new to the trapping world

[greenhead_killer]

hey guys, i took the class last june with Doug Stanley, cant say enough good things about him. anyhow, just ordered my first bit of gear, im going to target water critters (mink/muskrat/beaver) to get my feet wet. no pun intended i got a dozen colony traps to start, plus a bunch of miscellaneous fur handling supplies. im still in the hunt for a few beaver swim throughs. what do you guys all run? is there one thats the top and the rest mid grade? whos a good supplier(i used minnesota trapping supply to get started) ive been watching you tube videos on set up and locations, sucks were stuck to cage traps but it is what it is. im excited to give this a whirl and see where it goes from there. im not going to start trapping until after duck season in a few weeks. upside/downside from your personal experiences if i wait till then? i have a bunch of spots im going to start hitting, the benefits of duck hunting, ive been scouting as well, so not looking for anything along those lines. thanks for the info. cant wait to get started!

ghk

[Trapper John]

Welcome to the world of "Soft Gold"   

I think your heading for the right thing with muskrat, mink and beaver.  I'm thinking most of us, (well us old folks) started out on rats and mink.
Swimthroughs .......... ........... well I might sound Bios here but Bruce makes a good trap and Constock is another good trap.  Shipping is what will kill ya.

Ted Cantrell makes a swimthrough that is okay.  He lives over in Moxee (over by Yakima) if your in that area.
Gave all three of these traps a try.  If you don't have to much money, go see Ted.
JC   

[Norman89]

I second every word John said! But that being said I built my own swim through traps based off a very old design of Bruce and they are amazing. Though not nearly as skookum as his new folding swim through 

[Buck457]

I am new to this as well, but after countless days of reading and researching, I really like Bruce Vandervort's swim through desgin. It doubles for otter and bobcat.

[greenhead_killer]

Thanks for the replies guys! I’m pretty dang excited to get my hands into this jar too. Even have my 5yo daughter watching videos and getting excited about checking trap lines with me. My goals are not very high for this year, figure will be a bit of a learning curve to begin with, but nothing beats having a new challenge! I’ll keep you guys posted how my season is going/went when the time comes. I’ll try and get a hold of Bruce and grab a few traps to get me through this season. Thanks again guys

[greenhead_killer]

I picked up three swim through today from Doug s. Got 12 colony’s in last week. I think I’m going to pack them in on Monday and get this season started! Pretty excited to start a new adventure. I’ll post as I go. Thanks for the input from the few of you who did. Much appreciated.

[lewy]

Good luck

[greenhead_killer]

I’m on the board! Caught a 20.2# beaver in my first set line. I’ll try and post a pic, but every time I’ve tried it boots me. Anyhow, I’m in the game now

[Buck457]

I’m on the board! Caught a 20.2# beaver in my first set line. I’ll try and post a pic, but every time I’ve tried it boots me. Anyhow, I’m in the game now

Well done! That ought to mean there are larger ones around. Keep after 'em!

[cem3434]

Congrats, way to get it done.

[greenhead_killer]

I went out for another check. Two more today. A 19.9#er and a 45.2#er. Got them all processed tonight. Still haven’t figured out the rat game yet. I’ll keep at it and see what happens

[greenhead_killer]

Few pics

[huntnfmly]

Very cool congrats thanks for sharing

[Norman89]

Nice work and good choice of trap 

[greenhead_killer]

Thanks for the replies and encouragement guys. It’s been fun learning something new and having success early. Makes it easier to get out there. I’m packed in about 1.5 miles or so. Bruce’s traps are perfect for throwing on a pack frame and getting them back in there