EDMORE, Mich. — For three generations Miller men have been trapping muskrats.
“My dad, when we were kids in Montabella a lot of people trapped so it was kind of a natural thing if you were a deer hunter or some other type of sportsman, you trapped,” current Edmore resident Chris Miller said.
“My dad trapped a little bit when he was a kid so he knew a little bit about muskrat trapping. We had a couple of spots, and if you get into the right spots muskrats are fairly easy to catch.”
Spending winter after winter with his dad trapping when he was a child made Chris want to carry on the tradition with his son, Nathan.
The Miller household is a busy household. Chris and his wife, Robin, spend most of the fall, spring and summer following around their daughter who plays AAU basketball. When winter rolls around Nathan knows he is going to be spending a lot of time trapping with his dad.
Trapping for Chris and Nathan is just about spending time in nature with each other and escaping from the stress of the real world.
“That camaraderie of being with him and going out in the day. We do it just to get out. It was fun,” Chris said.
“I remember one time we were out at our property in Edmore and I fell into the ice so I went back into the truck because I was cold,” Nathan said. “I turned on the heat, and we ran out of gas.”
“Here we are after dark, he’s soaked without any gas so I had to run up to a house and the ... property owner let us take his truck. We took it home and the next day we went back and got out truck and put some gas in it,” Chris added.
When they aren’t running out of gas or falling in the water Chris and Nathan are trapping muskrats.
The Millers primarily trap muskrats. They set a few mink traps but stay away from bigger game like fox because those traps tend to trap neighborhood dogs.
“We are probably going to look a little bit harder at raccoons next year because I am a little bit better with handling the furs on those now,” Chris said.
“The furs are tough for me, I lost a couple of them over the years just because the hairs on them keep falling out and then the other one I put so many holes in it it just wasn’t good anymore.
“I worked on some coyotes this year and I worked with fur handling a little bit more this year than I had in the past.”
After the muskrat is trapped Chris and Nathan take the pelts and sell them to Groenewold Fur and Wool Co. But before they can sell their pelts scouting has to be done early in the season so they know where to put their traps.
While looking for signs of mink and muskrat Nathan and Chris are looking for a clearly defined swimming path in the water.
“You can see it in the vegetation, but it’s typically under water,” Nathan said.
“This year we did something a little special. The day trapping began we went out at midnight and set all of our traps.
“We got a big start. We went out in the middle of the night, and we spent all night setting our traps that we could set in the night,” Chris added.
“We came back, got a couple of hours of sleep and then we went out and set the rest of the traps and then we went back and checked our traps that we set the night before.”
For Nathan and Chris it isn’t about the hunt. For them it’s about spending time together as father and son and bonding.
“It’s just one-on-one time, and we’re out in the woods. It just makes it a little more special,” Nathan said. “I assume I’ll live in Edmore (when I’m older). I am going to try and get a nice little area, trap and teach my kids how to do it, keep the legacy going.”
