I bought into the Hollywood version of trapping. I sat on my couch in my warm house and watched the guys on Mountain Men check their traps and through ‘that could be fun.’ I watched as they put their traps out, checked them the next day, skinned an animals and did it all over again the next day. Through the wonders of editing, it looked so simple to be a trapper. I had a couple of friends who offered to take me out when I told them I had an interest in learning, but they wanted me to take the Trappers Ed class beforehand so I could legally handle the traps. There were six of us in the initial class in Sidney. Most were there to make trapping their hobby and pick up some extra income in the off months of...
By the time this post goes 'live' I hope that I can announce that I have passed my trapping education class! Over the past few years, I have been trying new things in the outdoor world (hello bear hunting) and one of the things that I wanted to know more about was trapping. I may never actually set a trap myself, but I think that in order for me to write authentically about it, I should know how to do it or have at least tried it. I plan to go out with a few friends this winter and see how they run their trap lines. I would love to come back with a martin or fisher but I want to know about it first. As a renewable resource that provides people with income in the winter months, trapping is one of those lost arts...
