Youth traps bobcat

By TOM KANE

NARROWSBURG, NY — Josh Campfield is 13 and becoming proficient in trapping wild animals along the Delaware River near his grandfather’s home on Nobody Road and Route 97.

His take so far had included a red fox, a gray fox and a raccoon.

Then last week, to his amazement and that of his father, Steve Campfield, he caught a bobcat, which was over three feet long and weighed 26 pounds.

“He caught it behind my dad’s house that is very close to the Delaware River,” Campfield said. Campfield lives with his two sons nearby on Skipperene Road.

“We put the traps down there because that’s where the wild animals are. We also knew that some animal had killed five chickens, but we never thought it was a bobcat. I’m really proud of Josh. I’m trying to teach my kids how to trap animals, be sportsmen and keep out of trouble.”

Campfield brought Josh and the bobcat to the office of The River Reporter on January 19.

“I want my kid to get into the paper legitimately, not get in there because he got into trouble the way I did,” he said.

Josh and his younger brother, Jesse James, 11, went to trapping school in Goshen, and got a trapping license.

“A trapper has to examine his trap every 24 hours,” Campfield said. “If you don’t follow the rules, you can get a fine from the [Department of Environmental Conservation] DEC.” Trapping of animals is strictly regulated by the DEC.

“The boys were turned on to trapping by their grandfather, Floyd Campfield, who lived on Nobody Road and Route 97,” Campfield said. Floyd Campfield, a retired state trooper, lives in Florida.

The bobcat had nearly chewed its foot off trying to get free.

“We saw the cat sitting up on a tree limb with the trap on his leg and a long chain,” Campfield said. “The cat was nearly dead, so Josh had to shoot it.”

A number of people in the Nobody Road area said they have seen a mountain lion along the river.

“Mountain lions would never have been caught in Josh’s trap,” Campfield said. “They’re too big or could get free easily. There’s a $2,500 fine for killing a mountain lion.”