I see many on Facebook selling all their trapping stuff.

I thought trapping wasn't about money?

Getting old, no.one to.pass them on to?

A lot of trappers are approaching the age & health circumstances
where they are limited in their ability to effecrively run a lot of traps.

I know BOCO is on his way out and will soon be having a trap yard sale.

Some unstable trappers possess far more traps than they could ever use,
and yet they keep buying more & more.

Eventually they tip over and their relatives are left having
to get rid of them to clean out the garage or barn.

walleyed seldom has more than about 150 traps out
yet we own over 2K pieces of steel taking up a lot of space.

Sadly, when a trapper finally sells off his trap holdings he is usually toast !!!!

w

On second thought, us oldsters probably not on Facebook, lol.

My second guess:
Snot nosed grandkids selling G'Pa's stuff without him.knowing it

I only sell traps if I don't like them for some reason. I still have quite a few Victor pinch pan double jaws and square jaw 110s even though most of the muskrats in the area are gone. I have noticed a lot of large collections of traps for sale lately however.

Getting old? In some cases maybe but not when it's all newer traps and gear.

I am going on 76 years old, no one in my family before me or after me trapped or traps. I will save the cages and a couple body grippers for family to control coons and chucks. I have about 500 traps or so and I am selling off a few dozen each year. The rest I will probably donate. There is also a lot of of other grear associated with trapping, stretchers, knives, stakes, drags, canoes etc. etc. all of mine are older and don't hold much value so I might as well find a home for them before I go as those items will not reach many if any who may benefit or have interest.

Bryce

Walleyes is right,I have a lot of traps and guns I should get rid of.
Wouldnt want to leave a burden on the kids grandkids and great grandkids.

I call dibs on the traps that you should get rid of as referenced above. ^^^^^^^

Please deliver them to me when you come down to Herkimer, N.Y.
on Labor Day weekend for the NYSTA Convention.

w

They might get confiscated at the border.
I'll let you know next time I go to Kingston to visit my brother in law,you can come up to Gananoque and pick them up.

Biden has made it hard on lots of people. Can't afford all the hobbies they could a few years ago. I find myself fishing closer to home and less coyote hunting too.

The used gear I pickup comes from two sources. First is someone has a pile of gear that was their dad's or grandpaw's, and they want to get rid of it. Second is from people who tried and didn't like it. I like trapping and I'm at a point in my life where I can trap for a hobby, and I can make a little money. But for many they jump into trapping thinking they are going to get rich and don't want to put the work it, so they end up getting rid of their gear.

If you're having a hardship where you really need that X amount of cash to pay bills and stay alive, thats a pretty obvious and good reason to sell traps. Or if you're not trapping much and you need the space or money for other things thats another good reason.

What I never understood is the guys that sell everything when fur prices collapse then when fur prices come back up, buy everything back again at supply prices that were higher than when you got out. Hopefully they invested that money well in that period or made a good amount of cash in another line of work during that time.

When I sell traps, its usually to help offset upgrades to better gear.

There are a few youngsters getting started that pop in here that would benefit from such generosity.

A lot of guys jumped out there and bought a lot of gear last fur boom, what’s it been 8-10 years ago now. A good bunch of them haven’t set traps since and are trying to get rid of them to buy gear for their latest hobby fad. Thermals and live scopes are expensive.

Anyone else look at traps and trapping gear as a investment? Bought alot of high quality gear a few years back that I had no intentions on using. Just keep them up and put them in storage and when I wanted one money for something I'd sell em. Bought probably 50 duke 1.5s from a musk rat trapper for like $3 a pop add probably 2-3 bucks to each with mods being just laminations and swivels and re sold most of them for $10-12 a pop. Could have made more eoff of them if I bent my own lams but egh .

Old outdated taking up space I should cash in bout 300 of mine

This thread reminds me of a lot of things to plan for. Not only traps, but also other things, like firearms , tools, gear in sports, etc.

Unless outright sold, donations to one's cause interest would be good...such as to the local gun range association, sportsman clubs, and especially veteran's causes, to help them out. For me also, my local horsemen clubs, Search & Rescue Riders, would just love my gear as donation someday. Helping them to help the community in need.

I would want veterans to have all the value of a donation , to every penny, first and foremost, of my stuff.

I see traps sold off from three sources here in Pa….#1 Guys who buy gear to start trapping, aren’t successful, and sell out in a couple years. ( Lots of new beekeepers here do the same thing .) #2 Guys get too old to trap, decide to sell off. #3 Trapper dies, family unloads all his gear.

It used to be that there was always younger family members waiting in the wings to pass gear onto. That’s not the case. A lot of hurdles for youth today to start trapping….mainly acquiring places to trap. Years ago, many kids could walk out their back door and run a line, for the overwhelming majority of kids today, that’s not an option anymore.

I'm keeping mine in case fur prices rebound for some odd reason or when SHTF they may be needed to put meat on the table.