It all started when my grandpa told me about all of his trapping stories. How one time he had to cut thru a foot of ice to get his mink, and when he got to it he accidentally cut it in half. Also of when he caught three mink on Christmas eve one year.

He is the one that got me started. Then when I was nine a man asked my dad if he could trap on our property. My dad knowing that we had quite a few coyotes around let him come in and trap. He could only trap for a couple weeks though, because of bird season. We didn't want our dog getting caught in one. He did this for several years and would always catch two or three coyotes in a week or two with 2 traps.  Finally when I was fourteen he let me go out and check his traps with him. When I started going out with him I got hooked. I couldn't wait until the next morning when he would pick me up in his truck, and we would check his traps. Then one day he let me set a trap by myself. I was so excited. I first made a big mound in the corner of the bean field . I then dug a hole slanting in towards the middle of the mound. After that I removed  the dirt in front of the set, and put it on a piece of cloth. After this I set the Victor #3 trap in the small hole I dug. After all this I spread the dirt back over the top of it and placed small pieces of bean stalks round the edge of the trap. I then used a lure he had made and put it in the hole. I then put some grass and stuff to kind of fill up the hole. I was done with the set. My first coyote set.

I was so excited when I got up to the house and told my parents all about it. That night I could hardly sleep. I could just dream walking out and finding a coyote in my set. The next morning when my friend came by I ran out and jumped in his truck. We first checked his sets, but found nothing. I then got to my set, and when I looked out what did I see. Nothing but a big fat opossum. I was so disappointed. I had to reset my trap. The next morning I woke up and was happy to see the warm sun on my face. When my friend finally got to my house I couldn't hardly wait. It was the last day I could trap, because bird season was the next day. When we got out there all I had was a big coon. I was very disappointed. I new then though that I would forever be hooked on trapping.

The next year I couldn't trap because I was in so many sports. I had to be up at 5 in the morning, and wouldn't get home till 8 or 9 at night. But this year since I can drive I plan on hitting them coyotes and coons.