NWTF, ADCNR and Partners Team Up to Host Trapping Workshops

Through its 2025 Hunting Heritage Super Fund allocations, the Alabama NWTF State Chapter recently contributed funds to support a series of trapping workshops hosted by the Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources.

“Each year, the Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, Wildlife and Freshwater Fisheries Division hosts trapping education workshops throughout the state,” said Brandon Earls, ADCNR upland gamebird coordinator. “Participants attend these workshops for numerous reasons, ranging from gaining an education of trapping history and methods, initiating a new hobby, obtaining knowledge to manage wildlife populations on their property or to carry on one of the oldest outdoor traditions. No matter the reason, these workshops continue to offer opportunities to learn about a unique outdoor skill responsible for shaping this country and how trapping is still a relevant tool in wildlife management.”

The trapper education workshops are designed to give participants the opportunity to learn and experience an outdoor skill that was integral to the settlement of the United States and remains a viable wildlife management tool today. The workshops provide instruction on the historical aspects of trapping, the biology of furbearers and the use of trapping as a sound wildlife management tool.

The workshops welcome both adults and youth ages 7 and up. Youth ages 7-15 must be accompanied by an adult (limited to 2 youth per adult, and youth over 16 are not required to have an adult present, but it is recommended). Class size is limited to 25 students per workshop, which is on a first come first serve basis.

These educational workshops will be held during select weekends throughout the fall and winter, including:

• December 7-8, 2024, in Eufaula, Alabama.
• December 28-29, 2024 in Centerville, Alabama.
• January 4-5, 2025, in Leeds, Alabama.
• January 18-19, 2025, in Atmore, Alabama.
• February 1-2, 2025, in Hollywood, Alabama.
• February 15-16, 2025, in Spanish Fort, Alabama.
• February 22-23, 2025, in Troy, Alabama.

For registration and specific location information, visit: https://www.outdooralabama.com/trapping

Instruction begins on Saturdays with an introduction to the history of trapping, the responsibilities of the trapper and the different types of traps and baits used. Saturday afternoons students set trap lines with their mentors. On Sundays, students and their mentors check the traps and learn how to prepare the furs.

In addition to the NWTF and the ADCNR, these workshops are a cooperative project between the Alabama Conservation Enforcement Officers Association, the Alabama Trappers and Predator Control Association and Safari Club International.

“These workshops are designed to give landowners the toolset and background needed to engage in a centuries-long heritage," said Derek Alkire, NWTF district biologist for Alabama, Kentucky and Tennessee. The NWTF is proud to support these workshops."