Trapping Today Magazine, Issue 1

TRAPPING TODAY ISSUE 1 Spring 2023

Sewing with Fur

Year of the Fisher

New Face of Trapping 1

E. J. Dailey

INDEX NEW FACE OF TRAPPING

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IN THE NEWS YEAR OF THE FISHER A Maine marten trapper looks back on a season full of fisher.

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FUR MARKET REPORT

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Uncertainty is the name of the game in the modern fur market. Prices remain low, with a few exceptions.

SEWING WITH FUR Josh Fischer shares a bit of his journey into the world of sewing hats, mitts and more with his own fur.

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WELCOME!

MINK, MARY AND ME

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MB-750 REVIEW

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FIRST MUSKRAT

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FREELANCE TRAPPING WITH E.J. DAILEY

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Adirondack trapping with a legend, along with a bit of adventure!

Trapping Today Magazine

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LURE FORMULAS YOU CAN TRY Lure making doesn’t have to be complicated.

www.trappingtoday.com EDITOR Jeremiah Wood CONTACT jrodwood@gmail.com

SUBSCRIBE HERE!

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No portion of this magazine may be reproduced without the written consent of the publisher.

FROM THE EDITOR

THE NEW FACE OF TRAPPING The trapping community is ageing. The rendezvous and conventions that once attracted big crowds are stagnant....Is there any hope for trapping to persist into the future?

Trapper. A person who harvests furbearing animals, whether for use in fur products, for meat consumption, or to control animals causing damage to crops, livestock or pets. That’s a pretty broad definition of what a trapper is, but I still think it barely scratches the surface. These days trappers come in more shapes and sizes, and from more backgrounds, than ever before.

Brad Roy and son with a Vermont fisher @vtmillennialhomesteaders on Instagram

In the old days the trapper was a farm boy, or a hunter from a rural area who started out catching muskrats, raccoons and skunks in the local neighborhood and sold them to the fur buyer down the road, often making more money than his father did at work some weeks. A whole generation of trappers was born in the 70’s and 80’s as a result of that

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sweet combination of a love for the outdoors and animals, and the incredibly high value the market paid for fur pelts.

The fur market crashed, and although we’ve had a few good years, it’s pretty well been a slow and steady decline over the past few decades. With no steady market the country fur buyers went away. The guys who ran long trap lines and produced big catches of fur each year started giving it up, and the number of new kids learning to trap on foot lines before and after school dwindled.

Those youngsters who cut their teeth during the last fur boom are our old timers today. Many still trap because they love it, and they spend a great deal of time and money chasing after fur that has no economic value, but still experience that sense of excitement and wonder that got them hooked on trapping in the first place. But their numbers are dwindling.

The trapping community is ageing. The rendezvous and conventions that once attracted huge crowds are stagnant. Fur buyers and trapping supply dealers are going out of business. And the die hard long line trapper is becoming an endangered species.

What’s the future of this whole thing? The trapping community we once knew sadly declines one funeral at a time. Who will replace them? Is there any hope for trapping to persist into the future? There just might be.

We call them millennials. They didn’t grow up trapping. Most never spent time

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on a farm. Their parents may not have even hunted or fished much. They are generally well educated, employed and starting families. They have a balanced understanding of the world, and they’ve begun to question many of the things society has told them.

They raise backyard chickens and get beef and pork from their neighbors.

The emotional arguments of ‘animal rights’ don’t tug at their heart strings, but the logical desire to eliminate the fox that killed their chickens resonates.

Fur appeals to them as a natural, renewable and biodegradable source of warmth. Meat from furbearers is attractive as a drug free, wholesome source of protein.

They’ll probably never fill a barn wall with catches of fur or take the winter off to run long lines, but they can be trappers just the same. They’re open minded and they want to learn. Let’s embrace them. As trappers. 

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Philippe Willis with an Appalachian beaver.

The Best Mapping Tool for the Trapline Use code ‘TRAP’ for 20% off your first purchase at onxmaps.com 7

JEREMIAH WOOD

YEAR OF THE FISHER CHANGES IN HABITAT CAN HAVE A BIG IMPACT ON THE FURBEARERS WE PURSUE. AS TRAPPERS WE CAN CHOOSE TO GIVE UP AND MOVE ON, OR PERSEVERE AND MAKE THE BEST OF THINGS.

For most of my trapping life I’ve identified myself as a marten trapper. The marten is a fascinating animal, lives in wild places, and provides the most enjoyment of all the species I trap here in Maine. So most of my trapping effort revolves around targeting marten on a back country trapline in the woods of northern Maine. But as most trappers in my area know, marten trapping has changed dramatically here in the past two decades, and it’s changing the way a lot of us trap.

We’re in an era of wide scale landscape change in the industrial forest of northern Maine, with relaxed timber harvesting regulations and an aggressive approach to maximize the economic potential of the 8

“Some have given up trapping altogether, but others have embraced the new opportunity that this habitat change has brought about: the rise of the fisher!”

forest. Almost all of the land here is privately owned by timber companies, and road building and clear cutting have intensified in areas of mature forest that once supported a large and healthy marten population.

In short, the forest is changing and marten habitat is going away. For a marten trapper, it’s frustrating. We still catch marten in these areas, but it takes more effort – more trap nights and longer distances to catch any number of them. But it’s the hand we’re dealt, so what do we do? Some have given up trapping altogether, but others have embraced the new opportunity that this habitat change has brought about: the rise of the fisher!

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It took several years, but I’m starting to come around when it comes to fisher trapping. As a die hard marten trapper I hate what the influx of fisher represents (the fall of the old growth forests and the marten they support), but it’s hard not to get excited about catching large numbers of fishers. I have to admit I’m enjoying it so far.

I gave my old growth marten country a rest this year and trapped some nearby ground with a mixed forest interspersed with regenerating clear cuts and young timber. As expected, the marten catch was considerably lower, but the real surprise was the ratio of fisher to marten in my sets. In prime marten habitat I can usually expect to catch one or two fisher for every ten marten. This season, in the new country I trapped, I caught an almost 1:1 ratio of fisher to marten.

It was one of those perfect combinations of factors coming together in a trapper’s favor. High and increasing fisher densities, few natural foods in the forest, enough snow on the ground to encourage fishers to come to baits, and sets made with experience from several years of hard lessons.

We’re required to use lynx exclusion devices in Maine to avoid incidentally catching Canada lynx in our marten/fisher traps, and I’ve experimented with different sizes and designs for years. Many years fisher will just refuse to go into those boxes, and the legally mandated 4”x4” opening makes it tough for many of them to squeeze in. This year, though, they were extra motivated to get at baits, and I was again amazed at how small a hole a fisher can squeeze through if it really wants to.

Sure, it ain’t marten trapping. Nothing will ever compare to trapping wild country for marten in my mind. But fisher trapping isn’t too far off, and those black tails sticking out of boxes are sure fun to walk up on. I’m starting to think I could get used to it. 

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IN THE NEWS

BEAVERS EXPAND IN THE ARCTIC New study documents the expansion of beaver ponds in arctic Alaska between 1949 and 2019.

FROM THE ARTICLE

“The number of beaver ponds doubled in most areas between~ 2003 and~ 2017. Earlier stages of beaver engineering are evident in~ 1980 imagery, and there is no evidence of beaver engineering in~ 1952 imagery, consistent with observations from Indigenous communities describing the infux of beavers over the period.”

CLICK HERE TO READ THE FULL ARTICLE!

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IOWA: SURGING NUMBERS OF RACCOONS AMID LESS TRAPPING.

“In 2006, the Iowa Department of Natural Resources counted 2,417 raccoons in its nocturnal surveys in all of Iowa’s 99 counties. This year, it counted 6,486 - a surge of over 268 percent in the last 16 years, and an increase of 23 percent in the last year alone, despite localized outbreaks of fatal canine distemper virus.”

FULL STORY HERE

SAVAGE ARMS ON THE FUR MARKET

Stephanie Mallory interviews Jeremiah Wood on the state of the fur market and explains how hunters can sell their fur.

FULL STORY HERE

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- TRAPLINE TIP Droppings make excellent visual attractors at canine sets. When scouting, pick up any droppings you find and store for use in making sets during the season. Using droppings collected from one part of the trapline can be effective in other areas because their unfamiliar scent appeals to a canine’s instincts. A dropping with a shot of urine can be a great attractor at a flat set, or provide effective blocking with an added appeal.

- FROM THE TRAPPING TODAY PODCAST -

400+ coyotes in Kansas and a pile of canines in Maine!

Jason Vance is one of those guys who loves all things trapping and has organized his life around being able to trap full time during the winter months. He’s trapped several states around the country. In this episode we talk mostly about his trapping experience with coyotes in Maine and Kansas.

Browse more than 200 Trapping Today episodes, wherever you get your podcasts!

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Join Jeremiah Wood on his northern Maine marten and fisher trapline over at Trapping Today’s Youtube Channel. Above is one of a multi part video series covering the 2022 season.

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FUR MARKET Today’s market relies on buyers in China, Greece, Italy, Russia and Korea..... and the economic well being of their consumers is critical.

Traditionally, it’s been common to provide a reasonably accurate picture of what the fur market is going to look like by the time fall rolls around and trapping season gets underway. But the past few years have been anything but traditional in the fur market, and uncertainty is the new name of the game.

These days a large percentage of the fur that’s harvested in the fall and early winter months won’t be sold until the following spring, or even summer, making it difficult to predict what will happen. But one thing we know for sure is that fur is in less demand than it was years ago, and most items are going to be difficult to sell for prices that most fur harvesters would consider reasonable.

As I’ve said in the past, the modern fur market is global. Unlike the historic market, where a great deal of domestic production was consumed in North America, today’s market relies on buyers in China, Greece, Italy, Russia and 26

Korea. Unlike in the U.S., fur is fashionable in these places, and the economic well being of their consumers is critical in driving the market. China is the largest buyer. With the global pandemic spreading through urban centers in the country, Chinese cities have been in and out of lockdown for the past year or so. These lockdowns grind local economies to a halt. People can’t get out to shops to buy fur coats and other garments. There’s also little reason to spend on fashionable clothing when folks aren’t going out and socializing like they once did. All of this means bad news for fur dealers in China and those who supply them.

“Just when we should be celebrating the benefits of wild fur, society seems to be running away from it.”

SHORT TERM TRENDS

Similarly, Russia has been one of the largest buyers of fur globally. Despite disruptions in trade as a result of the ongoing war, the value of the Russian ruble has held up, indicating that Russia’s buying power in relation to the U.S. dollar is pretty good. That said, trade relations have almost completely broken down between Russia and most of the Western world, making for a much more challenging environment to sell fur into.

Coyote - down Beaver - up Otter - up Muskrat - flat Fox - flat Skunk - up Marten/Fisher - up Raccoon - flat Bobcat - flat

All of that said, there still is a market

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for wild fur, it’s just not what it once was, and it may be more challenging to get some furs sold at any price.

Fur Harvesters Auction, Inc. is the one remaining fur auction house in North America, and sells a large portion of the wild fur produced in the U.S. and Canada. Travel restrictions from the pandemic and war related sanctions made it impossible to hold an in-person auction for international buyers to attend in Ontario for quite some time. With online auctions fur can be sold, but buyers have less confidence in what they are buying without being able to thoroughly inspect the lots, and are often willing to pay less. The return to the traditional auction format in March 2023 should increase buyers’ confidence in the items they are bidding on and boost overall prices a bit.

Groenewold Fur & Wool Company, the largest private buyer of wild fur in the U.S., has close connections with the fur market in China and monitors day to day sales of fur items in numerous Chinese shops. Groenewold regularly runs fur buying routes across the midwestern U.S. throughout the trapping season.

After discontinuing many fur buying routes last season due to the lack of fur sales, the company is running routes and actively buying fur this season. The question is, how much will they pay?

Fashion trends continue to drag on the fur market. Despite all of the obvious benefits of fur – its incredible warmth and durability, sustainable management, environmental friendliness and biodegradability, and the necessity to harvest animals to manage healthy populations, the animal rights movement continues to influence the industry and fashion. Several fashion lines have announced they’ll discontinue using fur. Canada Goose – the largest buyer of coyote pelts and trend-setter in fur lined parka fashion, has gone ‘fur free’. In addition, several cities in the U.S. have passed rules banning the sale of fur products, and some states are contemplating fur bans as well. Just when we should be celebrating the benefits of wild fur, society seems to be running away from it.

We know the overall trend in the fur market isn’t great, but what about specifics on certain species? Even in poor markets, there’s usually a bright spot some28

where. Let’s take a look.

COYOTE For years coyotes were the one standout in an overall poor fur market. This was driven primarily by the trendy fur lined parka hoods sold by Canada Goose and other similar coat companies. The trend appears to have finally reached its end, and demand for coyote pelts dropped off a cliff last year. That’s unfortunate because coyotes are one of the most prolific furbearing species, and humans benefit greatly from responsible, sustainable levels of coyote harvest. With the low prices to come, we may not see much harvest for fur, and animal damage control trapping will likely need to play a larger role in harvesting coyotes. The best quality Heavy western coyotes will still be in demand, but at a lower price, likely around $30-40.

With the limited demand for coyote pelts likely to be filled by western heavies, the lower quality Eastern and Southern coyotes will be priced low, with Easterns bringing in the $15-25 range and the rest around $10-15.

MUSKRAT Muskrat pelts did okay last year, particularly early in the selling season, but the continued low price of ranch mink and lots of held over rat pelts from last year will have an impact. I’d expect $2-3 on average for muskrats.

RACCOON The market for raccoon pelts continues to be very poor. A very abundant item with low demand and high processing costs has created a situation where it’s going to be difficult if not impossible to sell many raccoon skins at any price.

The best quality pelts – the largest sizes that are fully prime and undamaged – will have demand and may sell for $10-15, but the rest may not sell at all, or if they do, average in the low single digits. It would be wise to keep only the best of your raccoon catch for the fur market.

BEAVER Beaver pelts are used in two very different markets. The most prime northern 29

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Northern Minnesota marten caught using Long Distance Call 30

Predator Lure - a unique blend of food attractant and musk that elicits a strong digging response and works great for a variety of furbearers.

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beaver pelts with long guard hairs and thick underfur command very high value, but these are costly to produce and demand is limited to a small portion of the overall beaver market. This results in high prices being paid for winter caught beaver from sections that produce dark pelts. These may turn into plucked, dyed and sheared garments sold in high end markets, or into niche items like hats, mitts and blankets.

It only takes a small number of pelts to satisfy the demand for better quality beaver, and the remainder mostly go to the hatter market. These pelts are ground and crushed into felt and used to make cowboy hats. Pelt quality isn’t a concern for the low end markets, any beaver pelt can be used, and they don’t pay well. There seems to be no middle market for beaver pelts these days.

Top quality beaver pelts may get $25 or more this year (which might be one of the few bright spots in the market), with northern collections likely averaging around $15-20. Beaver from most other places will probably continue to average in the $10-12 range.

CASTOR Beaver castor continues to be in relatively high demand, but the market is showing some signs of weakness. Low beaver harvest means supply hasn’t satisfied this demand in recent years, which has resulted in high prices. Last year we entered the season with castor averaging close to $100/lb. The market weakened throughout the season and I was hearing reports of $60-70/lb, but the late season auctions saw a run-up in price back to the $100 mark. We’ll likely continue to see castor sell at levels above normal, but weaker than last year’s highs. At this point, $60-70/lb at auction is probably a safe bet, with prices of $40-60 in the country.

OTTER Otter prices haven’t changed much in years. They’ll probably continue to sell for $15-25, which is a shame for such a nice quality pelt. I’ve had all of my otter pelts tanned the past couple of years and have explored several ideas for unique uses of these pelts.

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MARTEN/FISHER Marten was one of the items that sold a bit better than expected toward the end of last season. With uncertainty around the availability of Russian sable in the world market, many buyers may turn to North American marten as an alternative. Heavy marten from northern Canada and Alaska should bring north of $40 with some room for advancement, with Lower 48 marten in the $20-30 range.

Fisher will probably continue to average $20-30. This is another item I’ve chosen to have tanned and seek alternative markets for rather than sell into a poor price environment.

BOBCAT The demand for better quality Western bobcats has waned recently. Instead of averaging $300-500 like in years past, I think the new reality for these is in the $200-300 range. The good news is that the lower end of the bobcat market has moved up over the past year or so. These bobcats, from Canada and parts of the Lower 48 outside of the top Western sections, may continue to bring averages of $60-90. However, any weakness in the market could send these prices down to the $30-50 range.

FOX Nobody seems interested in Red Fox or Greys. They’ll probably fetch around $10 on average.

SKUNK Skunks will sell well – there always seems to be a specialty market for them – usually at about $5, but this year we’ve started to see skunks sell in the $10-15 range in local auctions. They’ll probably continue to sell in the $5-15 range, with an average around $10.

LYNX/WOLF/WOLVERINE Northern wilderness trappers – those living a lifestyle myself and others have 33

dreamed about – are fortunate enough to have a few species that will sell well even in poor markets. Wolves and wolverine are harvested in small numbers and always have adequate demand at respectable prices, around $250-500 on average. Canada lynx aren’t in great demand but have been selling at slightly advanced levels recently, and a limited harvest may help put lynx averages north of $60. Granted, this may be small consolation for a northern trapper with the elevated price of fuel and supplies needed to travel great distances in the bush.

For several years doing this fur market report I’ve hoped we’d seen the bottom and had better prices just around the corner, but the rebound has yet to materialize, and the reality is that it may not happen any time soon. The market is changing, and we as trappers and fur harvesters are going to have to change and adapt with it. In the words of the old mountain man, “fur will shine again”. Will it be as bright as the days of past fur booms, or just a glimmer of its former self?

Time will tell. 

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Fleshing a Beaver Pelt in Seconds!

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Mink, Mary and Me Written by Chick Ferguson First Published 1946

MINK, MARY AND ME There was an allure to the north in those days. It wasn’t just the abundance of high value furs.....it was wild and beautiful country.

In the fur boom years of the 1920’s and 30’s, trapping in the far north wilderness was one of the riskiest, but potentially most profitable occupations in society. Many who struggled to find jobs in and around civilization went north, trapped fur and came out in the spring with enough money for a fresh start on the outside.

Chick Ferguson first headed north to earn his stake in 1927.

The newly married semipro boxer and owner of a failing photography studio in Montana, Chick followed a friend to run a

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trapline in Northwest Territories, Canada. They took the 600+ mile trip from Waterways, Alberta to Fort Providence, NWT, and then upriver in a canoe for days to get to the first of a series of trapline cabins in the Horn River watershed.

Back then the wilderness wasn’t considered a place for wives and children, but Chick’s wife Mary wasn’t your typical woman. When he headed north, Mary made it clear that she would be with him the following year, living in whatever cabin he was able to build, and helping him run traplines.

Chick and Mary’s first trip upriver to the trapline and winter home was a long, challenging journey, with numerous rapids and low water to navigate with a freighted canoe carrying an entire year’s supplies. For years, the travel between the Fort and the trapline would be one of the most difficult parts of living there, and it was probably the reason the area remained so isolated for so long.

The Fergusons planned to spend three or four years running the far north trapline, and sell enough fur to return to the outside world and start life anew.

What they may not have realized at the time, though, is that those years in the 37

north would be the most memorable and cherished times of their lives.

A trapper’s life in the north country is dictated by the seasons. In summer you purchase supplies from the traders at the Fort. You freight your supplies upriver to the trapline in late summer and store them in a cache to protect them from bears. Then it’s a mad dash to prepare for winter. You make all necessary repairs to cabins, build new trapline cabins that serve as outpost shelters during long trips, and rush to get food. That means shooting a moose or two for your consumption, and catching a pile of fish to feed the dogs if you’re running a dog team. Once prepared, you wait for freezeup and the start of trapping season.

When he started, Chick was running traplines on snowshoes, which was slow, hard work. He wasn’t an expert trapper either, and had to learn a great deal before making big catches of fur. But his lack of mobility and inexperience was made up for in hard work – he had a work ethic like nobody else. Over time he

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and Mary put together a dog team that allowed them to cover more miles in less time.

Winter was long, but having each other for companionship made it bearable, and Chick and Mary put together a decent catch of fur their first winter. They headed downriver when the ice broke up in the spring, sold their fur to the traders at the Fort, paid off debt, and resupplied for the next season.

The Great Depression set in when Chick and Mary were out in the bush. It didn’t help fur prices, but even more so, the lack of jobs made life in the outside world less attractive. They stayed in the woods.

Over the years, they built up their cabins, traplines and supplies, and the duo were running around 800 traps during a winter when fur populations were at their peak. They had an absolute banner season, catching 166 fox, 161 mink, 115 lynx, 4 beaver and 2 otter. Fur prices were high in those days. It was enough 39

money to get back to civilization, and they did. But the lure of the wilderness kept drawing them back.

A few years later, Chick, Mary and their four year old son Bill finally quit the north for good. They’d made a decent stake in the fur business, but more importantly, created memories to last a lifetime. It was time for Bill to go to school and for his parents to start a new life. They sold the trapline and moved on. It was someone else’s turn for adventure. 

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Join me on a wilderness trapline!

More than Wolverine Published 2022 166 pages

GET YOUR COPY HERE!

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Nate Benkofske with an otter triple!

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WRITTEN BY JOSH FISCHER

SEWING WITH FUR With a little help from a mentor and a lot of determination and patience, Josh Fischer learned how to turn his trapline catches into beautiful hats, mitts and more.

Five years ago, with the downturn in the majority of the fur market, I began looking for alternative markets for my pelts. I had some tanned and sold them privately, but wasn’t satisfied with the results of my efforts.

I have always been interested in learning to sew with fur. After I got my first hat and mitts I decided I needed to learn. In 2020 I happened to be lucky enough to meet someone who was willing to teach me. I took my first lynx over to her house and made a beautiful hat and

Josh traces a pattern for a set of mitts

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set of mitts for my wife. I’ve been hooked ever since.

Tanning and making fur garments from your own pelts is more rewarding and can be much more profitable than selling in the raw fur market. On top of that, nothing compares to the warmth of fur, especially on a bitter cold day.

Each species has pros and cons to particular uses. Beaver and river otter are extremely durable and very warm. They make great hats and mitts and last a long time. Beaver is also the most economical fur to make garments from. Wolf and wolverine have frost resistant properties and are fantastic for ruffs or trim on hats and mitts.

“Nothing compares to the warmth of fur, especially on a bitter cold day”

Furs like muskrat and marten are light, warm and soft to the touch, but much less durable than others. A person can make any garment out of any species, it just may not perform as hoped or last as long as desired.

Black beaver with silver fox trim, moose hide palms and berber fleece lining

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EACH SPECIES’ FUR IS UNIQUE

Beaver and otter are extremely durable and warm, great for hats and mitts

Wolf and wolverine are frost resistant, great for trim

Muskrat and marten are light, warm and soft, but less durable

Beaver is usually the most economical

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A fur pelt is just the start of making a garment. There are other materials needed to make a traditional trapper hat or pair of mitts. Leather for a shell or palm material, fleece or other insulating liner, and thread for the actual stitching. I prefer to use moose hide, polar fleece, and dental floss for my materials. I use moose for leather because it’s fitting with me living in Alaska. I like polar fleece for hats and berber fleece for mitts with an additional layer of polar fleece on the palm. I use traditional waxed dental floss because it is strong, rot proof and cheaper and easier to find than sinew. Plus, it can provide a nice minty smell if you so choose!

One of the most difficult parts of sewing fur is learning how to color and grade match. Slight variations in fur quality and color require the utmost attention to produce a beautiful garment. Different guard hair length, missing hair, and the heaviness of the pelt are some of the fur qualities to look at. One might not think there are many color variations in a given species, but start sewing with fur and you will be surprised. My fur grading skills have improved drastically since I began sewing. A person starts to notice the slightest differences and imperfections in the pelts they intend to sew with.

Fur sewing isn’t for everyone. It can be tedious, frustrating and time consuming. There won’t be a large market everywhere but for the individual who likes a challenge and wants to reap all the benefits of their labors, it’s an amazing skill to learn and put to use. Nothing will keep you warmer or feel more gratifying than making a fur garment from your own catch.  Josh recently started Fischer Furs. He’ll make hats, mitts and other items with his fur or yours. For more information, contact him at fishin_fool@hotmail.com.

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Pat Connelly with an otter

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Written by Patrick Connelly

GEAR REVIEW

THE MB-750 “The trap’s construction leaves little doubt as to its durability.....and I definitely was drawn to the respectable sized catch area.”

Although it’s been out for a few years now, I recently tried out the MB-750 beaver trap. I was called to do a control job for a railroad where a half-collapsed culvert, coupled with some busy beavers, were quickly compromising the tracks.

After using the traps for a while, I came up with some pros and cons that may help you decide if these traps hold a place in your pack basket this spring.

To start off the pros, I really like how Minnesota Brand tries to use US-made parts whenever possible and that they’re assembled right here in the States. The trap has a solid heft to it, which I noticed when first picking one up.

The trap’s construction leaves little doubt as to its durability.

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MB-750 DETAILS • Made by Minnesota Trapline Products • Designed for and Otter

Beaver

• Jaw Spread: Inside 7 1/16″, outside 7 3/8″ • Pan size: 3″x3″ • Comes with HD machine chain and two swivels • All models are standard 4-coiled • Weighs about 4 lbs.

The standard MB-750 beaver trap has a jaw spread measuring 7-1/16” inside and 7-3/8” outside. Add to this a 3”x3” pan, and I definitely was drawn to the respectable sized catch area.

These traps bed really well, even in a mucky swamp. A few test fires with the old Sullivan Trap Tester put the pan tension just over the max measurable line on the tester (which is about four pounds). They fire with some tenacity (I mean like shockingly quick!), no doubt because of their 4-coil design. I was running these on grain bags filled with rocks, a 9 gauge wire drowner and the new Hagz Universal Lock.

The first two beaver I caught made their terminal dive almost without a hitch.

The first was front foot caught, despite the fact that I’d intended for a back foot catch. The railroad crew had fashioned two pieces of livestock fencing making the square culvert the base of a sort of triangle when looking down at it. This was an attempt to exclude the beavers nonlethally before I was called.

The beaver had used this almost like concrete fencing and packed it with mud and sticks. I repositioned the two 750’s, one in front of each piece of fencing a bit further back, hoping to grab their back foot. The next check I had another approximately 40 pound beaver waiting for me. This one had all but one toe in the trap and was held solid.

Some of the pros I found with the MB-750 may actually be cons under certain circumstances. The traps are powerful. I would strongly recommend laminations if using on land or in non-drowning sets, due to potential animal

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welfare and trapping public relations concerns. Along those lines, the dogless design means you have to put your mitts in harm’s way when setting this trap. If I can make it my whole trapping career and not join the 330 club or the 750 club I’ll be a happy man!

Another qualm with setting is I had difficult time setting these by hand out of the box…and still do to this day.

I like to consider myself of decent strength and stature but it’s not an easy task. The pair of A-shaped MB setters work really great in most instances. I would position the cross section over the lever and the bottom side of the A under the springs on both sides. You can then use the back of your knee/thigh and one hand while leaving your least favorite hand set the cross bar and pan in the danger zone.

Relying on setters to me means one more thing to forget at the truck or lose in a swamp. A length of paracord tying them together so you can wear them around your neck and tuck into your chest waders might do the trick

Follow the link to compare prices on eBay.

SHOP FOR MB-750’s

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to mitigate this risk. I did have success depressing the levers with my toes while positioning the bar that catches the tabs on the jaws and then positioning the pan. This of course is not helpful unless you have semi-firm ground that is often a rarity in beaver territory. Wet and muddy boots or traps increase the difficulty of this method.

Overall the MB-750 is a robust, fast firing tank of a trap. This might be a bit overkill for beaver. As I said before, laminations may be essential if you’re aiming for a front foot catch. The dogless design prevents beavers from flipping the inactive jaw, but puts your hands in the line of fire when setting the trap. You may enjoy the speed and holding power but have difficulty setting it over your knee.

Like anything, there are compromises to be weighed before you decide. What isn’t compromised is this trap’s ruggedness. These won’t be the only footholds in my beaver trapping arsenal, but they’re too damn pretty to get rid of either! 

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53 Nate Benkofske with a Minnesota bobcat

RTS TRAP SETTER The main types of bodygrip trap setters remained unchanged for many years, until a new innovation came along and changed the game. The RTS trap setter is built like a heavy duty caulking gun, and works the same way. Two pieces of steel with notches to hook onto trap springs are compressed together via simple compression of a handle.

While a bit slower operating than a conventional trap setting tool, the RTS is physically the easiest setter to use. It can be operated with one hand, requires very little force (just some simple hand squeezes) and can be used in any position. The notches can be hooked anywhere on the spring, not just the spring eyes. The ratcheting action of the setter serves as a built-in safety device as well.

These are expensive setters, but to me they’re the safest, most ergonomic, and highest quality option. The best part is that they can be set by trappers of any strength level, including the youngsters. That’s a bonus when my kids are helping out in the trap shed, and has helped them get going on the trapline at a young age.

Get the RTS Setters Here!

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Ed Snell with a Maine beaver 55

OUT OF THE PAST

FREELANCE TRAPPING

Adirondack trappers could get pretty territorial in the days of high fur prices.

WRITTEN BY E.J. DAILEY

HUNTER-TRADER-TRAPPER 1919

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In no other section of the north have I found the unwritten law of each trapper owning the trapping rights of the section he works simply because he ‘trapped there last year’ or for some other foolish reason, lived up to as much as in the Adirondack Mountains.

Now I don’t mean to insinuate that all Adirondack trappers

are crooks, but experience has taught me that a great many will try to drive you out of the territory which they claim for their own even though they are squatters themselves.

It was early in the fall of 1915 that I hired a man and made ready for the trapping season. My intentions at this time were to cross into Canada and work up around the Porcupine River in New Ontario. I had visited this country on a fur prospecting trip quite previously and found conditions favorable. I found plenty of fox signs and not a few marten and fisher signs, not to mention mink, weasel and a few muskrat.

But conditions made it impossible for me to cross the line, some of which were caused by the war at this particular time, so at the last moment I decided to await a later date for my New Ontario trip and to try the trapping game in the Adirondacks. For those who are not posted I will say that the hunting and trapping license costs $100 to a non-resident in Ontario, Canada, also we have to pay duty on most equipment taken over.

November 10th found me ready for business. For equipment we had a pup tent, two hundred traps of various sizes from the zero for weasel to the threes and fours for fisher, marten, etc., folding camp stoves, flashlight, blankets and plenty of eats, also a toboggan and two pair snowshoes. For guns I carried a 44 Colt’s revolver with long barrel for chance shots at deer or bear and a 22 Stevens pistol for a trap line gun.

I decided to start operation around Jo Indian Lake so took my trapping car and moved our equipment up there a distance of fifty miles. I then sent a friend home with the car and we were ready for work. And work it was, for the first thing we did was pack our outfit ten miles or more back into the woods near the inlet and put up the little tent and put things to rights. Of course we didn’t pack in everything, only what we needed for immediate use. The rest we hid until later.

The first day I put out fifty traps, mostly for mink. I made all blind sets in the 57

springs running into the inlet of the lake for this animal. However, at one point where there was mud I saw tracks where a fisher had followed an old deer trail to a small stream and crossed to the other side at different times. I decided that this was his regular route, and set a No. 2 Kangaroo in the edge of the water where the natural surroundings made it the most likely place for him to step.

I found one trail where coons were coming down to the inlet evidently looking for frogs, so made two sets in the trail using No. 3 traps. I also made a few sets for muskrats, but didn’t find signs of these animals very plentiful. My man went up around the head of the lake and made a few sets for mink and rats.

Next morning we were out early as trappers are apt to be and in the first trap I had a small, very dark mink. It was the only mink I got that day. The rat traps held four rats and in one of the coon sets I had a toe, while the other held a large porcupine, which meant meat for supper. The fisher trap was not disturbed.

Upon arriving at camp I found Harry, which was my man’s name, with five rats.

He said he found an otter slide and wanted me to go with him the next morning to make a set as he had never set a trap for an otter. So the next day we took a No. 3 trap and after spending some time locating the slide, which Harry had failed to mark, we at last located it and made the set.

I then went back to my own line and Harry went on, but upon arriving at the first trap I found it fastened to a nearby tree with a sign underneath it which read “No trapping allowed here, Jene Gonyearr.” Well I went on to the rest of the traps and found part of them pulled up and similar notices attached. I had a large mink in a trap that I had set in a spring over back of the mountain away from the rest and in the coon traps which my competitor evidently did not find, I had a large dog coon.

Now I knew that this section was owned by a lumber company who did not sell nor allow trapping rights so decided to be on the ground at daylight the following morning and await developments. Daylight the next morning found me lying behind a large log close by a trap which had been molested the pre58

vious day and in about an hour a lanky man with part of my traps slung over his shoulder came gliding through the bushes. He then went up to my set and leaned far over. Now was the time for action, so jumping over the log I gave him a shove which landed him in ten feet of mud and water and as he tried to scramble out I repeated the dose about ten times, and when I finally did let him out he was a very amiable character and agreed to molest me no more. I had no more trouble around Jo Indian Lake.

I then picked up what traps did not fall in the water and proceeded to look at the ones left set. I hadn’t gone far until I heard hounds coming and knowing that hounds sometimes run deer in the Adirondack Park, although it is contrary to law, I got on a trail and waited and in a few minutes a fair sized buck made his appearance. When about seven rods from me, it stopped still to listen for hounds. Well I just started my machine gun and will say we had venison liver and onions for supper. I also got two mink and six rats, and upon arriving at camp found Harry skinning a fine otter. I told him my experience with the man and he had a good laugh.

Next day it rained all day and we did not go out, but the following day I found upon arriving at the fisher trap that something was doing. The trap chain was drawn under the bank and when I pulled the trap out I found a fisher. He was rather pale and a little undersized, but a fisher nevertheless.

We kept this up with about the same kind of luck for about two weeks, branching out of course to cover all territory we could, but as a light snow had now fallen so that we could run our toboggan we decided to move to new territory.

We packed our outfit and were away the following morning at daybreak.

Upon arriving at Jordan Lake we found signs of furbearers fairly plentiful, so decided to stop off awhile. I found an old boat which evidently had not seen service for sometime. I patched it up and the next morning found me floating down the Jordan River setting traps here and there for mink, rats and a few fisher and marten. I was happy as any king on his throne, when all at once I heard a “ping”, and the next minute the boat began filling with water. Upon looking up I 59

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saw a faint cloud of smoke arising from the woods and knew the reason for my mishap. I also knew that there was no use in me opening fire as the enemy had the advantage. Besides, there was nothing to shoot at, so I grabbed the paddle and just got to shore by bailing with my hat when the old boat sunk.

Not wanting to take any more chances on the water I gathered up what traps I had not set and after consulting my compass started over the mountain for camp. When about half way there I sat down on a log to rest, and upon looking down saw a hole in the side of it which showed claw and teeth marks. I took my hunting axe and chopped into the log and found three large coons. Such is trappers’ luck. Had my boat not been fired upon I would not have found the coon log.

Before I got to camp I heard Harry swearing. Knowing something was wrong, I rushed up and found our camp and nearly everything in it demolished. Our furs and a part of our eats were left intact, probably because the miscreant had been scared away by Harry’s approaching. Well for him that he beat it, for the reason that Harry was with me was because he could not keep out of fights in the city where he lived. He had also done some semi-professional fighting.

Well, our tent was all torn to pieces so we built an open camp and decided that one of us would do guard duty while the other was on the trapline. We trapped this section for about a week with varying success. I added another fisher and a marten to our furs, the latter I caught at a bait set under a pile of driftwood along the shore of a small pond called Potters Pond. We also caught a few more mink and rats and one day Harry brought in a broad stripe skunk which committed suicide by stepping on one of his coon traps. These animals are very scarce in the Adirondack Mountains.

About this time a stormy period set in, the weather got colder, snow fell to a considerable depth. We hadn’t seen any more of our unfriendly neighbors, but evidence kept showing that they were at work - traps went missing and sets were destroyed. I got back part of the traps, which I found set around a small pond known as Elbow Pond over near the town of Derrick, and so decided 61

that our troubles came from that direction. Had the weather been permissible I would have stayed where I found the traps and administered punishment with trapper’s vengeance.

As our commissary department supplies were getting low we now decided to seek new quarters, so loaded our outfit on the toboggan and pilgrimaged over to the town of Childwold. There we replenished our larder and lit out for that section of the mountains which lies between Cranberry Lake and Tupper Lake.

We camped under an overhanging ledge of rock that night and reached our destination the next day, arriving at a pond called Panther Pond. While looking around for a good place to build a camp to keep the snow and storm out we happened onto an abandoned cabin, or shanty, which proved to be in fair condition although it did not show signs of having been used for some time, except by porcupines which had chewed some of the boards out of the floors.

After moving our outfit in, I went out to see what were the chances for trapping.

As the streams and lakes were now nearly all frozen I thought it time to go after fox and weasel and as I saw tracks of these animals quite plentiful, was elated with the prospects.

On the way back to camp I ran across a bear track which went into a swampy tract and as it was now nearing dark I quit the track, mentally vowing to take it up again in the morning. However, it snowed all night so spoiled my only chance of a bear that season.

We trapped here a few days with fair success. I caught four foxes, two of which were caught in a runway where foxes had been coming to feast off the carcass of a deer which had evidently been wounded by a hunter and had died later. The other two were caught in old deer trails. Harry had gone after white weasel and had succeeded in catching about a couple of dozen.

One night as we were filling our pipes for the usual evening smoke, a rap came at the door. Upon opening it, an irate pair of men came in and demanded to 62

know why we were trapping their territory and living in their cabin. So I told them if they could show me where we had made any infringement on their rights we would immediately vacate, but as no proof was offered except that they were there before us, I ordered them out. They then offered to let us stay as long as we wished for the sum of twenty-five dollars, but as this didn’t work they shot out muttering threats as they went.

About two or three days after this, I was coming in from the trap line when I heard a commotion near the cabin. Upon arriving at same I found two men, evidently the same who visited us recently, engaged in a fight with Harry and getting the worst of it. Every time one of them got up he promptly got knocked down until at last they begged for mercy, so Harry allowed them to arise and after giving them each a good kick, told them to vamoose.

It seems that Harry had been down to the spring for water and when he came back he found the two of them trying to start a fire at the back of the shanty, with the results heretofore mentioned. Anyway, they troubled us no more and we spent a couple of weeks around this section adding quite a few pelts ot our now quite abundant supply. We then packed up and by the aid of our snowshoes reached Wannakena where we saw our first newspaper for nearly two months. After staying a couple of days at the Inn of the Northwoods where we got shaved and cleaned up fit for civilization, we bid the Adirondacks farewell and left for Ogdensburg via Carthage and Dekolf Junction.

Now that the war is over I mean to go back to New Ontario for the trapping season and perhaps at a later date I may write of my success and failures. 

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KENNETH WAITE

FIRST MUSKRAT Many will assume most of New York State is what they show in the movies, often pictures and videos of New York City. Just a short drive northwest of the place most of us outdoorsmen wouldn’t dare to go has you immersed in small mountains and valleys you would swear were part of New Hampshire. If you keep going west you will eventually find the Finger Lakes region of New York, an area carved out by glaciers a long while ago with lakes up to 500 feet deep.

One chilly morning in late January I found myself wading through a creek with almost no trapping knowledge and a basket of 110 Conibears. I come from a family greatly involved in hunting and fishing, but nobody I knew trapped, and I found myself struggling to get into this intriguing hobby. Thanks to a small book written by S. Stanley Hawbaker titled “Mink and Muskrat Trapping” I had at least some idea of where to put these new traps.

After setting a dozen or so traps, which was all I could afford after a fairly expensive duck season, it was cold and time to head home.

The next morning, to my surprise, the temperature was 20 degrees colder than when I made my sets. At a brisk 0 degrees Fahrenheit, most of the sets I made along the edge of the creek were engulfed in ice.

So, I grabbed the hammer and began to bust my frozen traps free. I had pulled 11 of the 12 traps, and planned on yanking out that last one and calling it a day yet again. Only that trap wasn’t frozen where I had left it. Instead it was sunk down to the bottom of a rather deep pocket between the bank and a downed tree (a natural pinch point in the stream). As I pulled the chain up, I found 64

myself staring at my first muskrat. I rolled him in the snow for a second and brushed him dry.

Now it was time to head back home and quickly learn how to process my first successful catch. 

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FUR SHED CORNER

FUR HANDLING FOR NEW TRAPPERS Learning the basics of fur handling is a necessary part of turning your prized catch into a valuable pelt.

A great deal of trapping is preparation and anticipation. You spend the summer and fall prepping traps and gear, scouting for places to trap, and putting together all of the detailed tasks needed to get the trapline up and running.

Then comes the frenzy of setting and checking traps, and if you did it right, the eventual piling up of fur in the back of the pickup truck and into the shed. After that comes what many would consider the hard work: handling fur.

The trapline offers a variety of different pelts, each of which requires unique handling.

Proper fur handling can make a huge difference in the price a trapper receives for the pelts they put up. And with all the expense associated with catching the fur, a trapper really should work to maximize the value of that pelt through proper care. Fortunately for modern day trappers, we have tons of resources available to

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guide us along the way.

The majority of furbearers nowadays are case-skinned, which entails making an opening cut from foot to foot across the vent or tail, and peeling the fur toward the head. After proper pulling and making a few strategic cuts with a knife, the pelt is freed from the carcass in one piece, the only opening being the end opposite the head. Case skinning allows for efficient stretching of the pelt, and allows garment makers maximum flexibility when choosing how to section the fur for processing.

Beavers have always been an exception to the case-skinning rule. They are skinned open – a straight cut is made on the belly-side from tail to head, and the pelt is skinned outward. It’s a good thing, too, because case skinning a beaver would be quite a difficult task!

After skinning, the critical process of fleshing the pelt is next. Fleshing involves scraping excess fat and meat from the hide to ensure it dries properly and the fur doesn’t spoil. Some animals are easier to flesh than others. Species like foxes and marten have delicate pelts that can’t be scraped too hard, but they also don’t have much excess fat to deal with. Beavers have very durable pelts, and also have lots of fat and meat that need to be scraped off the hide. Fleshing is most often done over a wooden beam built just for that purpose, and fleshing tools can range from a butter knife for muskrats to a large, two-handled tool for raccoon and beaver.

Skinned and fleshed pelts need to be stretched and dried to prepare them for market. Stretching has traditionally been done using wooden boards of various shapes and sizes, special-made for each species. That’s still the most popular way, though wire stretchers are a modern alternative. Pelts are tacked onto the boards and dried slowly over the course of a few days. Beaver pelts are nailed to pieces of plywood, and stretched in an oval shape based on their size.

The way fur is put on the stretcher for drying might seem minor, but it’s critical to producing a marketable pelt. Some species are stretched fur-in, and some 67

fur-out, based on what buyers need to see to evaluate quality. As a general rule, dryland species like coyote, fox, marten and fisher are stretched fur-out, because buyers want to be able to see the fur to evaluate its color, thickness and overall quality. Water animals vary less in color and quality, and buyers want the fur stretched skin-out so they can evaluate how prime the pelt is. A white colored hide indicates thick, prime fur on the other side, while dark patches indicate thin, early caught fur.

After skinning, fleshing, stretching and drying, you’re the proud owner of what the market calls a raw fur pelt. If stored in a cool, dry place, that pelt will keep for a few weeks, or even a few months. Vacuum sealing and freezing can extend the storage life to a couple years for some species, but raw fur pelts are perishable goods. It’s now your job as a trapper to get that hard-earned fur pelt to the market and turn it into cash….or something even better! 

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Cole Olson with a Minnesota beaver 69

LURE MAKING

LURE FORMULAS

YOU CAN TRY Lure making doesn’t have to be complicated.

We just make it that way.

Trapping lure formulas are the stuff of modern folklore. Or maybe witchcraft.

Nobody talks about their formulas. All is secretive. Popular lure makers cling to their formulas and take them to the grave……and that’s for good reason.

You can make big money with a lure formula that works. And if you’re a good marketer, the combination of a scent’s effectiveness and human psychology can result in tens of thousands of dollars of profit each year for a lure maker.

Is it all bull****? Mostly, yeah. At the risk of being alienated by much of the trapping industry, I’ll give you my personal opinion. If you had the formulas of every major lure maker in the business, I think you’d be surprised at how simple most of them are. It doesn’t take a PhD in chemistry and a hundred thousand furbearers to come up with an effective lure formula that will catch piles of fur.

So, why all the secrecy? You can’t blame the lure makers. They are giving the customer – the majority of trappers – what they want. Magic in a bottle. A guarantee of results. The edge on the competition.

You see, consumers have a weakness in everything we buy. We want easy answers, quick solutions and purchased confidence. Since you don’t know what’s in a lure, you are buying the story, the reputation of the lure maker, the claims of others, and what you think is a shortcut to success. Can’t blame the lure mak70

“Give these lure formulas a shot. Prove to yourself you don’t need magic in a bottle, purchased confidence or a story in order to catch fur!”

ers for selling folks what they want.

Early on in my lure making, I tried to be different by exposing every single ingredient – and quantity – that was in the lures I made. But that’s not what people wanted. There’s no magic in that. So, like every other lure maker, I started concealing the ingredients and methods of production, putting a cloak of darkness over the entire process. And guess what happened? Yep, lure sales picked up fast. And when people started catching fur with those lures, they bought more, spread the word, and became believers in my lures.

I suppose we have to give the customer what they want, as frustrating as it can be.

But let’s assume you’re different, and you don’t buy into the hype. Let’s say you want to try making lures on your own, and you’re looking for a few formulas to get started. Below I’m going to lay out a few recipes you can try. Each comes from professional lure makers who were big names in their industry.

And just because they are no longer a secret, doesn’t mean they don’t catch the heck out of critters. Give them a shot, and prove to yourself you don’t need magic in a bottle, purchased confidence or a story in order to catch fur.

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ALL AROUND PREDATOR LURE 1.5 oz ground muskrat glands 0.5 oz ground beaver castor 0.5 oz ground mink glands 1 oz fish oil RACCOON LURE 1.5 oz ground muskrat glands 0.5 oz ground mink glands 0.25 oz tonquin musk 2 oz honey 3 drops anise oil

RACCOON LURE 1/4 oz tonquin musk 1 1/2 oz ground muskrat glands 1/2 oz ground mink glands 2 oz honey 3 drops anise oil 1 oz canton musk 2 oz honey 5 drops anise oil 1/4 oz phenul acetic acid 1 oz rotten fish

BOBCAT LURE 1.5 oz ground beaver castor 1 oz ground muskrat glands 1 oz fish oil

SKUNK LURE 1 oz beaver castor 1/4 oz asafoetida 1/8 oz skunk essence 3 oz rotten fish

FOX LURE 1 oz fox urine 2 oz fish oil 1 oz tonquin musk

WEASEL LURE 1 oz beaver castor 1 oz muskrat glands 1/4 oz weasel glands 3 oz rotten fish

ALL PREDATOR LURE 1 oz ground mink glands 1 oz rotted fish juice 10 drops rhodium FOX LURE 1 oz fox urine 2 oz rotted fish juice 1 oz tonquin musk 1/2 oz asafoetida

ALL AROUND PREDATOR LURE 4 oz rotted fish 4 oz rotted liver 2 oz cod liver oil 1/2 oz ground beaver castor 1/2 oz civet musk 1 oz tonquin musk 1 oz muskrat glands

COYOTE LURE 1 oz ground beaver castor 10 drops pure valerian oil 2 oz fish oil

BEAVER LURE 4 oz tinctured beaver castor 1 oz tonquin musk 1 oz tonka bean extract

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4 oz tinctured beaver castor 1 oz tinctured asafoetida 1 oz tonquin musk 5 drops birch oil 1 oz beaver castor 1/2 oz nutmeg 1/4 oz cinnamon 1/4 oz clove oil 1 oz ground beaver castor 1/2 oz beaver sac oil 2 drops anise oil 3 drops poplar bud oil 2 oz glycerine MUSKRAT LURE 1 oz sweet flag oil 1 drop anise oil 6 drops catnip oil

These are just a few formulas out of the thousands of different combinations that have caught untold numbers of furbearers over the years. I hope these simple recipes will help you get started in formulating your own lures, testing them, adapting them for your traplines and coming up with what works best for you.

There is no magic in lure making, just good quality ingredients, basic formulas that make sense, attention to detail and trial and error.

Good luck! 

Don’t want to make your own?

Shop Trapping Today Lures!

1 oz anise oil 1 oz spearmint oil 1 oz anise oil 1 oz sweetflag oil 1 oz muskrat glands 1/4 oz tonquin musk 10 drops apple extract 2 drops catnip oil mint toothpaste!

OTTER LURE 1/4 cup fish oil 1/4 cup glycerine 1 tablespoon anise oil

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A LOST ART ART AND WRITING BY PHILIPPE WILLIS

COON TRAPPING On an early episode of my podcast with Virginia’s furbearer biologist, he mentioned coon trapping along the Eastern Shore as a means to protect endangered nesting shorebirds such as the piping plover on Chincoteague & Assateague Island. With the demise of the fur market, there is an enormous population of the charming ring-tailed, nest raiding, trash pillaging shoreline wanderer.

There’s a thrilling, game-like quality to tracking, sign reading, strategizing, baiting, luring and the making of sets that harkens back to tribal hunter-gatherer life: the sinew snares, the log deadfalls, the leafcovered pitfalls of our hunting ancestors. And as those pelt-clad peoples of old knew well, there’s nothing better or more soulful for warmth, perhaps other than the roaring hearth. I wear my first raccoon around my neck all winter long.

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UNTIL NEXT TIME Well that’s it....Issue 1 of the Trapping Today magazine is in the books. Thank you for being a part of it. So what’s the future of this thing? Will there be more issues? When and how often? A lot of that is up to you guys. Subscribe to the mailing list. Share with your friends. Purchase through the ads. Give me your feedback. Send some photos and send an article. You do your part, I’ll do mine, and we’ll see where this thing goes.

Until next time, keep on talking trapping, keep on thinking trapping......we’ll catch you somewhere!

Join the Email List TrappingToday.com Trapping Today Podcast Contact me: jrodwood@gmail.com

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