# Sticky  Pictures of Old Timers Catches



## LarryA

My mother called to tell me that she found a picture. I thought some of you may enjoy it. It was my season catch.










I actually remember that season very well, and yes I am afraid it dates me just alittle. (From 1975)


----------



## unregistered55

Hey Larry,
I remember those years of the mid/late 70's. I doubt you have any years on ME.(LOL) Remember the fur prices of 1978? Those 3 reds on the fence would have been worth about $85.00 EACH. Now the coyotes have taken over and they aren't worth much. I've got an old album full of precious memories too. Pass on the tradition. I've got an 11 year old grandson who just got his first trapping season under his belt. He's hooked and I intend to keep him that way. Cheers!


----------



## HunterHawk

congrats on the catch... a bit belated :lol:..... ahhhh i wish reds were worth that much now... i would have had a dang good season for my 2nd year... well i still did... i would have just paid off some trapping supplies i bought... i dont think ill ever get out of the hole.. but i dont think i care either... 


thanks for sharing the picture Larry... is that fence the same one you used with your boys? looks like it


----------



## LarryA

Actually, the grey got much more than the reds. The fur dealers had a bidding war on it at the auction. Most of the dealers there said it was the first grey they seen caught in the area. The dealer who bought it said he was going to have it tanned.

Yep, trapping competition was out of this world, and trap thieves were a whole other subject. I actually would run my line only in the dark. Those fur prices back than actually helped me pay for my college.


----------



## unregistered55

Yep, I forgot that in many areas of the state grays were very rare. In my area opossums were also uncommon. :lol: Back then you could trap for weeks and never be bothered by them. Now?:rant:
You put yourself though college on fur money? Wow. I doubt anyone could do that nowadays. I bought a brand new 1978(LOL) F-150 4x4 pick-up with my fur check that year. Those MTA Zone 2 fur sales in Grayling were something I'll remember fondly forever. I still have my sales receipts in my album...one lot of 64 reds for [email protected] and the top red at the sale $145.00. Reds at the MTA sale last Saturday at Jays in Clare averaged less than $20.00. High fur(fox) prices and low gas prices. Both history.  I trapped before daylight out of necessity....full time job. The only time I saw daylight on the line was weekends. Trap thieves? Oh yeah. It think it was the fur more than the traps though. Back then a dozen 1 1/2 coils were $25.00/dozen.


----------



## griffondog

I always like to see some old pictures. Any one else got some fur pictures from the 60's and 70's post them up so we can have a look. I'm sure Multi could come up with some from the 40's and 50's. :evilsmile

Griff


----------



## FMann

Larry, Dont feel bad this was my first year and you have me beat with what is in the picture. I ended the season with 10 rats, 7 *****, 1 mink, 1 beaver, 2 possums and 1 red fox. Altho I didn't start traping untill Thanks Giving I don't think I did to bad for my first year of traping. I did learn tons of info from you guys on this forum and from the criters themselfs.

Griff, I too like the pictures old or new it don't matter I like to see them all.


----------



## LarryA

FMann,

It isn't a competition. It is all about getting outdoors and learning about your environment and having the time of your life in the process. I think you had a great season! Congrats on a extremely good start.

Perca,
I didn't completely pay for college running a trapline, but it propbably made a difference in me graduating without any student loans.

HunterHawk,

Nope different fence, that fence was in my buddy's yard back near where I grew up. The two fences are about 40 miles apart.


----------



## LarryA

OK Griffondog,

Here is another one. This is a buddy of mine. I think the year is about '74.


----------



## LarryA

Here is another one. This was my first fox along with 3 muskrats.










Hope ya'all enjoy these. It was neat digging them out, but I only have one more left. Until I had kids, I wasn't really big on pictures.


----------



## FMann

Larry, 
I wasn't trying to make it sound like I was trying to compet, I was saying you had a great year back then. If I'm correct in my traping history that was back when fur prices where WAY up and people where not only stealing traps but fur also.

I learned alot this past season, possums will get into the best **** set's you can make. ***** will get into the best of coyote sets and fox have very small feet, they can put their foot down in the same place on a trail for 2 weeks then you put a trap there and they will step on the other side of the guide sticks every time. And Mink well I don't want to go there, I will leave it at I have a personal ajenda for mink and next season. All in all I thought I did very well this past season with what I caught and was very pleased with what I learned. This was also the first time I ever put up fur, I used to run **** hounds but always sold the ***** in the round, now I not only know how to skin and put them up but mink, rats and fox as well the beaver I sold in the round I'm going to try and put one or more of them up next season hopefully. I just wish I would have started traping eariler in life I'm now 40 but I figure its never to late to start.


----------



## griffondog

LarryA

Thanks for posting the pics. Brings back the old High School memories. Lets see it's 4 am,Zeppelin is in the 8 track,I have a quarter tank of gas and three hours to run traps before school. My girlfriend has broke up with me because I smell like a skunk and I'm looking for a new one. Life doesn't get any better than this.

Griff


----------



## HunterHawk

if your g/f broke up with you griff who are these girls in the pictures? :lol:... thats some long hair ya got there.... no mullet?

thanks for sharing these old pictures guys... ill see if i cant get the old guy that got me into trapping to get me some pics


----------



## wild bill

they actually had cameras back then mike?:yikes:


----------



## griffondog

Bill

They even had cameras when Multi was born. I think they came out with breech- loading guns when he was in his twenties. He helped test Newhouse traps when they first came out.

Griff


----------



## LarryA

Last old picture I have. Hunterhawk, I have to admit that Griffondog had nothing on me when it came to hair. By 1980, when this picture was taken I had hair almost to my belt and a foot long beard, but in my defense I was working outside at that time washing trucks all winter. Besides, the girls I knew said they thought I was cute with long hair.

Here is part of my 1980 season.










Griff, those are some great looking otter, and I have to admit Zepplin was one of my favorites too. Unforunately, I was too cheap to own a 8-track. Yep, those were the days!


----------



## dsmithgall

Some great pics guys, makes one wonder what are grandkids will think of our clothes, and hair in 20-30 years from now...

thanks for sharing, old photos are great....


----------



## HunterHawk

nice picture again Larry.... i know you can find more around the house there somewhere....

and if i could pull long hair off and get away with it i would have long hair too... and with the job i have now i cant even have an inch beard let alone a foot... i envy you haha

thanks for sharing


----------



## David G Duncan

Here is an old photo of me with part of a season's catch from back in 1960.

Way back then we stretch raccoons flat, because that was the way fur buyers wanted them put up.

I think they changed to wanting them cased in the late 60's.











Not quite as old a photo, but this was my season catch of Red Fox (32) taken back in 1978, when the Red Fox prices peaked out at about $95 each.


----------



## griffondog

Dave


Nice catch of fur. Bet those mink helped out your pocket book back then. How do you do it you don't look like you aged a day since 1960.

I look like I never recovered from a bad case of the mange! :tdo12:


Mike


----------



## HunterHawk

i think the reason they wanted the raccoons cased is because when they bought them flat like that they felt like the were buying road kill.... o see tons of raccoons on the road that look just like that haha....

great pic and a nice catch!!!


----------



## griffondog

Found some pictures of my trapping partner Tim. If you want to see more let me know.

Griff


----------



## HunterHawk

i need to get me a good ol fur hat! thanks for sharing pictures griff!! you can go ahead and post more!! i would post some here but im not old yet :lol: j/k guys.... someday ill find the ones at my parents house of my dad and his trapping partner and throw those up here of some beaver they caught


----------



## HUBBHUNTER

WOW thats impressive Griff


----------



## griffondog

Hope these hold you over till season.:lol:

Griff


----------



## Beaverhunter2

HunterHawk said:


> ? :lol:... thats some long hair ya got there.... no mullet?


HunterHawk- you're dating yourself...

First of all, they didn't have mullets back then. Second of all, looking at the pics, I'd say Griff had just gotten his hair cut. 

My first season was 1973. Based on the pics, I'd say Griff and Larry have a few years on me- but not too many. If I could find some pics from 1979-82, (that my mom hadn't burned), you'd see that Griff's hair was a little short for a teenager in those times. Short enough to be considered pretty "clean-cut", long enough to not get beaten up at school.

I shaved my beard and cut my hair special for my graduation pictures as a present to my mom. My hair didn't even touch my shoulders anymore! She said it was the best present I ever gave her. LOL

Two weeks after graduation, I left for boot camp. The Army took the rest of my hair and my ears saw the sun for the first time in years. They got horribly sunburned- blisters and all!

Fashions keep coming around. It won't be too long until H-Hawk's hair is halfway to his butt! LOL

John


----------



## HunterHawk

hahaha i dont think that would go over to well working in the jail for a year then out on to the road... i think anywhere i worked it wouldnt go over with but especially a jail :yikes:..... haha so i think ill hold off on the long hair :lol:

beaver no suntan lotion back then? 

nice pics Griff


----------



## griffondog

Hawk here is some 73 hair and man hats!


Griff


----------



## CHASINEYES

Nice pics!! You fellas have been at it a while.


----------



## HunterHawk

anyone sell those man hats at the trapping convention? i need me one of those man hats if i go.... it looks like i might be able to make it... only thing that sucks is i have to work friday for sure... grrrrrrrrrr


----------



## jgoss1205

its nice to see pictures that came from film again and damn thats a ton of fox.


----------



## unregistered55

My wife has been scrapbooking for the grandkids and pulled out this shot of me with my catch from back in the late 70's. I never did label photos so I'm guessing 1977. That was back in the pre-coyote days.:lol:


----------



## old graybeard

:tdo12:Now that's a bunch of Fox


----------



## griffondog

Nice picture of the good old fox days. Hope your wife finds some more. I see you were boarding your fox back then most guys were using wire.

Griff


----------



## David G Duncan

perca,

Thanks for sharing a very impressive photo from the past.

Sure hope that was around 1979, when Red Fox were going for close to $100.

What part of Michigan were you trapping at that time?

I have always stretched my fox on split wood boards, but stretched the coyotes on wire. Go figure. Just some little quirks we old trappers develop over the years. Like enjoying the smell of fresh fox urine. :corkysm55


----------



## MGV

Wow very nice guys. Thanks for the pictures


----------



## unregistered55

Truth be known I used wire stretchers for almost all of my skins. The boards were just to hold up the extra fox pelts for the photo. :lol: Believe it or not I know I still have my receipts from those MTA Zone 2 sales to show what sold for how much. I'll see if I can dig them out. For a few years fur prices were incredibly high.If I recall correctly they peaked in 1978.
I trapped 3 counties....Clare, Gladwin, and Roscommon. My line varied but was right around 125 miles. I was a full time high school teacher (biology) and ran the line 3-7 am before school, during my 1 hour planning period (SHHHHH!-LOL), and after school till dark when necessary. It was a time when I was young, strong, and full of....ENERGY(LOL). I look back and realize what I did and get out of breath just thinking about it. :lol:


----------



## David G Duncan

Perca,

You are right about the Red Fox prices peaking during the 1978/1979 trapping season, if my memory serves me correctly.

I know what you mean about being young and full of energy. I was 34 years old going into the 1978 trapping season.

What a great time to be running a canine trap line.

I was living near Traverse City and ran a total of 300 miles of trap line, broken up into a west line and an east line, which I ran on alternate days. If I got back to town before dark, I would fly the other line, so I could then drive to the sets that had connected before I headed to the skinning shed.

The term running a trap line in those days was absolutely the correct term. Because probably like you, I literally jumped out of the truck and ran at full speed over hill and dell to check my sets. Maintaining a long line of fox traps during daylight hours was truly a race against the clock, that I did not always win. 

Numerous times I would be still out on the line after dark, checking traps by moon light.

One particular, after dark check, still sticks out in my memory. I had connected with a double on Red Fox and as I was standing on the last fox, a flock of geese flown over, silhouetted against the night's frosty clear full moon. Needless to say, I give up a short pray of thanks, for begin so fortunately be a trapper.

Here is another trap line photo, from a solo week long winter trapping adventure along the Manistee River living in an unheated pop up tent. Those were the good ole days!


----------



## unregistered55

Dave, 
If you were 34 in 1978 we are the same age. I just turned 65 on Jan. 17.
I always looked forward to retirement so I could run a full time line (I alternated routes like you did in order to double the coverage) and do it during the daylight. The knees, back, and belly :lol: cancelled those plans.
I still do what I can. I enjoy snaring but with this deep snow I have to reply on my ARGO to get me to where I want to get. The photo is of a fox I caught today. Even with the invasion by coyotes, the little buggers hold their own in some areas. I sure wish we had snaring 30 years ago. Trapping in deep snow was always a real chore to keep the traps operating. I also enjoy calling....letting the animals do the walking . I was calling long before calling was cool and have probably shot as many foxes as I ever caught in traps.
I hang out at trapping conventions and at association fur sales. The smells of furs and fox urine always bring back precious memories.


----------



## David G Duncan

Perca,

During the first year of my retirement I hit the trap line pretty hard. Mainly water trapping by canoeing on the river.

Well, I had a great time and managed to catch over 70 ****, along with a good number of mink, muskrats, skunks, opossum, fox and coyotes. But time definitely slows your body down.

So like you, I am no longer putting out any serious long trap lines. But stick fairly close around home.

As yet, I have not invested in any all terrain vehicles, but do manage to bang up my pickup truck doing stump jumping, when I am trying to use it as an off the road vehicle. :lol:

Congratulations on a nice look winter Red Fox. Red Fox and mink are my most favorite fur bearers to trap. But lately there have been might few Red Fox around my neck of the woods. Mostly coyotes and grey fox.


----------



## unregistered55

Here are a few more shots. 30 years ago badgers were illegal to trap. It was always fun trying to release one of these bad-tempered little turds. I frequently set double or triple sets in case there were grinners or skunks around. I caught doubles on just about everything. Never got a triple on reds though. I don't know if the pole/syringe/acetone technique is used anymore but it worked well for me. The only problem was that I was really in a hurry and got very impatient waiting for Pe Pe La PUE to expire. :lol: When the coyotes started to become a part of the catch the number of reds dropped way off. The picture of the season catch was 1982. By then the high prices of 1978-89 prices really started to drop.


----------



## Gary A. Schinske

Dave:
Surpirised to see you had a plastic milk carton back then. I thought they were still wire at that time. Amazing the uses for milk cartons. 330s sure fit in there nice along with 20 lb propane tanks and plastic pails. Lots of holes to make fastening them real easy and great to stack. Never tented, never fished in an ice shanty neither permanent nor portable, never hunted from a man made deer blind for many, many years. Isn't memory great! But where did all the pheasants go?


----------



## MGV

Gary A. Schinske said:


> Dave:
> But where did all the pheasants go?


I have the pheasants around my place. Left corn standing and they moved in for a couple weeks cleaning up what the deer dropped. But the yotes are talking so i am sure they will be MIA shortly.


----------



## David G Duncan

Gary, we sure did have a great time growing up back in the late 50's and early 60's, in southern Michigan.

We could hunt pheasants practically right off the back porch or at least from the tall grass just behind the garden.

Ring necks were every where and my brother and I could easily walk up our limit of rooster pheasants, without the help of a bird dog.

This pheasant hunting heaven lasted for several years, but like most things it abruptly came to an end. But for a while at least, opening day on October 20th each year at 10:00AM was great fun.

It was like hunting pheasants in the Dakotas is right now, or almost that good. 


MGV
I grew up in Marne, so it is great to hear that there are still some pheasants nearby in Hudsonville. :woohoo1:

Perca,
Sure was great sport releasing those badgers, but in most cases they just put on a big show and never really were a big threat.

I developed an equation over the years to predict how many Red Fox I would end up with during the 2 weeks that I ran my fox line. It would work out that if I multiplied my best day's catch by 7, it would be a good estimate of the total number of fox I would end up catching.


----------



## Flag Up

Great picks and stories fella's. Reminds me of the late seventies when I used to go with my friend and his dad when he ran his trap lines, what fun. Sometimes I wish I would have learned the trade and become a fur trapper myself.


----------



## DROPTINE 14

this is one of the best pic threads i have ever seen!! them fox on the barn pics make a guy ashamed of his 8-10 fox a year he catches!!


post more pics!!


----------



## David G Duncan

Droptine,

You can be proud of your catch of fox!

Back in the 1970's we had a ton of fox and just a few coyotes. Now it is the other way around.

It would be great to see some of your trap line photos in the future.

Continued Good Luck on Your Trap Line!


----------



## Leather

i like to see old pics. great!


----------



## DFJISH

Here's another picture of a season catch. I never labelled photos with dates so I'm guessing this was from around 1980. I always wanted to catch enough foxes to cover the barn, but had to settle for the chicken coop. :lol: Thanks to the proliferation of coyotes since then, I seriously doubt there are this many foxes in our entire county now.


----------



## griffondog

Those were the days. I think it was the 80/81 season some fox sold at the Marshall fur sale for over one hundred dollars a fox.

Griff


----------



## DFJISH

In terms of money, I doubt we will ever see the likes of that era again. Around 1972 I sold reds for $2.50 *tops.* In 1978 I sold one lot of 64 reds for [email protected] and the single best one I had for $145.00. I still have the MTA Zone 2 receipts for those furs. No fox was worth $145.00 even back then, but in those days buyers competed to see which one of them could get the good publicity for having paid the highest for a species. The fur sales (and summer conventions) that MTA Zone 2 held at Hanson Hills in Grayling were really something special for trappers to look forward to. Two of my grandkids trap now, and I'm mighty proud to see the tradition continue.


----------



## fathom this

DFJISH:

Your signature has got to be my favorite so far on the site, and it is also what I believe.


----------



## Get Out

looking at these pictures has me more and more inclined to take up the hobby of trapping... I have a 6 year old girl, 4 year old boy and a newborn boy I gotta raise right!


----------



## crittergitter71

MORE, MORE. I want to see MORE!!!!!


----------



## shotgun12

nice lot of pictures there.loads of foxes,we cant trap badgers over here,or shoot them.but goverment have just passed a bill for them to be culled. buy them. not us,after 40 years of fighting for it. them sat cattle get tb from bagers, they new that all that time ago,but its just been passed now, slow old uk,we are,


----------



## Hardwoods89

I have really enjoyed this thread, my father was just out of high school in the late 1970's and he trapped quite a bit back in those days, sounded like a great time to be trapping! I trapped a few raccoon and muskrat my last couple years of high school and had a great time doing it. I'm a couple years out of college now and starting to "settle down" and it's something I'd really like to get back in to!


----------



## DIYsportsman

i just love going through these pictures again, we need some more pics of the good ol dayz!


----------



## HavenHunter

I cant imagine catching that many fox in one season. Amazing. Esp. at $80-$100. Thanks for posting these for us guys.


----------



## Dixiedog

Thanks for the pictures guys, I check it often to see any fresh ones, and like to start at the beginning again. Love seeing the trapline and fur pics. Thanks again.


----------



## David G Duncan

Growing up in small town Michigan in 1950's, I longed to be like the trapper in this photo from a Harding FFG book on trapping. Back then mink were king. A nice buck mink would easily bring $250 in today's dollars.











Here I am proudly displaying a three legged buck mink I caught in about 1958. Back then it was believed by all the young trappers that mink were very clever and hard to catch. So I felt pretty accomplished to have outsmarted this obviously trap smart mink! Truth is mink are not hard to catch, once you understand their habits. I ended up catching 10 mink that year.








Do you see any resemblance of me to the old time trapper with the four mink and an ermine? Just noticed the same basic dress.


----------

