What's Right About Trapping

I have been a trapper for many years and along the way I have learned quite a bit about this sport. It is among the most challenging and rewarding of all outdoor sports, and an important tool of wildlife conservation. I'd like to outline some of the basic reasons why trapping is important and how it is often misunderstood.

First, trapping is often misunderstood and misrepresented. Animal rights activist have targeted this sport for its supposed cruelty, and many folks who have no experience with trapping seem to have false notions of it. People envision suffering animals caught in steel-toothed traps and dying a slow death. Really, this is a grave misconception. Animals caught in foothold traps (the proper term) rarely suffer any damage or pain and can be released unharmed if the trapper so desires. I know; I have done this many times. In fact I have arrived at a number of trap sets only to find an animal sleeping, clearly not in any pain. I'm embarrassed to say that I have caught my fingers many times in foothold traps. My pride was hurt, but my fingers were fine. The idea that trapping is cruel and painful to animals is the biggest misconception surrounding this sport.

The second misconception is that trapping is unnecessary. Furbearer populations need to be kept in check for many reasons, most of all to ensure a healthy population. Overpopulation of species like raccoons and foxes invariably leads to the spread of ravaging diseases like mange, distemper and rabies. I believe we have a responsibility as stewards of our environment to manage the population of furbearers in order to keep them healthy, maintain their population levels to suit the available habitat, and to avoid human-animal conflict as much as possible. This is basic, responsible conservation.

Fur is an important commodity in the clothing industry, especially in Eastern Europe, Russia and China, where winters are bitter cold and fur is still culturally acceptable. Furtakers in the U.S. typically sell their pelts to auction houses who in turn sell them to garment makers overseas. While fur garments are less popular in the U.S., other people groups consider them a necessity, and I don't believe that we should be judgmental toward the customs and clothing of other cultures. Still, consider how much we also depend on animal products for our garments and accessories in the U.S. I once talked to a woman who angrily told me how cruel and unnecessary it was to use animal products for clothing purposes while all the while she had a leather purse slung over her shoulder. I just smiled. In her mind, leather products just came from the department store, and she clearly gave no thought to the matter beyond that.

Trapping is a sport with a magnificent heritage. The West was explored and settled by the great "Mountain Men" of the early 19th century, and it was trapping that lead them to discover and cultivate those uncharted lands. Even today, trapping is one of the most challenging of all outdoor sports. A trapper must be an excellent woodsman, know how to scout for animal signs, read their habitats, and interpret patterns of animal movement and behavior, all to guide him to the precise location where the animal will step! Trapping is the greatest challenge for any sportsman, especially going after a wary species like the coyote.

That brings me to trappers themselves. It's a small but dedicated group, and I mean dedicated. You will rarely find a half-hearted trapper. Many of them enjoy the sport to the fullest. I have attended several state and national trappers conventions and I am impressed at how kind, friendly and down to earth trappers are. They are family-oriented, working class people who are always ready to help, love to chat, and keep friends for life.  I'm proud to be part of this group, and I'm not ashamed of our sport or our way of life.  Some folks may not like trapping for whatever reason, and some may not really understand it, but I'm thankful that this long-established sport still has a place in the American landscape.

A Salute to the Lowly Grinner

Almost nobody tries to catch them, and nearly every trapper hates them, but somehow we end up with them in set after set.  They are the ultimate "non-target" catch.  Yeah, I hate when they ruin a good fox or 'coon set, but here's my take on the lowly grinner: they are the ultimate survivors of the woods.

Think about it: these ugly little critters turn up everywhere.  The woods must be teeming with them, maybe because those higher on the food chain can't stand to eat them, just as many trappers can't stand to skin them.  They remind me of Gonzo on the Muppets, except not quite as friendly, and that's another thing.  For their size they sure are feisty, combative, and love to show those teeth.  I'd hate to get bitten by one.  They are butt-ugly too.  Seems like the Lord showed a sense of humor when creating them.  Killing something so ugly just seems to add insult to injury.

They must have an excellent sense of smell because they sure can sniff out my dirt hole sets better (or quicker) than the 'coons seem to be able to.  When you let them go (if you let them go) they seem like they want to stay and fight rather than run away.  Gotta give 'em credit for that.  They ain't scared, or if they are, they don't let on.

I have a new respect for grinners.  The last few I caught I just gave them a salute, let 'em go, and remade my set.  I have decided to co-exist in peace with the lowly grinner, the ultimate survivor of the woods.   

Cold Weather Blues for This 'Coon Trapper

I gotta admit I'm a little bit of a fair-weather trapper.  I still get out and give it my best when the weather goes bad, but my favorite time to trap is late November.  Running a coon line using footholds is what I love to do most and in late November the coons have just reached prime, the temperature is still up, and the ground is not frozen.  This is when I trap my hardest.  Come January when the ground is frozen solid and the coons won't budge from their dens I switch my attention to fox, but the tough conditions kind of make my efforts halfhearted. Here in Southwestern PA the temp has been consistently in the teens at night for about 4 weeks, which is fairly unusual for my neck of the woods.  I've been fighting the freeze and found it to be lots of work trying to keep my sets operational.  I use buckwheat hulls, peat moss, dry dirt, salt and propylene glycol.  Some methods work better than others, but nothing is 100% foolproof.  At the moment, my trapping has pretty much come to a grinding halt.  I'm looking forward to a February thaw when the boar coons are out looking for love, and hoping the late season pelts are not too rubbed.

In the meantime, however, I've decided that I'm going to just see the weather as a challenge to try new things.  I'm pretty new to using cable restraints, as they've only been legal for a few years now in PA.  I've incorporated a few on my line at select locations since late December but haven't had much success with them yet.  I'm still getting the hang of these things, and definitely need to do more scouting for good locations, but I've decided I'm going to run a short line exclusively with cables restraints this week.  Hopefully I'll have a little success to report.

If anyone has some good tips, tricks or stories using cable restraints I'd love to hear from you!

My last 4-H trapping class is this week, and I'm going to demonstrate skinning and fleshing a raccoon.  Should be fun!   

Trapping: A Practical Life Skill

So much technology, information and automation seems to make our practical knowledge and real-world skills atrophy.  For instance, this AP article by Beth Harpaz talks about how many teenagers today have not ever used a can opener or ice cube trays (High-tech World May Spawn a Generation of Nincompoops).  This article is an eye-opener!  Fact is, technology and prosperity have made us lazy and weak, and this effect only seems to multiply with each generation.  Increasingly, we seem to live in this sterile atmosphere where everything is comfortably provided and basic life skills have become the work of "skilled labor."  I mean, who changes their own oil, or fixes their plumbing, or grows their own food.....or makes their own ice cubes?

So, what does all this have to do with trapping?  I think trapping is one more practical skill that is slowly being lost.  There was a time when many people trapped, and if you go back far enough, there was a time in our history when probably most people trapped.  It was a useful skill that used a renewable resource for food, fur and income, and brought balance to the environment in the process.  It made sense to do, and it made sense to learn it and teach it to the next generation.  We've come pretty far since those days, but trapping is still a great example of a life skill with a practical purpose.  It is no coincidence that trapping is historically associated with some of the most self-reliant and innovative people in American history; it is a skill for the practical man.  Seems to me that the challenge of trapping also engenders the quality of self-reliance; the trappers I know are "do-it-yourself" kind of people with a wide range of other life skills.

In this push-button age where practical skills are declining, I think it's a good idea to buck the trend and learn some new skills.  It's just more fulfilling to know how to do things.  I have a few ideas about things I'm going to learn to do myself, but one of the things you can bet I'll do is teach my kids to trap.  Trapping is an all-in-one education about the natural world, and a practical skill that will keep you learning for a lifetime.  It will get your hands dirty, and the more time a man spends close to the earth, the more "down to earth" his thoughts and his life will be.  That's the way I see it.

So, teach a kid to trap.....and for heaven's sake, while you're at it teach him to use an ice cube tray too!             

Looking Forward to Fall

It's that time of year when Summer is winding down and Fall is on it's way, and my thoughts are turning more and more to the trapping season.  This blog has kept me thinking about trapping throughout the off season, but I'm now getting antsy to get my boots on the ground and lay some steel.

To me, trapping is the ultimate escape.  There is nothing more relaxing, more liberating, than hiking the hills and trails of my trapline on a chilly morning, anticipating the sight of my first catch in the early morning light.  The rest of the world seems a million miles away, and I'm thinking of nothing else but trapping.  When my efforts are rewarded with a nice fox or a fat ringtail I feel like I've accomplished something real as a sportsman.  It's not something that many other people would consider noteworthy, but it doesn't matter.  I'm out there for no one else's sake but mine, and only because I enjoy the chase and I enjoy the challenge.

Even when I don't catch a blessed thing, and I've had such days, there's no sense of disappointment.  Sometimes trapping and catching are two different things, but as long as I'm trapping I'm content.  I do many other things outdoors, but I never enjoy nature so much as when I'm in the role of trapper.  Maybe it's the Fall weather, maybe it's the anticipation of the next catch, maybe it's the time spent with my kids, but I take no greater pleasure in God's creation than when my pack basket is on my back.

I never fail to think of the Mountain Men when I'm out running traps, and what it must have been like for them to explore the West, roam as free men, and trap the untouched wilderness.  Even though I'm a 21st century part-time short-liner, I like to think of the history of what I'm doing, and to think that I have at least some kind of distant connection with those intrepid men of history and their taste for adventure.

About this time of year I begin to putz around my fur shed looking for things to do and equipment to prepare.  Everywhere I drive I'm looking all around as much as at the road, always on the lookout for new places to scout and add to my trapline itinerary.  I've got trapping on the brain, and the anticipation will only build until that November morning when my first traps go in the ground.  I already know it will be a good season, not because I have an arsenal of new gimmicks and techniques to try, but because every season is a good season.  There are no bad trapping seasons, at least that's how I see it.  I never spent a day trapping that I regret, so I know I have a lot of fun, fulfilling days ahead of me.

Maybe to some I'm a little too nostalgic about this whole thing.  I know there are some who see trapping as a simple equation: catching + skinning = fur check.  For me it's a much more complicated equation, but a much more fulfilling experience.  It's a mindset as much as a sport.  It's a way of life packed into 3 or 4 months of the year.  When the leaves start to turn, as they will any day, it will be hard to think about much else.   

Nature's Master Trappers

    
     I was taking a hike with my kids this morning and while I led the way along the path I ran into more spider webs that I can count.  Annoying, yes, but it got me to thinking about how spiders lay their traps.  Do they just spin webs where it's convenient and hope to land a passing bug, or do they strategize and outsmart their prey?  A little research yielded some interesting facts.

     Many species of spiders spin orb shaped webs on a horizontal plane, which is what I noticed when I began to observe them.  Researchers believe they do this to gain the advantage of camouflage.  Insects flying up from the ground are less likely to see the web silhouetted against the sky.  A horizontal web is also less likely to be damaged by the wind, yet as the web vibrates in the breeze it is still effective in catching insects in slow, horizontal flight.  All trappers, even spiders, know that you have to understand the habits and limitations of your prey in order to outsmart them.

     Still other spiders spin several webs that each consist of only a single "trapeze line" which they patrol.  These lines are spun at all angles and various lengths but are anchored to the same point, and spun at hot-spots of insect activity.  Sounds like a "gang set" to me.

     It's fascinating, to me at least, to know something about the tactics of these little trappers, and how they follow some of the same principles we do regarding set location, position and camouflage.  This link will tell you more than you ever wanted to know about this subject.

     On a final note, it's interesting that the Bible acknowledges the skill of the spider, and uses it as one of nature's examples of industriousness.  "The spider skillfully grasps with its hands, and it is in king's palaces" (Prov. 30:28).

Trapping and the Bible

by C.J. Williams


With the rising influence of the animal rights movement, trappers often find themselves on the defensive. Now more than ever it is necessary to defend and explain our way of life to a misinformed public and a growing chorus of critics. Many good things have already been written in the defense of trapping from the standpoints of conservation and ethics. In those realms I cannot add much of value beyond what has already been said. There is, however, a theological and biblical side to this issue that matters to people of faith. What follows is my own perspective on what the Bible has to say about trapping.

To Live Deliberately

I recently came across this quote by Thoreau and it got me thinking about why trapping appeals so much to me:

"I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and  see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived...."

The woods was a sanctuary for Thoreau and the setting in which he penned some of his most famous works.  It is a setting in which life is reduced to its essential facts.  To "live deliberately," if I understand Thoreau, is to be a part of this setting rather than an observer of it, and to make the elements and processes of the natural world your business.

Maybe there aren't many transcendentalist trappers, but I think many of us intuitively understand what Thoreau so eloquently said.  Out on the trapline we "front only the essential facts of life" in the age old contest between man and animal.  Nature's most basic relationship, that of predator and prey, forces man and animal to match instincts, learn and adapt.  This contest is one of the most basic processes of nature.  Thus, the trapper does not appreciate nature from a distance or as a mere observer.  He is part of it, ingrained in the very working of it, as much as the animals he pursues.  

People enjoy nature in different ways, but there is nothing else like trapping that makes man both a participant in nature and a student of it.  To learn what it has to teach is the alternative to discovering that you have not lived, according to Thoreau.

You sometimes hear leftist anti's talk in mystical language about one-ness with nature, but nature is just a political cause to most of them.  I bet a good portion of them inhabit cubicles in downtown office buildings and would have little idea what Thoreau was talking about.  I don't know about all the mystical one-ness stuff, but I think I understand what Thoreau meant when he said he went into the woods to "live deliberately."  Life can sometimes feel accidental.  For me, trapping makes it more deliberate.

   

Walden Pond, where Thoreau lived from 1845-1847 and wrote Walden.
(image from Wikipedia at this link) 

 

Do you think he trapped muskrats?   

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Kids on the Trapline

by CJ Williams

     We have all heard that the future of trapping lies in getting the next generation involved. You’ve heard it said more than once: take your kids trapping! As a father of five who conscientiously tries to do this, I have found it more challenging than it sounds. In order to accommodate kids, there are some sacrifices you must make in regards to your efficiency and success on the trapline. The added scent left behind, the slower pace you must go, and the added time it takes to explain every step of the process all detract just a little bit from the efficiency of your trapline. Not to mention the bathroom breaks! (“Didn’t I tell you to go before we left?”) The fact of the matter is that there will be a conflict between wanting to push yourself and succeed vs. slowing down to accommodate the kids.
     There’s no getting around it: kids will slow you down. But I have found that the rewards are far greater than what you have to sacrifice.

     Just spending time with your kids in the outdoors is a reward in itself, and too few parents take the time to do this today. It is the perfect time to talk and to “connect” with your kids away from the TV and the ipod. If you show them that you are enjoying their company as you trap together they will have some of their best childhood memories from the trapline. I’m not sure how much my kids like trapping yet, but they like to be with me, and therefore they like to go trapping with me. This is the first and most important connection.

     When you get them out on the trapline with you, here are a few things to try to keep them involved. As we start our check we all take turns guessing what kind of critters, and how many, are waiting for us. Whoever has the closest guess gets a dollar when we get home.  Along the way, take time to show them animal trails and tracks, teach them to identify different kinds of trees, and explain what makes a good location for a trap set. Make it a contest to see who can remember where the next set is, and allow them to run ahead to check the next trap.

     If you have small kids who can’t yet make a set on their own, let them bait the hole or add the lure. Assign each kid a trap set or two, and even if they didn’t set the trap make it “theirs.” That way when you catch something it’s their catch, too. If they are able, let them carry the ‘coon or fox a little ways back toward home. It never hurts to get ice cream from a convenience store on the way home….we have happily eaten ice cream for breakfast many mornings at 8am (“don’t tell mom, it’s our secret”). In short, make the whole experience one they enjoy. Don’t forget to involve them in the fur shed, too, even if it’s just to watch as you put up your catch.

     And when you talk about your trapline success always use “we,” as in “we caught seven ‘coons” and “we’re checking our traps in the morning.” Make it their venture as much as yours. Share with them a little money you get from the sale of your furs, and finally, make something out of your furs for the kids. A coonskin cap is a young boy’s prize possession. Take lots of pictures of them on the trapline, and proudly show them around.

     No, you won’t break any trapping records with several kids in tow, but you will be a better parent, and it’s better to be a great parent than a great trapper. You’ll still be successful, and you’ll get to share that success with your kids. The future of trapping depends not just on taking a kid trapping but on trappers being good, patient parents.

My trappin' buddies with a Gray Fox.  From left to right: Gabriel, Noah and Judah.