Ohio Valley Outdoors Magazine

Trapping makes you a better hunter

By Freddie McKnight

Aside from fishing, my first pursuits in the outdoors were centered on trapping. I was probably four or five at the time when I was given some rusted hand-me-down traps, and I began a child’s mission to thin out the local opossum population. Looking back on what I can remember, it was a laughable effort. I don’t think I caught anything in those traps for several seasons, but the lessons learned from then to my current days on the trapline are a valuable aid for hunting.

I teach several Hunter-Trapper Education courses in Pennsylvania each year and one of the areas I typically teach is trapping. The other instructors I work with all have trapped at one time or another, but I am the only one who continues to do so. I always ask the students about who plans on trapping and normally get a response of hands that numbers in the single digits. I then tell all of the students that if they want to become good hunters, they should consider trapping. The reason is simple. With a rifle, a hunter can shoot game at hundreds of yards, so your scouting does not have to be right on the spot. With a bow or shotgun, the distance shrinks to 30 or 40 yards at tops, making your scouting a bit more important when pursuing game. With trapping, you have a trap pan measured in a few square inches, so you must be able to read signs that will allow you to make that animal step in those few square inches. When you are able to do this consistently, your scouting, hunting and tracking skills will increase dramatically.

Trapping has a long history in our country, but you might not know that in today’s world. Many of the Midwestern and Rocky Mountain cities that exist today started out as fur buying rendezvous points for the mountain men who crossed this country to make their wealth. It astonishes me that Denver, Colorado, a city that served as one of the primary fur trading centers of the Rocky Mountains, now has one of the highest number of anti-hunting/trapping populations in the United States.

Fur prices typically dictate the number of trappers, and for many years the market has been sluggish. Most trappers operate on the principle that they will be lucky to recuperate the money they have put into their efforts. With gas prices climbing even higher, just getting half your money back might be a lofty goal.

While it does take a bit of an investment to get started trapping, the rewards you gain from this activity are priceless. Once a trapline is in place, it must be checked every day regardless of the weather and your schedule. While you might be out there in rain, sleet and snow; others won’t venture outside under such conditions. This gives you an edge on those hunters by knowing what the animals’ reactions likely will be when you are forced to hunt under such conditions.

One of the invaluable lessons I have learned on the trapline involves scents and scent control. I cannot tell you the number of fox and coyotes that I have dealt with that could be termed “problem animals,” the type that seem to dig up any type of set you have put in place to catch them. If you are a trapper, you are undoubtedly shaking your head and know what I am talking about. Though a whitetail has a keen nose, I think it pales in comparison to these two wily critters. Being able to successfully put in sets to catch these “diggers” has taught me more about controlling human odor than any of today’s high tech gear has.

How and where to place scents is another lesson that trapping can teach hunters. When you place out a scent it is for two reasons, one is to attract an animal to a certain spot and, secondly, to cover up your own presence. Trapping deals with placing lures in locations where the animal will be forced to step on the trap in getting to those lures. The same application can be made when placing lures for deer. I didn’t realize it for years, but where I place these attractants for whitetails has been in pinch point areas where the deer will be forced into a shooting zone much like an animal will have to cross the trap. Again, trapping skills have added to my success.

However, it is the skill of tracking that trapping has the highest impact on in my opinion. When you are trapping mink, muskrats, beaver and even raccoon, some of the sets are made on travel routes where no scents or lures are applied. Catching that animal depends entirely upon your placing the trap where the animal will step. The smallest amount of sign may be the difference between putting fur on the stretchers and an empty trap.

When you are tracking a wounded animal, for example a deer hit with an arrow, sometimes the smallest amount of sign is the difference between finding that animal and losing the trail. I know many times over that my trapping experience has allowed me to pick up the smallest amount of sign that has led to a successful recovery. Tracking is a skill that takes many years to master and trapping aids in refining those skills to a point that many sportsmen might not be capable of otherwise.

Trapping is one of the least participated in of all the outdoor sports, but may be the one that offers the most to the sportsmen and women of this nation. Yes, you can make a few dollars if you are highly successful, but more importantly you are helping control the furbearer populations that seem to continue to grow higher than social acceptance will allow. Trapping also helps to manage the populations and lessens the likelihood of diseases such as mange and rabies.

If you don’t trap, maybe accompanying a trapper in your area will help. If that trapper is also a hunter, take a look at his or her success. Chances are that the person has a fairly good collection of the game he or she likes to pursue and chances are that the skills that it took to collect that game came in a large part from those lessons learned while on a trapline.

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Freddie McKnight, of Shirleysburg, Pa., is a veteran outdoorsman and has been writing about his experiences for the past 14 years. He’s written for more than 50
publications.
McKnight can be reached at
wmoutdoors@dishmail.net.