Ive been trapping for a few years and love it. I dont believe it hurts an animal bad. Ive got my hand in traps and it scared the heck out of me but it didn't really hurt. Trapping is actually more of a challenge than hunting. even with a bow, you can cover thousands of square feet. With a trap, you are trying to get an animal to step on a trap pan that is no more than 4 square INCHES. The death of a trapped animal can be more humane than when hunting. The kill shots are close with little room for error. The key is using the right type or size of trap. If you do that, the animal may get a numb foot for a while, and one well placed shot will put it down clean.