Roundup of Trapping Magazines

by "Trapping4Life" from Minnesota

This article overviews the major trapping magazines that are out for our reading enjoyment. The most popular of these trapping magazines, in no particular order, includes The Trapper and Predator Caller, Fur, Fish, and Game, Trappers World, Fur Taker, and Trappers Post.

Trapper and Predator Caller magazine reaches over 40,000 people. The Trapper and Predator Caller was originally called the Midwest Trapper, which was founded by a man named Chuck Spearman of Sutton, Nebraska. The Midwest Trapper was a magazine created in Sept. 1975 during the fur boom, and was not sold nationally. The first issue of the Midwest Trapper was only 8 pages long, not a whole lot considering the amount of pages today. The magazine was only called the Midwest Trapper for a very short time and was only in print under the name Midwest Trapper from Sept. 1975-Sept.1976. In October 1976, shortly after changing names to The Trapper, the Iowa Trappers Association was the first state association to subscribe to The Trapper as an organization. From 1976-1986 the name remained The Trapper. In 1984 color had also begun taking shape on the cover of the magazine. In Aug. 1984 the name was changed once again to what it is called today, The Trapper and Predator Caller. In 1988 Krause Publications purchased the magazine from Chuck Spearman, and live animals and trapping scenes replaced catch photos. The magazine quickly advanced and grew in popularity. From 8 pages in the Midwest Trapper in Sept. 1975, the Dec. 1978 issue had 80 pages.  Under Krause Publications the Trapper and Predator Caller changed its number of issues to 10 per year, combining April-May and June-July. The Trapper and Predator Caller has not endured any major changes since then, but it is still a very successful magazine full of trapping and predator calling information. You can subscribe to the magazine on the T&PC website located here.

Fur, Fish, and Game is a magazine not only on trapping but on hunting and fishing as well. Fur, Fish and Game has been around since 1925, quite a while longer than The Trapper and Predator Caller magazine. Arthur Robert Harding (known as A.R Harding) was the founder of Fur, Fish, and Game magazine. Before that, Harding and a buisiness partner created the Gallia Times in 1898, and the Hunter-Trader-Trapper magazine in 1900. Hunter-Trader-Trapper was a monthly magazine first published in Oct. 1900 and was 24 pages. Each issue originally cost $0.05 in 1900 (around $1.27 today) and a year subscription cost $0.50 (around $12.72 today). By 1904, Harding decided to sell the Gallia Times and work full time with the Hunter-Trader-Trapper magazine, which became the largest and most rapidly growing magazine on the market during the early 1900's. By 1906 the magazine had advanced so much that some issues contained up to 160 pages, a major jump in 6 years starting from a small company.  In 1914 Harding decided to sell the Hunter-Trader-Trapper magazine due to bad health. He eventually regained his health by 1925 and was ready to continue the Hunter-Trader-Trapper magazine. However, the new owners were not willing to sell the magazine back to Harding. Harding still wanted to continue publishing an outdoors magazine, so he decided to purchase another one that was similar to Hunter-Trader-Trapper. The name of this magazine was Fur News and Outdoor World. Harding changed the name of the magazine to its current name of Fur, Fish, and Game, and was then competing directly with his previous magazine. By the late 1930's the Hunter-Trader-Trapper magazine was no longer in operation, however Fur, Fish, and Game was, and still is to this day. Fur, Fish, and Game is a monthly magazine covering trapping, fishing, and hunting. You can subscribe to FFG on thier website here.

Trappers World magazine is a lesser known magazine compared to the previous two, and has a shorter history, but is still a very informative magazine. Trappers World is a bi-monthly (6 issues per subscription year) magazine and is entirely about trapping. Trappers World is owned and edited by Kaatz Bros. The magazine is full of information by the nation's top trappers and is one of only a few all trapping magazines on the market today. You can subscribe to the Trappers World magazine on the Kaatz Bros. website located here.

Fur Taker is another smaller magazine, and like Trappers World, it is an ALL trapping magazine. Fur Taker is sent to around 2,600-3,000 subscribers, and is read by around 7,500-8,700 people annually. Fur Taker is a non-profit magazine produced by the Fur Takers of America. You can subscribe to the Fur Taker magazine here.

Trappers Post is the newest of trapping magazines and is published bi-monthly. The first issue was produced and distributed to subscribers in Sept-Oct 2009. Trappers Post is produced and edited by Bob Noonan of Waterville Maine and is adding new segments to several of the issues. Trappers Post is also another magazine that is ALL trapping. You can find more information on Trappers Post and subscribe here.

I hope this overview helps some new trappers looking for good, informative reading material, and encourages all trappers to support our trapping publications and state associations.