Trapping Secrets: Methods, Tricks, and Tips of a Fifty-Year Fur Trapper

William Wasserman, a retired Pennsylvania game warden who has trapped everything from weasels to black bears, writes about his favorite sets and methods in a series of twenty-five chapters encompassing a lifetime on the trapline. This is not your typical how-to-trap book; there are plenty of those already on the market. Instead, Wasserman recites his trials and errors on the trapline in storybook fashion, beginning with his childhood and continuing on for fifty years. He's not afraid to admit to being fooled by a crafty beaver, fox, or coyote, occasionally either. Instead, he embraces his miscalculations and explains, step by step, how he outsmarts these trap shy critters. His chapters on catching trap-wise beavers and foxes alone are worth the price of the book. With the addition of more than 40 photographs, Wasserman details how to effectively use foothold traps, bodygripping traps, box traps, and snares; and he devotes two chapters to catching fur in heavily populated, suburban areas, including one on full-time animal damage control (ADC) work. Join him as he narrates his days along the trapline catching beavers, mink, muskrats, raccoons, foxes, and coyotes with his favorite, time-proven sets. Discover how to use the Mulch Set, Berried Bait Set, Invisible Bait Set, and other tips that will steer shy furbearers into your traps. Learn how to secure bodygripping traps with rocks when trapping on solid bedrock. See how to make sets that draw mink into your traps like magnets. Find out how to catch every trap-wise beaver you’ll ever encounter. Whether you’re a beginner, intermediate, or experienced trapper you’re sure to pick up some valuable information in this extraordinary book.

William Wasserman served as secretary of the Pennsylvania Trappers Association in 1973 but gave up the position when he started his career with the Pennsylvania Game Commission the following year. While serving as a wildlife conservation officer, he received the Pennsylvania Trappers Association Presidential Award in recognition of his continued dedication to the sport. He retired from the Game Commission after thirty-two years of dedicated service. Wasserman is a prolific writer who has been published in dozens of national magazines including The Trapper and Predator Caller, Fur-Fish-Game, American Trapper, Pennsylvania Game News, International Game Warden, South Carolina Wildlife, and The Alberta Game Warden. He has written six books about his life as a state game warden.