North American Trapping Education

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CoyoteFirst-time trappers in many states and Canadian provinces must complete a trapper education program covering skills, regulations, and trapping's role in scientific wildlife management. Trapper education programs teach basic techniques with a strong focus on the responsible treatment of animals, legal methods, safety, selectivity, and ethical trapper behavior.

To meet your state's requirement — or just to enrich your knowledge and skill — select a course category below to create an account and enroll. There is no charge for participation.

Available Courses

  • Illinois Department of Natural Resources logoIn Illinois, those under 18 years of age must pass a trapper education course before they are allowed to buy a trapping license. You can meet half of this requirement by completing this online course. After successful completion of the online portion, you will be able to print a certificate that allows you to skip about half of the regular Illinois trapper education classroom course.

    You are still required to attend a field instruction portion of the regular trapper education course with a certified instructor in order to receive your trapper education certification.

    If you created a login before August 10, 2009, and you are just now returning to the site, your user ID and password will not work. Due to a needed software upgrade, all logins created prior to 8-10-09 will need to be re-created.
    If you completed the Webcourse and downloaded your confirmation certificate, you do not need to complete the course again. Your certificate is still valid and we have your name and certificate on record.
    If you did not complete the course, or if you wish to return to the site to review the resources available there, you will need to create a new login and password to do so.
    We apologize for this inconvenience. Our hope is that the system upgrade will make the Webcourse a better experience for all.

  • Persons born on or after July 1, 1966 must complete the course before harvesting furbearers in the state on lands other than their own. This online course meets the furharvester education requirement (K.S.A. 32-912) in Kansas. When you complete each of the lessons below and pass the final exam, you will receive your Kansas furharvester education certification.

Trapping is highly regulated. In many states and provinces, trappers must be certified through completion of trapper education courses.

Egg trap

Egg foothold trap for raccoons
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Experience trapping

No book, manual or online course can compare to the valuable experience of learning trapping in a hands-on environment. Use the information on this site to learn about techniques, regulations and ethics. Then, connect with a reputable trapper or local course to learn more.

Setting trap