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Trapping is strictly regulated and enforced by each state’s department of fish and wildlife, which is staffed by professional wildlife biologists and conservation officers. Each state restricts which species can be trapped and which kinds of traps can be used. All trappers should constantly be aware of the potential hazards which they might face while trapping. Young trappers should practice the "buddy system" and should always try to avoid venturing out on the trap line alone. Also. it is a good idea to get into the habit of always letting some responsible person know exactly where you are going and approximately when you expect to return. All trappers are advised to take a first-aid course and to carry a first aid and survival kit with them.

Finally, regardless of what advocates of trapping claim, traps ARE indiscriminate. If you are large enough to trigger a trap, it will be triggered. If you are not quick enough - and you probably will not be - then you (or some part of you) will be caught. Always plot your trap line and leave a copy somewhere it may be found in case something happens to you. You wouldn't want animals or people to trigger one of your traps either accidentally or when you are not capable of checking your sets -  and you need to know where they are in case you, or someone else, later needs to recover, reset, or remove them.

Animal Traps

Trapper Education Manual Trapping is part of our North American heritage. First-time trappers in many states and Canadian provinces must complete a trapper education program covering skills, regulations, and trappingʼs role in scientific wildlife management. Trapper education programs teach basic techniques with a strong focus on the responsible treatment of animals, legal methods, safety, selectivity, and ethical trapper behavior. This Trapper Education Program was developed by the International Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies (IAFWA). The Association represents professionals from the fish and wildlife agencies of the states, provinces, and federal governments of the U.S. and Canada.

Ownership and Use of Traps by Trappers in the United States in 2004 This report is an update to the Ownership and Use of Traps by Trappers in the US survey of 1992. It was conducted on behalf of the Association by Responsive Management. The goal of the 2004 study was similar to that of the 1992 study; to gain a better understanding of trappers, their equipment and their techniques for taking furbearing species. However, this study also comparatively notes changes in trapping equipment and techniques that have occurred since the previous survey was conducted. This study will provide information to allow informed decisions on trapping regulations, ISO standards, trapper education and trap testing to be made.

Best Management Practices for Trapping in the United States Best Management Practices are based on the most extensive study of animal traps ever conducted in the United States. Test traps were selected based on knowledge of commonly used traps, previous research findings, and input from expert trappers. Statisticians from universities and federal and state agencies developed rigorous study designs. Experienced wildlife biologists and trappers developed study procedures, supervised or participated in field research and provided insight and expert technical advice on trapping methods to ensure the completion of each project. Data collection, including safety evaluations, was undertaken following widely accepted international standards for testing traps specified in the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) Documents 10990-4 and10990-5.Wildlife biologists and statisticians assisted in data analysis and interpretation during the development of this document. Although many details of trap testing procedures and results are available in other documents, some understanding of the procedures is important and are explained in this document.

Best Management Practices: Trapping Coyotes in the Eastern United States The suggestions contained in this BMP include practices, equipment, and techniques that coyote trappers can voluntarily incorporate into their trapline, when trapping in the Eastern United States. These practices will improve the welfare of trapped animals, avoid unintended captures of other animals, improve public confidence in trappers and wildlife managers, and maintain public support for trapping and wildlife management. See also: Trapping Coyotes in the Western US | Trapping Red Foxes | Trapping Raccoons | Trapping Beaver | Trapping Bobcat | Trapping Fisher | Trapping Gray Fox | Trapping Muskrat | Trapping Nutria | Trapping Opossum | Trapping River Otter

Ownership and Use of Traps by Trappers in the United States in 1992 This report details the study conducted with the Gallup Organization to gain a better understanding of trappers, their equipment and their techniques for taking furbearing species.  The study also sought to provide information to make informed decisions on trapping regulations, ISO standards, trapper education and trap testing.

Seeing Sets Save Steps by Hal Sullivan. (This article first appeared in "The Trapper and Predator Caller" November 1988) A trapper spends a majority of his in-season time checking traps. The ease with which any trap can be checked has a direct bearing on the number of traps that can be checked in a given period of time. This may seem elementary, but checking a trap means seeing whether the trap contains an animal, or has been disturbed.

The Art of Pulling Hearts

Trappers Code of Ethics

Alaska Trapping Regulations (PDF file — 141K)

Furbearer Management Reports Reports on harvest & population data

Furbearers Species accounts from the Alaska Wildlife Notebook Series

Alaska Trappers Manual



Alaska Trapper Report, 2000-2001 (PDF file — 4,000K*)

Alaska Trapper Report, 2003-2004

Tools for Fleshing Mink

Trapping Marten in Newspaper Boxes

Beaver Sealing: Why Do We Still Do It?

Marten and Mink Traps: thoughts on Canadian devices

Alaska BMP Trap Research Update

The Fisher in Alaska

The Wolf in Alaska

Buckets, Boxes, and Bags by Hal Sullivan. (This article first appeared in "The Trapper and Predator Caller" June 1990) Without buckets, boxes, and bags; the organizational level of the average trapper would probably be around zero--or slightly below. These containers in their various shapes and forms are almost a necessity on a modern trapline considering all the "stuff" that we pack around. ALSO ON THIS PAGE (scroll down)

Better Boilers With Brick I can well remember the first time I ever boiled traps. I had a five gallon bucket propped up on two concrete blocks, a pile of kindling, and the enthusiasm of youth. After several hours and several thousand sticks of kindling, my walnut soup popped and sputtered a few times, I considered the task completed, and vowed never again to boil traps.

Footholds on Muskrats The body-gripping trap is a relative newcomer to the field of muskrat trapping. Only for the last quarter century have trappers had this tool at their disposal. Before that time, most muskrats were caught in foothold traps.

Prime Factors Anyone who has sold fur knows that there are two main factors involved in determining the value of a pelt -- the size of the pelt and the condition of the fur.

Learning Lure Fundamentals A lure is to a trapper, as a glove is to a baseball player. A glove will help a player catch more balls, and a lure will help a trapper catch more fur.

A Different Point Of View Too often, trappers neglect to consider their quarry's viewpoint of the environment. Because we walk around on our hind legs, humans have a much wider range of vision than most other animals. We can easily see over objects that are taller than the animals we are trying to trap.

Waxing Traps -- Risk, Reliability, and Results Waxing is the traditional method for protecting traps from the elements and lubricating them to speed up their action.

Hammering Out A Solution Several different hammering/cutting tools are employed by trappers. Which of these tools is best adapted to the trapline, is a matter of versatility, portability and conditions.

Building Your Own Muskrat Traps There is a type of non-conventional muskrat trap that can be built at home with a few simple tools and materials purchased from the hardware store--a colony trap.

Nasal Maneuvers One of the fundamental concepts in modern trapping entails using an animal's nose to get its foot in a trap.

Dealing With Tension Pan tension is the amount of pressure needed to depress the pan of a trap and cause it to spring. Adjusting pan tension was not a topic of discussion until the coming of the bolt and nut as pan fasteners. With this system, the trapper controls the pan tension by tightening or loosening the nut.

The In-Home Fur Shed The main objection to a fur shed (by those with more delicate sensibilities than a trapper -- about 99% of the population) is the odor and the mess.

Adjusting Traps for Better Trapping With certain adjustments and modifications, the efficiency of a trap can be enhanced.

Sullivan's Trap Line has a page on their site ( On Track) which features structured discussions on topics and questions relative to trapping. One or more topics are presented here as "Open Topics". You may register your thoughts or opinions on any of these open topics. We hope some our our more experienced trappers will offer their insight. After a period of time, the topic is closed, and the results are published under the "Closed Topics"

Ohio Snaring Guide: The Ohio Snaring Guide is divided into sections to speed downloading.
Section 1: Snares Past and Present, The Modern Cable Snare
Section 2: Ohio Snaring Regulations, How A Snare Works
Section 3: Fastening and Stabilizing Snares
Section 4: Non-lethal Snaring
Section 5: Setting Snares, Avoiding Deer and Livestock, Sets with Snares
You will need Adobe Acrobat Reader to view and print the Ohio Snaring Guide. You can download it here: http://www.adobe.com/.

North Dakota Furtakers Education Manual Provided by the Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center. Another awesome free resource - but not as slickly laid out as the one above. Also available here

Knots Landing! 20 Different knots - Click on a knot and you will get an illustrated tutorial on how to tie it and the usage for each knot. Memorize all of this information.

Knotmaking Get Knotted! Animated knots.

Buckshot's Camp - online Trapping Guide & Buckshot's Trapping Tales

HOW TO BUILD A WILD HOG TRAP This free trial version is an animated series of slides that demonstrate how to build a wild hog trap from start to finish. It includes the design of the trap door, latch, catch, body and tripping mechanism of a fully operational trap. It is presented in Microsoft POWER POINT. To view this presentation YOU MUST HAVE EITHER THE FULL PAID VERSION OF MICROSOFT POWER POINT or A FREE VERSION OF POWER POINT VIEWER installed on your computer! POWER POINT VIEWER IS FREE TO DOWNLOAD at your discretion and the links are provided here. POWER POINT VIEWER FOR WINDOWS & POWER POINT VIEWER FOR MACS

SIGNS AND HABITS; Learn to recognize and find the different signs and habits of wild hogs such as wallows, rubs, trails and other markings and where to find them.

TIPS AND TACTICS; Tips and Tactics on setting, baiting and trapping more and bigger hogs easier.

TRAPS; A look at the different styles of trap bodies. Such as round, square, big and small traps and the advantages and disadvantages of each.

Trapping and Hunting on the Little Deer River, The story of Halvor Ausland's career as a trapper on the Mudjatik River in Northern Saskatchewan, Canada. You can turn off the music at the bottom of the page.

State Trapper Associations

Man Traps

Like it or not, in the correct circumstances, SSRsi does indeed advocate the use of traps and snares against superior numbers of human adversaries. These psychological weapons are capable of killing, but are most effective in slowing down an opposing force - both mentally and physically. Some traps are not "intended" to kill a human quarry - but may kill just the same. There is no such thing as a non-lethal mantrap. Accidents happen and Murphy's Law will apply. ALWAYS ASSUME THAT ANY TRAP YOU SET WILL RESULT IN THE DEATH OF ANYONE/ANYTHING CAUGHT IN IT - AND BE PREPARED FOR THE CONSEQUENCES OF YOUR ACTIONS!!! Be aware that, once set, it will be equally effective against innocent and/or unwanted quarry as the intended target.

The only conceivable "correct circumstance" for the use of these weapons would be in a post-TEOTWAWKI scenario, or in a tyrannical occupation by illegal forces. Traps are not toys and are very indiscriminate. Do not use them unless you do not care who/what they catch.

Always plot your trapline and leave a copy somewhere it may be found in case something happens to you. You wouldn't want your allies to fall into one of your own traps, and you need to know where they are in case you later have to recover, reset, or remove them.

Nearly every technique (and most of the equipment) used for animal trapping can be used - either as is or with some modification - to trap human prey. But here are a few techniques specifically designed to be implemented against humans.

In warfare, a booby trap is an antipersonnel device, such as a landmine or grenade, placed in building or in a noncombat area that has a psychological draw for enemy soldiers.

A booby trap is distinguished from a land mine by the fact that it is an improvised weapon, perhaps made from an artillery shell, or a grenade, or a quantity of high explosives, whereas a land mine is manufactured for its specific purpose. A booby trap may be buried in the manner common with land mines, or not, though as a rule it is concealed in some fashion, and set to be detonated by means of pressure or a trip wire. During World War II retreating British and Canadian soldiers in France in 1940 made booby traps from artillery and mortar shells, burying them in roads behind them as they retreated, or hanging them from trees concealed by the leaves and rigged with tripwires concealed in the grass around the tree.

Booby Trap Usage

During World War II, scales in warehouses and factories were rigged with explosives. Allied soldiers securing an area would be tempted to step upon the scale to compare their weight with that of their compatriots, and would thus perish.

During the Vietnam War, motorcycles were rigged with explosives and abandoned. Soldiers would be tempted to ride the motorcycle and thus trigger the explosives. As well, Viet Cong soldiers would rig Rubber Band Grenades and place them in huts that Americans would likely torch. Another popular booby trap is the Grenade in a Can trap. This involves a primed grenade in a container and a string attached, sometimes with the grenade's fuse mechanism modified to give a much shorter delay than the four to seven seconds typical with grenade fuses. The Viet Cong soldiers primarily used these on doors and attached them to tripwires on jungle paths.

During the Al-Aqsa Intifada, Palestinian fighters used booby traps widely. The largest use of booby traps was in Jenin during Operation Defensive Shield where a large number of explosive devices were planted.

The Palestinian fighters had made their own preparations. Booby traps had been laid in the streets of both the camp and the town, ready to be triggered if an Israeli foot soldier or vehicle snagged a tripwire. Some of the bombs were huge -- as much as 250 lb (110 kg) of explosives, compared with the 25 lb (11 kg) a typical suicide bomber uses. On Day 2 of the battle, when the town had been secured but the fight in the camp was just beginning, an armored Caterpillar D-9 bulldozer rolled along a three-quarter-mile (1.2 km) stretch of the main street to clear booby traps. An Israeli engineering-corps officer logged 124 separate explosions set off by the vehicle, which was undamaged. In the camp, the explosive charges were even more densely packed, and tunnels had been dug between houses so that Palestinian fighters could move around without exposing themselves on the street.

FM 90-8 Appendix C COUNTER GUERRILLA OPERATIONS Manual. See also: COUNTER AMBUSH TECHNIQUES

Lessons Learned - Searching Vietnam Villages

Booby Traps Booby traps were used by the Viet Cong as "non-explosive land mines". They still injured the victim and added to the stress of the war. Not only did the American soldiers have to be on the constant lookout for non-uniformed North Vietnamese soldiers and Viet Cong, but they had to worry that with each step they took, they may end up in a hole with poisoned spikes in it. This was extremely stressful for the American soldiers and many Vietnam veterans suffer from post traumatic stress disorder.

Trip Wires The Viet Cong used trip wires as yet another ingenious fighting tactic. Trip Wires were wires that triggered an object to 'attack'. They were used in many different ways.

Watch Where You Walk - Vietcong Traps In the Vietnam War, Vietcong tactics include simple but effective traps throughout the jungle and on paths. Shallow camouflaged pits with sharpened excrement-covered bamboo stakes injure and infect soldiers.

Boobytrap Mechanisms Well, this page has been growing and growing as a result of people from all over the world sending in photos. I have now broken the pages down into countries so simply click on the appropriate line for whichever country you are looking for. This main page will have photos of unidentified devices which I will put in the appropriate countries pages as they are identified.

Defeating an ambush—Vietnam Infantry Magazine As America strove to maintain law and order in the streets of Iraq, our forces encountered hostile fire at the average rate of 35 attacks per day. Enemy guerilla forces used a myriad of tactics and techniques to overcome the superior fire capabilities and training of the American Soldier. Among the most effective and deadly was the ambush.

The MOUT Homepage This action occurred on 8 July 1986. It was a joint action with the HIH Mujahideen commanded by Doctor Wali Khayat and was reported in the media. It was a small ambush involving 13 Mujahideen armed with two RPG-7s, one PK machine gun and 10 AK-47s. Seven of the Mujahideen were my men and six were HIH. We set the ambush in Kotubkhel near the Mamur Hotel, which sits beside the main highway. I split the force into two groups.

AMBUSH AND COUNTER AMBUSH TECHNIQUE The loss of men and equipment has a critical effect on the part of the enemy. The interference with and the ultimate destruction of hostile reconnaissance and combat patrols will result in the none accomplishment of the patrol mission, thus depriving him of valuable intelligence information so necessary to effectively combat the guerrillas.

Lessons Learned: A Company Commander's Thoughts on Iraq While in Iraq, your convoy will get ambushed. I know all the range control geeks are going to have a heart attack when you make this suggestion. Any one of them is welcome to ride a patrol with me in Iraq. This is what we do, and what we should train. Experiencing an ambush for the first time is unpleasant, especially while a hail of RPG and small-arms fire rains down from multiple directions. See also: Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs) - Iraq and Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs) / Booby Traps

Section I - Lessons in Combat The opinion that the Viet Cong (VC) is an untrained Army of insurgents is not entirely true. In many areas we found that he is well trained, organized and equipped for his mission. He employs the tactics of the guerilla in many localities because he is relatively weak and has no choice and because the terrain favors guerilla tactics. He uses mines and booby traps extensively around his base area and normally will not come out to attack unless he enjoys a five or six to one superiority.

Improvised Iraqi weapons deadly to USA occupation forces The Vietcong were very ingenious in the use of improvised weapons, a characteristic being demonstrated by the Iraqi insurgency today. Vietcong improvised weapons were very simple but extremely effective. They utilized materials that were readily available in the Vietnamese jungle. Among the most lethal and dreaded by USA grunts were the "Punji Face Slapper" and the "Punji Pit".

NVA Bunkers This series of articles on NVA bunkers is based upon an analysis of enemy positions at Khe Sanh that was carried out by the 3rd Marine Division. The purpose of their study was to produce an evaluation of the effectiveness of various weapons systems employed against the enemies fortifications. Whilst the tactics of the NVA at Khe Sanh were somewhat different from those previously encountered by US forces, his defensive concepts relating to the use of trenches, tunnels, and fortifications were similar to those used previously. All map references are to US military maps of the Khe Sanh area.

Ambush Operations Introduction to US doctrine regarding ambushes, including pages on the various types of ambushes used (from hamlet to waterway) as well as a selection of schematics detailing US formations adopted in ambushes. See also: Countering Ambushes

Ambush Operations Introduction to NVA and VC Ambush tactics, from simple and small scale to fully fledged five-element maneuvering ambushes. See also: Hill Trap Maneuvers

Booby Traps The use of booby traps also had a long-lasting psychological impact on Marines and soldiers and helped to further alienate them from civilian populations that could not be distinguished from combatants. The fear of booby-traps and mines was so great that units in the field (the boondocks) and the jungle (the zoo) were under stress the whole time. This created severe mental fatigue on both the commanders at platoon level and the individual soldiers.

NVA and VC BOOBY TRAPS ~ OFFICIAL US ARMY REPORT The following report concerning mines and booby traps was prepared by a former rifle platoon leader who served with the American Division in late 1967 and early 1968. His observations were reproduced to assist all personnel in detecting and neutralizing enemy emplaced mines and booby traps.

Vietnam - Vietcong traps - Asia-Pacific - MSNBC.com

Mines and Booby Traps One of a Combat Infantryman’s worst fears was not of being killed, but of being maimed. Because of mines and booby traps, it happened all too often in Vietnam, with an estimated 60% of Purple Hearts won by mine and booby trap casualties. (Sarlin)

Either/Or

Survival Trapping. The best page so far – graphics & all!

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