Every time I get rid of something I havent used for years,within 6 months I need it.Never fails.

Same here. Keep it all!

Well ain’t this a depressing thread? Being a young pup of only 65, I have no thoughts of selling my gear, I plan to keep trapping for at least the next 20 years.

Good for you Lug. Stay healthy and increase your trapping for at least the next 20!

I have been trapping for about 60 years. We had ups and downs with the fur market. But I hope I'm wrong but I see the end In sight.

I'm going to sell my cage traps and move to Alaska in a few years. Cage traps are hard to carry around the older you get.

You are not the only one that has noticed a lot of traps for sale. Some on Facebook and I
always see quite a few traps for sale on here.

I have wondered if a lot of folks are reading into everything, and figuring the end is creeping up on us?
Never in a thousand years did I think I would ever see the restrictions I have seen go into law here in Maine.

I predicted many years ago on a Maine forum that I thought the MTA and the state were leading us to being ADC trappers.
Setting in the Inland Fish and Games commissioners office a few years ago I asked him point blank
if that was the plan. Well you all know how much you can trust a politician, but he game me what I call the administrative
head shake and then when on to tell me how the state views trapping as valuable. That is horse crap, but I digress.


Having noticed all the traps for sale, I honestly think many have clearers vision than I do. I hope to be able to trap for
many more years. With laws the way they are and things the way they are, it makes one wonder.
Certainly cannot cover the ground I could in my teens, 20s, 30s, 40s and even my 50s.

"thought trapping wasn't about money?" [/quote]

You really need a decent job now so you can afford to trap.
Some guys with lure businesses show videos all season long of them trapping in various states.
Some guys with instruction businesses also post a lot of pictures.
I do not hold anything against any of these folks but they are making their money off trapping related products or services, not fur. Smart I would say.

I know several guys that used to trap hard that have a pretty realistic view of things.
Last fall I ran into a guy that used to be a hard charger, and I mean hard charger. I have a ton of respect for him.
I asked him if he was going to trap the coming season. He said, maybe for a few beaver blocking up areas and roads that he guides around, He then said you know it looks all sexy and cool to say you are going to hit everything hard and then have a bunch of pictures to post. But when you trap for a living in these bad markets, it ain't so cool and sexy.

Everything in this game is not as it appears on the surface. Never has been.

Mac

Well said!

I hear ya about not hitting it hard, Mac. I'm one of those people who works really hard at finding alternative markets for most of my fur, but that's so I can afford to trap, no so much actually living off trapping. But I'm in the biggest health crisis of my life right now (I am going to get better!) and I still have no intention of selling any traps that I actually use. The good stuff will get passed down to my kids I guess. I still get fired up for trapping season, whether it be a long or short line, and I've been at it for a good 45 years.

I remember guys who sold their deer rifle after season and then bought another when the next season rolled around...repeat..


I just store mine until its worth getting them out again.

For me it has nothing to do with stopping trapping.
Over the years I have continually upgraded to more efficient and humane traps and methods.I have bins of old traps I no longer use here,and havent used for ages.
Probably should have gotten rid of them long ago.

You say that now but we will see what your body says in the next 5-10 years. LOL I hope you’re right but life has a way of catching up to hard working folks. I felt good at 65 also but 68 kicked my butt I’m still in better shape than most folks but that ain’t saying much today.

I am not selling. Heck, I just picked up about 1,000 acres to trap. I may need more!

The ones on Facebook are usually priced at new prices for used equipment. Or the put a lot of work in modifying them, most trappers don’t necessarily like someone else’s modifications.
Went to an estate sale in may ( trapper passed away) purchased $1000 worth of traps and equipment. Averaged $1.86 for each item.
If you can’t trap anymore and family isn’t interested sell them. Don’t let family sell them, they’ll give them away. My kids will.

We're one of just a handful that are still trapping as the old timers are passing away or to old to trap anymore so we've inherited a pile of traps. They have no one else to give it to or the ability to sell it in Fairbanks. The younger generation has zero interest and low fur prices aren't helping although even if fur prices were good I don't think it would make a difference. With the way things are going in this country having traps may help put food on the table and or come in handy for bartering so I certainly wouldn't sell any!!

I sold a bunch of mine at the Pa convention last weekend. Nothing like moving to show you how much stuff you’ve accumulated that you don’t use anymore. Still have some to get rid of that I’ll take to Maryland's convention the first weekend of August. Even after that I will still have enough to run a full line for fox, beaver, otter, coon and rats if I want to. Took a full truck load and brought home about a quarter of it.

Anybody looking for 330’s 280’s or Montgomery 1.5’s at reasonable prices? I’ll be tailgating at Maryland.

I am not selling told the wife when i died sell them put money on my funeral.

no fur market and trappers getting too old to do it

Because I am living it from the other side I will say 100% this is a depressing thread But my reality is it makes no difference what my plan was 10 or even 5 years ago. Now I can not properly ran a trapline I have or did have all the gear I needed to trap into my 80's .My health thru the first 50 years of my life was excellent I almost never was sick with anything that even slowed my down for more than a day or 2 .As my retirement age began to get closer I began to try to acquire more properties with the ides of running hard while doing it in a way that would be less work and time consuming as i was at that time Having more places to access with my truck or a 4 wheeler, plus using Cable restraints plus more streamlined fur put up methods all seemed reasonable to make happen .But before I got to 65 my health took a turn I was nt prepared for . The being unpreparedness was I easy to overcome because I did not understand how much the health problem I had and Those minor issues often created road blocks that lead to more problems I t got to the point that it was unsafe for me to drive .I had offers frpm others to use my truck and they you drive What it came down to is I was no longer doing what I wanted to do You understand I am certain to say the feeling of self confidence and satisfaction you get when you are running your line It is just getting light and as you approach your sets you some times see movement or the shape of your catch You have at times encountered situations where you had a flat tire or had other people on your line with bad intentions A major part of being a successful trapper was your ability to manage your trapline safely and ethically And of course at the end of the season be pleased with the number of critters you had When my health issue , started I needed to change how I di a lot of things For example I did not see as well at night So insteand of starting to check my line about 5 :00 AM to 5:30 AM I would leave the house about 6:45 AM to 7:00 AM So that would cause me to get home later in the day which would the lead to impacting my time for pelt put up .I had a few spots that I checked in the dark due to theft problems Now I needed to change what I did As the day went on I would get very very tired to the point that I had a larger than normal catch it was messing me up as far as putting up my fur Over the years I had bought out several other trappers that no longer where in the trapping game Often times that meant getting all kinds ,size and condition of traps that th other trapper owned .So I hada100 or more traps that I was storing in buckets and binshad a trap saleI still have abo that I had never used . So least year 2022 I started a process I hoped I would never do .And it still bothers me about selling so of what I got rid of For all of you that are . getting out of the truck to take a picture of a sunrise or a nice red fox in aet you knewwould connect be thank ful for the blesssing of health that allows to enjoy what some of us will never get back.

^ This right here, never sell your traps, or guns.