Youth, ages 7 and older, can sign up for a youth trapper education course, offered by Young Outdoorsmen United, which starts at 10 a.m. Saturday, Nov. 25, near Pineville. Youth, ages 7-15, must be accompanied by an adult. Youth over 16 are not required to have an adult present, but it is recommended. Call 417-439-8594 by Nov. 23 to register to attend.
The education seminar will cover trapping skills, regulations and trapping's role in wildlife management. It will also teach basic techniques with a strong focus on the responsible treatment of animals, legal methods, regulations, safety, selectivity, and ethical trapper behavior.
The trapping coaches will discuss the different types of traps used for specific fur-bearing animals, as well as baits, lures and attraction scents, plus the different types of sets -- water and land. Participants will be given the opportunity to demonstrate what they have learned by setting their own traps properly with feedback from instructors. The education seminar will be held on private land where permission has been granted.
The next morning (optional) the students and mentors get up before daylight, meet at a central location and then observe a pre-set trap line for successful catches. If any animals are harvested, a demonstration will be given on how to properly handle fur to prepare it for market or personal preservation.
The youth trapper education workshop is an outreach program that gives both students and their parents the opportunity to experience and to be educated in an outdoor skill that helped expand and settle the United States of America.
Community on 11/16/2017