In 1973 I was 13 years old and became interested in trapping. I began buying Fur-Fish-Game magazine at the local newsstand and wanted to learn more about this wonderful outdoor sport. I saw the ads for trapping books inside and decided to order my very first trapper’s book, “The Trapper’s Companion” by Harding Publishing Company. After a number of long days of anticipation the book finally arrived and I began my obsession with the world of trapping! Every night I would sit in the dark of my upstairs bedroom in Bluffton, Ohio, with a flashlight under the covers, reading each story and marveling at all the wonderful pen & ink illustrations. I would dream about exploring all the woods and creeks in my county, making each set just like this book showed me how. My little teenage mind was over the moon with the romance and excitement of the outdoors and this book was my doorway to it! I was hooked! After high school I moved away to attend art college and lost track of this little book. At the NTA Convention in Lima, Ohio this past summer, a young man named Shane came up to my booth and asked if I was Joe Goodman. I said yes. He told me that he had brought something for me that I might be interested in seeing. It was in his car and he would be back shortly with it. He returned with an item in hand and asked if I recognized this. It was the book, “The Trapper’s Companion”, and inside the front cover was my 49 year old signature! It was my long lost book from 1973!!! I could not believe my eyes! A flush of emotion and wonder overcame all of us at my booth, like I have not felt in a long time! Even Shane was a bit choked up. He said he was at a yard sale 8 years prior in a nearby county and bought a group of books. He was a reader of FFG and recognized my name. He decided to keep it to return to me, in case he ever ran into me. What a wonderful gesture from such a nice young man who I had never met before!!! It is said that we can never recapture our youth. But thanks to a gesture from a kind young man, I was able to obtain a little piece of mine. THANK YOU, THANK YOU, SHANE! What a gift!

Joe Goodman
www.JoeGoodmanPrints.com

What a cool story Joe.
Love reading about things like this!
Blessings to you.

Great story, made my day!

That's really cool!

Awesome. Great story

Congratulations to both you and Shane. It's nice to know there are still some good people left.

what a great day that must have been ,I believe I have a copy of that book

What an amazing thing to happen almost a half century later. We often bash today's youth but there are still plenty of fine young men and women out there. I also have that book and it is quite old.
This uplifting story has made my morning brighter. Thank you so much for sharing and have a great day!

Joe, that is the most amazing story! I’m happy for you and I’m sure your reaction provided a great reward for Shane. It looks like your old book is still in great shape.

That is awesome !!

Great story!

Great story Joe...thanks to Shane we ALL got chance to read about it!

Great story

I got a little choked up just reading this. I still have my copy that I purchased along about the same time in 1973.

Incredible story. Thank You for sharing!

Great story, thanks for sharing.

Serendipity indeed!

Yes there are plenty on good people in this world And we can never have enough of them Thanks to Shane for setting an example of how we should act And not just when we think there is something in it for our selves My Dad had a copy of this very same book He was born in the 1920s In those days boys living in the country generally only went to school until age 14 At that age farm boys where considered old enough to work on the farm .And work they did .Cutting and shocking corn husking it by hand and than running it through hand cranked shelling machine .Tractors did not appear on many farms until the 1940 Many farmers where still using horses to complete at least some of the duties . Money was hard to get in those days 50 cents or a dollar was hard to earn in the time Many of the young boys had a few traps that they had been able to gather together over their young years And like Joe mentions those traps earn a few dollars during the winter hours . And if you caught a mink or red fox yu where thought of as some kind of almost magical person My Dad had a copy of The Trappers Companion He had been a very involved trapper in his 20.s &30.s. By the time I as born he no longer trapped .I found his copy of it sometime in the 1960,s I think it was published around 1947 .That would have been after WWII. ended I recall him telling me he would carry a empty 50 lb burlap fed bag with him checking traps And how he would catch so many some days as to almost fill it And he also caried a kerosene lantern to be able to see The first thing that sticks in my head is my Dad was no a good reader At that time coming out of the depression years. school education for boys was not looked on as necessary beyond the basics . Also the book was priced at 50 cents in those days And 50 cents was hard to earn And if as a young trapper hoping to make some money you needed traps more than books about how to make sets .What Joe Goodman's story shows beyond doubt is that the desire to be more than just an observer from a distance Many of us have a born into us instinct to become a part of the life cycle of nature And while our love of nature is sometimes hard to explain it is very genuine Hunting and trapping are not just something we do It is what we are .Very cool story Joe Just proves that somethings are still right in our world

This is a great story and thread. I also purchased a copy of this book in the mid 1960s as a beginning youth trapper. A few years back I donated my well worn copy of this book to the Wisconsin Trappers Association District 5. I am sure somebody will find it just as enlightening and entertaining as I did back then.

What was the chance of that happening?A million to one?