OWNING A SUPPRESSOR 101 - P.14
Nymph Fishing for Trout Story inside page 6
Carroll Black: A Trapping Legend
OV Outdoor Times
I was saddened awhile back to learn of Carroll “Blackie” Black’s passing on March 23, 2015, at the age of 74. If there was ever a wellknown, respected By Ralph Scherder trapper whose Hunting Editor work influenced and inspired me to push harder on the trapline, it was Blackie. Blackie’s book, You Can Make Record Coon Catches, was a mainstay on my nightstand when I was a teenager. Every night I’d flip through that book, reading paragraphs here and there before falling asleep. My dreams were often filled with adventures of river traplines and huge catches of fur. One time I dreamed that Blackie and I had partnered up for a river trapline and we piled so many raccoons into our boat that we actually swamped it! Alas, it was just a dream, but a good one at that. Although I never met Blackie, I recently had the opportunity to talk to
Outdoor Times
Joanne, his wife of 34 years. From early on in their relationship, Joanne accompanied Blackie on the trapline. “When we got married in 1980, I didn’t know boo about trapping,” she said. “The first time I went with him, I watched him make a fox set. When he was done he moved down the field edge to make another one. I said I’d just wait there for him. As I was waiting, I had to relieve myself, so I just squatted down and did it right there by his set. He looked up and saw me and you’d think the world was coming to an end. He started shouting, ‘No, no, no!’ because he thought I’d ruined the set. Well, the next day there was a red fox jumping around in that trap! “After that peeing incident, he really didn’t put as much credence in the fact that everything must be meticulous to catch a fox. He said it wasn’t ‘quite’ as important as people made it out to be.” When they first got married, Joanne and Blackie often talked about what they wanted to do, and one day Joanne suggested that Blackie do something in the trapping industry. Trapping had been his passion since he was a kid growing up in Mount Vernon, PA, where he read and accumulated stacks of Fur-Fish-Game magazines. “He had so much experience trapping all over the country, I thought it Turn To Blackie Page 5
Ohio Valley
FR EE!
June 2015
Ohio Valley Outdoors–Photo courtesy of Joanne Black
Carroll “Blackie” Black, of Nashville, OH, made trapping and scent making a thriving business for his family and the trapping community for 30 years. Blackie died earlier this year after battling cancer. His wife, Joanne, talks about his journey and passion for trapping.