fellas i love to trap and always had a dream to do it full time is it possible to make a living if i were to stay in just one state?

I would bet the majority of operators stay in one State.

The operators I know personally who jump to multiple States live on the State line so it makes sense to cover multiple States.

Takes a lot of motivation/drive, $50K, sprinkling of intelligence, and a smidgen of luck.

Hey Dave....Id say more than a little bit of luck. LOL

I hear you...there must be a tradeoff with motivation and luck. More motivation...less luck...and vice versa.

Well New York state should certainly provide enough customers. Location, location, location.

There is so much that goes into making a living from NWCO work that it really can't be covered in a simple post reply.

Demographics, is there a large enough customer base to support the services you offer?
There is more to this than just numbers. What services will you offer? Urban settings have different needs than rural. Most of us in urban settings are bread and butter squirrel catchers but there are also specialties in the urban setting like geese, bats and bees. Don't expect to run longline foothold services in the urban setting.
Rural areas offer you more options in the types of services you can offer, such as footholds and firearms but the paying clients are fewer.

Skill levels, will determine what services you can offer. Most of us squirrel catchers are also exclusion specialists as it is the add on services that really pay the bills. If you have the skills to repair the damage caused by wildlife and prevent future damage then you are a step ahead.

Work ethic, applies to all business endeavors. If you are willing to put in the hours, and they can be long, you will succeed as this applies to anything you set out to do. Same goes for standing behind your work and doing it right in the first place.

Knowledge, the more you know the more you can do. So much of what we do is far beyond the scope of "standard" trapping that most guys coming from a strictly fur trapping background are at a disadvantage.

Business acumen, is a must because if you can't run it as a business then it will fail. There is hours and hours of behind the scenes paperwork and fees that most be adhered to before you can set the first trap. Don't mind the store and someone will be along shortly to shut you down.

I am basically going to say some of the same things as Warrior. But more from an entry level view. This is my first year in this business.

ADC and fur trapping are distance cousins. Predator work is somewhat of a mid. I have very little predator work here. I would starve out in less then a week
if I tried that. I still have to work a full time job right now and most likely will for sometime.
As far as travel. People aren't going to pay motel fees for a skunk in the front yard. Perhaps for big bat jobs or along those lines.
You will pretty much have to get a whole new set of equipment as footholds and conibears have limited applications.

The legalities and paper work are what give me the hardest part. I enjoy the work. Trying to decipher the laws and keep up on paperwork can be a pain.

That being said. I have no regrets about getting into this work and I love the challenge.

The question is how much do you need to make
To live?

This topic has been covered quite comprehensively a while back. I suggest that you search into past topics and you will find many answers to your questions if not all.

Location, Ambition, Knowledge. Saying what you will do and then DOING IT!

Most small business's fail due to under capitalization.
Critters is just part of it.

Promoting your new business will become your full time job.
It helps a lot to be a extrovert.

Rob hit on my point. $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$

Okay, Rick is right of course, but what he hasn't told you is that if you do it right, this job will be the most fun you will ever have in your life. One of our techs just left for a squirrel running around in an office. I had a tear in my eye because I wasn't going.

I have to say this and try to do it without upsetting anyone, ( not always easy for me, it seems).

If you have to 'ask' this question...do 'YOU' have what it takes ?
I mean, stop and think about it...

Why is it a guy just doesn't open his eyes and see that yes, we're all making a living at this
and some of us a darn good one.
Then just pursue his dream of joining the ranks.
It's as if asking this, he's wondering if someone will talk him out of it.

I personally know guys who make upwards of $100,000.00 doing just bats.
Consider that last year one of my students was a 19 year old kid, who drove himself down from northern Ontario, Canada, payed his hard earned $2,500. to spend 10 days training with me and left with nearly $800.00 worth of product.
Do you think for a second that kid had any doubt who he was and what he wanted?

I had another student who never trapped...never!
Never hunted...
Who is today a successful ADC trapper.
Why?
Because she wanted it !
She never saw it as too big of an optical.
She always did things without fear.
"Show me once, then step aside", she would say.."I got this."
Always had a point to prove and usually did.

Her quote:
Fear causes hesitation...and hesitation will cause your worst fears to come true !
( I think that's actually Patrick Swayze's in Point Break, but ok...you get the drift.)

I have to ask people who call me about taking a course, 'How bad do you want it, seriously ?'
I know that those above mentioned trappers wanted it and from all accounts for their pictures posted on my site
and a few others,they is well on their way !

How successful do you want to be ?
Do you have what it takes ?
Do you ?
While education and the right tools/traps are important, nothing will replace 'drive and determination'.

To borrow a quote from Clint Locklear, a successful trapper in his own right :
Failure is NOT an option !

If you believe you can, you can, if you believe you can't then your right. I agree 100 % with what LT said. And what was said above too. Failure to plan is a plan to fail.

You have to love the whole idea that if your not making money your losing money and do something about it from your heart 24/7 with imaginable drive and determination. Never ever accepting No and that it can't be done.

Its still a business and you have competition ,

Spouses , and significant others need to support your choice 100% or they can end up in the way of your dreams.

I had to DX mine,

If you do not think you can do something it doesn't much work to prove yourself rite

Me and a contractor buddy were talkin. He said we do the 3 D's, Dirty, Dangerous and Difficult. That goes for my business also. We are going places on these metal roofs that other guys won't go without a boom truck. Most of the cabins we do can't be reached with a boom. So I had to figure it out or wait for the easy ones. Find your nitch market

Here's what I've learned;

You can make a pretty good living at "IF" you are in the right area, know what you are doing and can produce results.

Most of the guys that I know who are doing well with it are in high population areas of "city" folk. These are people who have never dealt with wildlife and know nothing about it. They are use to paying someone else for what they need done.

And, you need to be in an area with plenty of money flowing around. If someone don't got money, they can't pay you!

You have to be able to deal with ALL types of wildlife. If you are afraid of snakes, bats or spiders, then this ain't the business for you. You must be willing to do the dirty job that no one else will touch. If you are squeamish about dragging a dead, rotting possum from someone's crawl space, then again, this may not be for you.

I got into this hoping to make a little money catching beaver. Well, snakes and squirrels are my biggest money makers right now. I'd love to go after coyotes and such, but I have to deal with bats in one chimney and birds in another this week.

If you are afraid of heights or Closter phobic, forget it! Roof tops and tight spaces in attics, basements and crawl spaces are part of it.

Competition is fierce! Even if you are the ONLY ADC guy in your area, you still have to compete with trappers, pest control, hunters and even animal control guys who may not know or just don't care that what they are doing is illegal. You've also got to compete with the neighbor who comes running with a hoe when a snake is spotted, the cousin who thinks he can catch the coon in the trash can and the Father-in-law who doesn't know that bats are Federally protected.

Then... When all else is said and done and you still want to give it a try, good luck actually selling a job. Get your price high enough to cover your expense's and everyone is gonna tell you, "You are too expensive!" Many of the calls you get will think that you are supposed to be a free service to begin with. A good 85 percent or more of my calls lead to nothing. These people call, demand that I do something and then get mad and hang up when they find out I charge.

Rural areas will give you almost NO business. Folks out in the country side normally deal with their wildlife problems themselves, despite what laws they may be breaking. Then, too, these people tend to have less money to spend for some reason. They are also the first ones that will tell you "You cost too much!"

I don't mean to rain on your parade but I feel that someone needs to tell you what to expect on the down side. I've been trying to do ADC work for 5 years or more, love doing it and can catch critters when I go after them, but.... If it weren't for my "plumbing repair and light construction" business, I'd had to go back to trucking ages ago. But I live in a very rural county. If I were willing to move to a more densely populated area near a big city, I'm sure my ADC business would pick up.

Good luck!