# I need advice.



## shane moss (Sep 28, 2006)

First off, This is an awesome site. However, my question is; How do you guys run a trapline around a real job? I have been self-employed/un-employed during winter for about 22 years and now i have a real job. Now way will i give up trapping but what do you guys do with your catch? Of course I'll run my lines before work but i wont have time to skin and my line will reach right to my job so i cant bring catchs home to freeze. Cooler? Just would like to know how other trappers go about it. By the way, I eat ****, possum, beaver, and muskrat, so i would like to preserve the meat as well. I thought about asking my boss if i could buy a small freezer to keep at the shop. What do yall think? Thanks in advance for any advice....shane


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## cya_coyote (Aug 31, 2005)

shane, asked myself the same question years ago... been trapping for 26 years, and working for 20 of it. it will cut down on your home time for sure. i scaled back on my line from 175-250 traps out to 50-100. that saved me time to run them, and time to keep up with the skinning. as far as using the meat, that is something you will have to decide on. a cooler is an option, but will cost a lot on ice, besides having the whole animal on ice, making the skinning more difficult.

i have been trying to figure out how to expand my line for a few years now. i ran 150 traps last year, but lost my girlfriend in the process... think it was worth it? i am still deciding... but hey, win some and lose some.

since there is no one at home to worry about, i am getting my whole string out this year... running 200+ all season long. and yeah, will still have to try and figure out how to get all the skinning done still, but thats what the weekends are for. keep them cool all week and should be ok to catch up then. i work in an unheated barn, so cool is not a problem.

also, the more you plan before season the easier it is... digging pockets, dirt holes, taking notes so you know what to carry and where each set will be instead of wandering around the opening day looking for where you want to set... get all that planned now so you hit the ground running opening day.

the season starts here in november, and i already have some of the pockets dug and filled with leaves... a few dirtholes dug and covered with rocks or logs... just waiting for me to clear them and lay steel and lure. with a full time job you have to plan more, but it is possible. just make sure you have an understanding significant other... if not, you may have a lot of time to have your fun... LOL

good luck
cya

:sniper:


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## shane moss (Sep 28, 2006)

LOL.....I totally understand! Took me twice to figure it out. My line is not nearly long or as many traps as yours but I still have the same problem. Most of my sets are water or **** sets cause of non-target problems. You are dead on as far as the cooler and ice solution. Cost way too much. I think either a freezer at work or running traps earlier to make it home and back to work is the answer. But the price of gas cuts that solution in half and im sure you can guess which half. Think I'll offer to pay my boss a little money per month for the power of my freezer although i think he will refuse. Thanks for the response and good luck this winter....shane


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## cya_coyote (Aug 31, 2005)

make sure to remember, non target catches can add up... extra gas money. no, opossum are not worth much, but get enough and they can add up. i keep a lot of my sets in the water as well, but like some of the results on land... skunks brought some decent money last year, and the others, well, a little money... a lot of my high bank runs caught ****, and even got a few mink on the high banks. remember, mink are LAND animals that go to water, but they can be caught high and dry.

go get those pockets dug... and take some non-target catches. they are preying on the baby rabbits and birds... don't let the other populations drop because you prefer not to harvest some. a bird hunter may say thanks once in a while. thats why i still do it. one thank you from the bird hunters will have me on opossum for a season. doesn't take much. and they will help build your line sometimes. had one guy on public land see me walk by with a bag of opossum and skunk. he stopped me and we talked a while. not only did he say thanks, he turned me onto a friend of his with animal problems. his buddy called, and i am now trapping his pond and creek bottom. picked up 120 acres of ****, beaver, muskrat, and a few coyotes. you just never know. everyone knows someone, so just keep doing what you can and someone will notice.

cya

:sniper:


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## Mongojoe (Nov 2, 2006)

For myself, for a number of years I just ran short lines, checking my traps before work, then doing any remakes and skinning after I got off........ Then I kinda "lucked out", and got a job with the state... Here I was able to save all of my vacation and comp time thru the year, and take it all off during trapping season. This allowed me to take the entire month of December off, and part of January... I did this for 23 years... This is when my lines started getting somewhat longer... All I did during this period was run traps, and call predators..... I have always been thankful that my wife was the daughter of an old cowboy who trapped himself, and so she understood why she didn't see much of me at this time of the year.... As for what I did with my catch... I generally skinned, rolled it, double bagged it, and froze it... When my lines got longer, and I had less time, I seldom worked the fur. I just sold it green...and sometimes in the round, for running money... We would occasionally eat a **** or small beaver (The larger beaver went out to the dogs)...but I took alot of possums, beaver, and **** to a few older fellas that I knew who liked eating them.... I had an old, large freezer that my wife's aunt gave us that I used for fur.


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