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Rewind
features articles I have published over the years in various
trapping magazines. The articles have been updated with "Fast
Forward" information as different perspectives
have emerged since the material was published. Articles previously
published here may be viewed in the Rewind
Archives -- Hal
Growing As A Trapper
by Hal Sullivan
(This article was first published in The Trapper and
Predator Caller, March 1994)
 I was talking to
a neighbor whose son had recently been bitten by the trapping bug. Dad, a
nontrapper, had taken an active interest but only in a supervisory position.
He described the boy's sets, "He just hid a piece of tuna fish at the base
of a tree, put his trap out in front of it, and covered it with leaves. That
won't catch anything, will it?" I told him it would probably snag a possum
or two. "Yeah, but he wants to catch a fox. You can't catch a fox like that
can you?"
I carefully
explained that it was possible to catch fox with sets very similar to this,
but at this stage in the boy's trapline career, he would do better to
construct some cubbies and target possum and coon.
I'm sure the vast
majority of trappers have such humble beginnings and high aspirations.
Trappers seem to go through three stages of development. In the first stage,
you want to learn all there is to know about trapping -- in two day's time.
Through the second stage, you develop your skills, and increase your
experience -- on your way to learning all there is to know about trapping.
In the third stage, you finally figure out that you'll never learn all there
is to know about trapping.
Let's look at how
three different trappers would approach a situation. One trapper is just
beginning his second season; he is a beginner. The second trapper has a few
seasons under his belt and has the potential to make good catches. The third
trapper measures his seasons in decades.
On the bank of a
creek there are three muskrat dens. One is old and caved-in above the
waterline, one has leaves and a small stick across the entrance, and one
shows a trail of fresh mud leading away from it. The beginner sets two
traps, one in each of the underwater dens. He catches one 'rat. The second
trapper sets two traps, but both of them are in the run leading away from
the active den. He catches two 'rats. The third trapper sets three traps.
Two on the active den, and a third in the caved-in den. The third trapper
will probably catch two 'rats just like the second, however, he has
increased his potential to add a wandering mink to his bag by setting up the
dry den.
There is no
substitute for experience. Simply spending time on the line is the best way
to grow as a trapper. But this does not diminish the value of good books and
other printed and video material. This information can better your knowledge
and round out your trapline education. It seems like the knowledge you gain
from books and magazines goes hand-in-hand with the amount of experience you
have. You may not fully comprehend something you have read, until you try it
on your trapline. By the same token, you may never get the idea to try it
unless you read about it somewhere.
The next location
is a muddy creek bank, and the target is coon. The beginner sets his trap on
the bank and hides a piece of fish beyond it. He catches no coon. The second
trapper goes to the waterline and constructs a pocket using bait and lure.
But he catches no coon. The experienced trapper scouts up and down the bank
for a few yards in either direction. He sets no trap; he catches no coon.
Here, everyone
had equal success, but the more experienced trapper expended less effort and
wasted less time. It is important to know how and where to set your traps,
but it is also important to know when and where not to set a trap. The
experienced trapper scouted the area and considered the conditions for
finding sign to be ideal. He did not find any sign, so he did not set a
trap.
Again, there is
no substitute for experience when it comes to reading sign. A beginner might
step right on a fox scat and not recognize it. An intermediate trapper might
recognize it and make a set. An experienced trapper would examine the scat
for age and probably for contents before he decided whether he would make a
set or what kind of set he would use. All these have to do with the depth of
perception that a trapper has for sign reading. A beginner may have trouble
identifying the tracks he encounters. Later he will be able to identify all
of tracks he comes across, and finally he will learn to look in the places
where he will most likely encounter these tracks.
In situation
number three, we have a fresh set of fox tracks along a dusty lane that are
quite visible to all. The beginner crudely constructs a dirthole and says,
"I hope that's a dirthole." The second trapper plugs in his patented set and
says, "Now there's a dirthole." The third trapper says, "I'll bet these fox
are sick of dirtholes," and puts in a flat set.
While all of us
at sometime strive to master a certain kind or construction of a set, the
real key to trapping is versatility. By all means a beginning trapper should
try to learn the construction of the basic sets like the pocket and dirthole
set. In fact, a beginner should try to master the fundamental sets before he
tries anything fancy. On the other hand, intermediate trappers sometimes get
stuck looking for the "perfect" construction of a set that will take all
animals in all situations. All experienced trappers have their favorite sets
that they use over and over again as the conditions warrant. But they also
have at their disposal other sets that will better suit the varied
conditions in our natural environment.
Before I say it
again, if you think that experience is the best teacher in learning and
applying various kinds of sets, you are right. There is no way to make the
years and the seasons roll by any faster -- thank God. However, you can
expedite the process, by studying books and magazines as mentioned before,
and by being observant and inquisitive on the trapline. To the beginner, it
can be quite bewildering; I know it was for me. You spend most of the time
running from trap to trap just to see if you've caught anything. When you
finally stumble on the fact that certain locations and conditions are more
likely to produce a catch, you are on your way to cashing in on your
observations.
You begin to ask
questions about why you caught, or did not catch, an animal at a certain
set. You begin to remember things that happened from one set to the next and
can combine them into a workable set for future use. To aid in remembering
and recording what happened on the trapline, more experienced trappers use
notebooks to write down the information. I know that most beginning trappers
would disdain keeping a notebook, but it is never too soon or too late to
start keeping a permanent record, even if it’s just a few short notes to jog
your memory.
Please bear in
mind that none of this discussion is meant to dissuade anyone from taking up
trapping, nor is it meant to belittle beginning trappers. I never discourage
anyone from learning to trap. I do stress responsibility, and I'll be the
first to encourage the efforts of a beginner. Sometimes I have been
effective in steering a beginner towards more realistic goals, but I never
discourage the ambition to improve and become a better trapper. We crawl
before we walk, and every beginner has the right to work his way up.
Nor do I mean to
detract from the trappers in the middle category. However, many trappers in
this class fall into the "trapper-in-a-can" syndrome. They become convinced
that there is a certain secret set or secret lure that will instantly make
them successful as soon as they can get it out of the can. Fortunately, in
the quest for this super set or lure, the trapper usually gains enough
practical knowledge to keep him progressing despite himself.
And finally, I
don't mean that years of trapline experience alone are the sole judge of the
skills of a trapper. Some trappers who have taken a keen interest and have
invested a good amount of time in study and careful observation have gained
a lot of experience in a few years. And again, some trappers can be on the
line for years and not make any practical advance in their skills. Trappers
who excel in the field are those who are constantly learning, be it beginner
or pro.
Now let's look at
the last situation. Here we have a clearing in the brush that shows a good
amount of fox sign. The beginner hides a chicken leg at the base of a low
bush and sets his trap in front of it. He catches a possum. The intermediate
makes a good baited dirthole set in the middle of the clearing. He catches a
possum. The experienced trapper uses a fox scat and a drop of lure to make a
flat set. He catches a possum.
The beginner is
pleased with his catch no matter how humble it may be. The intermediate
trapper is humbled by his catch and vows to do better. The experienced
trapper, with a truck load of possums-past giving him a proper degree of
humility, smiles and shrugs his shoulders. Despite his best efforts, he has
had no more success than the kid with a chicken leg. Conversely, the
intermediate can take consolation that he has done no worse than the
experienced trapper. Finally the beginner knows he is on the right track to
becoming a better trapper. Through each phase, the trapper grows and
develops his skills at catching furbearers. And catching a furbearer, even
if it's no more than a possum, is the thread that ties us all together.
###
Previous "Rewind" articles may be viewed in the
Rewind Archives
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