When did you start trapping?

I trapped as a kid but soon gave up since I had no mentor and no clue what I was doing. I took it up again many years later when I was about 45. Thanks to Minklessinpa. Sure wish I would have stayed with it as a kid but hind sight is 20/20. When did you start?

I was born in 1985 and started trapping in 2012. Wish I would have started in 1986

Wow Ken, I only beat you by 1 yr, when I was 44, in '03...…..and all this time I thought I was the oldest rookie here.

I started back around 1982 and trapped until around until my late 20's. I started up again in the early 2000's . I just didn't have the time or space in between because of my job.

1967 lol ikes

started in '99

I trapped my first muskrat when I was 14, then 43 years later I took it up again for good! I was 57 when I started back up

I started in the late 80s and I was in my early 30s. It was the first time I was around someone who trapped. I did trap gophers for my grandpa when I was a kid.

when I was 12 years old, 1976

1968. Brother and I threw together and bought a dozen #1 Herters longsprings. Amazingly, I still have three of them, and catch at least one muskrat every year with one of those old Herters traps just for the sake of nostalgia. I often wonder, through the ensuing 50 years that I've set those traps, how many muskrats, mink, marten, weasels, and skunks each one of those traps has caught. I suspect they were a pretty good investment.

Jack

GOOD GRIEF! The year I was born and I'm no spring chicken! You alright there pops?

1974 or 75.

Last year at age 50. Late bloomer.

1968, man the Mississippi had rats back then.

1991 when I caught my first coon; I was eleven years old and never will forget it. Took me till I was 14 before I caught my first coyote. Won't forget him either!

Awesome story!

1974..Only year I missed since then was 1993 when back went bad

On my own, 1958. I think I averaged .75 for put up rats

Me to. I hung an apple on a string over a #1 longspring and caught a rabbit first night. It was my “ go to” possum set too.

Started when I was 14 years old. Trapped for a couple of years then gave it up because of drivers license and a girlfriend. ( now my wife) Took up trapping again last year at 55 years old. Coon hunted in the 80’s when fur was actually worth money. Boy have times changed.

1972 @ 7 years old with my grandpa. He passed away spring beaver trapping when I was 10. Better than being in a nursing home!

I was 58 I think. Do I have the senior badge?

I went with my grandpa when I was 10-13 ( 1970-1973)
Started on my own in 1980 at 20 years old..
Once it gets in your blood it never leaves..
always draws ya back..

1967, before I could drive. Had been listening to my brother's trapping tales my whole life, reading books about frontiersmen, etc. Skinned out a couple fox I had been given after the ears had been cut off for the bounty. Finally went to a sporting goods store in Waukesha, WI and bought 1/2 dozen Victor 1.5 longsprings. Did not even dye them. Rode my bike out to an area outside of Pewaukee that had fox dens and made what I thought were great sets. After about a week of checking I decided to pull, figuring I had to study up a little more and would come back. I thought "Why carry all these back?" and buried them along a fenceline. Well, as far as I know they are still out there. Started back up in 1994 when my son was interested. We had a blast. The last few years have been difficult getting around the marshes for me but can hardly wait till I can get back out there again.

Moosetrot

1972 with my dad, I've trapped something to one degree or another every year since.

Started i guess when i was about 12 give or take. That would have been 1965. Of course life throws
Some curve balls but always picked it back up.

I was about 5-6 (1965-66) uncle showed me how to set a victor snap rat trap in a board, baited with a carrot. he gave me .25 for each rat. did that for 4 more years. moved in 1970 and in 1973 found 4 traps set in august outside of franklin. called the game warden and he said go get them he wanted to see them. no tags, so he said keep them.so my buddy and I started the next season with them 4 traps. no one to show us anything, we lost them real fast! didn't know you was supposed to fasten them down! years later found out who's traps they where, a classmate took them from his uncles garage and set them. got his butt whooped for it! been at it ever since!

1964-65 Got 2 11/2 and a #2dls for C-mas. Was 6-7 yo.

I just started 4years ago and I am 68 years old now I never had a mentor but I had Trapperman and Dvds

Yesterday

Well you certainly sound like you hold the oldest rookie title!

I started Last year at 44. Caught rabbits in boxes and snares as a kid and hunted my whole life.

8yrs old and in 76,every year since,some more-some less.

1959 on rats amd mink on the creeks around home first red fox in 1961 first coyote in 1962 thanks to Bill Nelson been going strong ever since

Born in 86, been trapping for about...9 years now? 10 maybe?

Fall of 1969 bought my first trapping license.

Right about then. Muskrats, then coons, and then fox. Had a lot of fox back then too.

Osky

About 2:30

Mid to late seventies I started. My uncles were big influence drug me to conventions, start meetings, gave me ton of stuff to get started. Ken kreshel was a big influence too, so was Dennis vicars.
I still send pics and updates to my one uncle throughout each season.
Now I'm going out checking sets with my two boys and having a ton of fun.
Jim

1956, I was 10 years old.

You mean Feb 1930???? Wow you are old!!

1967, caught 8 muskrats and an opossum. Have trapped every year since in 8 different states.

I trapped coons and skunks with my grandpa on his duck club 2o to 25 years ago as a kid. Re-discovered it this past March at 30 years old. I haven't been too successful but boy am I sure loving it.

All my life. Got serious about trapping alone about ten years ago when my right knee told me to quit hockey.

1966 for muskrats, 1974 for coyotes and cats. Have trapped every year since 1966. That makes me kinda old

1971. 12 years old. I was a long liner. Had one 1 1/2 longspring. I caught a muskrat in pretty quick order. Top of the world, I was.

1974, my dad was a coonhunter and we were selling some coon at a gas station in town. Yeah, he was a furbuyer. Check your oil and make you an offer on your fur lol. Traded a few coon to him for a dozen used 1 1/2 jump traps and it snowballed from there. Man those were good times.

Started in 2012 at 42, always wanted to do it, finally seized the opportunity. Gonna start my 7th season soon! Can't wait!

Started in the early 70's with nutria. Used to get up to $3 in the round from a local buyer. Started skinning stuff when I went to college in '75. What a waste them 4 years of college. Should have trapped full time!

1985, ten years old. Had an old French fur buyer and my older brother teach me a few things. Best thing that ever happened to me.

It must have been in 1941 in Monroe County Arkansas when I was 10 years old. My dad had about 24 traps, 1-1/2 Victor single long springs and a couple of #2 DLS. I caught a few coon, twice that many possums, and 3 or 4 mink. Stopped trapping in 1945 then resumed in 1978.. As best I remember, I averaged $3.50 on coon, $0.50 on possums, and got $24 on one mink. Looking back, as a kid I knew very little about trapping, otherwise I think I would have made good money.

These days I am hobbling to do a little trapping not far from my truck.

When I was about 5 years old..... maybe 6, my dad and I made a couple rabbit traps on the enclosed porch of our old farmhouse during a blizzard. This was in 1962 or 63. I set the homemade wooden traps and caught a few rabbits that winter. I was hooked. Got my hands on a couple old 1 1/2 long springs and spent a lot of time catching farm rats in the feed shed and around the feeding platforms around the hog pens. Started catching possums by accident in the feed sheds. As I got older I set for some coon and then I got some # 3 or 4 DLS and caught a few coyotes. By the time I was in HS the fur market hit a boom. I water trapped and also set land sets. I got some high dollar yotes and put all my money into more traps. That started me down the road of buying traps every year weather I needed them or not. Still doing it.... guess I got a disease cause I almost enjoy buying traps and modifying them or fixing them up just as much as setting them and catching critters. It never gets old.... maybe a little harder each year, but still fun.

1947

1973... 2nd year of college... Mt. Crawford, VA

I bought a few very used traps with lawn mowing earnings in about 1960 or 1961 when I was 8 or nine years old. With a little advice from my dad and grandad, I caught my first 6 muskrats the first year and became a bonafide trapper and was ready for the “good life”. Trapping has been an important part of my life and hope to have a few years left in me!

November 1966. I was 9.

1971 I was 10 caught a coon an skin it an put it up on a wire stretcher that I made ,no one to show me anything ,took it to fur buyer an he thru it in garbage ,said it was junk ,on way home dad stop an bought me a fur -fish-game cut a lot of grass that next summer an got 24 victor #1 got a few muskrats and I have not miss a year since

Started when I was 11 1977 ,mostly muskrats.

Born in 1940 and started trapping in 1949, and have trapped every year since then except from 1958-1961 when I was in the Marine Corps.

im caught up in a job again I cant really get out of. should be done in a couple three weeks. bout the time our coyotes are prime. soon as this job is done ill start. not sure how many starts I have. a couple at least

The mods should make this thread sticky so when I'm feeling old I can read it!

Started at age 10 with a friend's dad. Thank you Mr. Duncan. He took the time to take his son and me out trapping. He taught us mink and muskrat trapping. He also took us to the state convention a couple years. That was many years ago. I trapped through high school then joined the Navy and life took over. I am now 55 and have been trapping for the past 7 years and added canine to my trapping although I still love playing around the water.i have tried to get my kids and grandkids involved. My youngest daughter is 10, she love to come when she can. She also helps in the fur shed. I love trapping and the outdoors and plan to continue until I can not do it . Again, thank you Mr. Duncan....

Started in 1973 at 14 years old. Didn't know anyone who trapped but I set a #1 longspring not knowing what I was doing and came back before daylight the next morning, had my first muskrat in my first trap on my first check. The obsession took over my life at that point.

Started going with my dad as a youngster in the 70's on the farm ..moved to town early 80's started trapping with my big brother mostly beaver as the prices were awesome back then ..life and family came in to play for along time but the passion for it never subsided ..kids are gone now ..started up again snaring coyotes bout 5 years ago and cant get enough

Started in 1970 when I was ten. First catch was a huge possum, to this day the biggest one I have ever seen. Sold for 4 dollars. Trapped into my early 20's, then life got in the way. Started back up 4 years ago at age 54. Having a blast. With a bad back, I don't get around so good. I will trap till I can't move.

Recall setting old long springs for rabbits in the garden maybe around 1971 or so. But actually learned from dad going on red fox/dry land mink line every weekend as a kid. Still have framed pictures of my first coon, red and mink---think dates on those are 74/75/76 so I was basically 8-10 years old. always trapped with dad on weekends thru high school but started running small foot line after school near house around 12 years old up to time I could drive when the line got a little bigger. at that time everything i knew was dryland so mainly looking for coon, fox and mink. i didnt learn to water trap until much later and i'm still pretty lousy at it

awww back in the late 70's & early 80's, good prices and lots of reds. times sure have changed---coyotes moved in to south part of state and grew in population then stabilized, reds decreased and now hang on in the brush, and we have become absolutely overrun with stinky coon.

Started in 1956 when I was 4. This was back when skunk pelts were King!!

At 10 years of age. Caught a muskrat and didn't know what it was! Still at it 49 years later.

1974

Dave Duncan?

I started in 1971 at age 19. My dad did not like trapping and i had to wait to leave home to do it. There was little good information about trapping to learn from and it made for a rough start. From 2000 till 2015, I had to give it up for my career. It gnawed on me something terrible every November. 2016, I retired! I am now a trapper again. There have been some great innovation in trapping since I had left it. I never got rid of my old traps and they required some updates but some of the new traps are absolute works of art in functionality compared to the older styles. Especially in canine traps.

Dad taught me to catch muskrats probably about 1960, I had to stand on the spring of a #1 LS because I didn't yet have the hand strength to set it.Sold them to a trapper friend for a dollar unskinned. Big money for a 8 year old kid.

1957- I was nine and started trapping Pocket Gophers. I ordered a dozen #1 longsprings from Montomery Wards and the next year I bought a single speed bike and was a long liner!
Trapped gophers from 57-61
Trapped rats, fox and skunks from 63-66
Took a 14 year break with college, Nam and work.
Started in 1980 and have trapped every year since Rats, coons, mink, fox are the main species I trap for. Grinners are my main non target wildlife species.

Bryce

Somewhere around 1973. 15 years old or so.

1977, I was 12 years old.

2001... 25 years old.

Mike

11 years old. 1955.

I'm on my 6th season. Started when I was 25. Saw some traps in a outdoors store, and thought "Heck, I can do that." Learned most everything I know from this forum.

I started out in 1966. Dad brought home a doz. number1 long springs.Caught 8 muskrats my first night .

My first memory of trapping is 1983 and I was 4 years old. It was Christmas morning and a few of my cousins were visiting to check out the Christmas presents. When my Dad asked, “Who wants to go and check traps?”, I jumped at the offer. My Dad carried me through the woods to a hidden beaver pond. We came out with a beautiful Christmas Day Mink. I caught my first animal, a Muskrat, at about the age of 8. My first mink came at around 9 years old. I haven’t missed an opening day in UP Michigan since I started riding along with dad at 10 years old.

THis is a great thread seeing and reading about the early experiences. Trappers today have no idea, no grasp whatsoever what trapping was like 50 years ago, especially the difficulty in getting any kind of information about it. I am really grateful to the younger generation who are trapping these days and defending this great sport, even though there is no money in it.

Memories come flooding back reading the accounts of the first catches, etc. The world was full of wonder back in the day.

It was in 1963. My granddad had some coyote problems on the farm. He showed me how to trap them and I was hooked.
I stopped in 1972 for 2 years because i got drafted. I spent 2 years in the army. I couldn't wait to get out so I could trap again. All the time in Nam I was counting the days until I was home and trapping again.
I was born in 1953.

thank you birdman,great thread.

1982 when I was eight . Really ramped up over the next four years before I began doing less . Got back after it around 2000.

Probably around 1953 when I found an old trap in our garage and my dad helped me set it in front of a hole in the woods. Caught a skunk the first night and have dabbled with trapping ever since.

Couple people on this site that I'm waiting to hear from, as I too, enjoy the nostalgia. Boco, you need to tell us a story. White17, put another log on the fire, sit your skinny butt in front of the computer and spin a yarn for us newbies. Oh, and Takotna, you're not old enough to have started then. Tell us the real story, man!

Jack

Started as a young kid around 1977. Stopped in the late 80’s or so. Started again in ‘97

2004, 10 years old a friend of a friend took me fisher and beaver trapping. I loved every minute of it and still do. Except our fisher regulations now, those suck.

I started at around 10 years old,which would have been around 1966.I found an old trap in the basement of a house we were renting.I remember the trap,it was a No 1 stakawt with the two wings on the pan for a dog.There was muskrats in the creek behind the house,and I wanted to catch some with that trap but didn't know how.My old man said he knew a trapper and would ask him.He said I should chop a flat notch on a log for the trap to set on,then stick the log out into the creek.
I did and caught rats.Didnt know you could sell them so I learned how to tan from trial and error,and made knife sheaths and other stuff out of the fur I caught.A couple years later we moved further north and besides rats I was then catching ,mink, beaver,fox, and marten.Got a residents licence with a buddy and started selling fur to the buyer in town.That was around 1972.

Eight or ten,the "old man" built a cabin after the big one.When Sat.or Sunday came around,we,my brother and I were out there right after school.
Mom dropped us off Friday night, TV dinners,do the dishes,stoke the pot belly,dim the lights.Wood heat never felt better!
Remember the old Hawbakers blue book tips? I put it to task,next morning I navigated the concrete block stairway to the shoreline. The classic overhanging
tree with up-rooted trunk. Knowledge earned, I placed my one trap,a number 1 long at the memorized location...patience,...patience,...nothing!
at least not at nightfall.
Morning was slow coming as one would imagine,..but it came and I was ready! The trek was short and the outcome was outstanding! Success!

Started in 1974 at age 8 and been at it ever since and I'm 51 now and still love it

You got drafted to Nam in ln 1972

About 1959 maybe 1960 Grandpa gave me a box of Victor and Blake & Lamb traps about 30 and I lost every one within 2 years

Haven't started yet. Nothing is prime this early

I started in 1974, I was 16 at the time. Trapped till 1985, then never set a trap again till 2015. I had 300 traps hanging for 30 years. I retired at 54, and had to learn trapping all over. When I quit, there were no coyotes here ( had to get bigger, stronger traps ), there were no fishers, DPs, waxed dirt, cubby boxes with 160s, trap caps, cable stakes etc. weren’t on the scene here in Pa. when I quit years back. In the early 80s, I could catch 50-60 rats on my first check of the season. I couldn’t find half that number if I trapped all season now.

Age 12 with a couple of victor #1 LS, and then for x-mas at age 14, I received a dozen Montgomery 1.5 square jaw. I have 4 left. Sarge

I caught a couple of skunks at around 12, but just started trapping for real at age 47, last year.

1950,,,10 years old,,an uncle gave me 8 traps,,,one was a no. 1 Newhouse

I started out cage trapping feral cats and box trapping rabbits with my dad at about 10 years old. That be 90 or 91. Fast forward to 2015. Had raccoons killing chickens like it was cool. Found trapper man and a few good friends on here. I’m heading into my 3 rd season. With over a hundred traps, and I don’t see me hanging it up till I’m dead. Lol

Thanks all. Boco and White, glad you chimed in (but I was expecting a belly-laugh).

Jack

I started In 1953. I walked a line behind the house and caught rabbits and coon and a few rats. In 1955 while I was In HS I would peddle my bike down to the lake. My dads friend lived on this slough and I kept my 12' boat there . I had a 11/2 horse Elgin out board on It and I trapped rats mink and coon out of that boat. I missed 3 years while In the Marines. I'll be 80 next May.

Started trapping in 1967 at the age of 8 snaring and trapping snowshoe hare. By 1972 I had a snowmachine and a trapline catching Marten, Fox, Coyote and Lynx. Sold a Lynx in 1972 for $425.00 and a new Polaris Colt cost $850.00 back then. I trapped all through high school for the income. Missed a few years in my 20's but love trapping I still trap and make a few bucks but mostly for fun now. As long as I can walk I'll be in the woods trapping!

Started about 1952 while in high school trapping rats,mink and the occasional coon and fox. Restarted in 1984 and ceased in 2015 do to medical problem associated with advanced age.

My first trapline experience was running a 'rat/mink line with an honorary uncle and his pal. I was the dispatcher. Used a Daisy BB gun. That was the month JFK was shot.

1974. I was 12 and my dad and I visited an uncle at his cabin. While there he asked if we wanted to check some muskrat traps before he went back out deer hunting. While walking along the swamp a short distance away he started to point out old dens, toilets, and huts out in the distance. Six old traps with a catch of three rats, and I was hooked. Parents bought me two #1 victor longsprings as soon as the local hardware store opened Monday morning. I went to the local creek, which I had fished since I was 10, and immediately noticed a few bank dens and toilets which I had never noticed before! That was the beginning.

Caught my first muskrat at age 4 with my dad and haven't missed a season and I'm 43 now

1972. I was in sixth grade. I was invited by a couple friends to join them while they checked their muskrat traps on the St.Louis bay near west Duluth. I started settling my own traps a few days later. Our family moved to the Iron Range in ‘73 and I trapped my first mink that fall.

I believe it was 1960, and I believe I caught a whopping two muskrats.

Most of you guys have been trapping longer than I've been alive. I've trapped at varying degrees since 2004 when I caught 8 fox and a couple coons in a week while on college break using two garage sale special duke 1.5's. Things sure have changed since then other than the fact of the adrenaline rush when I hear the chains slapping.

2009!

Started in 1974... first fur sale - bought more traps and a 1951 Chevy Pick-Up for $330.00. I was living large lol.

my first memories are around 1979,trapped rats and beaver with dad.i was 14,as dad got older we didn't trap,when my son was young we trapped a few rats,a few years,about 5 or 6 years ago my son says dad I want to catch a fox and we have trapped each year since.

1967, muskrats, (and there were plenty of them), an occasional mink that stumble into one of my muskrat sets and raccoons. I would take the pelts to a local furbuyer, stop at the local hardware store while walking back to the house, pick up a couple more of victor no.1 long springs for .40 cents each, a box of .22's shorts for .50 cents and have plenty of money left over for other essentials that I would order from S. Stanley Hawbaker. Imagine a 12 year old walking into a hardware store now and buying a box 22's.It would be looked upon as some type of major incident. How times have changed.

In 2005 while still living in town I went into the garage and there was a raccoon eating out of the dog bowl, it was the size of a bear and I was terrified. So I welded up a cage trap out of scrap conduit large enough to fit a coon and covered it with fencing. The first one I caught easily escaped so I upgraded the fencing and made a lock they couldn't figure out. The NDOW people said a lot of these coons could carry rabies and I shouldn't shoot them in the head or skin them. Well I caught lots of coons over the years but I thought of it more like trapping mice, these coons were pests.

For the past 11 years I've lived on a mountain in a remote location right in the middle of wildlife. After getting surveillance cameras a couple years ago I noticed lots of stuff happened when the sun went down. I found bears, lions and lots of bobcats on video when I woke up every morning. So last year at 59 I bought 6 traps and made dirt hole sets only catching skunks. Then one day as I was leaving my place and down by my gate in the fresh snow was a bobcat track. I went and collected a couple of traps and made a walk thru on accident before I even knew what I was doing and caught a bobcat within a week.

When I took my hides to the taxidermist, I asked for advice and he said he don't bury traps any longer that he used exposed traps. During the off season I did a lot of research on exposed traps and walk thru's which lead me here. I've caught two cats in two weeks and made them step right where I've wanted, so now I feel like a real trapper. I can hardly wait for the sun to come up because we got some fresh snow and I have as much fun tracking as I do catching. Plus, all I did yesterday was eat and enjoy the family so the traps went unchecked. By law I need to check every other day.

I started trapping in 1945 in Illinois when I was 10. My boyhood pal Dick Daniel got me interested. I have trapped every season since except for the 1954 season when I was in Korea with the USMC. I trapped the 1953 season while on 30 day leave after boot camp before I shipped out to Korea.

Jarhead

I started trying to trap at 10 years old, that would have been 1968

Trap fur when I wanted to in early 72, actually started trapping west coast lobster in 65 before getting smart and making the best decision of my life and moving to Alaska spring of 1970.

1972-3

Thank you everyone for posting on this thread! I am really enjoying all the stories. Some started so early in life and some, like me, got a late start. Seems a mentor or a friend trapping had a great influence on the early starters. I think this is a good indication of what we all should be doing to help the future generation of trappers. Get them out there early. I cant wait to get my grandson started. Will be a few years.

Havent heard from the Boss. Anyone know when he got started? Im sure the traps were hand forged!

1978 here,a church member got me going,he was in his 60's then Byron Cole and Lyle Nelson answered all of my questions.Thank you to all that got me addicted to this wonder traditions,thats why I love passing it along also.Short tail weasel was my first catch Dec 14 1978 caught in the old twin wood culvert at Mt,Carmal church a 1/4 south of our farm.I was 11 in 1978,this is my 40th year of trapping,hope to have 25 or more years left in me......

In 1970 a friends showed me how to trap. I bought one trap, and caught a female mink in a few days.

Jim

started trapping muskrats in NJ 1970 when I was 14 years old. By mid 70s I trapped fox in PA there was a ton of them then. No coyotes then in the east and beavers were few and at the time we needed to apply for limited tags and short seasons. By the mid 80s beavers were getting everyone's attention and I was stunned and surprised when in 1986 my boss in NC asked me if I could trap some beavers that were causing damage to some homeowners!?!?!?!?!?? Beavers to this day get folks to make a lot of phone calls to me. I trap coyotes now and between beavers and coyotes Trapping is more favorably looked on each year. Those two species have restored trapping in many ways in my opinion. So now at 61 still going and grateful to my friend Ed Luzi who invited me to go trapping for the first time. Funny during the first year I had a muskrat torn up one morning. I asked Ed what did that? He said Mink!!!!!!! I couldn't believe it - I said Mink ??? There are mink around here ??? He said yeah they are just about everywhere.
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To the top,lets keep this alive for awhile,great stories.

I started in the late 80’s running the creek behind my parents’ house- then I stopped as I got more involved in bow hunting. I started again close to 10 years ago. I’ve only caught decent numbers of Beavers and rats- I don’t have and never have had a mentor so I am still trial and error and reading a lot of trapperman. More error though here! Would love to ride along with a pro someday.

I'm 80 years old. Began trapping the coastal marshes for muskrats when I was 13 in 1951. Am thankful that I'm still trapping, now in the Adirondacks. These days I target fisher, mink, beaver, and otter. Lots of changes over the years, but $2 muskrats back then is a lot like the price today.

It was probably 1960 and I was about a month shy of being nine years old. I trapped muskrats in the ditches. All of our trapping was done off a bicycle. Depending where traps were I might only ride a half a mile, and then there were times I rode seven or eight miles. Some of those bike rides got pretty cold. I remember the first coon I caught. I must have been 12-13 -14 then. I set a trap in a culvert that ran under the road. It was about a quarter of a mile from home. I caught the coon and didn't know what to do. I rode home and got my father and he came down and helped me with it. Sold it in the round for $1.35.
I remember selling muskrats for ninety cents and getting 10 cents for the carcass. There was a store in Toledo, Ohio, Tiedtke's, that sold the muskrat as “Marsh Rabbit ”.

I started when I was a freshman in high school, 1968. Everyone in my family hunted and fished, we were living rural but no one trapped. I had a little spare money when I went with my Dad to sell our sang at the Buckhorn Fur Center in Richland Center Wisconsin, and Archie Pulvermacher, the owner sold me a couple dozen traps. I had no idea how to use them, tune them, etc. I read and reread Stanley Hawbaker's book and after a few years of disregarding some of that information began to learn and catch a little fur.

A guy can learn more on this forum in a week than you could in 5 years on your own.

Zim

I started on my own at 9 years old in 1951. Walked a few blocks from my home and set traps in a county ditch down by the railroad tracks . When I caught my first muskrat, I had to get an older kid from school to come over to my place and confirm that it was a muskrat . I had never even seen a picture of one . I set one of my traps on a trail to a burn barrel behind a friends house to try to catch an opossum . I caught a gray fox instead . They were worth about the same amount back then . The fur dealer gave me fifty cents for it and then put it in his wood stove . He said he would have paid more if it was fatter , it would have gave more heat . I did get the three dollar bounty . I got a few traps out the first day this season . That made my 67th season trapping . I just got back from visiting my Son in Goldsboro North Carolina . I heard there was a trapper fellow down that way . Didn't see hide nor hair of him though . I even waited around a few culverts to see if he would show up. LOL . I will get a few coyote traps out as soon as deer season is over . Got to keep after them critters , one never knows when that last season will be .

1984. 14 years old and gonna get rich selling fur. Heck these old southern coon were around a dollar an inch. No mentor, just trial and error and a few articles from Fur-Fish and Game. Took me a few years before I could catch any amount of coon.Figure it out about 87-88 when I achieved this. Took the 10 or 12 coon I had, along with a few beaver and muskrat. Figured I was going to come home with a good little check. Will never forget the amount, a whooping $17.50 for the whole lot.
Trapped a few more years until the local fur buyers dried up. Picked it up again about 2005. Figure if I took the same amount of catch that I had back in 87-88 to the fur buyer today I would probably get another check for $17.50.....maybe.

Started trapping in 1971 at 9 years old.For a few years before that I tagged along on my 2 older brothers trapline. My brothers no longer trap, but I have been forever greatful to them for getting me started. My records show I caught 1 mink, 6 muskrats and 2 possums in 1971.

1970 when I was 9 trapping rabbits and grinners with snare's and no.1 ls , saved my money and start getting FUR-FISH-GAME , but learned most from grand dad and dad they were good trappers .

When Mom was 2 months prego with me, I WIN lol.

69/70 to 17/18, not all inclusive.

One thing I'll pass along,
It IS going to change.

I started trapping the summer of 1959 for rabbits and birds.1963 was the beginning for me on stream trapping for muskrats and coon. First fox was caught at age 13 on a bicycle trap line on my cousins farm the fall of 1964. That was a great day for me. An old style number 2 victor double long spring trap with a wooden stake caught that grey fox.

I did some experimenting with dead falls and figure 4 triggers with some success. More misses then catches. Almost forgot the pit sets I toyed with as a young fella. Kept trying to catch grandmas chickens in the pit sets with camo ground cover etc.. I saw that idea on a Tarzan episode where he was catching Nazi's. LOL

When i was 23, back in early 90's

9th grade....i am 40 years old now....dang nam i am getting old but not like the Beav

I started in 66 - 67. 9 10 yrs old started with 1 long springs for rats. Got some one 110 my father would set the 110's for me bc I couldn't. I could carry four out to the pond and swamp and be real careful not to spring them before I made the set. When I got a rat I would bring trap with the rat in it back . First coon I got my little brother who was 9 at the time helped me bring it back we tied it's feet together and put it on a stick like the ole deer pole and brought it home . That wet coon probably weighed half as much as we did. Used bread bags for gloves and I remember the water through the ice was so cold it burned. Lol. Soak and wet in the dark before school and on the bus and school we would take about trapping. I remember my friend , got 4 rats one morning . He was going to be rich. Lol

1964

1971 at 12 Years old.

First trap was a lost #110 Conibear that I found In the creek while bullhead fishing.

Took It home and asked the neighbor what it was and he showed me how to set it.

Set for muskrat that fall and caught my first rat, the first night, in my first set.

Skinned it myself and stretched it open and square.

Went to sell it at the fur buyers, and everybody else's rats in line were skinned cased.

Other boys were making fun of my putup and I was upset.

The furbuyer smiled when he saw my rat and said:

"You worked real hard putting that rat up and did a real good job skinning, fleshing, and stretching it".

He then payed me the same price as everybody else.

Then He took me aside with an unskinned rat, and showed me a better way how he wanted them skinned and putup in the future.

He talked my dad into buying me a few more traps and the rest is history.

w

Walleyed, Your furbuyer had some class! My friend is a buyer and I was there when a young kid came in with a few possum he had caught. He bought them all. I thought that was awesome of him.

I'm 35 and this is my first year. I dont know any trappers, few hunters, but have always hunted, fished, spend extended time in the wilderness a few times per year, etc. I live on the edge of Philadelphia and am surrounded by a lot of people who dont know anything about the outdoors and often hate hunters. I've setup a line of 7 mixed traps a 20 min drive each way from me at the closest legal spot I could where I also hunt. So far I got 1 opossum and 1 raccoon on Sunday, and 2 Red Fox today! No deer though. After having a second fox on I went back through and sprung my traps and buried them so I can take care of the fur I have before catching more since I have never learned about preservation. I am going to set the traps again either Friday or Saturday. I may get my squirrel eating brother in law into it who is a hunter about to turn 40. I've invited him out. So far I have only taken my 6 year old son who I have dragged around for all the trips, fishing, deer spotting I can. He was with me when we got the opossum and racoon, and was super excited today when he saw I got two fox. I have a 2 year old daughter I will do the same thing with.

I've wanted to trap for a very ling time, but ever since I read a book called "My Sixty Years on the Plains: Trapping, Trading, and Indian Fighting" I got the itch and slowly started seriously educating myself and buying supplies. That book is an autobiography from a guy who grew up after the Civil War out west. I am hoping to start getting some coyote this weekend. I had dog and cat food with me today and was changing out bait when I came across those two fox. Having to check traps ever day is an awesome excuse for me to go into the woods hunting too, so I will be doing this every year from now on. Hopefully I make a long term dent in the scavengers, but I doubt it. I'm probably the only guy with traps for quite a few miles.

I started with my dad and went with my mom for 9 months. That was in 1951 so I guess I have trapped longer than the Beav has.
It's been a long road, my two daughters went with me on board a backpack when they were infants till they could get into rubber boots.
Now I got to train a grandson next year once he has learned to walk now.

When I was about 8 years old.

Well I started trapping coons and skunks with my grandpa about 28 years ago when I was around 3 years old and continued doing that for probably another 8 or 9 years. Cage trapping on his duck club using duck and pheasant guts for bait. Then I stopped when we moved away. Didn't trap anything for another 18 years or so until March of 2018 when I was 30 and started doing it here in Idaho. I'm completely hooked. I thought upland bird hunting and waterfowling was addicting, but this trapping is equally so. My first catch was a beaver, followed by 2 consecutive otter. Got about 2 weeks in of the 2018 season and then hit it pretty hard this last full season, targeting everything. Lots and lots to learn and I'm enjoying the education the fur is giving me.

I've always been a nuisance trapper. Dad turned me loose on rats and mice at seven. When I found that first longspring it was on for the possums in the chicken coop.

I caught my first weasel when I was 6 by setting a 1 1/2 victor longspring under a piece of snowshoe hare hanging from a string off of a tree branch. Not a legal set either, but I was a kid.

1969

1964, Muskrat and mink. first coon 1965. Started on predators 1976, and the addiction continues.

I am not addicted, I just cant stop.

7-8 months old, I can’t remember which. Grandad lost a couple yearlings to the Rattlesnake creek pack. Dead a winter and we rode hard for 3 days to get to the kills. I was strong fer my age and could just get those double long springs set lol. He showed me how and where, I just took to it I reckon. He taught me a lot, not just trapping but life. We took the pack in 2 weeks, and I was finally eating solid foods. Dad wanted me to help on the farm when I turned 1 and I couldn’t say no yet, so it was another year or 2 afore I got back to trapping.

Started trapping when I was six, gonna turn seven, Jan of that winter. Long story and don't want to bore you! Trapped every year after that till I went to the service. Missed two years then, back to back, but have trapped every winter since then. Started my own business in 76 so I could trap every winter. I'm presently 72, and still travel to trap. Poor coyotes catch just like good coyotes, that's why I still travel!

1963 that winter I had dads victors 11/2 longsprings. I caught 5 all black coons. and got 2.00 dollars each for them. I was rich.

I'll get back to you with my diagnosis.

I set my first trap around 1970. I don't even recall the trap or where I got it. I went just upstream on a small brook that ran through our back yard and made a set for coon. Being impatient then as I am now, I checked it just before dark the same day I set it. The trap and whatever I caught in it were gone.

I started trapping young but didn't start putting fur up unrolled.my 20s. Once I started putting fur up I felt like I was a trapper.

Ha! Love it!

Age 9 1957 pocket gophers

Bryce

I started 6 years ago after my second wife passed, had to have something to get me off the couch and outside . I was 43 at the time and my world was upside down.

I lost my first wife at 39. Sure don't miss those years right after that. Know just what you went through!