ill start it out

[littlebuf]

i brought it up so i should probably post.

to you experianced trappers out there, any advice on a good start to trapping. I.E- good number of traps to start with, what types, good suppliers and any little items youve found indespencable on the trap line. explain like your talking to a noob, cuz ya are 

[Kain]

And pictures please.   

[tlbradford]

Here is a good tip that is common sense, but often missed by beginners.  Buy two sizes of traps.  Then you can put the smaller one in the larger when transporting to a new line.  It is a space saver.

[Machias]

First thing I would recommend is buying S. Stanley Hawbecker's book titled "Trapping North American Furbearers"  It's all about legholds, but the description of the sets, the animal habits and their habitats and fur handling are golden.  Since you live in this POS State you don't really get to run a proper trapline, but we have to make the best of what we can.  You can actually make decent money doing nuisance work, but we could fill a whole section just on that subject alone.  One thing about trapping now is it is sooo darn expensive compared to the old days.  I would target coons, skunks, badgers, martins and Roberts.  Safeguard traps are probably some of the best on the market.  Alot of the professional NWCO use Safeguard traps.  I would HIGHLY recommend you check out www.trapperman.com probably the best trapping resource going.  There is a fella on there that has turned cage trapping for bobcats into a science and he sells some really good traps for bobcats.  If you want to run very much of a line you'll do well to have a game cart to haul these cage traps around.  One problem that has plagued trappers since the first steel trap was layed is Johnny Sneekums stealing your traps, well now it really hurts when you have a $75-$100 trap stolen along with a $250-$300 bobcat that was inside.  Get some good scents, some decent traps of various sizes and have some fun.

[WAPITIHUNTER]

Usually start with an apple box and a stick to hold up one end and a long piece of string tied to the stick to pull on and catch the wabbit.

[Machias]

That's actually pretty true, that's was my first trap.  I used to make box traps out of wood with a door hing on my drop down door.  I caught a couple of coons, but they usually were either chewed out or almost chewed out by the time morning rolled around.  I was 15.  Then I bought a doz #1s and a doz 1.5s and started catching the heck our of muskrats, coons, and possums.  Then I bought a dozen #2s and caught a whole slew of red and gray foxes.   I LOVE trapping fox, they have amazing fur.

[rasbo]

I will be trapping this year..I learned a little last year,finding Illegal traps with a gammie...I will only be targeting bobs...I will try to get three traps to start with..Then Ill find littlebuffs :chuckle:I am a member of the trappers asso now and they put some good stuff in there..But with machias,cylvertip,tlb we should pick up some or at least have fun..

[tlbradford]

I am a big fat newbie too.  It is one of those skills that I want to make sure I know how to do, just in case I ever need it.  Kind of like calf roping.  I can swing a loop, but I hardly ever get out there and do it.  I am looking forward to seeing the threads.

[rasbo]

I am a big fat newbie too.  It is one of those skills that I want to make sure I know how to do, just in case I ever need it.  Kind of like calf roping.  I can swing a loop, but I hardly ever get out there and do it.  I am looking forward to seeing the threads.

thats funny,I was raised around rodeos my dad bulldogged and bareback..I decided to be a *censored* bulldogger,well long story short,I dont like a steers hoofs on the back off my head or the taste of cow crap

[tlbradford]

I can't eat enough to even think about trying to bring down a steer like those big old boys. 

[ratherhunt]

I trapped allot in the 70's and early 80's Beaver, muskrat, raccoon,mink, otter and a few coyotes when you could use leg holds  and I sold my furs to Goldbergs in Seattle so I will be watching this thread also.

[Cylvertip]

This is from a post I had on "Wild About Trapping"  on the Trap Line Forum - subject was  - Carrying it all.

This is what I use for my water based activities. There is probably enough room for some land base supplies too.


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I use the Cabala's Bird Belt. It's made for pheasant hunting but works great for carrying all the essentials. It has two side pouches with shell loops and a rear bag. The side pouches are divided which helps keep things organized. I am mainly trapping for beaver, and the rear bag works great for carrying killer trap tongs and also a pair of fiskar loppers. I modify the shell loops in the left side pocket to allow them to hold linesmans pliers, fiskars sliding saw, and a multi-bit screw driver. I also carry some extra wire in the outside pocket on this side. On the right, trap tags go in the loops, a large craftsman handycutter goes in the large pocket , with scent bottles and drag rope in the outside pocket.

As a side note, an aw some tool for digging out sets, tearing out dams, clearing trails, and use as a wading staff is the V&B 36" Handy Mattock Tiller. It's a good attitude adjuster as well.




Here's a note from the same site on waders and another blurb about the mattock - tiller.



I used to wear hip boots, but wanted a little more "clearance". I have been using the Cabela's Dry Plus waist high waders for the last two seasons. They are very durable, holding up to everything but barbed wire, but what does. They are easy to repair if you need to. They have the "tractor tread" and work just fine. I am hot blooded so I wanted something that I would not melt in. I still sweat in these but they are much more comfortable in the summer than neoprene for sure. I have never gotten cold in these since I'm moving quite a bit, even in rivers that are glacier run off. I'm 6-1 and can pull these all the way up to mid chest if needed, but they usually run just above my waist.

For a wading staff, I just posted a note on another thread about the V&B handy mattock tiller - the 36". It has multiple uses and will keep you from going in too deep ( as long as you remember to use it before taking that next step...... kurplunck). The handle floats - hickory - but the head will stay on the bottom. If you drop it in 3' of water or less, you can find it easy enough. I add a lanyard to make sure it doesn't wash away from me when tearing out a dam. It works great for climbing up steep banks if you use it Ice Axe style - this has saved me more than once when dams that I was tearing out completely failed and became big moving walls of death.


Best advice I've got though, is find some one that has done it for a while in your area and tag along on a couple of days runs.  The problem these days is that there are a lot fewer trappers than there used to be.   There are so many little tricks and tips that are difficult to relate on-line that you will pick up from a seasoned vet.  I had the fortune to be able to follow the old man since I was three up until just a few years before he went to the "Big Trapping Grounds" back in 03.  The seasoned vets  - most - got there knowledge from their predecessors and so on. 

I still read as much as I can too.