Someday the market will be back
Glad you all can do this as a hobby

I like that hoodie!!

The thing that bothers me for the future is this.

Fur trappers have a double incentive. One the financial reward to trap, and next the incentive to preserve the resource for future harvest. Only a fool would trap it all and kill the golden goose. So we have good management of furbearers.

ADC trapping on the other hand has only the financial reward and every incentive to catch them all. Here we have no management only removal.

That and the payer of ADC trapping comes to view the resource as a pest to be removed. Buyers of fur value the resource.

Not knocking ADC as I are one of those. It's just what I see from many of my urban clients who would kill them all if they could.

The little ones get a kick out of it. Even if its just small coons.

I suspect you're right but boy, I sure don't understand it. The first 4-5 years I trapped I didn't even know of anywhere to sell my fur. I'd put them up ( in a way that would have netted me $0 if I DID know a furbuyer, lol), and then they sat there until the bugs ate them in the summer. But I didn't care. I trapped because I loved trapping. I'll admit that when I was young I was a bit of an outlaw and started trapping in about July. Which may have actually been legal since it was only on our own land. Selling fur never even entered my mind. It was all about catching fur. Which I suppose is why there's still a 3 year old bobcat pelt in the garage, lol.

Are kids that want to trap only for money really going to end up being lifelong trappers anyways? Or will they forget all about it when their adult paychecks start rolling in?

I agree with you Angela. When I started, I didn't give a hoot about the money aspect, I just enjoyed trapping and sharing what I did with my dad.

From someone from the young trapping community I can tell you honestly most of us really don't care about money. There's a big generational gap when it comes to the mentality behind the why of trapping for a large part.
Honestly a lot of people in my age group just do it because we think it's cool, we like doing it talking about it sharing pictures and stories, techniques ect. The money we can get is nice but for most of us it's generally not the reason vs alot of older people.
It slowly when I'm talking. To another 20 something yr old about how I'm happy spending stupid amount of time and material to catch a possum , most of the time it's a pretty mutual whatever of " lol that looks pretty fun heck yeah " older trappers who cam up doing it with a monetary incentive being partly the main driving factor...well.... Not so much.
I Mean we know theres no real market, we know we're not going to be able to buy a house or new truck or whatever ,heck most of us know we probably won't break even with our piddly little fur checks like back in the day but that's very rarely the point . Usually more then anything it's an excuse to do it.Honestly I feel relaying on the fur market and people wanting to make money to keep trapping alive and to get people in it is a pretty crappy thing to relay on because what gonna happen with a good majority of people when the money starts to dry up ? It's nothing more then a business and when you can make money no point is dealing with it ,defending it ect

Plenty of elders around willing to help.
Posting for a friend lol.

When I really think about it, I believe it was reading Fur, Fish and Game that got me interested in trapping. So, believe it or not, the interesting trapping stories and catch photos that are posted in this site are probably enough to at least spark an interest for the young and old..er.

Agree somewhat. Financial incentive didn't get me started but it sure helped to keep me going. Sure wish it would go back to the days when a kid could catch their Christmas money.

The grandson loves to go.

Some Great points!

Especially Wolfdogs

I’d say few people really make any real money they might recoup some money but a true profit most never recover if you take every trapper into account. Time, money for gas and supplies, the cost of a vehicle to get around , tires maintenance . Many might want to believe that’s not the case but it seldom is there are exceptions in a few cases.

Unless you’re buried in the current fashion or desired fur at the time breaking even is often the goal. Money could be made back in the 70s only because everything had a good value. A “low” price then is a better price than today even. LOL. Some paid trapping gigs might be the exception but then a lot has to do with skills more then fur prices.

I just bought $300 in supplies and I will drive 50 miles one way to trap cats at one of my places making multiple trip down and back spending hours hiking the river breaks doing it. If that was a paid job I’d quit but I do it for free.

I catch a few cats I’m happy that’s what is all about. The old saying is often true “ I don’t trap for the money, the money allows me to trap”

Here,taking young people out on the trapline has a lot more to do with things other than just the trapping and fur.
It teaches them self sufficiency in the harsh realm of the northern bush in all seasons,especially winter,how to navigate thru miles of thick forrest without getting lost,how to recognize safe and unsafe conditions like ice travel,how to harvest for food as well as for fur for income to provide staples,in other words how to live comfortably in the bush in all conditions and seasons and how to provide what you need from the land.
It also teaches the responsibility to protect your land that you are responsible for managing the resources on to keep the land healthy and able to provide the necessities needed to live for weeks or even months at a time on the land.
Trapping has always been about money,not to swell your bank account but to be able to provide the things that make life easier on the land
In fact not too long ago fur was money,and was directly traded at the posts on the coast for goods like guns shells, flour sugar tea tools traps,saws axes and any number of things.
Value of fur always goes up and down,always has and always will.it never stopped the families from trapping their hunting lands and selling their fur to provide money for things that cannot be obtained directly from the land.
Many trapping families closer to the settled areas turned to guiding fishermen and hunters in the off season to supplement their trapping income when fur prices were low.Some took seasonal work on the railroads or construction but made sure they were laid off in October so they could trap and live on the land all winter.It is a way of life for many and is ingrained here passed down thru generations who have looked after their land in the intests of passing it down within the family

I was one of that lucky generation that got to experience 70s & early 80s fur boom. I was a teenager during most of that, but those fur prices (and the availability of local fur buyers) started the fire in me. It was a great time!

Didn't think I'd ever see those prices again, but along about 2010-2011 fur prices made another good jump. I made more money during those couple years than any year during the 70s/80s. But, it was because I was set up better and ran at it harder. NAFA fur checks well over $10,000 each both of those years, in addition to a good coyote and fox live market.

Today, due to living in an area where landowners are willing to pay for beaver control and predator removal, there is much more money to be made than at any time in my trapping history. But, for us old coons, age is catching up with us.

A Now departed friend of mine used to say to me during a day our sportsmen's club was having it's twice yearly hunter /trapper ed event Itis up to us as adults to teach young kids to be responsible outdoors men and women And if we claim that we truly love any activity no matter what it is and do not make a real effort too pass it on then we are just phonies I have mentored a few trappers some young and others not so young f they expressed and interest It always ends up being a worth while experience because it opens the door to educating others about trapping

Great shot Hondo0925 that little guy seems to be wondering if that cat is truly done or it it playing possum LOL

Back in the 70s i never made much money on my furs as i always traded for traps and supplies. But boy did i have fun.

So true about money, Young folks that start trapping these days are in for the love of it , thought that was gone. glad I was wrong about that.