit me to do any harm but not a smart move to be sure I hit what I was aiming at , Missing my target allowed the bullet to hit the pipe and come apart .And just one more to show I am sometimes a slow learner .I had set up a well used coon trail with a 1.5 double coil spring I just wired the trap to a small tree next to the trail I did not make the wire tight against the tree . A few mornings went by and on a rainy morning as I approached the set while carrying a flashlight could see that it was a huge muddy mess But my trap was gone. My first thought was someone had stole my trap and catch .AS i WAS BENT OVER TRYING TO DECIDE HOW MY TRAP WAS MISSING and getting more angry by the second As I back up away from the tree I looked up .And about 2 feet from my head was a mud ball of a coon that had climbed the tree until it was wrapped around the first small branch of the tree . Had he let loose of the tree HE WOULD HAVE BEEN IN REACH .OF MY NECK . I could go on but you get the picture .

Hi Steel Jaw, sounds like you're getting your trapping start later then most,since your driving.

My 1st year trapping I was 12.1st skunk. The suns just coming up. It's still dark. I can see the skunk pulling on the trap. .22 in hand I close the distance till about 10 ft. About the time I can see the sights it lets go at me. I got blasted across the knees. I shoot and he's done for. I walk into the house and my mom starts screaming bloody murder. I didn't think I smelled too bad. I must have.

Next boo boo thumb in a new #3 DLS. Right across the nail. Ouch! Turned a wonderful shade of colors I haven't seen before or since.

If you trap long enough, things happen. As you've already found out. But don't give up.