What was your first trap?

My first traps was a 1/2 dozen Bridger #2 Dogless Offsets, I still have them and they got their first round of dye this year. I have trapped many raccoons with them and hope to catch a coyote. What was your guys' first trap? Let's hear some stories.

A Victor number 1 long spring.

1#0 Victor long spring and 2#1 vic longs payed a dollar each in 1974

A dozen and a half used Duke 1 and a halfs.

B&L #1 Longspring.

Victor 110 series one. 1 doz

220 conibear

Victor 1.5 LS

victor 1 1/2, $1.79 from orscheln in troy, mo. broke my heart when it got stolen.

B & L no. 1. About a dollar from the local hardware store.

Brass wire for rabbit snares when I was small kid.Then,No. 1 Stay-kawt (first trap).
It was a dogless design.
Found it in the basement of a house we were renting.
First bought traps were No.1 LS and a No. 1 1/2 LS Victors,from the local hardware store,and a No.4 vic dls and a No. 14 jump,and a 110 victor conibear,from Simpson Sears catalogue Got a cedar strip canvas canoe from Simpson sears about the same time.Got my first guns around that time too-a single shot 22,then a shotgun then a lever action 22.I was about 12 YO at the time.Saved up the money from paper route,picking and selling dew worms and mowing lawns.Tanned all the fur I caught at that time and made stuff.Didnt start selling raw fur til I moved up north and started catching good amounts of critters,a couple years later.That when I got my 308 for moose.

Havaheart box trap at a garage sale and then another bigger one from the store still have and use both
it was a start and it got me to go take trappers ed then I bought other traps mostly 1.75 Bridger and DP's

having DP's opened most of the places I trapped up to me because I was trapping around barns and silos

2-3 #1, #1 1/2 victors.late 60’s, used them for squirrels in Alaska.

Neighbor gave my brother and I two #1.5 Victor's if I recall correctly. That was about 1964. Good memories, never looked back since.

Victor 1.5 coil spring

Dad gave me 6 #1 longspring and my moms uncle gave me 12 victor 1.5 longspring that were new.....my dad and grandpa were trappers and my moms uncle was one heck of a cowboy...

My Great Uncle gave me a Gibbs Two Trigger Trap, that got the whole trapping bug rolling!

No. 1 Victor Longspring from the hardware store. I caught a muskrat the first night in my first set. That started it all. I was about 12 years old.

Victor No. 3 DLS.

My grandfather had a old camper he used as a storage shed. One summer I was being nosey and poking around in there and I found a bunch of traps. There were all kinds...1.5 coils of various brands (Northwoods, Victor, Montgomery), old square jaw Victor #2s, a bunch of #1 and #1.5 longsprings, a couple random jump traps, and some 110 conibears. I packed a couple of them up to the garage where my grandfather was tinkering with stuff and asked what they were. He told me they were animal traps. Well, I knew what trapping was... I was an expert mouse trapper at the time, running a "long line" of about a dozen mouse traps, lol. I was only 7 years old but I was intrigued. I had him show me how to set them. Then I tried to set them but couldn't.

I pestered him for weeks until he finally took me down to the woods and we set some traps in a clearing in a corn field and baited them with ear corn. The next morning we had a skunk, and I was hooked on trapping for life, lol. That fall, when season opened, he wired all the coilsprings open for me (as I mentioned on another post of yours) and no possum was safe in a two mile radius, LOL.

Half a dozen #1 Victor jumps half dozen B& L #1.5 long springs and some #3 B & L longsprings. Father had died and I got his taps I was nine .

#1 Victor longspring. Caught my first muskrat in it. I was hooked from then on. Jeremiah Johnson? Pffft. Never seen where he ever caught the wary muskrat...

2 #2 Victor DLS

Two vic #1 long springs. Caught a rat and bought a 1 1/2 vic coil. Now I own approx 600 traps.

No.1 victor longspring. It was in a bucket of junk my mom bought at an auction. That was 53 years ago.

Seems like a lot of people started out with a #1 or #1.5, but I guess that was one of the most versatile back then.

My very first trap????? Well, it was wooden RABBIT trap my dad and I made one stormy day way back in about 1962 or 63. Made a wooden tube with about 3 foot long 1X6s and put a one way swing door in one end.... wire mesh on the other. The door was held up with a small stick and when the rabbit went in.... knocked the stick down..... the door went down. A couple small nails kept it from swinging open as the rabbit tried to back out. My first steel trap was a # 2 dbl long spring that a coon had on it's foot one day when he was eating corn out of our corn crib at mid day. He must of pulled a stake out or chewed loose whatever the trap was tied to somewhere and earned his freedom. Wound up at our place and I dispatched the thin critter. I had me a real steel trap!! I was probably around 8 or so. Set for life !!.

Found my first trap In a field while prairie dog hunting had been there a while, #3 Montgomery, still have it and that may have gotten the bug going for me. It's still crazy that you could just order a canoe from a catalog and it would just show up one day.

Seems to me like I post a lot but I always enjoy reading people's stories on this type of thing.

Caught my first raccoon In a Dogproof behind our local shooting range owner's house and I was hooked from there, that was about 3.5 years ago now I own 300+ traps, still have the bug and the bug has given me an itch really badly to get trapping already.

My Grandfather's wooden rabbit trap. I helped him set bu his Garden

A 220 Conibear was my first Steel trap

If I am remembering right it was a victor jump and I soon became the king of possum trappers.

duke dp.

Me too. Had 2 of em also.

0 Victor long spring.

About 35 yrs ago found 3 of these in basement of a house my gg grandad built. Caught rats with em. Only have one left. It's retired now lol, it could probably tell some stories. A close second is rabbit boxes my great grandad made, used them also on the same land they knew about.

Been considering retiring one of my six but I think I'll leave them for a few more years and then retire one or all 6 and make a cool display with them.

Number one longspring. Set it by creek close to house, two muskrat in one night. I was hooked forever.

I think I bought 6 Duke 1.5s maybe a dozen I don't remember. I always wanted to trap as a kid but a kid with single mom in town that knew nothing about it or any trappers made it tough. When n I would get a ride to my cousins to hunt for the weekend we set som traps his dad had bur never caught anything in th day we let them set.


I was in my early 20 living in the country when I heard about a guy that was a fur buyer and sold traps 30 min away. I stoped by talked to him bought the dukes he recommended and listened to the very basic sets he told me about. Then I went out and started trying to catch coon. Took a few days for the first one. I was hooked. Different sets species being outside and learning more and more about all kinds of wildlife.

In our family it was tradition for boys on their 7th birthday to receive 7 gopher traps of their choice. My older brother chose DK's while my cousin picked Victor #0 LS's. Being 2 years younger I had the opportunity to tag along and occasionally they might let me set one or two myself. I always had trouble setting the DK's and even a harder time catching gophers with them. So on my 7th birthday I got 7 of my very own Victor #0's and set out to rid the county of those pesky gophers. I got pretty good at it but competition between the three of us made if difficult to catch more than a few dozen a year. Yet by the time I turned 10 I had caught enough gophers to increased my pile of traps to around 30 and had made enough money to buy me a bike. I rode the wheels off that bike trapping pocket gophers and eventually muskrats and raccoon using larger traps but yet to this day I still like those little #0 LS..

1.5 Victor long spring. Great nutria trap.

Dad gave me one of his 1 1/2 Victor long springs to use when he showed me how to make a pocket set for muskrats in the creek behind our house in Amsterdam, Ohio.

Victor no.1 Stoploss, a Half Dozen when I was 10. Ran My "Trapline" before the Bus every Morning - have been a Rat Trapper on/off ever since ! Bob

3 duke 1 1/2's and 3 110's given to me by a friend.

Victor number 2 long spring.

Victor 110s bought with yard mowing money followed by Victor pinch pans and standard 1.5s all bought from local hardware store.

Victor 1.5 coil spring pinch pan

Was given 6 1.5 Victor CS by a trapper in 1979. Caught a coon the very first night I set them.

I told Al Barton I wanted to trap. He asked what I wanted to trap. Everything
in central Tx., I said. He sold me four #1.75 Victors.. 20 some odd years ago.
Still my favorites.

Wish I could remember,,

Bought some 110s in the late 70s trapped a
few muskrats

Number one victor longspring that i bought for 50 cents at hardware store. Rode five miles on bike to town. Started trapping norway rats by my rabbit pens

Double door live trap.

Victor #1 Long is from my grandfather, the #1 Jump I had to replace with the as new one because the one from grandfather was stolen. He gave them to me 1963, I still remember being in the garage when he showed me how to set them. Caught my first possum, coon and muskrat in the #1 Jump, looked for years for a replacement, paid what the guy was asking when I found it.

When I was about 12, I built a box trap for rabbits. Never caught a rabbit. Did catch a possum.

#2 Vic longsprings. I was only about 7-8 and not enough poop in my pants to compress the springs, so I'd stand on them..grab the jaws and pull to give me the weight to compress them and then push the jaws apart. When there's a will, there's a way! lol.

Victor #1 longspring, that my grandpa gave me.
Still have it, wired to a oak stake.

#1 and 1 1/2 victor jump traps. Got them from a neighbor that didn’t want them. Trapped rabbits and ground hogs. I was 10 yrs old at the time

First trap(s) ever were Duke #4 coil springs for beaver. Bought 12 Duke #1 1/2 double jaw, they were sold to me (local dealer) as being legal for land trapping, they weren’t.

So I bought some MB 450 off sets for fox and use the dukes for water trapping coons and muskrats.

These are my first traps, all retired now. I think I had 2 favorites #0 King Bee jump, and the Kompact #1 long spring

I love my few #0 LS but I don't have much use for them, might give them to a kid at the next convention.

Those are my favorite traps over any modern ones, I have 4 and absolutely love them.

I've heard good things about Stoplosses, I need to pick me up a few to try. I'll be running my line after school every other day since there's not enough time in the morning.

Rudy sport shop on 22 highway on the SOUTH side of the road, it burnt down much later and was rebuilt on the north side. Dont even know if it still exists. Blake and lamb 1 1/2 long spring stop loss cost 65 cents in mid 50's and I got 6 more at Xmas. Most every rat was drowned even in shallow water. That trap held everything available in New Jersey at the time.......jk

Mine was a #1 Oneida jump.

Had a hodge-podge set handed down from someone. Mostly #1 longs but some odd herters longs and a couple #3 Vic longs.

16 Duke 330s a friend and I bought to go beaver trapping.

A dozen used #3 soft jaw victors to get the lamb killers ... the reason I got into trapping back 30 years ago.

1 dozen #1 SLs from Sears in the mail, used for pocket gophers. At age 10 I was a long liner with those and at age 11 I got a used no speed bike and 6 more traps!

Bryce

Hope you don't mind me copy and pasting from one of my old posts

So not the best at starting off stories but this happens to me today and figured alot of y'all could relate.
Backstory is I used to live with my grandparents ,they where only like 10min form my parents and I able to help with the cows and stuff. Anyhow them being older there where always some interesting folks coming by. Either to talk business cows with my granddad or church stuff with my grandma ,just lots of older fairly intresting folks. Well probably one of my favorite people to see pull up was someone who may grandma said was my Uncle. Name was Blue-Bebly. Dont know if I'm spelling that right but that's what what we called him. Not Blue ,or uncle Beb or something , it's was Blue-Bebly ,had to say the whole thing like a Rolls-Royce. Anyhow he was my favorite because every time he pulled up I got to see critters. See my uncle was a trapper. And me being the nappy headed ,bb gun toting woods running 7yr I was I love it when I saw his rickety old truck pull up to the house. I remember how he'd drop his tailgate and he'd have like 15 cage traps stacked up. And usually each and everyone of them would have a raccoon or a possum a grinning or growling.
See he basically was a live market trapper for coon and possums. He'd trap em around the local creeks and he'd drive to the folks he sold em to drop the tail gate and let them pick which ones they wanted . Then the men folk would either take the cage round back and *pew pew * if it was a coon or he'd just break their necks if it was a possum. Grandma also told me he had a big "coup" ( apparently a coup and a coop are two different things ) where he'd keep anywhere from 10-30 or so racoons and possums and "feed them out on corn and fresh water for a better price. Apparently it was kind built like how cages one a mink farm kinda are.
Anyhow being the kid I was constantly waiting the crocodile hunter and hunting shows I thought it was the coolest thing ever. He'd always laugh and pick at me and say he'd give me one of them traps one day. Well one day he pulls up and had one of those little battery powered toy truck I was playing it , moving chicken feed, and I pull to the truck to look at the critters same as usual. He was dropping a dressed coon in a buck for my grandma when he saw me. He laughed as I got out and said " well looks like you got a truck now ! Reckon I can finally give you this and save your grandmamma some money ! " He reached in the back and slid out a old school Havahart cage trap. These where the older one back where they where still being built kind a heavy like. He hand it to me on two fingers and the second I grabbed it he let go and me being weak as I was I near about doubled over Lol. After he got done laughing at me he put it on the back of my little truck and pulled a zip lock back outta his coat pocket. Was full of muscadines and wild black berries. I remember him just saying " I can tell your pretty bright nephew, you can learn to set that trap by your self no problem. Go by some water find you some tracks , set that cage but some of these on the out side to get em started in and some more in the back over the trigger and you'll keep ya grandma and granddaddy's freezer full haha !"
After that I'd haul that ole havahart all over the farm . I caught idk how many possums and coon, one of my favorite things was to try to and figure out which way they where coming to the chicken pen and set it with no bait so they basically just stumbled in. Heck I end tried catching sliding turtles in the pond by tying a watch work over the pan and birds by sprinkling bird seed in it. Those two never really worked lol. The 30 odd barn cats we had sure got annoyed with me constantly catching and releasing them in it. Got to the point some of them would just kinda slowly walk out and streach when I let the door up lol.
Yeah didn't see to much of uncle Blue-Bebly after that. To this day not sure what happened to him... Anyway. After Grandma died a few years back my parents moved over there to care for the farm and stuff and I got the old house . Was over there today checking the hay and feed , counting cows and such when something told me to look under the platform we stack the feed. Sure enough, was my old cage. Still sturdy as ever, springs are slowed down to about nothing but there she is. Part of me wants to fix her back up. Paint it new springs and the like....but , I don't know something in me says , leave it as is and where is at, at least for now.....

There were some old long spring traps hanging in our outbuildings when I was a kid. I am sure they were the first traps I ever "played" with. One of my Uncles gave me 3 traps for Christmas one year not long after that, probably around the early 80s. They were all Victors a couple long springs and 1 coilspring, probably smaller traps but I cant remember exactly what number they were.

Great story Wolfie, glad to see you're still around haven't heard from you in a few days.

a 110 body grip. No idea who made it back then. But for me as a kid they worked from musk rat to squirrel and rabbit in grandmas garden. If i could only have one trap, it would be that very one.

You can trap a lot with a 110 that alongside the 1.5 coil is the most versatile trap to me.

I'd say #1 jump. Dad had a lot of traps when I was growing up and used them, but he mainly beaver trapped then, so as soon as I was old enough to set one with help, well I could use them when going with him. Since he prefered longsprings, I kinda got the couple dozen jumps he had. But I could use the longsprings also. I caught a couple muskrats with them (not many muskrats where he beaver trapped with me) and then they have this rodent called a mountain beaver in the Pacific Northwest, no fur value but the timber companies hire guys to trap them because they eat their little trees. Anyways there was an old Indian gal on the local rez called Hazel Pete, her grandson went to school with me, and I somehow found out she would buy those mountain beaver hides from me to make Indian crafts with. I caught enough in those footholds to manage to buy a dozen 110 Victors when I was around nine or so. First traps I bought myself. With those I was really in the mountain beaver trapping business. Eventually Hazel Pete had to tell me that she couldn't use any more mountain beaver hides! By the time I was 12 I could manage to set a #3 longspring over my knee, and then I was in the beaver trapping business.

#2 double long spring I have no idea what brand it was. It was my grandpa's, I could only use it when my friend came over because it took everthing the both of us had to set it. We put the smack down on ground hogs with it. We also lost it when a ground hog drug the old roll of fence we had it wired off to up to the hole and the chain broke when we went to pull it out. I bet we must have been around 8 or 9, I have been trapping with him ever since.

1.5 victor long springs

A homemade wooden box trap for squirrels and rabbits when I was 9 or 10. Then I graduated to a one and a half long spring that had been hanging in our garage to use for muskrats.

My Dad was a trapper during the 1940,s and 1950,s He had about 3 dozen of that type of trap . UNFORTUNATULY . they where sold at our public farm sale when we moved from the fram

That sucks, I try to buy them at any chance that I get, haven't bought one for a couple of months now since I haven't been able to find any reasonably priced ones.

2 x Belisle 120 and 2 x Belisle 220. Ordered immediately after passing Trapper's Ed. class.
Shortly thereafter 3 x Lil' Grizz