Loren Spinler

Born: February 27, 1932

Hometown: Lyle, MN

Loren Spinler was born in Merton Township in Steele County in 1932. Being raised in the country, it did not take long for Loren to get involved in trapping. With a father and Uncle Pete who were both sources of encouragement and information, young Loren started trapping when he was nine.

Over the years, Loren has trapped all varieties of animals and has enjoyed trapping them all. He has stated, however, that he enjoys trapping beaver the most as they are fairly easy to catch and there are a lot of them to go after. He states that he has also been influenced in his trapping by his son Joe whom he has spent hours on the trap line with over the years. In fact, one of Loren’s most memorable times on the trap line was when he and his son Joe caught their first beaver.

When Loren wasn’t busy trapping, farming, or doing a number of other things, he found the time to give back to trapping by serving in a variety of roles for the Minnesota Trappers Association. He served as District 8 Director for a number of years before serving a term as the President of the MTA in the late 90s. Even after stepping down from these positions, Loren has continued to be the official MTA auctioneer, a position he has had the honor of holding for the past 24 years.

Loren continues to spend time trapping and you can always see him at an MTA function donning his auctioneer hat and working the crowd for that one last bid.