HERMANSVILLE — District 3 of the U.P. Trappers Association will be meeting at the Wildwood Restaurant on Thursday Sept. 12 in Hermansville at 5:30 p.m. Central Time to pick up trash along the highway. The group will then go to the Anderson’s Sportsman’s Club for the regular meeting at 6:30 p.m..

This meeting will be open to anyone interested in learning more about trapping and what belonging to a trapping association can mean to the trapper. Bob Steinmetz, who has been trapping for 48 years, will be giving a muskrat trapping demonstration that will be geared to beginning trappers of all ages, but will be especially targeted towards youngsters. Muskrats and the possible mink caught while muskrat trapping are among the easiest of animals to catch and also the fur-handling for these two animals is something beginners can catch on to fairly quickly.

Many trappers in the association began trapping when they were eight to 12 years old and most probably started with muskrats. Steinmetz will show everyone where to look for muskrats, how to know for sure that muskrats are there, how to catch them, what traps and equipment to use, use of lure and bait, how to trap humanely, and the importance of not over trapping an area — so that there will always be muskrats for future generations.

At 74 years old, Steinmetz cautions beginning trappers not to get overly discouraged as they start out. He doesn’t recall how many he caught in his first season of trapping muskrats, but he’s sure he could count them on one hand. Now he often catches twice as many each day out as he caught in that entire first season.

For directions or more information about District 3 trappers, contact President Roy Dahlgren at trapperroy@outlook.com or call him at (906) 399-1960.