I’m Tom Roskos and my wife Sue and I are owners of the Trap Shack Company. I also am a large animal veterinarian in solo practice working with cattle, sheep, and goats. I work with conventional and organic farms. Sue and I work side by side on the vet route and the farm. We operate our farm naturally as we transition the land towards organic. I have a 21 year old son, Greg. Sue and I also have a 3 year old son, Hawken.

The Trap Shack Company offers a full range of trapping and coon hunting supplies. We just launched our website and newsletter. We’ll be sharing our trapping stories and chronicling our adventures. Plus it gives us the chance to let you know of upcoming events and highlight new products and techniques.

We love getting to know our customers and would love to have you join us at one of our 2010 “Trap Shack” open houses in our 1901 barn showroom. We had a great time at our first open house in August. Our nephew Tom, cousin Keith, son Greg and assistant Latonia helped make the day a success. Friends of all ages enjoyed baa-ing sheep, spotting duck eggs by Billy-goats’ hut and the chance to pick Pristine apples that were ripe in our orchard. I vaccinated dogs and got the chance to soak up great stories that were shared by our customers. We also demonstrated ­­­­­different ways to set up the Jungwirth Coon Catchers. Cousin Keith set up our huge cast iron kettle over a wood fire. He added Pete’s Sleepycreek Liquid Trap Dye to the boiling water. We dyed 4 dozen #110 bodygrips and #1 stoploss for our muskrat and mink line. It provided a dull, black, odorless finish to the traps.

On October 11, we hosted a special guest, Uncle Kenny Salwey. Kenny is the star of the BBC’s movie, “Mississippi: Tales of the Last River Rat.” He also is author of “The Last River Rat” Kenny Salwey’s Life in the Wild and Kenny Salwey’s Tales of a River Rat.  These books are available at the showroom and on the website.  His next book, “The Old Time River Rats,” is scheduled to be released in November 2009.

Kenny Salwey, The Last River Rat, is a cherished member of our family.  Being Sue’s Uncle they share a French-Canadian heritage, which dates back to the Voyageurs of the early 1700’s.  The Voyageurs had an adventurous, free spirited attitude combined with a love of the land.  This heritage has woven its way through our businesses.

We built a fire under the huge, cast iron kettle. Visitors roasted hotdogs and made smores. Families toured the farm and orchard. Many people sipped hot choclate  and consumed Cowboy Kenny Cookies. What a special day to share knowledge and stories in our gathering spots! Thanks for the people and great sales in the Trap Shack.

Sue and I just ventured for a canoe ride on our Trempealeau River backwaters. We heard Sandhill cranes and our beef cattle bellering as we launched the 16’ aluminum Michicraft canoe. The smell of the mature grasses, mud, and water led me to thoughts of fall as I pulled our canoe over a beaver dam. My fellow nature lovers, trappers and coon hunters, I hope you too can capture the warm feelings of being in nature and being good stewards of the land. We’d like our supplies to lead you to spend time alone or with family and friends; a chance to slow down and get  back to nature and to yourselves.

Wishing you a great trapping season!

Tom

Mark Your Calendars.

October 31 – South Zone Mink and Muskrat Trapping starts

Tom’s Trapping Recommendations

Belisle 160 – With the cool foggy nights here in Western Wisconsin, we are gearing up for coon season at the Trap Shack. If you use bodygrips for trail sets or bucket sets consider the Belisle 160’s. These extremely fast well built traps will reduces misses and will hold coon no matter how they are caught – fast, humane dispatch. Use a spring loaded Bodygrip Safety to prevent pinched fingers. Just a note – sometimes the dogs on the new 160’s need to be filed for a perfect fit with the trigger.

Sleep Creek 600 - The Sleepy Creek 600 is another stong trap in the 6”x6” size. These USA made traps feature heavier steel and longer springs than other traps in this class. We all hope fur prices go back up but as trappers and coon hunters we still have a very important role to play in fur-bearer population management.

Our showroom is stocked for the season!  Call us and set up an appointment.  And if you have specific requests, let us know and we will do our best to accommodate you.