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Well I guess my trapping experience goes back to the day my parents decided to take me to a Mountain Man Rendezvous. A man that works for my dad was re-enacting as a
1790's Frontiersmen. We walked over to his 'tent' that he and his Buddie set up. There on the wood pegs were 6 or 7 mink pelts, And on the other side of the "tent" were 12 or so #1 Victor Longsprings ( Did not know that at the time ). Now living in the city at the time I didn't much think about it, But then a couple years later ( 2002 I believe ) We went to another 1790's Re-enactment. We did the same sort of thing. Went to his "tent" Talked ate some rabbit he had shot that morning, And all the time I was looking at those #1 longs. Now Eddie ( My dads employee ) Noticed this and followed my glance. Then we started a nice little conversation about where he trapped the mink, When he did, How that is his hobby, And that he had been doing it for several years. Needless to say I went straight home and started saving my money. Being 10 at the time, And my parents not knowing anything about trapping. We did not even know where to purchase my first trap(s). Anyway it took me about a month to save 15 dollars. Well we went on a grand trap hunt. We went to Tractor supply, Pest management stores, Ace Hardware And several family owned stores. We spent a good 4 hours looking for traps. Of course the stores had cage traps for 60.00 but that was ( a little ) out of my price range.LOL. Well finally we went to the animal co-op and on the back wall there were dozens of steel traps in every size. Now for a 10 year old wanna- be trapper that looked like a hoard of traps, And I had no clue which one to choose. So I finally chose the one closest to my price range ( 15.00 ) I payed 13.10 + tax for a 1 1/2 duke rubber jaw coil springed trap. Which now seems like a rip off, But at the time I was the happiest kid that ever lived. I would have gladly payed 20.00 ( if I had it ). Any way I went home and was convinced that I was going to catch a "dumb" coon that night. Anyway I staked the trap above ground and sprinkled some sweet corn on the pan. I will never forget my confidence.LOL! I went to check my trap just as sure as I could be that there was going to be a coon in it. Well once I reached the trap I saw that indeed a coon visited the "set" and flipped it over and ate the coon and left. This happened about 10 different times. Dis-spirited I hung up my prized possession, And decided to call it a year. This was around Jan. 1st. Well about 1 month later ( Feb 1st ). I had regained my vigor. I decided to set out again to catch a coon. This time I was ' prepared '. I googled some info on coon ( did not know about t-man yet ). I was still pretty green. Well I learned some of their habits and learned the basics like. They like water, They eat crayfish and frogs, They like eggs etc.. Well this time I set my trap on a bend of our creek ( still above ground ) and set some sardines on the pan. The next morning more confident then ever I went to check my trap. Nothing. Of course my 'set' had been visited, And the trap flipped like all the previous times, But one thing I noticed was that when the coon flipped the trap over he never set it off. He always ed just flipped it and the bait went flying and he went after it. So this time I had a plan. I decided to find something sticky ( peanut butter ) and smear it all over the trap pan. Then I smashed a piece of raw chicken breast in the peanut butter and cracked an egg over that ( a regular buffet ). Well I went to bed that night just sure I was going to catch a coon. Around 6 A.M. I woke up with a jump. Heart pounding ( the usual routine ). I practically ran the hole 150 yards to my set. I stopped about 30 feet away. Since the dead grass was pretty tall I could not see my set, But I listened (expecting to hear an awful fuss ). I did not hear anything. Dis spirited I started walking to my set. Pretty upset. I parted the tall grass ( almost as tall as me ), And I saw a coon. I HAD DONE IT. Now when I googled info on coons I got the whole 9 yards about coons having large claws and a snarling mouth that could tear you up. Now reading that on the computer was not scary but as soon as I ( 10 years old ) saw a coon in real life those words I had read about coons popped up , And I was scared to death. Being out there. It being a little dark and foggy. About 150 yards from the house. I ran the whole way back to the house thinking the whole time a mad coon was after me. Well to make this ending short. I burst into the house awoke my mom screaming. I CAUGHT A COON! Now she living in the city ( Her whole life ). She was terrified of little critters. Mice,coons and especially opossums. Well she called my dad ( at work ) and we shot/skinned the coon, And I still have the hide today and it is valued more then my first trap. It is a prize I will never give up.
Hope you enjoy it!
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