Wednesday, November 11, 2009

Trapping Season Ends

Despite the fact that I can hear coyotes howling in the distance, trapping season for me is done for the season. It was certainly a learning process this year trying to remember all of the details surrounding the management of a trap line, details that seemed so much clearer in my youth. Time was a critical factor and as I added duck and deer season to the equation, I began to realize that it would be impossible for me to do all tasks well and sadly eventually something was going to fall through the cracks.

Rather than continue to let things slowly deteriorate into chaos, I opted to quit while I was behind and pulled the entire line after only a week and a half of the trapping season had expired. To say I was a little disappointed about the whole thing would be a bit of an understatement. Somehow all of the pieces just didn’t want to line up for me in this endeavor and I am unsure where to go from here. Perhaps a year of mulling over this past seasons mistakes and successes will help me decide if I continue to pursue furbearers.

I hate to end things on a negative note, so I did leave a single trap out in the woods only a few hundred yards from the house. Imagine my surprise, when I checked it the other morning and found that it contained a raccoon. While not a huge specimen at 17 lbs (they max at around 30 lbs) and 31 inches nose to tail I was still fairly excited. Fleshed out and now on the skinning board, it looks great and with the tanning supplies I ordered I hope to have it hanging on the wall before Christmas.

On a side note, I had excellent luck ordering trapping supplies online at http://www.trapandtrail.com. Items came wrapped safely packaged and the order included a hand written note thanking me for my purchase. If anyone needs supplies and are having problems securing items locally I suggest giving them a try.

2 comments:

  1. I imagine you will mull it over and find a way to trap next season along with the deer and waterfowling. Maybe a trade off for a few days here and there to make it all work.
    Good luck.

    ReplyDelete
  2. TS,

    Thanks for the encouragement. I think with more organization next year things will go more as planned. Just bit off more than I could chew!

    Take Care,

    RO

    ReplyDelete

Thanks for posting a comment. Your thoughts and suggestions are much appreciated!

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...