Around the year 2000. Went with a friend on a CO elk hunt, and we spent some time in Yellowstone. Saw lots of beaver sign and read the Lewis and Clark books. Came home and bought two 330's and a setter at our local hardware store. Found Trapperman and read your articles. Caught two 40lb beavers the first night at dam crossovers. Branched out to bucket sets for raccoons. No mentor at all. Learned a little on here. Fur buyer was a help. He gave me some castor bait, and I then made some mound sets. Good results there as well. Then I caught an otter at a blind set under a log. Got $100+ for it.
Was in my 50s when I caught my first animal. Trapped for recreation for about ten years. Moved to the coast, and the NPS biologist agreed to let me trap raccoons that were raiding bird and turtle nests. Pretty soon she wanted me to trap mink in tidal creeks. I didn't have a clue how to do that. Then she offered me a volunteer jacket and a government pickup truck to drive to my sets. She said she was hiring a full-time trapper. I said, "Great", I'll donate all my gear to him, and you can give me an itemized listing that I can claim as a gift on my taxes. She did, and I retired from trapping. Donating everything produced the only profitable year for me. I even won a volunteer award.
My best coon night ever occurred on a small island in a marsh. I had some fresh tuna, caught that day. Set six buckets in a circle. Caught five large coon and a darn nutria. Could have gone six for six. Heck a nutria doesn't even eat meat, but it went in my bucket and spoiled a perfect night.
