Where do you think it will be in the next 10 years? 20 years?

It is trending down. But I would expect some upward bumps from time to time like we've experienced with otter, rats, coyotes and beaver in the last 20 years. There will be continuing markets in the craft trade for some quantity of goods into the foreseeable future is my guess. There will be less fur harvested though as trappers age out and the antis keep working at more trapping restrictions/bans etc.

Still alive and well
Still alive and well
Every now and then its kind of hard to tell
But its still alive and well.

Going after high dollar fur tomorrow.

What do you consider high dollar fur?

If Russia relations and Chinese relations improve I see a fur market continuing with on and off peaks and valleys. The USA isn't going to have a robust buyers market in finished fur products with constant rising temps.
Hopefully foreign relations improve with fur wearing nations

I'll be retired in 10 years so it will be going strong for me. At least it will be in Oklahoma.

I am unsure about the future of trapping in New Mexico, but I'll find a way.

It will be almost entirely for hire. Competing with the USDA will make it tough. The money will be in trapping squirrels, bats, coons, snake removal, beaver etc in private homes in cities same as today.

sadly, look at the trend of the last 50 years. Increase human population and stupidity, decrease habitat, increase making disposable goods, degrease utilizing renewable resources, decrease in common sense, decrease in demand.....

But lets think EV's and lithium mining is the future?????

The people Manitoba trappers currently have in the wildlife branch are trappers themselves. They’re going to great lengths for us and trap designers to help get more stuff certified. I know some states it’s pretty open, but some states handcuff trappers with their laws too. It’ll be around here for my lifetime, but not the big numbers. It’s work, and who’s going to wanna work with their hands in 20 years?

Unfortunately, after talking to a trap designer, cost are only increasing…..to the point that nobody will pay. The Hutterite colony’s used to pump out some good stuff. Now, some of the traps he’s looked at are not up to par and the price of manufacturing is going up to boot! I have to bring 2 of 3 traps back to him because the loose jaw doesn’t lay level, when set. He said he’ll give me new ones. And I ain’t taking a crow bar to a brand new $180 trap!

Going strong.Just go to some of the trapping conventions.

People(probably adults) with time and money will do it. Just like hunting and fishing. Just not as many, as eventually, if they start really doing it, it becomes work real fast. Low paying, dirty jobs usually don't remain popular.

X2

I hate to be negative, but all trapping is now illegal in CA. It was a slow method by the antis to make it more and more difficult for trappers little by little over time (40 year plan), and then BAM!!!, all gone. It seems that as CA goes, so goes the nation eventually...

Lesson: Don't give up one ounce of trapping freedom, don't allow any addtional regulation, it's all a plan to take trapping away.

States with involved trappers in their association, good working relationship with their DNR, a working relationship with their legislators, and strong trapper ed programs will outlive states that fail in one or more of these categories. Recent trapper ed students, if not attending for ADC work, are learning to trap for a variety of reasons. Few, if any, are planning on making big bucks as trappers did years before. Active recruitment of new trappers followed by involvement in their lives at any level to help them achieve success will at least lay the groundwork as they return to trapping later in life after things settle down.

Consumptive use of wildlife has become a norm on TV. Continued promotion of these lifestyles is a positive for us. Trapping becomes just another part of that movement. Though I sometimes cringe at the techniques portrayed by the "experts", the viewing masses are still watching. You Tube supports a library of trapping videos, making it appear all the more normal.

The antis have their work cut out for them. I haven't seen much activity in the anti dairy, bee keeping, anti deer hunters, etc. And they tend to age out of their angst as they get older, raise families, and try to make ends meet. That's all good for us.

So . ... the future of trapping? Some of it depends on us, eh?

As long as a demand for fur exists there will be recreational trapping, but if you want to see the trend just look south.

There is minimal demand for southern goods and all trapping here is centered around nuisance and predator control.

The sale of fur in the US has gotten to be unpopular thanks to the antis. They have spent a lot of money convincing the population that trapping and wearing fur is not good. They place a higher value on animals than on human life. More and more of these groups are popping up. PETA, HSUS, ASPCA, to name a few. They all are opposed to killing all animals by any means. You see ads on TV. They brainwash the public into believing this is wrong to kill any poor animal.

I think trapping for fur will have to rely on overseas sales now and in the future. But, the way things are going in the world, unless things change, the future of trapping looks dim. If it wasn't for hunting and trapping organizations, it would become nonexistent.

Trapping is a necessary, humane sport to control populations and is good conservation.

Hate to be the Debbie Downer, but i think it's doomed. Political agenda's are such that people want to do away with animal death. We will be regulated out of existence. The up and coming biologists need a dog in the fight, and almost all of said "biologists" are anti trappers, thanks to the liberal universities. Up to this point, we've been lucky to have advocates in the management positions, fighting for our rights. Not much any more. I don't see biologists willing to work more than 40 hours per week. It's no longer a lifestyle any more, just a paycheck. In my semi-retirement, my mentored wolf trappers want to go back to camp at 4:30, instead of going the extra mile, catching that last wolf, and being out there until 10:00 p.m. I predict it will be illegal to export fur in another 20 years. I hope I'm wrong.

Jack

Everybody will be doing it just to eat.

Marten Lynx and wolf.

For many people here trapping and being out on the land is a way of life that they love regardless of market swings it is what people do and always will do.People have a vested intrest in keeping the resources they utilize on a regular basis in a healthy condition.It is good to see they young people taking the trapping courses every year so they can carry on the traditions with their families out on the land.The community traplines that the Native people have implimented are a good idea to get the young people exposed to trapping and living and travelling out on the land in a hands on way to learn the lifestyle,
People still work with and wear fur here also.

Are there many anti-trapping organizations in Canada?