1-9-06...Had a single MB750 undah 4 inches of water at the top of a cross ovah. Threw the cement block in the

Deep side...ran the 12 gauge through the slide lock

And tied it off to the rebar stake next to the trap.

Just a blind set.

Next morning ...the trap was gone...down the slide wire.

I pulled and pulled...and said ..this one is pretty good size ..

To my surprise...when my eyes

finally focused..

I had caught 2 beaver in that single mb750 ...

Both...buy the toes. One was 30lb ..the other 35lb.

I needed 2 beaver pelts to have a pair of beaver

Gaulents made...and that's what I'd did with them ,once

In a life time catch

Johnny Thorpe was friends with my father and grandfather. If memory serves me right it was 1980, I saw an add Johnny ran for trapping lessons. Mailed him the $300.00 for a pre-season day on his Adirondack line. Met him in the morning and we started out. After a few stops at different locations he asked me how I would set the otter trail that was in front of us. I had a few snares in the truck so I set it up. Now, snares were not legal in New York then and they are still not now. Johnny had never used 'em at this point. The rest of the day at each location he made his set then I set the spot with a snare.
After dark we returned to his house and said our good byes and then Johnny said wait here a minute. He came out of the house with my envelope and gave me back my $300.00 saying "I learned as much from you as you did from me, just do not tell anyone I did this."
A year later at the NJTA convention Bud Boda (Johnny's western trapping partner) was there selling lures and supplies. Bud pulls me to the side and says "Did Johnny really give you your money back?" I did not say yes or no, just smiled. Bud went on to tell me when they got to Arizona the winter before Johnny pulls out some Gregerson snares and set them in dry washes coming down to their cat/coyote sets, sayin' young Space showed me this. Bud (who had not used snares before either, also being from New York) told me "Darned if we didn't catch extra fur in them".
Over all the stuff I have caught in 68 years of trapping the interaction with Johnny and the conversation with Bud Boda was my "I made it" moment

Great story Eric

I had rotator cuff surgery in October. I had to stay in the sling for 6 weeks. Great timing, huh. I decided I was going to set some coyote traps. My wife was madder than a hoot owl. I dug the bed and drove the stake left handed. I used a pipe instead of digging a dirt hole. Set and bedded the trap with my feet. I managed to snag one.

Coming over a rise in a clover field in 1971 had a red fox bouncing I was 7 years old and the fastest I ever ran back to the house lol

For me it was when I was 12. It was my 3rd year pocket gopher trapping and the year before I made enough to buy a $5 single speed bike. Wow now I could long line gophers. That sumer I got a $16 check from the township for my 64 gophers and a dime each from the farmers so I made enough to by a $25 savings bond.

Bryce

My Dad trapped his entire life, but my kids were responsible for getting me into it and it soon became a passion. We had several trapping DVD's in the house. O'don Corr, Clint Locklear, Mark June, Ed Schneider. Every time we would watch those videos, I would tell the boys that those guys were Big Time trappers. One day we were checking muskrat traps, my 3 youngest boys would get out of the truck and sprint to the pond. Unfortunately those days are long gone. The first four traps all had a muskrat in them. My youngest son got to the 5th set and hollered back, we have one but it's not a muskrat. I knew we more than likely had a mink. He started trotting back towards me and in the most sincere voice said, Hey Dad, are we Big Time ? I started laughing and said, I think right now were close. Regardless of what I do from here on out I'm pretty sure I'll never top that memory for me personally. I have yet to get a coyote double. I have had fox/coyote double twice and that was pretty cool. Still hoping for the coyote double and I'm sure when that happens, I will never forget it.

my pap took me hunting and fishing since I was wee little but didn't know much about trapping so about age 18 I started reading fur fish game and got the bug to run a trapline . . I spent the whole day on the opener setting traps and was up at 4am the next day to check em and on the first farm on the first check day I had a bobcat (not in season) . . I had no idea how to release it so I called my pap and got him out of bed and came up the road and we fiddled with that thing for probably a half hour before we finally got him unhooked . . don't think either of us will ever forget that morning