The Television Trappers Who Inspired Tom

When I began trapping, my favorite TV show was Mutual of Oma-ha’s “Wild Kingdom.”

- Tom Miranda

Hosted by zoologist Marlin Perkins and his sidekick Jim Fowler. The team trekked the globe in search of unique wildlife, all in the name of adventure conservation. I don’t know a hunter or trapper who didn’t love the show in those days. It’s hard to forget Perkins barking instructions at Fowler, “Climb into the swamp and catch that 20-foot anaconda!” The series with Perkins at the helm ran from 1963 until 1985, when Fowler took over, and hosted it until 1988.

There were other popular outdoor shows like ABC’s “American Sportsman” with famous sportscaster Curt Gowdy. It ran from 1965 until 1986. “American Sportsman” was another favorite since it included hunting and fishing, and often featured television and movie star guests traveling to exotic destinations on trips I could only dream of – hunting with Star Trek’s Captain Kirk, beam me right into that scene, Scotty; or fishing with the great Ted Williams. And I’ll never forget the two bighorn sheep crashing together in the opening reel of Marty Stouffer’s “Wild America,” which ran from 1982 until 1994, another classic nature program that set my imagination into overdrive.

Beginnings

Nature TV series in those days featured fishing and sometimes hunting, but never trapping. Sure, Fes Parker wore a coon skin cap as both Daniel Boone and Davy Crockett. But trapping made only bit appearances in the form of a few tanned pelts or a couple traps hanging harmlessly from a cabin wall. Robert Redford’s 1972 movie “Jeremiah Johnson” showed beaver trapping, elk and grizzly hunting, but only as a side bar to the story.