Introduction
Fur Harvesting is often thought as a trade from the past. Fur harvesting seems to be something that we here in the West have seemed to “outgrow” in the past few decades with the improvement of synthetic materials and lack of a commercial demand for furs in the fur market. As agriculture land expands with the expansion of suburban/urban developments, we tend to find higher densities of animals that are without any significant predation. The animals that are able to adapt and even thrive in these new man made environments which, when paired with the decline of native habitat can aid to the detriment of other wildlife species.
While I do not share the idea that predation is the sole reason why various game species are declining in numbers, I do believe that they can play a part in the issue. Beyond the lack of income that is possible from the fur market it seems as though fur harvesting has lost the culture war over the past few decades as more and more people leave their rural hometowns and move to cities/suburbs. Many end up losing connection with the land over a generation or two and therefor deeming any form of food source/natural material not sold as stores as wildlife that needs to be protected.
It is understandable to have a slight distaste or hesitancy given some of the historical context in regards to the fur harvesting and predator trapping due to the poor natural resource management and predator extirpation efforts from the early 20th century. This gives trappers a bad reputation and as most of us know people will always remember the worst far more than they remember the good in an event. But I encourage us in the “first world” to consider looking back in history or more indigenous cultures and seeing how these people survived the harsh weather that they had to endure for thousands of years. They relied on leather and furs to keep them alive. There is nothing more sustainable than the fur of an animal that is both eaten and utilized as clothing with proper resource management. Indigenous tribes were able to exist with these species in such a manner for their entire existence in this continent.
I hope to break this narrative and paint a clearer picture at why and how I became interested in fur harvesting and potentially recruit you to get your own sets or traps.
1. Interest in Traditional Clothing
While I don’t specifically remember why I took an interest in fur harvesting, I do have a few speculations as to why I was interested in the niche “hobby”. The first source of exposure to the culture for me was from the show, MeatEater. Steven Rinella does a good job articulating and expressing his own experience with the natural world and his own experience trapping. I recall watching him in an episode wearing either a beaver fur or muskrat fur trapper’s hat in frigid temperatures. I often wondered why he would choose that headwear instead of a merino wool beanie from his own brand First Lite. Now that I am researching this I realize that it was a segment they were doing at the time.
Regardless of what content exposed me to the idea of fur trapping I remember taking my fur harvester’s safety course only a year or so after completing my hunter’s education. A big inspiration for me to get into the activity was seeing the old photographs of Indigenous peoples from Alaska. In these photographs you often see people wearing entire outfits made of furs. I recall feeling a shift in my head. We often equate with the modern era being the best or most efficient era to live in due to our technological advances, we have become reliant on modern conveniences and have forgotten traditional ways. It was profound to consider that furs are actually warmer and more functional than the synthetic winter gear we have grown accustom to.
I often struggle with keeping my hands and feet warm while hunting during cold mornings. I often would think of this as “just the way it is” or that my layering wasn’t good enough. There are many reasons why this could be an issue for me outside of clothing choices, but I often wondered if I used big fur mittens that went to my elbows lined with wool or more fur if I would ever have frozen fingers again.
Short Video Showing Importance of Furs/Skins in Inuit Life
2. Trapping as a Food Source
Beyond trapping for furs there are many other products from a single animal that you trap that many other trappers don’t consider utilizing. One of these being the meat harvested from some of these animals. Many trappers have no desire to eat what they trap unless it is common place in their family or within their culture. I often find this a bit strange as it is hard for me to justify killing something that is causing no direct or indirect harm just for a single item or good. It feels greedy to me. Many of the common animals that are trapped are 100% edible and have been eaten in the past by indigenous peoples, enslaved people, early pioneers, and other people living in poverty. Many of these dishes were tied into various regional cultures too.
A great dividing question to ask a group of trappers is to ask if they would or do eat raccoon. Many people view raccoon as “trash pandas” that raid their trash cans and live in the sewers, while this may be true in urban environments it is not as likely in rural environments where they have a more wild diet along with some grain inputs from local ag production. It is alarming the amount of people that would never eat raccoon because they view them as dirty or infected with rabies, but would gladly consider eating feral pigs or even black bears. To me there is no difference as they are all scavengers, can be infected by the same parasites or viruses, will utilize human trash as food source, and are omnivores.
In a food scarcity I think you would be a fool to turn your nose up to raccoon meat given the increased prevalence of the species across the Midwest and other states due to agricultural production and increased urban development. We all know the saying, “when life gives you lemons you make lemonade”.
Raccoons are just an example of this phenomenon, but people often feel the same about other furbearers like muskrat, beaver, fox, coyote, mink, fisher, etc. It just depends on where you live, your own emotional limitations, ability to cook, and willingness to break away from current social norms.
3. Fills a Gap For Woodsmen
Despite the versatility of good gained from trapping/fur harvesting it is shocking to know that interest in the activity has been steadily decreasing ever since the raw price of fur dwindled. For me fur harvesting seems like the perfect pass time for the average hobbyist between the end of hunting season and before the fishing gets good in the spring. While things like ice fishing exist, I will not be taking part in my area where weather temperatures seem to fluctuate often in the winter.
Plus who would prioritize fish over meat in the winter, not me. For me fish is something for the warmer seasons when it is more enjoyable to fish in the shade all morning or evening. Despite the water being froze I still have options to go trap raccoons or opossum on dryland or break some ice and figure out what beaver or muskrat are up to.
4. Good for Upland Bird Populations
Not only does fur harvesting open up so many opportunities to get outside and still supplement your diet off of the landscape for a fraction of the cost that it would at the store, but you can also potentially help your local upland bird populations as well. You see while nest predators are not the sole cause of the decline in upland bird populations across the United States, they do have an effect to some degree.
If you are actively creating more habitats and using proper predator management it can definitely be a good tool to help increase local bird numbers. It should not be the only from of resource management though unless you are not the one liable for managing the hunting grounds.
5. A Change of Perspective
As I have begun fully embracing and committing to living a more sustainable lifestyle through every means possible I have begun to embrace different perspectives. I have begun un-domesticating myself very slowly and am starting to get sick of the only options for most meat throughout the year being domesticated livestock that I need to buy from the supermarket or at a butcher which doesn’t really connect me to the farmer or the food.
While there is a potential for me to eventually raise more of my own livestock in the future, I find it deeply frustrating to bridge the connection between my food and I without being able to be in a direct connection with it. For most people this isn’t an issue and actually the preferable means of transaction and I am aware that I am an outlier. I am feeling that there may be a change in the culture and foresee more Americans going to a more plant based diet and or wanting deeper connection with both the landscape and their food as we become more reliant on technology and live in more urban environments.
Conclusion
Fur harvesting is one of the most underutilized activities in our country. It is a sustainable resource that produces both food and an invaluable material for making clothes and weather. It is a traditional skill that has been utilized by our ancestors for thousands of years in some way shape or form.
I foresee it as a skill that will regain in popularity in the near future if any significant struggle occurs. Every capable outdoorsman should open his mind to trapping for both himself and the land as to help even the playing field for other species who are struggling with the given landscape change.