Why and how you trap.......

[trappnman]

A a recent thread got me thinking- why and how do I trap?

I trap cause I love it, and I find being my own boss has its rewards

I grew up as a water trapper- mink and rats both in creeks and the Weaver pools on the Mississippi...

I 'd trap 2-3 weeks until freeze up then I was done.

I started serious land trapping in themid 80's, and to be honest, every year canines intrique me more and more....

Those 5 weeks of coyote trapping, turn me on for the entire year....the other trapping is just a job.

I envy those that can turn it off and on at will, forgoing one thing if another option (higher prices for something) is mpre profitible-

but, I'm hooked on coyotes.....CA......anomous....LOL

Next?

[seldom]

This upcoming season will be my 57th and and it's been an evolution through time, different animals, gained experience, employed vs retired, and it all comes down to an almost overwhelming desire to trap coyote!

When I retired I literally quit deer hunting and mostly quit small game hunting, and fishing. Activities I'd done since before I was even old enough to buy a license and devoted my time to trapping. I say trapping because it encompasses all fur bearers I have available to me while trapping coyote.

I do not stop trapping one animal to trap another. When I'm trapping coyote and there's rats, mink, beaver and stinking coon there in the near vicinity for the taking, I take'em. Sure I enjoy trapping mink but I don't have a high population of them. I get little charge out of catching rats but I don't ever consider letting $15 swim past me either! Nor will I walk by a beaver bank den or lodge that has a stream of bubbles a blind man could follow and not react. The truth is that none of the trapping of those "incidentals" excites me though and makes me think in terms of the animal or pumps me up in the manner trapping coyote does!

If I was in it strictly for the $$, which would mean I needed $$, it would make trapping a form of employment! Hell, I'd go back into the welded construction industry and pick up some inspection work or some construction management work, or pass some welding tests and weld. But no, even though I loved my career field, I spent that career preparing myself to do exactly what I'm doing today- Trap coyote!

[thorsmightyhammer]

Are you guys open to a serious discussion on this without getting offended???

[seldom]

May 11, 2012 20:22:07 GMT -6 thorsmightyhammer said:

Are you guys open to a serious discussion on this without getting offended???

Why, is it to be personal? The thread's subject is "why and how you trap" my reply expressed my answer and was directed toward no other so I would expect any discussion to be likewise! So heck Steven, if you have similar or differing reasons why you trap and how you trap, they're your reasons! Why would I be offended by your reasons when they're yours and possibly differ from mine especially when the subject seems to ask for comment rather than discussion or debate.

[Jarhead620]

Let it rip steven, I'm not easily offended. More later.

Larry

[trappincoyotes39]

Are you guys open to a serious discussion on this without getting offended???


Sure spit it out man! I would like to hear what you have to to say!

[timwilcox]

I trap because I love the outdoors and in order to catch what we are setting for we have to think like that animal. Another (and best reason so far) is I get to take my kids with me and teach them what I know as well. The kids will stay in the shed, helping me skin and taking care of the furs. Here, it has turned into a family thing and can't get much better than that.

[thorsmightyhammer]

It doesnt have to be personal mike.

Just on the difference of what drives some of us.

I'll think on it some more today and we'll let her rip.

[seldom]

May 12, 2012 8:19:31 GMT -6 thorsmightyhammer said:

It doesnt have to be personal mike.

Just on the difference of what drives some of us.

I'll think on it some more today and we'll let her rip.

I'm always interested in WHY folks do what they do, much rather than how!

A little story. During the years I was welding/fabricating in Dow's Pipe Shop you notice when guys would show up at work. Some of us would be on the floor 1/2-3/4 hour before the bell whereas other guys would step onto the floor only 1-2 minutes before the bell.

One day in the lunchroom a fellow shop rat asked me why I came to work so early. I told him I was anxious to get to work because I absolutely loved what I did. Others sitting nearby said they came in early because they wanted to get away from the chaos of wife and kids getting ready for school. When the questioner was asked why he came in right at the bell, he said he didn't want to show any respect to the company and that he was his own man so to speak by just making the bell. In addition, to him his job was just a task that he had to do in order to get a paycheck.

We all thought each other a little goofy and dumber than Joe's dog's you know what but it was a good example of WHY folks are different and that's a good thing!

[trappnman]

nothing wrong if someones personal motivation is different- this wsn't started as debate nor really a discussion. And what is right for someone, might not be right for someone else. I don't see how that, should be offensive to anyone else- as seldom says, why does it need to get personal against someone, when its personal motivation and opinion as to why and how we trap, not a competion.

I'm kind of like you seldom, I got a lot of different furbearers, and for each, there is a season. I enjoy them all, but again, nothing compares to coyotes for me.

[TurTLe]

I can't really pin down exactly why I took up trapping. Nobody in my family ever trapped before me, but the day I learned about trapping, I've been hooked since. Absolutely nothing makes me happier then being out on a trapline. It doesn't matter what animal I'm after, they all get me excited. I couldn't choose a favorite, because I absolutely love trapping coyote, bobcat, and beaver all the same, but as stated before, I wouldn't pass up coon, rats, etc. if they were available.

There is just nothing better to me then being out watching the sun come up on a frosty day and seeing an animal bouncing in one of my traps. or floating on the wrong end of a drowning wire.

I love the smell of the lures in my truck, I love the smell of pelts drying in my shed, I love learning from the misses. There is absolutely nothing I don't enjoy about trapping.

I just wish I had more time to do it.

[trappincoyotes39]

I trap because I enjoy the challenge of it all. Trying to do more with less, Ie: being more efficant be it better numbers or catch indivuals quicker. Doing more ADC work made me think more about other tools and doing the same things with them, some I succeded with others I did not.

I can tell you my snaring increased tons through the years, my set techniques and locations changed some when working coyotes with traps, my calling abilities and thinking more about efficantcy with a rifle and call led to me getting alot of information on calibers, loads and the such.

To me coyotes will always be "king" and the reasons listed above are why! I can't never decide do I like calling in coyotes, trapping coyotes or finding a bunch of dead coyotes on a snare line most satisfying........ I guess I boil it down to efficantcy with them all and increasing that ever so little each time I chase them. I at times set many goals for myself, it kept me motivated and looking for more intovation to raise my efficantcy. I have never went with I can get them tomorrow attitude, because more often than not it meant more loss.

I also learned a ton of great info from being under a plane many hrs and in a plane some as well. I wasn't afraid to make mistakes at times and learned alot from those mistakes. You can gain alot from watching coyotes as much as you can catching them at times. Some things clicked right away, other things I had to think about and see it happen again. I wouldn't trade my years as a trapper for nothing 30+ years and still doing it, money is lower on my list as I get older. If money on fur was high on my list MO wouldn't have been my state of choice LOL.

[bblwi]

Why is pretty easy. Trapping the way I prefer to do it is a A-Z small business that I enjoy and I like the time outdoors, the many hours of solitude and the opportunity to generate revenue as well.
I like the whole broad spectrum of things to do from prospecting to reviewing equipment options, ordering, planing, laying out lines, the actual act of trapping and then the fur handling and marketing and the people I meet associated with those aspects of the activity.

How? Is a much more difficult question to answer for me and I need to put a bit more thought into that answer.

Bryce

[thebeav2]

I love the challenge and the challenge for me Is cold rolling Into a new area and being successful. It makes no difference what animal It Is.
But I have to be honest I'm driven by the money and I believe we all walk that same path to some extent.
When otter were averaging $150.00 and up I became a very successful otter trapper and along with being very good at otter trapping I excelled at beaver trapping. Not just because there were lots of beaver but because I worked at It.
It's the same with the lowly rat sure you can have all the work ethics In the world and catch 1000s of rats but there are a few tricks that will put you over the top. It's the MONEY and the CHALLENGE.
Oh and It's the trappers and non trappers I have met along the way.

[braveheart]

I just like to catch animals.

[trappincoyotes39]

braveheart you summed it up well!

[blackhammer]

It is a job I look forward to doing everyday.It's not really a job to me but that's an analogy that works.I like catching about everything but the coyotes you guys all seem to be in love it.lol It may be one animal I really would need big money to get into trapping.The last three,four years I've got into spring beaver trapping.This year was the first I trapped rats in houses under ice so I'm constantly trying different things.Coon always been my bread and butter.Really like trapping otter and am getting into fisher and marten and would like to get a Mn cat limit.So besides my number goals I have from year to year I got a few other trap lines I would like to run.Not being a big mink guy or in great mink country one goal I have is to catch a hundred mink which isn't a lot to many but is something I would like to accomplish.Like Beav said it's a challenge and I take pride in what I catch.I basically have been hooked on trapping since I caught my first fox when I was about twelve and I too just like catching animals.Guess I have always been fascinated by all the fur bearers.When I'm fishing or just driving around I'm always looking for fur sign and thinking about the sets and trap lines I want to run.
And while it's about much more then money.I do love selling fur too. lol

[seldom]

May 12, 2012 21:44:06 GMT -6 @thebeav2 said:

but because I worked at it.

Hardly truer words can be spoken of someone who excels! "Golden hands", "expert trappers", "expert" anyone, are what they are because they worked at it!

[packerfan]

I agree with Beav. I like to PUSH myself. I set goals. Catching my first Cat, was beyond excitement. I was like a kid on Christmas morning. Then, I caught 5 more! Now, I want to catch ALOT more next year. Same with rats and coon. Each year I set out to catch more. Do I keep score? YOU BET! The score is kept using NUMBERS and MONEY. I'm not competeing with other trappers, but MYSELF (my personal best). I do the same thing with MOREL mushrooms.
The BEST part is that I get $$$$$ for something I would do for FREE..........It still makes me laugh.

[RdFx]

Okay packerfan, whats up with da morels nowdays? Now thats $$$$$