Take Your Kids TrappingIf you start your child out in the outdoors you will have some very memorable days. Start the kids out young before they reach 10. Before they are influenced by all the sit at home and I would rather play video games attitude. Show them some raccoon hats. Explain the benefits of trapping to them. Tell them that what they make on selling the fur is their money. Kids have the energy to go for miles. Most kids love to be out with Dad in the woods. It doesn't matter if your child is a boy or girl.
They will have thousands of questions for you. Have them read my trapping articles. Get them involved in every step, from preparing the traps, to scouting for fur, to running the traps, to skinning the animals. I have met some people that feel kids shouldn't be around this. Why? It is natural, clean fun. It helps to teach the kids responsibility, that hard work will bring results and a love for the outdoors. Most people learn by actually doing things with their hands. Kids are the same way. Besides, they will have no prejudices taught to them that skinning and cleaning animals is gross. Not unless you have taught them that.
Tell them the first coon is for their very own hat. If they are too small to set the trap, have them place the bait and the lure. Especially on the bucket set. Explain everything to them. Then after awhile you will come up to a set that has caught an animal. While you re-set the trap, have the child re-bait and re-lure. Call them your little partner. Have them carry the coon for a little bit. Even if it is only 10 feet, they will feel they were part of the adventure. Remember, the old saying, "and Mom I helped". It makes your child feel really good to have helped Dad.
As they get older, when they can handle traps, have them set some muskrats traps first. A real easy set for them to make is to dig a little channel at the water's edge. So it is about 2 inches below the water line, 5 inches wide and about a foot long. Then have them break some sticks and mud and cover the whole thing up on top, so there is a nice little tunnel going back into the bank with about 2 inches of water in the front. Now place a piece of apple in the back and some muskrat lure. Place a #110 conibear in the channel so if the muskrats wants the bait he has to walk through the trap. Stabilize with a small stick through the set jaws and the spring. Cover the top with some leaves to help blend it in. Wire off to a stake in deep water.
If you have them make 6 sets like this on a pond with muskrats, they should catch one or two muskrats a night. Sometimes more, it all depends on how many muskrats are in the pond. I have not met a young boy that does not like to play in water and mud. It is natural for them to do this. While you are wading around looking for muskrat tunnels and feed beds this will keep them busy with productive work. Now, don't get mad when they catch more then you do. It will happen one day and you will never hear the end of it. But, so what? It helps build the child's confidence, so tell them what a great job they did and ask for some pointers. I'm sure there will be some special digging skill or special way to place the lure that they will mention. Make sure you tell them what a great job they did and how proud of them you are. Brag to someone in from the child about what a great trapper he or she is. Your child's eyes will shine and they will feel real proud of themselves.
Then when they are big enough, have them run the #220 conibears for coons and possum. The bucket set is great for beginners. The kids understand them. Make sure you tell them about the wind. The back of the bucket should be facing the wind. So the smell is coming out the front.
When they catch coon make a big deal out of it. Help them skin it and sell the fur. You will be surprised how important a $18.00 coon is to a 12 year old. They will have a great time running around the woods, looking for sign, catching fur and just being like a normal healthy child. I remember my son's first raccoon. He set some traps back about mile in the woods from the house on a small stream.
He made 3 dirt hole sets and after 3 days with no catch. I reminded him to re-lure because it had rained. So on the fourth day he is out checking his traps after school and when darkness set in he still was not home. I was getting a little worried about him. About a half an hour later he comes in with a big old raccoon. His first one all by himself. He didn't take a pack, so carrying that 23-pound coon was a lot of work. If you have never done it, try carrying a tapered foot animal or anything that weights 23 pounds by one hand and a .22 rifle in the other. It is hard work, especially in the woods when it gets dark.
So, I took pictures of the coon and listened to story about how he had wired the trap off to a big old water logged tree. It had fallen over and was in the water. He used that for a backing and dug a hole under the log for the bait and lure. Well, the raccoon had chewed the log down, almost in half. He was real impressed with the strength and power of the coon. He said, "He growled and snarled at me." To say he was excited is an understatement. He was very proud of his first coon.
For his birthday I had it made it into a hat for him. That was several years ago and the raccoon hat is still in great shape. He wears it when he bow hunts for deer. When he was in a tree stand for deer, he used to say, "Don't worry deer, I'm just a raccoon and everything is OK, so come on in." I still laugh at that.
Then when your child is around 15, if you think they are strong enough, have them move up to the #330 conibears for beaver. Beaver trapping is a lot of work. They are big, heavy animals and I think it is the hardest work out of all the trapping I do. So, make sure they have trapped other animals first. The traps are no toys and I highly recommend you always be with them when they are using the #330.
Snares are also wonderful tools for catching animals. Children understand them. All you need is good snares, support wire, and a re-bar stake. Set them on animal trails. On a good coon trail set 3 or 4. That way you can catch 2 or 3 coons a night when they come through.
You will be surprised at how quickly children adapt to trapping. It is one big adventure for them. Spark the interest in them, have them watch my video and get them away from sitting around. I have noticed over the years, the children where the parents started the kids out early trapping, they grow up to be responsible adults. Plus, they like to think that if hard times ever come they will be valuable to have along. Make sure you praise them for catching animals, it makes them feel good about being a provider for the family.
Plus, if anything does happen like Y2K, wouldn't it be nice to know that you have already taught them some great survival skills? Also, they can make some nice pocket change. Why not teach your child to trap this year before you have to rely on the traps? There is no better way to learn trapping then to go out and actually do it. I can write 1000 pages, but nothing will replace hands-on experience. When you first start you will have some problems, make some mistakes, have some successes but most of all you will be out in the great outdoors sharing the experience with your child. Some of my best memories of my Dad are when we were camping, hunting and fishing together. You owe it to yourself and your children to go out and make some life time memories together in the great outdoors.
Back to Buckshot's home page | Back to Captain Dave's Home Page | Search | Shop