Complete guide to trapping raccoon, muskrat, mink, otter, beaver, and a variety of other species. Authoritative advice on matching the right trap--whether leg-hold, body gripper, or snare--to each furbearer. Species-specific instructions for making sets that deliver and tips for preparing and marketing pelts to maximize profits.

Since the beginning of mankind there have been men, and some women, who were consumed with a driving passion to spend their lives in the woods, in the open spaces or on the water, as far removed as possible from the hassles and shackles of society. These hardy individuals never cared much for wealth, riches nor the material possessions that the mass of people covet so dearly. These people, sometimes referred to as "woodsbums", do covet freedom, quiet, solitude and a close, somewhat spiritual association with all things wild and the places they inhabit

Using a specially made, inexpensive and rugged heat-detecting camera, you can view wildlife up close. Camera Trapping Guide gives you the trapping techniques and knowledge of animal behaviors so you can get the best possible photos and videos. Includes 37 species common to the eastern U.S. Large and small mammals, squirrels to bears, deer, and moose, plus birds and even the American alligator—are covered. With photos and range maps each entry gives details on physical characteristics, tracks and sign, diet, habitat, and breeding. Also included are specific camera trapping techniques pertinent to each animal. You’ll learn the characteristics of the various cameras, where to place the camera and the camera settings to get best results, and how to minimize impacts on the environment.

• Complete guide to trapping raccoon, muskrat, mink, otter, beaver, and a variety of other species • Authoritative advice on matching the right trap--whether leg-hold, body gripper, or snare--to each furbearer • Species-specific instructions for making sets that deliver and tips for preparing and marketing pelts to maximize profits Trapping has become somewhat of a lost art, but interest in the sport is as strong as ever thanks to a stable fur market and a growing need to control mammal populations or remove nuisance animals. In Guide to Trapping, Jim Spencer covers strategies for successfully harvesting popular species such as raccoon, muskrat, mink, otter, beaver, coyote, gray fox, red fox, bobcat, skunk, and opossum. His entertaining and informative writing will appeal to trappers of all levels. Spencer discusses trap styles and the basics of establishing and working a trapline, including techniques for fastening and adjusting traps and a species-by-species review of trapping tactics for the country's most pursued furbearers. The field-tested techniques, carefully explained and illustrated, will help trappers make sets that deliver maximum results.

Walter Arnold (1894-1980) was one of the last in a long line of independent fur trappers from the mountain man era. Living most of his life in the woods of Maine, Arnold spent his early decades guiding sportsmen in the summer and trapping furbearers in winter, on foot out of remote cabins deep in the Maine woods.Arnold built a reputation in the trapping industry through the dozens of articles he wrote in national outdoor magazines, particularly his writings in Fur-Fish-Game magazine from the 1930's to the 1950's. He also manufactured trapping lures and sold scents and ingredients to trappers throughout North America. In his later years, Walter Arnold sold his business and most of his possessions, and retreated to a full time life in the Maine woods, in a trapping cabin only accessible by airplane. It was these years that Arnold gained nationwide popularity as the last woods hermit from a bygone era. In this book, I revisit many of the stories Walter Arnold published in the old days and provide a modern perspective for those of us still fascinated by a traditional lifestyle that's all but gone today.