Primitive Trapping Course — 3-Day Field Training
Primitive Trapping Course — 3-Day Field Training
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Students who want to study the underlying survival and food procurement framework should look at the Wilderness Survival PDF Series — 13 structured study guides covering the foundational principles the GB2 curriculum is built on. Joshua’s field manual, Surviving the Wild, covers 80,000 words of field-tested survival methodology used by many GB2 students as a primary study reference.
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Primitive Trapping Course — 3-Day Field Training
Most primitive trapping instruction teaches you to copy diagrams. This primitive trapping course teaches you to understand the mechanics — which means you can build a working trap from materials on the ground in any terrain, for any species, without needing to remember a specific design. That is the difference between a skill and a memorized trick.
This 3-day, 2-night immersive field program is led by Former Army Ranger and Green Beret with three decades of professional instructor experience, Joshua Enyart. The course breaks primitive trapping down to its mechanical fundamentals so students can build, adapt, and modify trapping systems using available materials indefinitely — in any environment, under any conditions.
The Mechanical Foundation: Action, Engine, and Trigger
Every primitive trap ever built — from a Figure-4 deadfall to a spring snare to a cage trap — contains three core components: an Action, an Engine, and a Trigger. Once you understand how these three elements interact, you stop memorizing traps and start engineering them. This course is built around that framework.
Trap Actions
The Action is what the trap does to the animal. Students learn all four primary action categories and when each is most appropriate for the species, terrain, and materials available. Capturing systems — cage traps and snares — hold without killing, allowing live capture or selective harvest. Killing systems via asphyxiation use snares and neck-loop designs for rapid, humane kills on small game. Crushing systems use deadfall configurations that put weight and gravity to work as the lethal mechanism. Suspension systems use lift-based mechanisms to elevate, restrain, or suspend the animal. Understanding when to choose each action type is what separates a trapper from someone who just builds traps.
Trap Engines
The Engine is the power source — the stored energy that activates the trap when triggered. Students construct and analyze each engine type, learning the energy characteristics, reset difficulty, and terrain suitability of each. Spring Pole engines use bent sapling tension to provide rapid, reliable activation across a wide range of weights. Counterweight systems are gravity-driven, using balanced mass — excellent for larger game and areas with limited saplings. Deadfall weight engines use direct overhead mass for crushing actions and represent the most primitive, material-efficient option available. Lift pole configurations apply leveraged mechanics for heavier components. Choosing the right engine for available materials is a decision you make in the field, not in a classroom.
Trap Triggers
The Trigger is the release mechanism — the interface between the animal and the stored energy of the engine. This is where most trapping instruction spends all its time, and it is where the mechanical approach pays off most clearly. Rather than memorizing named trigger designs, students learn the underlying geometry that makes any trigger hold and release. That includes Figure-4 triggers — the foundational deadfall release — along with Toggle Release, Opposing Notches, Split, Step/Treadle, and Balance Trigger systems, each suited to different engine types, species, and bait station configurations. A student who understands trigger geometry can improvise a working trigger from whatever material is at hand.
Principles of Effective Trapping
Trap mechanics are only part of the equation. A perfectly built trap in the wrong location catches nothing. This course covers the universal principles that separate effective trappers from people who simply build traps. Students learn why trapping is a passive food procurement force multiplier and how to integrate it with other survival priorities. They learn to read animal sign — tracks, trails, runways, rubs, and scent markings — to identify high-probability trap locations before a single piece of cordage is cut. Channelization and funneling techniques use terrain and natural features to direct animal movement through your trap locations, compounding the odds. Trapline setup instruction covers how to deploy multiple traps as a system, check efficiently, and adjust placements based on results. Students also work through the numbers behind trapping success rates — soak time, probability, and how to set realistic expectations in the field rather than expecting immediate results.
Small Game Processing and Hide Preservation
Trapping knowledge without processing knowledge is incomplete. This course includes field instruction on safe and efficient small game field dressing — speed and technique for minimizing contamination in an austere environment. Students learn meat handling without refrigeration: storage, drying, and consumption sequencing. Hide removal technique is covered with an eye toward preserving the pelt as a usable resource rather than discarding it as waste, including an introduction to various hide tanning techniques and field-expedient preservation options.
Who This Course Is For
This course is designed for students who have foundational wilderness survival skills and are ready to expand into food procurement. It is well suited for wilderness survival students who have completed the GB2 Wilderness Survival Course and are ready to deepen their skillset, bushcraft and primitive skills practitioners who want a systematic mechanical framework to replace rote trap memorization, preppers and self-reliance practitioners building long-term food procurement capabilities, and outdoor professionals and guides seeking a deeper, teachable understanding of trapping mechanics. No prior trapping experience is required. Students should have basic comfort in outdoor field environments and an interest in hands-on construction work.
What You'll Leave With
At the end of 3 days, students will be able to identify the Action, Engine, and Trigger components of any primitive trap, build functional trapping systems from found materials, select trap locations based on animal sign, set a working trapline, and process small game in the field. More importantly, students will understand the underlying mechanics well enough to improvise — which is what actually matters when resources are limited and conditions do not match a textbook scenario.
Course Format
The Primitive Trapping Course runs 3 days and 2 nights as a full outdoor immersion. Each trap component receives instructor-led mechanical breakdown followed by hands-on construction — students build throughout the course, not just at designated lab times. The program includes trapline setup and management exercises, field-based small game processing instruction, and direct instructor feedback at every stage. Students are responsible for their own shelter and personal gear. A full gear list is provided upon enrollment.
How This Course Fits the GB2 Curriculum
The Primitive Trapping Course is the live course through which the GB2 System of Training™ delivers its primitive food procurement curriculum — designed to move students from gear-reliant to self-reliant for long-term field scenarios. Students who want a foundational field course covering all eight survival priorities before specializing in food procurement should start with the GB2 Wilderness Survival Course. Students looking to advance further into primitive skills should consider the Primitive Survival Course — the advanced tier of the GB2 curriculum covering stone tools, friction fire, and primitive shelter construction.
Frequently Asked Questions
What makes the GB2 approach to trapping different?
Most trapping instruction teaches you to copy diagrams. This course teaches you to understand the mechanics — so you can build a working trap from materials on the ground in any terrain without needing to remember a specific design. The course is built around a three-component framework: every primitive trap ever built contains an Action (what the trap does to the animal), an Engine (the stored energy that activates it), and a Trigger (the release mechanism). Once you understand how those three elements interact, you stop memorizing traps and start engineering them.
What specific traps, actions, and trigger systems are covered?
Students learn all four primary action categories (capturing, asphyxiation, crushing, and suspension systems), four engine types (spring pole, counterweight, deadfall weight, and lift pole), and ten trigger configurations. The emphasis throughout is on the underlying geometry and mechanics — not rote memorization of named trap designs.
Does the course cover more than just building traps?
Yes. Trap mechanics are only part of the equation — a perfectly built trap in the wrong location catches nothing. The course covers reading animal sign (tracks, trails, runways, rubs, scent markings), channelization and funneling techniques, trapline setup and management, and the probability math behind realistic trapping success rates. It also includes field instruction on small game processing and hide preservation — field dressing, meat handling without refrigeration, hide removal, and basic brain tanning and field-expedient preservation methods.
How does primitive trapping fit into a broader survival strategy?
Trapping is a passive food procurement method — once traps are set, they work while you execute other survival priorities. In a long-duration survival situation, active hunting and foraging are exhausting and unreliable; a well-placed trap line is far more energy-efficient. The GB2 trapping curriculum integrates with the broader 8 Survival Priorities framework, teaching you when and how trapping earns its place in your overall strategy — not just how to build traps in isolation.
Do I need prior trapping or survival experience?
No prior trapping experience is required. Foundational wilderness survival skills are beneficial — students who have completed the GB2 Wilderness Survival Course or equivalent will get the most out of this course. Complete beginners to both survival and trapping can attend, but some field comfort and basic outdoor experience is expected. No prior trapping knowledge is assumed.
What do I need to bring?
The full gear list is provided upon enrollment. Most trap construction materials are sourced in the field — that's the point of primitive trapping. A quality fixed-blade knife is the primary tool required. Appropriate clothing, footwear, and field kit for a 3-day / 2-night outdoor course are also needed.
Where does the course take place?
Dates and locations are listed in the product options above. Upon registration you'll receive the Student Coordination Packet with full logistics details and everything you need to prepare. GB2 trapping courses are conducted in appropriate woodland terrain with good animal sign and access to natural materials — real field environments, not ranges or facilities.
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Important Notes
This course is a field course that requires students to fully immerse themselves in a remote and primitive setting. There will be no access to electricity or running water, and restrooms will likely be limited to portable toilets on-site. Additionally, students will be responsible for constructing their own shelters and will not have access to their vehicles during the course. It is important to be prepared for harsh weather conditions and embrace the challenging field conditions, including cold, rain, wind, and snow. Safety will be a top priority maintained by the course cadre and staff.
It is essential for students to remain dedicated and engaged throughout the course. We will not give up on you if you do not give up on yourself. However, if a student decides not to continue training or does not participate, they will be immediately escorted back to their vehicles and must leave the training venue. Please note that there will be no refunds or credits for the course, and students may not leave and come back at a later time (with some exceptions determined by the cadre).
Upon arrival, ensure that you are physically prepared for the course. If you have a preexisting medical condition, please provide a physical from your doctor to GB2 staff for approval to attend the course. If you have any concerns, please contact info@graybeardedgreenberet.com for assistance. Additionally, please disclose any previous hot or cold weather-related injuries (such as heat exhaustion, heat stroke, hypothermia, frostbite, etc.) as they may increase your risk of re-injury.
Do not bring any food, snacks, or drinks for this course. Participants are advised to eat breakfast and be well-hydrated before the start of training, as both water and food must be earned during the course.