Trapping Today Magazine, Issue 2

TRAPPING TODAY ISSUE 2 Summer 2023

118 PAGES!

Spring Beaver

Magnetic Fields 1

Mountain Bobcat

INDEX TRAGIC WISDOM

4 36

IN THE NEWS SPRING BEAVER TACTICS Tips and tricks for more success on the spring beaver line.

8

WOLF SNARING TIPS

42

Josh Fischer shares some of the wolf snaring knowledge he’s gained over the years.

MAGNETIC FIELDS Kirk Dekalb’s years of research reveal fascinating insight into how magnetic fields may be allowing animals to detect your sets.

56

2

WELCOME!

GOPHER ADC

62

LIFETIME OF MEMORIES

70

BORN ON SNOWSHOES

76

SIMPLIFYING LURES

100

Learn about the different types of lures and how to use them.

Trapping Today Magazine MOUNTAIN BOBCAT

106

Kody Tufts tells of a late season mountain bobcat trapping adventure.

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

AND THERE’S MORE!!!!!

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

-FUR MARKET UPDATE -AN ODE TO MARTEN -BEAVER TRAP OVERVIEW -VINTAGE FOX TRAPPING

3

FROM THE EDITOR

THE TRAGIC WISDOM OF TRAPPING Knowing the origin of what puts food on your plate, and taking an active part in it, the sense of autonomy and the full weight of responsibility, are all part of this thing called tragic wisdom experienced during a kill.

The harvest. The dispatch. The kill. That feeling of excitement and joy combined with a deep internal sadness as you watch an individual whose species you respect and admire die. As trappers we inevitably deal with a lot of death.

It’s a more intense, personal experience than most people could ever know, and when you’re running a productive trapline, it can happen a lot.

Some people call trappers bloodthirsty killers who enjoy inflicting pain on animals. We know that’s not true, and that they’ll never experience the weight of emotions that flood a trapper’s consciousness at the time of dispatch. But how do we explain it? Why the extraordinary mix of joy and sorrow? What’s going on in our minds and how do we communicate that with the non-hunting and trapping community? And for some of us, how do we justify it to ourselves?

In his 2001 paper “Sport Hunting, Eudaimonia, and Tragic Wisdom”, philosopher James Tantillo explores the emotions hunters experience during the kill, and attempts to describe why we feel the way we do, and why it’s okay, and perhaps a critical part of being purely human. While Tantillo deals specifically with sport hunting, I see a direct connection to our experience as trappers.

4

As Tantillo puts it, “Reflective sport hunters develop a ‘realistic awareness of death’ and experience what may be called ‘tragic’ pleasure, which yields the important intellectual virtue of tragic wisdom.”

Here’s my take as a non-philosopher. On a basic level, we all realize that death is part of life. It’s an unavoidable part of being on planet Earth, and every living thing experiences it. As humans, our simple existence plays a part in causing the death of countless other organisms, including animals. Even the vegan is a killer. By consuming any type of food, breathing oxygen, living in climate controlled shelters, driving on the road, and taking part in every aspect of life, we cause death.

The difference with hunters (and trappers) is that we have a much more meaningful relationship with that death. We take an active and intimate role in it. We kill animals to eat. We kill animals for a paycheck to support our families. We kill animals to resolve problems and so that our fellow humans don’t have to.

With all of this killing comes a heavy burden. Taking an animal’s life is a serious thing, and should be treated as such, and completed with respect and dignity.

For a normal person, killing should be accompanied by a feeling of guilt. Why the guilt? Maybe it’s the regret for taking a life so that, on a broader level, we could continue to live. Perhaps it’s a realization that we too will die someday, a reminder of the ever-present shadow of mortality hanging over all of us. Tantillo describes the emotional response as being similar to tragedy, in that it puts us in an ambiguous situation that is, quite possibly, irresolvable.

But it’s not just sadness. There’s another feeling that comes with taking an animal, and I’m not sure it can be described as happiness or joy, although those emotions are mixed in. To me it’s some sort of deep sense of clarity. Tantillo explains that one of the benefits of hunting is a form of contemplative tragic knowledge that comes from a familiarity and intimacy with death. Knowing the origin of what puts food on your plate, and taking an active part in it, the

5

sense of autonomy and the full weight of responsibility, are all part of this thing called tragic wisdom experienced during a kill.

A lot us have trouble explaining to non-hunters and non-trappers what we do.

Sometimes we downplay certain aspects of it. Sometimes we lie to ourselves about our feelings or the confusing emotions involved with this whole experience of dispatching an animal. I’m asking you, as a fellow trapper, not to ignore these emotions. Embrace them, and try to understand them better. Don’t brush them aside. It’s okay to feel guilty, and it’s okay to be happy, all at the same time.

It’s complicated. And that’s okay too. That’s how it’s supposed to be. 

6

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

JEREMIAH WOOD

SPRING BEAVER TACTICS Trapping beavers just after ice out can be extremely productive, but often requires a different approach.

Of all the times to catch beaver throughout the year, the first few days after the ice melts in the spring is almost always the most effective. After a long winter spent in dark, cramped quarters eating months old food, beavers are eager to break out at the first sign of open water. Whether seeking fresh food or new territory after being kicked out by the others, spring beavers are on the move, and they can move long distances in a short period of time.

If your area is open to spring beaver trapping, this season offers a great opportunity to rack up large numbers in a short period of time. Most of what I’ve learned about spring beaver trapping comes from guys like Billy Thompson, an accomplished beaver trapper who catches impressive numbers every spring and approaches trapping with an open mind and willingness to learn. Here are a few of the things I’ve picked up along the way.

Make Them Come to You Unlike other times of year, spring beaver are on the move. That means you don’t have to locate the lodges, bank dens, dams or feeding areas. You can be more efficient by setting close to the road and covering much more territory in a short period of time. In a high beaver density area, virtually every stream crossing 8

“Beavers are on the move in the spring for two reasons: seeking out fresh food and establishing new territories. That’s why lure and bait can be very effective this time of year.”

9

10

should have some level of beaver activity shortly after ice out. Set the areas that are easy to access and let those travelling beavers come to you.

Use Lure and Bait to Your Advantage Beavers are on the move in the spring for two reasons: seeking out fresh food and establishing new territories. That’s why lure and bait can be very effective this time of year. Every beaver that catches wind of another beaver’s scent will be sure to investigate it, meaning castor based lures work excellent. In addition, beaver sac oil is a great change up lure and seems to pull in just as many beavers as castor does in the spring. And while you’re at it, why not add a food element to attract beavers? A short piece of aspen pounded into the ground near the water’s edge with a little beaver lure smeared on it makes for a killer beaver set.

Trap Placement Matters There’s an art to trap placement for open water beaver sets. You need to set your trap in the proper water depth, distance from shore, and position relative to the attractant in order for it to be most effective. This includes knowing how to set in shallow water for a front foot catch, deeper for a hind foot catch, offsetting the trap based on which foot you expect to be planted to the ground, trap location relative to bump sticks, the proper use of guide sticks, and much more. It’s a complex art that requires a lot of thinking and experimentation to get right.

One tip some of the best beaver trappers recommend is to use a trap with a large jaw spread to increase the catch area. That allows more room for error in trap placement, and it’s why I prefer the TS-85 as a spring beaver trap.

Adjust to Changing Water Levels In the spring time, snowmelt and rains can lead to vastly fluctuating water levels. Where I trap we can see changes of a foot or more in vertical water level from one day to the next. This can leave your traps high and dry or under too much water to be effective. Billy Thompson says he’s never had luck with an

11

exposed beaver trap, and I have to agree. This may have something to do with the beaver’s ability to detect steel traps via the magnetic energy emanated from them – more on that later.

The key here is to be observant, anticipate the water level changes and adjust accordingly. Billy’s tried and true advice is this: When the water is rising, set for a front foot catch. That way as the water comes up over your trap and becomes too deep for your targeted catch, it’s still effective at catching a beaver by the hind foot. When the water is dropping, set for a hind foot catch. As the water level drops, the trap is likely to still be submerged and can catch a beaver by the front foot. Keep your bodygrip traps completely submerged for maximum effectiveness. And of course, you’ll want to be diligent in adjusting trap location as you visit the sets so that they are effectively working the majority of the time. As the water level changes, so do the movement patterns and travel ways beavers use.

Be on the Move For maximum efficiency and fur quality, you want to be trapping for spring beaver as soon as possible after ice out, and don’t want to stay in one place for too long. As the water first opens up in the south and lower elevations, and advances north and to higher elevations, you should adjust the areas you trap accordingly. Starting down low and moving up as the season progresses ensures you’re always targeting beavers when they’re most likely to be caught and the fur is at its best.

Enjoy it!

Spring is a beautiful time to be out in the woods and water trapping. The weather is warmer and everything is waking up from a long winter, including us! The fresh air, exercise and time in nature is just another one of the perks of getting out on the spring beaver line. Don’t forget to stop, take a deep breath, and soak it all in once in a while. 

12

13

14

15

16

17

18

19

20

21

22

23

24

25

26

27

28

29

30

31

32

33

34

35

IN THE NEWS

UTAH BILL REMOVES COUGAR PROTECTIONS Utah’s cougar plan specifies detailed management objectives, benchmarks, and strategies to achieve them. So why did the legislature essentially pull management out of biologists hands?

This winter the Utah legislature passed, and the governor signed into law, HB0469, which eliminates regulatory protection for cougars throughout the state.

This means no closed season, no harvest limits and no license required to hunt or trap for mountain lions in Utah.

The move comes as a result of concerns that cougars are impacting deer populations via predation, as well as having negative impacts on livestock. The bill, which also addresses regulations on game cameras and air rifles, passed with virtually no debate. Conservationists as well as some hunters spoke out against the bill, as they believe it undermines the current approach of wildlife management in the state.

So what do the wildlife managers say? Initially, the spokesperson for the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources stated that they were “a little surprised” by the cougar hunting amendment in the bill. I read that to say “We were completely blindsided by this unbelievable move, but it would be politically dangerous for me not to pretend otherwise”. She later stated that the department would “work to make sure cougar populations aren’t impacted”.

36

Since wildlife managers weren’t given the opportunity to provide input on this bill, let’s take a look at their position on cougar management here. Volume 3 of the Utah Cougar Management Plan, 20152025, was developed by the DWR in conjunction with the Utah Cougar Advisory Group, a collection of stakeholders, including agriculture, university and hunting interests.

The plan’s stated goal is to: Maintain a healthy cougar population within their current distribution while considering human safety, economic concerns, other wildlife species, and maintaining hunting traditions through 2025.

Cougars were considered vermin in Utah prior to 1967, when they became a protected species. On a very broad level, the DWR estimates there are around 3,000 cougars in the state. They have issued about 1,000 harvest permits annually, and the harvest mortality is around 400-500 animals. Permits issued and harvest levels have been on the increase in recent years, with around 750 being harvested in 2021-22.

Utah’s cougar plan specifies detailed management objectives, benchmarks and strategies to achieve them. So why did the legislature essentially pull management out of the biologists hands with a bill that wipes clean all of their research, discussions, agreements and work? Maybe the DWR didn’t act aggressively enough for legislators who wanted fewer cougars around. Maybe the balanced approach of wildlife management isn’t what the state’s elected representatives has in mind for the future. But at the very least, they could have asked the experts to weigh in on this one.

So what does this mean for trappers? I’m not sure, really. The bill allows year37

round trapping of cougars with no permit requirement. That could provide a unique opportunity for a pretty special experience. But this could come at a cost. Is it worth subverting the established public process that was in place to manage the species? What are the risks? The cougar population isn’t going to go away as a result of this bill. Cougars are difficult to hunt and there’s lots of wild country in Utah for them to escape hunting and trapping pressure. But if harvest gets too high, the population could indeed decline, and impact the ability for all sportsmen to pursue this stealthy predator. And that would be quite the black eye for everyone involved.

Thanks to Utah resident C.J. for the tip on this story and thoughtful insight.

38

39

Washington bobcats caught by Eric Mathis

IN THE NEWS

CHARACTERISTICS OF U.S. TRAPPERS A 2015 survey by Responsive Management on behalf of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service gives some insight into trapping nationwide. Although it’s a few years old, the information provides a pretty comprehensive overview. Here are some highlights.

40

176,573 LICENSED TRAPPERS VAST MAJORITY FROM THE MIDWEST 98% ARE MALE AVERAGE AGE 48 YEARS OLD

FULL SURVEY RESULTS HERE

41

WRITTEN BY JOSH FISCHER

WOLF SNARING TIPS Alaska trapper Josh Fischer has learned a lot about wolf trapping over the years. Here he shares some tips and tricks he’s picked up along the way.

Catching a wolf is one of the pinnacles of trapping in Alaska. North America’s largest canines are beautiful, smart, tough beyond imagine, and can be quite difficult to trap. I have been fortunate to catch a few dozen in the past ten years.

I’ve used various methods including large bait stations, setting natural kills, pee posts, and blind sets. My preferred and most successful method has been blind snare sets.

Wolves, like most wild animals, are creatures of habit. They run circuits in their territories, usually on a pretty consistent timeline. They stop to investigate droppings/urine they come across just like other canines. They will use close to, if not the same trail each time they come through an area. Whether it be where they cross a road, come onto a snowmachine trail, or come to investigate a bait pile or previous kill, a wolf will reuse an old trail unless something deters them.

For the trapper who spends considerable time on their line these habits present a great opportunity to successfully catch wolves.

42

43

THE GEAR There are a few commercial options for wolf snares, but I prefer to build my own. I use 5-6 feet of #9 wire with a built in swivel, 60” of 1x19 3/32” or 1/8” cable, and a cam lock. The #9 wire acts as the anchor and allows the snare to be self supporting. I find 60” of cable to make a good sized loop. I have tried other lengths but have settled on this. It’s all personal preference. The same is true for the lock. I have also used Berkshire and Thompson locks with success.

Some of my snares have built-in breakaways for moose. A wolf is a powerful animal and I have lost a few to breakaways, but I’ve avoided numerous accidental moose catches with them as well. As another precaution to avoid catching moose I try to avoid setting in areas of high moose densities or set in very dense brush that moose typically won’t travel through.

THE SETS When I blind set a trail wolves have been using I look for additional paths they would detour to if I make a catch. It really helps to look from the eye level of a wolf. Every hole in the brush could be an escape route. I tend to gang set, hanging as many as twenty snares, as multiple catches are always a possibility. I set the bottom of my snare loop knee high and pick locations that funnel right to my snares. I use a tree 3”- 6” in diameter to anchor the snare. I’ve found that anything larger doesn’t have enough flex and can allow the wolf to get a solid lunge and break the cable or #9 wire. I anchor high to help prevent solid lunges and account for large snowfalls burying my anchor location.

Large bait piles are my second most effective set locations. I prefer to use tainted meat scraps from hunting season. I will put 30 or more pounds of meat at the set. I wait for the bait to get hit before I hang snares. I try to keep snares at least 50 feet back from the bait. I use the same original trail to replenish the bait when it gets low. I walk a circle around the bait while setting snares crossing

44

“It really helps to look from the eye level of a wolf.”

45

wolf trails at right angles. I set all my snares bare handed. I’m sure many wolfers would disagree with this, but it has worked fine for me. I typically put a wolverine cubby guarded by a 330 nearby too. It’s always a nice bonus to catch another bucket list furbearer!

The Alaska wolf trapping manual is a great resource. It covers various methods and set designs and is a great place to start. I would encourage anyone interested in wolf trapping not to wait. It’s an amazing feeling seeing fresh tracks going into your set and finding your first wolf catch.  Josh is the owner of 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.

46

47

- TRAPLINE TIP Otter toilets - the area on land where otters leave droppings and regurgitated fish bones/scales - are absolute trapping hotspots.

The same areas are often used for years and attract every otter in the area as well as many other furbearers. Keep your eyes peeled for otter toilets near slides or crossings. Mark these on a map or GPS (I use OnX Hunt) and you’ll have some highly effective set locations come trapping season.

- FROM THE TRAPPING TODAY PODCAST -

Ed Schneider on Maine trapping: Episode 236

Ed Schneider of Kansas Trapline Products made the long journey to Maine to fulfill a dream of trapping marten and fisher. Ed discusses his experiences and the things he learned about trapping in Maine compared to other areas he’s trapped. He talks about the challenges, surprises and enjoyable moments on the Maine trapline.

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

48

Join Jeremiah Wood on his fall beaver trapline in northern Maine over at Trapping Today’s Youtube Channel.

49

FUR MARKET The market is bifurcated: it’s good and it’s bad, just depends on the species.

If you’re a beaver trapper, now’s your time to shine!

The true state of the 2023 fur market has finally come to the surface, with state fur auctions and regional fur buying wrapped up and the Fur Harvesters March and May auctions behind us. In short, the fur market is in a bifurcated state: it’s good and it’s bad – depending on the species you’re looking at.

This year there’s been a dramatic difference between the higher and lower ends in the market. The bottom line is that if there’s a fashion-related demand for an item, or the item is available in very low quantities, the price is high. For everything else, there’s barely a market and prices are poor. Let’s get into the details.

Beaver

50

Beaver is by far the hottest item in the fur market right now. Many years of rock bottom prices for beaver pelts have resulted in low trapper effort, low harvest and fewer pelts on the market.

A recent spike in demand for felt in the hatter market has increased the number of pelts needed in this poorly supplied market, and beaver prices have shot up as a result.

“A recent spike in demand for felt in the hatter market has increased the number of pelts needed....and beaver prices have shot up as a result.”

The felt (hatter) market does not require a prime or long haired beaver pelt, and so most of the hatter beaver were the lower grades and damaged beavers. These were traditionally the lowest priced beaver pelts on the market. With the spike in demand, brought on partially by the increased popularity of Stetson-type cowboy hats, Fedora hats and others, every class of beaver pelt is in play as a hatter.

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

The overall average for beaver pelts in the FHA March 2023 auction was $30, with 100% clearance of the offering! This was repeated in May, with 100% of the 40,000 beaver on offer averaging just shy of $29. Even more importantly, there was little disparity

51

between the low end and high end – hatter type beaver averaged just as good as high quality northern beaver. This means that for the first time in perhaps a generation, a southern trapper could see a $30 average for beaver pelts. Now is a great time to be a beaver trapper. It’s unclear how long this trend will last, but take advantage of it while you can.

Castor Unfortunately, that sky high price we’ve been seeing for beaver castor the past few years has taken quite a fall. Instead of those $60-100/lb averages, you’ll be looking at $25-50 per pound for castor at best.

Mink Unlike beaver, there’s no fashion demand for mink right now, and with all of the low priced ranch mink on the market, much of the wild mink offering can’t even catch a bid. Mink prices are averaging about $3.50.

Raccoon The raccoon market has been weak for a while, and only the best quality and largest sizes have any demand. The best Western and Canadian raccoon are averaging $7-9, with Eastern collections bringing about $2 on average. The lack of demand in China and Russia have impacted this market.

Otter There’s good demand for otter pelts, and prices have increased from recent levels. Otter pelts are bringing about $30 on average, with size and color being a major factor.

Muskrat There is demand for muskrat pelts, but not at prices many had hoped for. Fur 52

Harvesters offered about a quarter million muskrat pelts at their March 2023 sale, but most didn’t sell because buyers didn’t bid at the minimum prices the auction house felt the rat pelts commanded. These same rats were offered again in May, and still didn’t sell. A lack of international buyers in the market has certainly influenced the price of rat pelts and I don’t expect this to change anytime soon. Averages of $2-3 can be expected for now - if they sell at all.

Coyote Our predictions of a collapsing coyote market over the past couple years have unfortunately come to fruition. The deterioration of the trendy Canada Goose type parka with fur-lined hoods has made it difficult to move any but the best western heavy coyotes. The top end coyotes are fetching around $20-30 on average, but demand drops off a cliff for any other grade of coyote. Eastern, Central and Southern coyotes are almost unsellable, with averages of $5-15 for the few lots that are selling.

Red Fox, Grey Fox Foxes continue to sell, but the item continues to struggle due to limited demand. There’s just no fashion trend or commercial use that needs a lot of fox pelts. Prices are ranging from $5-15, similar to past years.

Bobcat Bobcat pelt prices are holding up well. Although the top end Western bobcats have declined from their sky high prices of a few years ago, they are only available in limited quantities and buyers still want those fully-furred pelts with white, spotted bellies. Western bobcats averaged $300 at the March auction and $250 in May. What is most encouraging, however, is that the lower end bobcat pelts are doing so well. Northern bobcat pelts outside of the Western market are averaging around $100 or better. Southern bobcats are going for $40 or better.

53

Skunk The skunk market has always been a novelty one, with most of the skunk pelts being used as wall hangers, craft items or for other unique uses outside of the fur clothing market. With the downturn in the raccoon market and lower trapper effort targeting raccoons, fewer skunks are being caught as well. That’s resulted in higher prices, with skunks bringing around $15 on average.

Marten With the ongoing war in Ukraine and sanctions on Russia, it’s been more difficult for much of the international market to purchase Russian sable, which may be what’s increasing the demand for marten pelts. Overall, marten averaged over $40 in the most recent FHA auctions, with better Alaskan and Canadian marten averaging around $50, and smaller and lower quality pelts bringing around $20. Marten demand was high enough that the auctions cleared 100% of the offerings, and my Maine marten averaged better than they have in years.

Fisher Another item in limited supply, fisher pelts have also sold well recently, with averages around $40.

Lynx The $100 plus average Fur Harvesters achieved for Canada lynx at recent auctions is a dramatic improvement on what we’ve seen for lynx prices in recent history.

Badger ($20-30) and Weasel ($4-5) did well at auction due to limited supply.

Highlights, lowlights, and not much in between. It’s a bifurcated fur market in 2023, and the species you have to offer can make all the difference.  54

Firmin trapline, Alaska bush

55

JEREMIAH WOOD

MAGNETIC FIELDS CAN ANIMALS SENSE YOUR SETS? Science tells us that many animals can detect magnetic fields, which are emitted by the steel that makes up our traps.

Have you ever had that strange feeling that an animal knew a little more than it should have while avoiding your set? How did it know the trap was there?

Why did that beaver swim around the 330 bodygrip? Why did the coyote dig up that foothold trap, even though you were ultra careful about scent control and proper bedding?

There’s one key factor that almost no trappers have given any thought to, and it might just provide an answer to that nagging question of set avoidance: magnetic fields.

Georgia trapper Kirk DeKalb has caught more than 16,000 beavers in his career and helped design and develop a number of trapping inventions and devices, including numerous types of cage traps. Over 23 years of professional trapping, after piles of catches, careful observation and numerous experiments, Kirk began to develop a theory that animals are sensing the magnetic field of certain types of traps, and it’s impacting their willingness to work a set.

It all comes down to these things called cryptochromes. Cryptochromes are a class of flavoproteins found in plants and animals that, among other things, allow certain animals to sense magnetic fields. They are what enables birds to 56

“This could explain why coyotes will notoriously avoid uncovered traps while bobcats will step on a trap pan with no concern.”

57

sense the Earth’s magnetic field to orient themselves during migration. Not all animals have cryptochromes, but the ones DeKalb argues can detect trap sets do.

Scientists have found evidence that dog-like carnivores like coyotes, wolves and foxes do have the magnetic-sensing cryptochromes, while cats, like bobcat and lynx, do not. Some rodents do – presumably at least beaver and otter, according to DeKalb’s experience.

The theory is that these animals that have the ability to sense magnetic fields can detect and actively avoid many of our sets. This could be an interesting explanation as to why coyotes, for instance, will notoriously avoid uncovered traps, while bobcats will step on a trap pan in broad daylight with no concern.

Magnetic fields.

So if this theory is legit, how do we measure these magnetic fields, and determine which traps are more likely to cause avoidance issues? Well that’s easy. We have smart phones. Almost all phones these days come with a built in magnetometer, which is used to determine orientation. It’s what makes things like the compass app work. You can download an app (most are free) that will use this magnetometer to measure the magnetic field of anything you put the phone next to. So with the magnetometer and the app, you can start measuring magnetic fields of your traps, compare traps and snares, contrast different set scenarios, and start the learning process to determine whether this magnetic field thing really is impacting the effectiveness of your sets.

A few things should be considered when going down the rabbit hole of magnetic measurements. There are a number of factors that can impact an animal’s ability to detect the magnetic field.

As DeKalb says in his book, “An Outdoorsman’s Greatest Discovery”, the further north you go the less of an impact the mag-

58

netic field will have on animal behavior. That’s because the background magnetic field is greater as you get closer to magnetic north on the globe, and so changes created by metal objects aren’t as dramatic. Maybe that’s why foxes are more likely to step on bare traps and go through bodygrips in northern areas?

The cycle of the moon affects magnetic fields, and air temperature appears to do so as well. Setting traps underwater essentially eliminates magnetic field detectability.

Traps and sets can be designed to reduce their magnetic field intensity. For instance, Kirk states that power bedding foothold traps with metal spikes reduces their magnetic intensity. Certain types of steel that traps are made of have different magnetic intensity than others. Some cage traps are designed in such a way that the magnetic field inside the cage is lower than it is outside. All of these things can be tested with a simple smartphone, and tested on the ani-

59

mals we trap.

Before hearing about Kirk DeKalb’s discovery and reading his book, I would have thought this whole thing was a joke. Invisible magnetic fields affecting the way animals react at a set? Give me a break! But as I pulled more and more information together, it began to make a bit of sense. While I don’t believe everything laid out in his book, I think this magnetic field thing is absolutely worth looking into more. If it’s legit, understanding how these things work will make us much more effective trappers and give us an edge on the competition.

Click to find Kirk’s book, An Outdoorsman’s Greatest Discovery, on Amazon

60

Videos from Kirk Dekalb

61

AUSTIN ANDERSON

GOPHER ADC Between working long hours in forestry, low fur prices and not owning my own registered trapline on public land, I thought working as a nuisance wildlife control operator would be a good opportunity to extend my season, and maybe even result in more land access permissions. I figured I would be tasked with a few skunks and a raccoon or two, maybe a beaver job for the highway department if I was really lucky. I filled out the application and paid the fee. Time would only tell if I would be approved or not.

After a few months had passed, I received an email from the province stating that my application had been approved. I was ready to offer my services. The terms and stipulations were strict on my permit, but I wasted no time in getting some advertisements out. I advertised my services on a couple local community and farming pages on social media and waited for the calls to roll in. There were a few requests for ground squirrel trapping and a call for a skunk I never could catch (pretty sure it had moved on weeks before). Just as fur trapping season was starting to ramp up, I received a call from an environmental management consultant company.

The management company was retained by the Province of British Columbia to oversee and monitor a mine remediation site. The old-timers were not too careful about containing mine waste or reclaiming mines after the ore ran dry, so there are many mine remediation projects in my area. Turned out the problem was not a furbearing species, but it did pertain to furbearer conservation.

Northern pocket gophers were tunneling and creating mounds in the topsoil that capped a remediated mine site. The concerns were groundwater contamination, invasive plants taking root in disturbed soils and furbearers and avian 62

predators feeding on potentially contaminated gophers. Pocket gophers were not on my bucket list of species to trap, but I did catch a few growing up so I was ready to give it a shot.

I met a representative from the consultant company at the site to do a walk around and come up with a plan. The site sees a fair amount of recreational use, so signage would be required and traps could be tampered with. Pocket gophers are not deemed cute and most people are unaware of their existence

63

64

so I felt pretty confident the traps would be fine. The environmental consultant agreed to cover the cost of a dozen gopher traps so things would be fine if a few went missing. The only hiccup was the fact that the snow line was creeping its way down the mountains.

The day came to meet the biologist at the site, but we may have missed our window. Four inches of snow had fallen and it was possible the gophers had sealed off their tunnels for winter. We were able to find one active looking mound amidst the snow covered and frozen mounds. I poked around with a screwdriver until I found the tunnel hidden below the mound. The entrance was scooped out and a gopher trap set and placed in the tunnel. Cedar boughs were placed over the trap to camouflage the trap from recreational users yet let light through to encourage the gopher inside to investigate. When the gopher travels over the trap, the jaws spring closed and dispatch a gopher, vole or mole. With a few traps set, it was time to go set for a lawn flooding beaver on my fur trapping line.

The next morning I headed to the old mine site. All of the traps were empty except for one. Against my best guesses, a gopher was caught. I’d figured it was far too late in the season for any to still be active. Knowing that the project could be successful, plans were made to set again the following weekend, weather permitting. But the following weekend the temperatures dropped and the mounds were too frozen to set. We had lost our window, and further trapping would have to wait for the following year.

Thoughts on Gopher Trapping Pocket gopher trapping may not be as alluring as setting marten boxes the opening day of the season, but it has a value of its own. Killer traps are set in a manner to attract the desired catch, while using tactics to minimize incidental catches of other species. There are live traps designed for pocket gophers and moles, but they are in limited supply and cost prohibitive. Victor gopher traps are readily available, have a high success rate and are cost effective. Gopher mounds are probed to locate tunnels, then the tunnel opened up and the trap 65

set in the opening. The gopher will travel the tunnel to investigate the source of light and be dispatched by the blind set trap. I like to camouflage the traps with an evergreen boughs or native grasses to allow light through but hide the traps from view.

Killing Gophers for Conservation Killing one species to save another can sound like a contradiction to many folks.

In the situation I described above, the pocket gophers are not directly impacting any species but the risk of indirect impacts is very high. The pocket gophers could be digging deep enough to be feeding on plant matter contaminated by substances released by the mining process or used in the refinement of ore. The mine tailings are capped with new soil, yet plant roots could make their way below. If the pocket gophers are in fact ingesting contaminated roots and leaves, they could pass the contaminants to predators up the food chain. The gophers I catch are removed from the traps to be sent for testing or buried on site to keep any potential contaminants on site.

Pocket gophers are fed on by many predators, many of those that are threatened or species of concern. When animals consume heavy metals and other contaminants, the contaminant levels can be concentrated up the food chain, creating a greater concern far beyond the initial site. We don’t know yet for sure, further testing will have to be done. Testing requires a key ingredient and that is expired pocket gophers.

Invasive plants are another concern with gopher mounds at old remediation sites. Eurasian Knapweed, thistles and other noxious weeds thrive and outcompete native plants in the disturbed soils. Gopher-disturbed soils can also alter water flows, and allow surface water to penetrate through these soils and pass through the contaminated materials on its way to the aquifers deep underground. Deemed an insignificant creature by most, the gopher can have a large potential impact.

Fur trappers like to think of themselves as conservationists, which they are. If 66

Austin Anderson with a beaver. Pocket gophers don’t make for great photo ops!

67

all the furbearers are trapped and their habitat destroyed in the name of lumber and development, trappers are out of business. Most of the trappers I know are environmentalists with steel traps and skinning knives. They are often the first to speak out against large scale clear-cut logging, mining projects and development of wild places. In the times of low fur prices and increased pressures from anti-groups, it may be time for the trapper to be reinvented. Trapping for fur values may have to be traded for trapping for environmental benefits and wildlife conservation.

Biologists and other environmental managers utilizing trappers for conservation and management tasks keeps us relevant in a changing world. In my case, trapping pocket gophers is just one small part of a larger restoration plan. Human activity and careless resource extraction has made the gopher into an unfortunate scapegoat, an unlucky winner in a gamble of long term environmental management. They are just doing what nature designed them to do, but until science can prove their innocence, their population will have to be controlled by trapping.

Research will dictate a long-term management plan. Testing may show that the gophers are free of contaminants and natural population control may be possible. If deemed safe to eat for predator species, trapping may no longer be required. One potential option for natural gopher control is to improve habitat for weasels. Coarse woody debris could be piled near the mounds to provide weasel habitat, attracting them nearer to the gopher mounds. Weasels are far better gopher killers than I am and work cheaper too!

Killing for conservation is a delicate and contradicting topic, yet in many circumstances is the most viable option. Many furbearers require population control for the benefit of other species. Nest predators, livestock killers and even wolf populations can require human intervention to conserve and propagate other species. For the modern trapper it’s not just about fur anymore. We can help conserve and restore the natural world. In the words of conservationist Doug Duren, “It’s not ours, it’s just our turn.” 

68

Eric Mathis with a nice bobcat 69

STEVE CLEMENTS

A LIFETIME OF MEMORIES “As I entered the shop in the back section of the garage I couldn’t help but think of the hundreds of critters that had been brought through those doors.”

In 2003 my dad, Howard Clements, had a stroke, at which time he lost 80% of his eyesight. Knowing that he was no longer able to trap and work in the fur shed inspired him to publish an article for the “American Trapper” titled “Go Make Some Memories”. Recently I sent a copy to Jeremiah Wood and he suggested that I write a story for the magazine. What could a small time trappah’ from Maine come up with of interest? Then it occurred to me that many stories have already been written in my mind and could be recalled by reviewing the notes and numbers written on the rafters of my dad’s former garage. I would make that trip to our old fur shed to do some reminiscing.

With the goal of reading through those numbers I made that trip to our longtime fur shed. The trip next door to my dad’s former garage / saw sharpening shop / fur shed was short, but encompassed a lifetime of memories. As I entered the shop in the back section of the garage I couldn’t help but think of the hundreds of critters that had been brought through those doors.

Dad was a proud fur handler and wanted to make each and every pelt look its very best. As a result, we had received quite a few NAFA “Top Lot” certificates through the years. He would express his willingness to do our best by saying that we needed to “put a smile on every pelt.”

70

Howard Clements at work in the fur shed Once the pelts were stretched and dried we would take them upstairs to hang in cold storage. As I approached the top of the stairs I could see the year-toyear records still written on the rafters. While reading through the numbers my mind drifted to a few memories…….like notching out that tree limb at water level in the stream behind the house and placing a #1 long spring in the notch, going through that sleepless night of anticipation and having my dad take me down back the next morning to find the trap was missing! Dad carried me out so that I could pull the chain……my first muskrat!

Then there were the times we searched for and found the perfect location for that coyote set. You know, the ones where the wind and crop changes make for the perfect spot. And then we returned to that all familiar smell…..we’d been skunked!

71

That leads me to think of the time a longtime trapping friend and I took our young sons to a late summer ballgame in Boston. The late night bus trip home was interrupted by everyone coughing and gagging as we passed a fresh road killed skunk. We immediately glanced at each other and both jumped up and yelled “Yeah!” We got a lot of strange looks, but it reminded us that trapping season was just around the corner!

Still reading the rafters, I saw a note for 1987, where we had set several flowages on opening day – nineteen under ice conibear sets – and returned the next day to find seven consecutive beaver catches. There were a few others that day as well, which filled the fur shed and made for quite a pile of fur waiting to be smiled upon!

Speaking of consecutive catches, this past fall I caught a weasel, an otter, a squir72

rel, a muskrat and a beaver in consecutive traps. I’m pretty sure I could never have predicted that combination of different species in a row.

After reading the entries I noticed the finish nails still in the beams. Over the years those nails had hundreds of muskrat pelts hanging from them, which resulted in a great mystery on one particular year. We had a large catch of muskrats and when bagging them up to ship to NAFA we noticed a dozen or so were 73

missing. We shipped what we had and it wasn’t till a week later that Dad noticed a pile of doggy doo-doo beside the garage door. We figured a neighborhood dog had pushed open the door and helped himself to a few rat skin chews upstairs! At least they were the $2-3 ones and not the $15 rats of 2014-2015.

As I concluded my journey I stopped by the garage door and leaned against the wall where we used to lean our 330 ‘racks’ and again the memories came back.

I could see us hustling around to construct the frames before it was time to head out on the flowages at midnight. Back in the day our beaver season would begin at midnight on January 1, so our New Year’s Eve tradition was to spend the night cutting fir and spruce poles to put together a dozen or so of those ladder-like structures that held our 330’s for under ice sets. Those racks have mostly been replaced by ‘H’ stands, but I still make the same ones today. As the evening progressed and we were running out of time, Dad would wonder why we waited till the last minute. Guess it wouldn’t have been a tradition if we did them earlier!

Dad passed away in 2012. The last entry on those rafters simply reads “Dad’s final season.” I tapped that rafter, then my heart and smiled, thankful to have the memories.

Remember to go make some memories, have fun and take pride in your fur handling. You owe it to the critter you’ve harvested to “put a smile on every pelt!”

In honor of his dad, Steve made up some special “Put a Smile on Every Pelt” t-shirts, and was gracious enough to send a customized ‘Trapping Today” edition to me. I wear it with pride.

74

75

Born on Snowshoes Written by Evelyn Berglund Shore First Published 1954

BORN ON SNOWSHOES They trapped all winter, hunted muskrats in the spring, and floated down to Fort Yukon during breakup to sell furs and resupply.

Three girls, their mother and an old man, 280 miles deep in the wilderness, running traplines for a living.

It may seem like an odd combination, but it was reality for much of Evelyn Berglund Shore’s young life.

George Berglund and his brother caught gold fever during the Klondike gold rush of 1898. They returned years later to work mining claims, searching for riches along the Yukon River for years. George met and married Maude, and they had several children. When mining didn’t work out, George and family took to the trapline to catch fur.

76

The Berglunds trapped the Sheenjek River, north of Fort Yukon, Alaska in the 1920’s. Little money and a big family to feed made it difficult at times, but Evelyn remembered those early childhood days very fondly. George and Maude ran traplines on foot and by dog team, and the children helped where they could.

They trapped all winter, hunted muskrats in the spring, and floated down to Fort Yukon during breakup to sell furs and resupply.

Then, tough times hit the Berglund family hard. George suffered from severe arthritis, which began to worsen and have a crippling effect. He deteriorated to the point where he could no longer support the family on the trapline. Three of he and Maude’s six children died tragically around that time. They sold the trapline and moved to the village, hoping George’s health would improve.

John Roberts was an old time trapper who ran a line way up the Salmon Fork of the Black River, hundreds of miles from town. Seeing the family falling on hard times, he lent them money for food and supplies, and offered to take them on his line to trap for the winter. They loaded up and tied on to John’s big boat and motor, and went trapping again.

George’s health continued to deteriorate, so Maude and the three girls – Evelyn, Hazel and Elsie, started to do much of the hunting and trapping on their own.

The girls shot moose and caribou, ran dog teams, and stayed out from their home cabin for weeks at a time running traplines during the brutally cold winter months.

His debilitating arthritis forced George to leave the bush and live in an old folks home until his untimely death. He never saw his wife or children again. For thirteen years, Evelyn and her two sisters ran traplines up the Salmon Fork each winter. There were good times and bad times, and not much in between. As the girls got older, they longed for freedom, friends and marriage, but their aging mother and old John Roberts depended on them to help provide food and fur in the harsh Arctic country.

Feeling the need to go out on her own, Evelyn met and married Bill Grinnell, 77

a California man who trapped on the Kandik River for years. She left the Black River country and spent several seasons trapping throughout Alaska with Bill.

They shared the ups and downs of raising a family on the trapline in the Alaska wilderness.

In her book “Born on Snowshoes”, Evelyn Berglund Shore tells her fascinating story of life in the Alaska bush. She and her sisters were beyond tough, and they experienced things most folks never will. Some of her stories of wildlife encounters and extreme weather are pretty incredible.

Evelyn also shares some of the emotional struggles the girls dealt with out there in the bush. They loved being there, but at the same time they wanted to leave.

As a trapper who’s had it pretty easy in life, I sometimes find difficulty in understanding this perspective. I go to the woods to trap because I love and thoroughly enjoy the experience. In those days, most people trapped because it was a way to earn a living. Sure, they enjoyed it, and the natural beauty and challenges trapping offered were a great bonus, but if they could have made better money in a factory, many would have moved to town in a heartbeat. Folks like me? I guess we’d have the place to ourselves. With today’s low fur prices, we kind of do.

“Born on Snowshoes” was published in 1954 and again in 1993. The second edition includes many additional photos and updated information on Evelyn’s later experiences.

Like many old wilderness tales, there’s much more to the story than what was written on the pages of Evelyn’s book. More stories, more details, more questions. Added to the story are an old newspaper article on Evelyn later in life, an interview she did with the Alaska Trappers Association, and some resurfaced personal letters from her former husband Bill Grinnell to a friend of mine all add a great deal of intrigue to the life and times described in the book. Perhaps someday I’ll help tell some of the rest of the story. 

78

Join me on a wilderness trapline!

More than Wolverine Published 2022 166 pages

GET YOUR COPY HERE!

79

80

Written by Jeremiah Wood

AN ODE TO MARTEN “In short, marten habitat represents the places that attract me most to the outdoors.”

When asked to name their favorite animal to trap, a short list of species get the nod from most trappers. Usually it’s the coyote or otter, sometimes the wolf or bobcat. Why? Well, a critter usually rises to the top of the list because it presents a challenge. It’s difficult to catch, cunning, crafty, and perhaps a little unpredictable.

That’s not the case for my favorite species. The marten isn’t difficult to catch. In fact, the real challenge is usually just finding marten. Once you’re into them, marten are easy to catch. They’re not trap shy, they are readily attracted to a variety of baits and lures, and their habits are quite reliable and predictable.

The marten is my favorite animal to trap not due to its individual merits, but because of what the marten represents. Marten live in wild places. They require old growth, diverse, healthy forests with minimum human impact. They live in cold climates that get plenty of snow – harsh places that man rarely inhabits. In short, marten habitat represents the places that attract me most to the outdoors.

The first animal I caught while trapping was a marten. I set a bodygrip trap at an entrance to a den-like cavity at the base of a partly uprooted cedar tree after tossing a chunk of meat inside. I set ten or twelve others like it in likely places, but this one was special. The next day I found a marten there, having quickly expired in the trap while entering the night before.

81

My second year trapping was the first I encountered a live marten in a trap. It was early canine season and a marten had found its way into a foothold trap I’d set for coyotes. The pelt wasn’t yet in its winter prime, and by law I had to release the marten. Weighing only a pound or two, this little ball of fur unleashed a fury on me. It hissed, growled, snarled and did everything possible to express its displeasure at my intrusion. I released it from the trap and it immediately climbed the nearest tree, only to look down on me and continue to display its annoyance at my presence.

Before I became a trapper, I knew little to nothing about marten. I’d grown up with them literally living in my backyard, but these small nocturnal forest dwellers were rarely seen by hunters and only occasionally mentioned. Trapping changed things. I learned what marten were, where they lived and what they ate. I learned about their habitat requirements, the predators that threatened them and the prey they pursued. I learned how to entice them to a set, and how to catch and hold them in a trap. And over time, I formed a deep connection to marten as a species, and developed a strong desire to see marten habitat protected and enhanced in the face of dramatic changes in forest management in parts of its range.

Marten have become part of my identity as a trapper. The way I think about trapping, the way I look at the woods, and the way I gauge success and failure……all these things are at least partly rooted in the way I see marten as a species. So small, so simple, but so fierce and defiant. The scrappy underdog that’s a little too stubborn to ask for help. That’s the way I see marten. And that’s partly why I love ‘em. 

82

83

BEAVER TRAPS A wide variety of beaver traps exist on the market, and with varying opinions and preferences it can be tough to decide which ones to go with. Let’s take a look at the different beaver traps out there and explore the options.

330 Conibear / Bodygrip Trap The 330 is the most common trap used to catch beaver. It is a large bodygripping trap (also often referred to as a ‘Conibear’) typically measuring 10”x10”. The 330 is usually placed in blind sets along a beaver’s natural travelway. As the beaver moves along a trail or run in the water or at the water’s edge, it travels through the trap opening, trips the trigger and is caught. The 330 is designed to be a quick kill trap, which is very humane and effective. Being such a big and powerful trap, it can be very dangerous if not handled or used properly. Be sure to take precautions, use safety devices where appropriate, and never set these traps in a location where they could catch a domestic animal. Most states require these traps be set in water to avoid catching nontarget animals.

330 traps are made by a variety of manufacturers, including Duke, Bridger, Victor (the owner of the name ‘Conibear’), Belisle, and RBG. The Duke 330’s are the cheapest and provide the best bang for your buck.

84

They are actually a bit smaller than most 330’s, measuring 10”x9” instead of 10”x10”. Bridger and Duke both make a magnum version of this trap (Bridger’s is 10”x10”, Duke’s is 10”x9”), which closes completely without any gaps, and often results in extra catches by holding beavers that are only caught by the tail, foot or other body part that would allow them to pull out of most other traps.

The only thing I don’t like about the magnum style is that I find some of them very difficult to set, particularly the Bridgers. Some adjustment can help with this. The Belisle 330’s are also a magnum type trap but with a different jaw style.

They are made of top quality construction, have superior safety catches and triggers, and are the top of the line trap with a correspondingly high price tag.

RBG bodygrip traps are unique in that the jaws are shaped in a circle rather than a square, appealing to an animal’s natural tendency to enter round openings.

330’s can catch otter as well, especially if the trigger is configured to cover a large percentage of the jaw opening. They also catch the occasional muskrat that trips the trigger in just the right location while swimming at the right speed.

Although the 330 is by far the most common beaver trap, other sizes can be used to take beavers as well. The 280 bodygrip trap has an opening of 8”x8”. It can catch beavers in the right situation, particularly in areas with very small runs and trails. Smaller beaver are more likely to be caught in 280’s, but I have caught larger beavers in these traps occasionally as well. With the smaller trap it can be a challenge to get the beaver to swim through the opening. Sometimes they’ll swim around the trap instead. Some trappers have good success using 280’s when they are baited as opposed to using them in blind sets. Although beavers can be caught in 220 bodygrip traps, with 7”x7” jaw spreads, it’s not as common and I wouldn’t recommend it.

On the other end of the size spectrum, Minnesota Brand makes a huge bodygrip trap, the MB 1216, which measures 12”x16” and is designed to cover large, wide runs. This can also be a very effective trap, but misses are possible as well, because a beaver can often swim through the large opening without setting the trigger off at all, or setting it off too late to be effectively caught. RBG makes a Big Bear, a 10”x22” opening trap, that works on the same principal.

85

TS-85 The TS-85 has been gaining in popularity among beaver trappers for years. This coil spring foothold trap has a massive 8.5 inch jaw spread, which allows for a large target area for the beaver to put its foot and get caught. Foothold traps for beaver are most commonly set as

drowning sets in the water near shore. They are designed to catch a beaver as it approaches the shore or enters the water from land. Proper depth and guide sticks, as well as lure and bait placement all play a part in a trapper’s success using footholds for beaver. The TS-85 was designed by professional trapper Tim Sawatzky and has a lot of experience behind it. The trap is easy to set and has several features, including a dogless design with easily adjustable pan tension and high lever lockup on the jaws. It’s a nice trap for the money and my favorite beaver foothold trap.

86

MB-750 The MB-750 is a beast of a trap.

Designed and built by Minnesota Trapline Products, the trap is super strong and sports a 7+ inch jaw spread, smaller than the TS-85 but still pretty large. One unique feature of the trap is that it has a locking mechanism that holds both jaws down, eliminating the loose jaw.

Some trappers have issues with the loose jaw being flipped up by a beaver while moving through the set area, causing the trap to fail to connect. The fact that this trap has no loose jaw, however, means that it’s a bit dangerous to set for the inexperienced - your fingers are right in the danger zone when making any adjustments to the pan!

WCS Pro 7.5 The WCS Pro 7.5 is basically a reboot of the extremely popular CDR trap. The CDR was a 7.5 inch jaw spread beaver trap with a simple, effective design. The WCS Pro 7.5 features a solid chain and swivel system, wire levers which make it fast underwater, and the Paws-I-Trip pan system, a very popular feature that I’m a big fan of.

Bridger #5 The Bridger #5 is a work horse of a beaver trap with a simple design and a very reasonable price tag. Minnesota Trapline Prod-

87

ucts has made some recent improvements to the trap design and construction. It’s a good contender in the beaver foothold trapping game.

NO-BS Beaver Extreme Kendall Obermeir has made some noise in the trapping industry with a new line of NO-BS traps that are super impressive. Their ruggedness of design, top quality products and workmanship and unique new features make these traps unique and worth checking out. The Beaver Extreme trap features heat treated steel, a lower pan, dogless design, and the traps are pre-coated from the factory.

Duke 850-FJ The Duke 850 is the newest beaver trap on the market. The 850-FJ is the closed jaw model, designed for beaver (the offset jaw trap of the same name is designed for wolf and mountain lion). This trap is essentially a larger beefed up version of the Duke 550 or 650 traps, which were almost a carbon copy of the MB-550 coyote trap. The trap features heavy cast steel jaws, heavy duty chain and swivels, four coiled, and the Paws-I-Trip pan system.

So, What’s the Best Beaver Trap?

There are plenty of great options for beaver trappers these days, which makes it tough to determine the best trap. The 330 is the best type of bodygrip/ conibear trap for beaver trapping without question, and if I had to choose a ‘best’ brand of 330 I’d go with Belisle. That said, all of them work and catch beavers effectively, and the Duke 330 is a particularly effective trap for the price.

88

When it comes to foothold traps for beaver, it’s tough to say. The different models vary quite a lot. I prefer the TS-85, but there are advantages and disadvantages of each model, and I haven’t used them all extensively. Regardless of what you choose, if you pick from the list above you’ll have yourself an excellent beaver trap that will effectively catch beavers year after year.

A happy beaver trapper! (Cole Olson photo)

89

OUT OF THE PAST

FOX TRAPPING

“To see a nice tail waving before you get to a trap sends a thrill nearly equal to some you get in deer hunting.”

WRITTEN BY ORLA A. HAYNER

HUNTER-TRADER-TRAPPER 1924

90

After spending considerable time in the wild part of Michigan, where fox are plentiful, studying their habits and the various modes of trapping, I feel myself prepared to speak with some authority on this subject. To me fox trapping is one of the most interesting sports and if carefully and persistently done will yield a fair

amount of profit as well as pleasure. The main point that makes it interesting is that you are matching your wits against a very wise and cunning animal and besides there is always the chance of catching a nice Cross or possibly a Black or Silver, which in the past has been considered quite a prize.

It is certainly fun to start out on a good line of well set traps, picturing to yourself what may be doing at each trap, until you get so interested you can scarcely wait to get over the line. To see a nice tail waving before you get to a trap sends a thrill nearly equal to some you get in deer hunting.

Outside of the wolf, the fox is perhaps one of the most sly, cunning, and suspicious of all animals. They are also imbued with a feeling of curiosity which is their weak point. Anything out of the ordinary, no matter along what line, will arouse their suspicion as well as curiosity. However if their curiosity can be made to overcome their suspicion, partially at least, they are easily caught.

Anything, like a large bait, a feather, or a piece of cloth will cause them to sidestep and walk around for hours before getting very close, sometimes never. One old trappers method is to place a large bait of some kind and then a few feet away on a high place put a trap or two. The fox will get on the high spot to look the bait over and be caught. The theory is all right in a great many fox sets you see in print, but they do not work out in practice due to the fact that they are not well made. Successful fox trapping depends on three things: first, selecting a good place to set; second, properly making the set; and third, destroying human scent.

Herewith will be found a picture of nine beautiful “Reds” caught by the author in Crawford Co., during the last two weeks in October 1923, as follows: I use an automobile to tend my traps going as close as possible in each case to the trap.

If possible to set from the running board so much better as no human tracks are left and a fox is not suspicious of an auto track.

I use the Victor No 2 double spring trap and stake solid. A fox once caught will seldom get out of a No 2 and a stake is more easily concealed than a clog. I 91

make my sets in old paths, roads, on dirt mounds, sand banks, saw dust piles, or in fact any place where I find fox are working. I set my traps underground and drive the stake out of sight, making everything look as natural as possible.

I use what I call a “Jackel” for my traps, made out of oil-cloth. Owing to the fact that it takes several pencil sketches to illustrate it it is impossible to do here. However, I suppose any arrangement that will allow a trap to remain set through rain etc., and still spring will answer the purpose. The underground set destroys human scent to a great extent, the rest being done with artificial scent.

I think it matters very little what kind of artificial scent you use around a trap so long as it is strong and lasting. If everything looks natural and there is a peculiar odor the fox will investigate to a certain extent at least, depending perhaps on whether it appeals to him or not. I experimented quite a little with scents and finally found one which seems to work very well in all kinds of weather. I cannot give it here due to the peculiar way in which it is obtained.

Summing the whole thing up “Fox Trapping” is simply setting the trap in the right place in the right way. 

92

93

More than 300 pages, Published in 2020 GET YOUR COPY TODAY! 94

Nate Benkofske with a Minnesota marten

95

FUR SHED CORNER

AN OVERVIEW OF FLESHING KNIVES Fleshing knives come in a variety of shapes and sizes, and a wide range of price points. In this case, you do get what you pay for.

96

The fleshing knife is a key component to most fur sheds. To ensure that your pelts have a decent shelf life before going to market or the tannery, it’s important to flesh (scrape all of the fat and meat off )the skin and get it properly dried.

If you’re fleshing muskrats, mink, marten and weasels, you can simply use a butter knife, or a small pelt scraper. But if you’ve got any amount of meat and fat to clean off a pelt, you need a fleshing knife.

Fleshing knives come in a variety of shapes and sizes, and a wide range of price points. The very low end, entry level fleshing knives cost around $15-25. Why so cheap? They’re simply a piece of mild steel with a handle on each end. Unlike the better knives, they’re only one sided, meaning you can do a lot of pushing, but little to no cutting unless you sharpen the convex side on your own. They also typically come unsharpened, and don’t sharpen very easily.

The low end knives can get the job done, and are great for fleshing a few pelts a season, but they require a whole lot of work and will wear a guy out pretty quick trying to do much fleshing. A number of different companies make these knives, some with brand names and some without. Aside from a lack of ergonomics, the entry level fleshing knives don’t have the quality steel that will take a sharp edge and hold it. Sure, you can sharpen them, but they’ll go dull pretty quick, and won’t cut or push nearly as well. Still, if you need a fleshing knife in a pinch, or you only flesh the occasional pelt, one of these will save you a few bucks.

There’s a quick jump, both in price and quality, between the low end and high end fleshing knives - without much in between. Instead of paying less than $30, you’ll be well north of $60 for a good knife. And in my opinion, it’s well worth the added investment. I remember my disbelief when I tried my first good quality knife, a Necker 600, after spending years trying to flesh beavers with the low end knives. It was incredible. One side for pushing, and a razor edge on the other for cutting the tough spots. The high quality steel blade didn’t dull hardly at all, even after fleshing 20 beavers. In addition to steel quality, the ergonomic shape was easier on the hands and arms, and the knife had a level of flex to it that made for smooth strokes and less tiring. I swore I’d nev97

er go back to an entry level knife. If you can afford it, get a Necker, or equivalent fleshing knife like the Caribou, Wiebe Elite or the Au Sable Superior.

In addition to the low and high end standard knives, there are a number of other styles that some folks prefer. Sheffield and Green English are a bit different style of knife, with a much wider double-edged blade. They come factory sharpened, and lots of folks like them. The Green English is available at a similar price point to the Necker, and the Sheffield is kind of the high end of the high end product - hand crafted in England with the best quality steel.

A relative newcomer to the market, the Caribou fleshing knife has had some really great reviews recently. The big time beaver trappers I know who have used it say it has a thinner, more flexible blade than the Necker, and they really like the precision it affords.

Unless you’re a skilled clean skinner or one of those guys who fleshes beaver pelts with a small knife over his knee, you need a fleshing knife in the fur shed.

It’s as important as the beam, and you certainly get what you pay for. The low end knives are a dime a dozen, and will get you by in a pinch, but a good fleshing knife that’s comfortable and high performing is worth every penny you spend on it. It’s an item that will last for many years, and pays for itself with every pelt you put up. 

98

99

LURE CORNER

SIMPLIFYING

LURES

The various attractants for furbearers can be grouped into four main categories: Food, Curiosity, Territoriality and Reproduction The trapping industry is awash with lures. Lures for canines, water animals, predators and prey. Heck, there are even multiple lure formulations for each individual species available from each lure manufacturer! Choosing which lures to buy can be pretty confusing, even mind numbing at times.

Rest assured that buying and using trapping lures doesn’t have to be that hard.

You don’t necessarily need a lure for each species (that’s a marketing gimmick in a lot of cases), and many lures work great for multiple species. More importantly, buy lure that fits your objectives on the trapline.

When I’m looking at buying or making lures, I like to focus on what I’m trying to accomplish in terms of animal attractants. Different lures will elicit different responses, and a variety of attractant types will ensure you have your bases covered.

Scent is an incredibly important sense in furbearing animals. It allows them to find food, sense danger, detect the presence of other animals and establish territories. As trappers looking to lure animals to a set, we want to use attractants that appeal to their senses.

To simplify things, the various attractants for furbearers can be grouped into four main categories: Food, Curiosity, Territoriality and Reproduction. The 100

“Different lures will elicit different responses, and a variety of attractant types will ensure you have your bases covered.”

ability for us to appeal to these four attractant categories with lures is quite variable. For instance, attracting an animal based on reproductive urges is typically only effective during the breeding season, and the pheromones a female produces when in heat are highly complex, volatile and almost impossible to duplicate in a lure.

The ability to appeal to an animal’s food desires is much easier, but also varies based on level of hunger, food availability in the environment, and type of food in the lure. The territoriality appeal can vary based on animal population density, range size relative to trapping area, animal species and resource limitations. Curiosity appeal is highly dependent on species and perhaps the most difficult to predict.

Within these different attractions, lure makers have designed a variety of lure formulas that can be categorized into three main types: Food Lures, Call Lures and Gland Lures. Most trappers find it good practice to have a few of each of these types of lures in their arsenal. In other words, if you’re trapping for coyotes, it isn’t enough just to buy a few ‘coyote lures’ made by some of the big lure makers. More specifically, you want your arsenal to include at least one of each type (food, call, gland).

A food lure will appeal primarily to animal hunger. Type of food attractant can be based on what an animal typically consumes in its diet – for instance,

101

a mouse based lure for coyotes – or can appeal to both hunger and curiosity by using a less common food item – for instance, horse meat or beef liver. A common food item would typically be more effective during times of low food abundance, while a changeup curiosity type food can work better when common foods are abundant.

A call lure aims to bring animals in from a distance using any one of a variety of attractants. Typically something with a strong odor that isn’t super common in an area can be a good choice. Due to their strong odor, call lures are good from far, but can be far from good up close. Once curiosity has been satisfied, an animal may not stick around to work the set with an overpowering call lure emitting its odor. That’s why call lures are more often used in cold weather and/ or placed in elevated areas not directly at the set.

Gland lures are perhaps the most underutilized lure type on most traplines.

These can be very effective at appealing to an animal’s territorial instinct. The presence of glands of another animal of the same species can give the impression that another animal is in the territory. A furbearer will want to further investigate at the set to determine who left the scent and gather this information for future use. Glands of an animal of a different species can have a similar effect. Often an animal will take the time to leave their own sign at the set to indicate their presence to the other animal and reassert their claim to the area.

Breaking down lure types and attractants can simplify the use of trapping lure and help us understand what lures to use in a given situation. But it isn’t that simple. Many trapping lures are made up of a blend of different types, with food, call and gland ingredients all put together. This can really complicate things.

It might seem logical that a huge blend of different attractant types would be better than a single type lure, but this isn’t necessarily the case. In fact, putting too much into a lure can sometimes make these ‘all in one’ lures less effective.

Oftentimes the more complex lures do work well though, which can be a blessing and a curse. If you’re just happy to catch fur and the complex lure does the 102

trick, then great! But if you want to know how you attracted an animal and caused it to work the set and get caught, a complex lure won’t allow you to pick apart the attractant that did the trick, and you won’t gain the necessary information to become a more effective trapper. And that’s where the simple lure solution might just be the best. 

103

TRAPPING TODAY LURES Long Distance Call is a waterproof, freezeproof formulation that’s heavy with skunk essence backed by a blend of musks and essential oils. If you want a call lure that holds up to changing weather conditions, this is it!

Long Distance Call is Trapping Today’s top selling lure, used by trappers throughout the U.S. and Canada. Customers continue to be amazed by the strength and staying power of the odor. Not just vaseline and skunk, this lure has so much more. Try it for yourself!

Northern Minnesota marten caught using Long Distance Call 104

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

Includes beaver oil sacs, fermented fish eggs, mink glands and more.

Predator Plus - Predator Lure with a healthy dose of skunk essence as a carrier, excellent in cold weather. One of our more popular lures with lots of repeat customers.

Birch River Beaver Lure - Castor based lure with an added food attractant and another ingredient that kicks it up a notch. I catch a lot of marten and fisher on this one, and it’s a great bobcat lure too.

Sweetness - a blend of strawberry oil, anise and honey that I developed as a change up for early season predator trapping. Proven to be an excellent raccoon lure as well!

Muskrat Magnet - a sweet, a musk and a mint combined in a waterproof base.

Fall Fur Call - Long Distance Call without the skunk. A unique blend of musks and oils. This one’s a mild lure that sticks around the set for a long time.

No big secrets, magic potions, or smoke in mirrors.

Trapping Today Lures are simple, consistently produced, proven formulas that get the job done.

Use them with confidence!

TRAPPINGTODAYSTORE.COM 105

KODY TUFTS

THE MOUNTAIN BOBCAT “What was I missing? I needed to know this cat’s schedule. I needed to know what he was hunting and when he was hunting it, and how often he was coming through the area.”

On December 8th around 7 a.m. he set foot in front of my trail camera for the very first time. I couldn’t believe my eyes. This was no ordinary bobcat.

The first half of the 2021 trapping season wasn’t overly kind to my trapping partner Adrien and I. By the end of November we had bagged a fisher, a coon, two bobcats and several fox. However, that bit of success came at a cost. I had a coyote stolen, we both had several sets vandalized, and a miscommunication with a landowner of a prime piece of property led to a temporary loss of trapping permission. We decided to take the week of Thanksgiving off as we knew the deer hunting pressure would be high and we could use the rest. Sadly, between his work picking up and morale being hit pretty hard, Adrien couldn’t join me for the second half of the season.

Rifle season came to an end and now not only was I trapping new ground, I was doing it alone. It was a piece of property that I had hunted for years, but only had a few coyote sets in the log landings closer to the road earlier that season. Fortunately, although there was still two weeks of muzzle loader season, the only people hunting the property this late in the game were my dad and my older brother. This fact, along with my plan to go up further than any

106

107

deer hunter would go, gave me confidence that my sets would be safe from any thieves. The initial plan was a simple one: Go where others won’t go, look where others won’t look, and do what others won’t do. This is a quote from Ray Milligan in his book titled “On the Prowl for Bobcats”.

There were two small mountains that I decided to explore and set for bobcat.

The first one was a 700 footer I had nicknamed “Buck Mountain” due to all the scrapes and rubs at the top. The lower 600 feet had recently had several crisscrossing tote roads cut. Beyond the tote roads the slope got steeper and was thick with young spruce growth, which led to an open hardwood patch at the very top. Buck Mountain had some textbook habitat for cats and was in between other major cat holding habitats.

The other was a 600 footer I had originally nicknamed “Bobcat Mountain”, however, the name quickly changed to “Porky Mountain”, but we’ll get to that in a minute. Porky Mountain was, and continues to be, a bobcat trapper’s dream.

The south side was made up of rock ledges with massive rock fall piles beneath them, which led down to a gut that divided Porky Mountain and Buck Mountain. At the base of the east side, thick beech saplings led up to heavily canopied spruce growth. An old tote road going over the mountain east to west provided thick new growth of spruce, pine, and beech trees. The west side had a much more gradual slope. Here the tote road forked off in a couple different directions. Between these tote roads the pines grew so close together it was nearly impossible to walk through. To the west and north were a couple of beaver bogs, neither of which were more than a mile away. The peak of Porky Mountain was open and rocky, though surrounded by thick spruce growth, and was loaded with cat sign.

My first round of scouting revealed several porcupine dens in the rocks, as well as a few well beaten trails where my game cameras later witnessed porcupine movement on a nightly basis. Throughout the period of time I trapped here, eight porcupines plugged up my bobcat sets. It didn’t take long to change the name to Porky Mountain. The first two times it happened they were caught in the same set. I had built a small rock cubby at the base of an oak tree, about ten 108

feet from the base of a twenty foot ledge. Bobcats LOVE rocks, and I knew that this was a real catty spot. However, after two porcupines back to back, I decided to pull the trap from the cubby. I would later discover on trail camera that a well spotted female bobcat strolled through the very next day. The cats were clearly running the same trails as the porcupines, and had I not pulled that trap I could have had a pretty kitty waiting for me on the next trap check. That’s when I decided I would rather clean the porcupines out than pull sets to avoid them.

On December 8th around 7 a.m. he set foot in front of my trail camera for the very first time. I had the camera pointed at a spruce cubby I had made at the very top of Porky Mountain, only a few feet from where I had seen several piles

109

of cat scat. When he first appeared, he was far enough from the camera in the low-light early morning that all that could be seen was the outline of his head and ears, and the shine of his eyes before he slowly sauntered out of the frame.

When he re-appeared he was much closer, hugging the right side of my cubby as he snuck in to see what was inside. He turned in to the cubby entrance, but stopped one step shy of where I needed his paw to land to make the connection with my Oneida Victor. He sniffed around for a minute, then looked up as if something off camera caught his attention. With a flick of his tail he backed out of my cubby and walked away. This was no ordinary bobcat. Referencing the size of surrounding objects, plus seeing the girth of his belly and the size of his head, I knew this was a big cat. If I hadn’t known better I would have thought he was a lynx when he first appeared on camera. I felt an ache in my gut knowing he was one step shy of going on my wall. I made up my mind that I had to catch this cat, and so began our mountaintop game of cat and mouse.

At this point I needed to assess two things: what I knew and what I was missing.

I knew there were at least two cats visiting Porky Mountain, one of which was a trophy sized tom cat. I knew that this specific location, on the peak where there were several cat scat piles, was red iron hot on the scale of bobcat hot spots. The trail camera footage showed that I needed to set my traps further back from the cubby entrances. It also suggested that I needed more attention grabbing bait and visual aid at my bobcat sets.

What was I missing? I needed to know this cat’s schedule. I needed to know what he was hunting and when he was hunting it, and how often he was coming through the area. There were plenty of potential food sources in the area: deer, partridge, squirrels, rabbit, beaver, and porcupine called this piece of property home. Based on my knowledge of bobcat behavior, I suspected that Big Tom was moving between beaver bogs and den areas, using thick growth and rocky terrain as travel ways. The logged land on this property was thick with coyote activity, meaning that Big Tom was less likely to pass through there. Bobcats, especially big ones, aren’t afraid of coyotes, but would rather not deal with the competition and will often avoid areas of high coyote activity. I never cut a single cat track on those tote roads.

110

I continued on with daily trap checks, which consisted of a two hour, two and a half mile hike over two small mountains with a loaded pack basket and a .22 in hand. I altered sets as I went along, moving traps back from cubby entrances, adding visual attractors, and resetting porcupine-filled traps. Cat activity had become dormant by this point. The lack of fresh sign had me worried this cat was gone and not coming back for a while. Still I pressed on, dealing with porcupine after porcupine and fighting discouragement on my trap checks. The beauty of being in the woods away from other humans made all the challenges much more tolerable.

With snow came new frustrations. At first it was still a lack of cat tracks. I saw plenty of other wildlife movement. Fresh deer and coyote tracks were a daily occurrence. Fox tracks were common to see as well, and I even caught a beautiful red on camera checking out one of my cat cubbies. I even had an encounter with a black bear mother and cub.

When I did start seeing cat tracks it was equally as frustrating as not seeing them. On one occasion they crossed the dirt road directly where I parked, cut through the thick pines in between the mountains and the paved road, and headed straight for a nearby beaver bog. I kicked myself hard for that one. How could I not have thought to put sets in those pines! It was a textbook travel way and had I set traps there, I very well could have caught whatever cat had passed through there. A couple days later I made some sets in that patch, but no cat passed through there for the rest of the trapping season.

Another occurrence was borderline insulting. At this point I had a fairly well-beaten foot path between my sets through the snow. A set of large cat tracks, which I was pretty sure was from Big Tom, followed my foot path on Porky Mountain. When I spotted the first track it was heading toward the traps I had already checked, so I knew I didn’t get him. I must have griped the entire way down that mountain as I repeatedly followed these tracks down my path until, just before being within eyeshot of my set, they would cut off my path, and I would find them again on my path after, of course, I was once again out 111

112

113

of eyeshot of my set. I missed him in five sets that day.

The most hair pulling of my close calls with Big Tom happened December 22nd.

I had recently pulled my sets on Buck Mountain. I hadn’t seen sign of cat activity and with the season nearing its end, I thought it a good idea to focus my efforts where I was seeing activity. I wanted to stick to my usual route as much as possible, so I walked up the gut between Buck and Porky Mountain to start my check, working my way over Porky Mountain and back to the vehicle. As I crested the peak to check the cubby where this big cat, who at this point seemed more like a legend, first revealed himself to me, I came up on quite a crime scene. My trap sat there, fired off and motionless, with two front paws of a rabbit in its jaws. I checked inside the cubby to find that the rabbit I had used for bait was still there. Inspection of the scene began to unravel the tale of what had happened here. Near the trap containing the rabbit feet was part of the rabbit’s hide. Blood stained the snow in the catch circle area, and a big set of cat tracks lead away from my set, accompanied by small drops of blood.

This lit a fire under me, and without a second thought I began following the tracks. I didn’t intend to stop until they led me to a means of harvesting this cat.

Fortunately, I found my answer in no more than twenty yards. The tracks led to a small spruce sapling that sort of resembled the Charlie Brown Christmas tree. It was short and scraggly, but it had a long bow that hung about two feet over the ground, until sagging to the ground at the tip. The tracks went under the bow where a pile of leaves had been turned up. A look inside revealed that the rabbit that had the misfortune of finding his way into my trap and on a silver platter. I picked two points I liked best on opposing sides, set a trap at each point, and fenced the set in liberally.

That night I checked the trail camera footage, which confirmed what I already knew. The rabbit had bounded its way into my trap and six minutes later Big Tom came into the frame. What was interesting about watching this was that Big Tom didn’t rush to kill the rabbit. Once the cat realized his prey couldn’t go anywhere, he stopped to assess the situation. For several minutes he lied down and watched the rabbit, while occasionally turning his head to scan the 114

area. Eventually Big Tom got up and walked around the cubby, before finally entering and killing the rabbit. Part of me was nervous that he would leave the area for a period of time soon, but I knew it was unlikely that he would leave his meal unattended overnight, and I was confident that he’d be wearing my Oneida Victor as a bracelet when I got to the top of the mountain. I got very little sleep that night.

In my chase for Big Tom I observed that he would show up in the morning anywhere between 3 a.m. and 8 a.m., so I typically waited until at least 10:30 a.m. to check my sets. That morning I waited until 11:30 a.m. before I began my hike. For whatever reason I decided to do the climb in the opposite direction as usual. As I checked my traps at the base I felt anxious and excited. I knew if any of my sets were going to have Big Tom waiting for me, it was going to be the “stash set”, and at this point I just had to get through checking my other sets before finding out if my efforts paid off. On this particular day that steep climb felt symbolic of the journey this chase had taken me on so far.

When I rounded the corner to lay eyes on my stash set, I smiled from ear to ear as I saw spots and heard the low rumble of an angry bobcat. Finally! All of this hard work finally landed me a nice cat! When I first saw the cat alive, I knew it was nice, but I didn’t think it was Big Tom. He held himself in a way that made him seem much smaller than he actually was, and it wasn’t until I laid hands on him that I knew it was the one. When I held him up by his back feet, about level with my chin, the front feet dangled down and nearly touched my toes, and I’m 5’10”. He ended up weighing in at 31 pounds, and I felt every ounce of that lugging him a mile out of the woods.

I am forever grateful to have had the opportunity to pursue Big Tom, as it taught and inspired me a great deal. Hard work, determination, and a stroke of luck led to Big Tom’s demise and my success. Some people say it’s better to be lucky than good, while others say skill and cunning will get you further than luck ever will. Personally, I prefer to have a little of both.

115

A LOST ART ART AND WRITING BY PHILIPPE WILLIS

ANCIENT, NATURAL One has to imagine our ancient ancestors watched the natural world to figure out how to do everything. How to hunt, how to trap, what to eat for food, what to eat for medicine. Did spiders’ webs inspire the first trappers to make nets and snares out of sinew and fiber to catch birds and rabbits? Did pitcher plants inspire the dug-up, leaf covered pitfalls used to catch boar and deer? Did clams or Venus flytraps inspire the jawed footholds of the 1600’s - 1900’s?

Coming into hunting in my 30’s, there has ben an inescapable archetypally masculine quality to it. A manhood rite of passage. There’s a spirit of the wild that connects one to our predatory mammalian brethren, the gnashing teeth and claws of canines, bears, lions and mustelids. When it comes to trapping, however, I’ve noticed something subtle that feels, to me, absolutely primordial and archetypally feminine in nature.

Something much further back, closer to the beginning.

Podcast 116

Instagram

117

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

118