It is with great pleasure that we are launching this very worthwhile project. Below are the documents pertaining to the Trapperman.com Charles Dobbins Scholarship. Wheelers will be running an auction shortly to fund this project. He always does a great job. A big thanks to Cindy for getting this put together. That lady is so knowledgeable about these kinds of things, and we really appreciate her efforts. And thanks to the Defense Fund folks who will be evaluating the applications.

ttt

Dang been working on lawn mower and attending a funeral all day and see i'll have another job here soon, lol.

There are many members on this forum that knew Charles Dobbins I consider myself blessed to be one of them The first impression I had of him the first time I meet him was that he knew more about trapping than I even knew existed. In the 1940's and 1950's there was a sort of idea that catching certain species of furbearers required some magical skills and you had to know how to make secret sets etc. to be successful Charlie was at the front of the crowd when it came to analyzing a problem and creating a way to make what was a problem into a method to use the animals habits against itself to be caught . One thing I often heard him say LET THE ANIMAL SHOW YOU WHERE TO PUT THE TRAP TO CATCH IT . Charlie took the mystery out of trapping and replaced it with common sense Many of his books focused on knowing why certain methods worked would than allow you to duplicate those methods and locations through out your trapline Evaluations of Baits & Lures, Land Sets , Adjustment of Foothold Traps and Trap Fastening all where books the where more geared to the science of trapping and in his way of writing he caused the reader to think about how he was putting in his trapline All of his writings made you feel like you where sitting on a few chairs and just having a normal conservation He was the most humble soft spoken down to earth person And his sense of humor was as sharp as anyone I ever meet He had away of making feel comfortable when he talked to you I admit for at least some time I was somewhat in awe of him and had a hard time holding a conversation with him And all the while he was just willing to tall to you and help you to be a better trapper .I consider him to be the # one reason for most of my success as a trapper He did not just teach me how to do things and taught me why One of his books The GREAT TEACHERS is a collection of his adventures and the things he learned while trapping Many consider him to be the founder of modern day trapping Many of his ideas on trap modifications had almost over night become factory standards Many of his concepts on trap fasten are modern day methods that are embraced by trappers through out the USA A more fitting person to bear the name The Charles Dobbins Scholarship Fund would be hard to decide on Charlie taught our generation a better more ethical way to be a trapper And his ideas where also more friendly to the animals we trapped And for those that enter the contest You are among the best.Those that visit this web site consider donating or buying something

Charles would do a demo every year at the OSTA conventions. At the end he would take questions. One guy asked him how to catch a mink. Charles described how he made pocket sets. Guy says he can’t make that set, concrete wings, even concrete poured under waterway. Charles tells him go up or downstream and look for cover, not an option. Look for what they are eating, can’t see that they are eating anything there. (Anyone who has ever done a demo has run into a smart aleck who tries to mess with you.) Charles pushes his cap back, scratches the side of his head and says, “No habitat, no cover, no food; why would there be any mink there?” Which led to quite a bit of laughter from those in attendance.

I remember thinking at the time that here is the guy who has probably shared more complete information on trapping than anyone in the history of trapping being dissed by someone with no respect and Charles handles it by telling everyone the three most important things about mink trapping all the while putting this “gentleman” in his place.

I received this scholarship many years ago (I may have been the first or second to receive it). I was very honored to receive it and it helped me tremendously. In the couple decades since then, I’d like to think that I have helped trapping in my career. I am still thankful for the support shown to me in those early days.
Nathan Roberts

Good to hear from you and a very nice update on how it was helpful