Trapping and Thanksgiving

Last week I was on Thanksgiving break vacation. This meant that we didn’t have school, so I was able to check traps every single day. This was quite the experience, as I had never been able to do before. I went out to check my traps on Monday of last week, and I have some great success. At the first trap that I checked there was a very large and very muddy raccoon. This raccoon was the biggest I have ever seen and I estimate it to weigh between 25 and 30 pounds. After I loaded up this raccoon I went home and skinned it, a process that was made much more difficult due to the fact that the raccoon was so muddy and the temperature was so low. My friend inspired by the thought of catching more raccoons went with me to check the rest of them. The next two traps that we checked were empty, and the last one was a foothold trap. For those of you who do not know of foothold requires much more effort to set, and much more skill is required to successfully catch an animal. As we approached the location where the trap is set, we were very apprehensive, We did not know if there would be anything in this trap. We walked down the hill and around a couple trees to find that we had caught another raccoon! The surprise of catching this raccoon was tremendous. This was the first time I had set a foothold trap, and it was the first time I had ever caught a raccoon in a foothold trap. The excitement aside we had been hoping that we would catch a fox, the scent that we used in that location was specifically designed for foxes. And although we were very happy that we had caught a raccoon, we still wish that we would’ve caught a fox. Once we dispatched the raccoon, and unattached the trap from the tree we brought the raccoon and the trap up the hill and watched and waved as cars passed by. This was a very fun experience for me, to capture something in a way that I had never done it before. And that I was able to share this experience with a very good friend, and lastly that I was able to look at the funny faces people made when they saw two teenage boys walking along the road carrying a raccoon. This experience reminded me that outdoor experiences are among the best experiences there are. Just the feeling of cold or of hot on your skin and your face, makes you want to do something big, or something small. The thing is that things don’t to be large or important to be special, or even to be of worth. Things just have to be with others, and done with all of your heart. In this world where most things are done seemingly without effort or true feeling, it is so refreshing to get outside and to enjoy something with all your heart with someone who you care about. I do not have any brothers, and this friend is like a brother to me. These experiences that I have him are so much fun, and they help us grow even closer. I am very grateful for the season of Thanksgiving, and for the wonderful people in my life, as well as the wonderful experiences that I have with them.

The Fun Part of Trapping(II)

Thank you all for being interested enough to read my second blog post. I will get right back to where I was at.

The raccoons were first brushed, in order to remove any burrs or tangles that they might’ve had, their fur was just absolutely beautiful! Once that was done then the skinning began. The first cuts that I make are around the ankles, which gives me access to the joints by which I hang them up. A cut is then made from one ankle to the other, and then from the base of the tail around the vent and to the original cut. The sin around the tail and the legs can then begin to be pulled off, and you are then just about halfway done with skinning it! The skin can continue to be pulled down until you reach the front legs, at which point the skin must be pulled off from around the legs, and then cut just before the paws. The skin can then continue to be pulled down from the neck, but you must begin to use your knife to cut the thin membrane in-between the skin and the body of the raccoon. The cartilage that connects the ears to the skull must then be cut as well, the eye holes cut and the lower lip cut off.

The moment when the skin comes free from the raccoon, is a moment that is like very few others. You feel like you have accomplished something, that thing might not have been very big, but regardless you still did something. You took a living breathing animal and you took it one step closer to being used for something completely different than its original state. Anyone can feel these feelings, in any situation. I would encourage all of you to go out and accomplish something, I guarantee that these feelings will help you as a person, and help the world because there is now a better person in it.

The Fun Part of Trapping

There were two raccoons in the trunk of my friends car, and we were almost back from our first day of checking traps this season. The morning had been quite beautiful, and we were both feeling great about how the morning had went thus far; the traps had worked VERY well, the raccoons had great fur, and we had both woken up on time. I was mentally preparing myself for the work that still needed to happen that day, and I was sure going to need it.

All animals obtained from the outdoors are in the raw, they are far from the usable form that is the reason why we obtained them in the first place. In the case of the raccoons the thing that they were obtained for was their fur, and that requires quite a bit of work. The skin must be removed from the body of the raccoon, and done so in a way that very few holes are made in the pelt. I had only skinned one raccoon from the previous year, so experience was not on my side. I had done research before the season started(meaning watching YouTube videos) so I felt confident that I could skin the raccoons with very few problems.

I understand that many of you might not appreciate the subject so I am going to include the conlusion of this post in another post. I understand that many of you might have an aversion to the killing of wild animals, and that some of you might be opposed to the killing of any animal. But to those of you who enjoy steaks, chicken, pork chops,  and any other kind of meat: this is no different. I am just using the animal for something else, and I choose to do it all by myself. Thank you, and I hope that many of you will read the next blog that I post.

 

Where the Red Fern Grows

Where the Red Fern Grows is a novel that has touched the hearts of many people, including myself. It is the timeless story of a boy who like so many other boys has a desire for adventure, and that desire drives him to do many things. The boy, Billy lives on a farm in the Ozark mountains and his family doesn’t have the money he needs in order to buy something he wants more than anything: coonhounds. Billy eventually gets his hounds by saving for them his self, and that makes him love them even more. I can still remember sitting in my bed reading this book, seeing everything from the eyes of Billy, the close calls, the triumphs, the sadness and heartache: all of it mine. I breathed the air of those chilly nights, felt branches whip my face as I chased after those dogs, and the bounty they followed. This experience of feeling like I was living a life so full of adventure left me always wanting more, wishing that I actually could be there. These urges for having such a desire to experience the raw hazards and trills of nature, led to a desire to have these experiences myself. I read books on hunting and fishing, went on any possible outdoor excursion available to me, but I never got all of what I desired. There was still a lack of something, an essential ingredient left out of the mixture, and the only way I could obtain it was to stumble upon it.

This went on for a period of roughly 5 years on and off, with the urges ebbing and flowing depending on how occupied my time was, the people that I spent time with, and the time I would spend outdoors. Then one day in November in 2012 a spark was lit. My family was going up to a small town in Iowa to visit a great uncle, and I was not over thrilled by the idea, however I still was required to go. We arrived and just as we arrived, my uncle arrived. He had just gotten home from checking his traps that morning, and we were allowed to see the catch, that was held in the bed of his truck. Waiting for us were 2 raccoons, 3 muskrats, and a air of excitement and adventure. My uncle then told us more about trapping, and my ears were wide open. The more he talked, the more I thought I had finally found the thing I was missing, the absent ingredient in this adventurous recipe. My new found secret ingredient was not quite ready to be added to my recipe, but when it is the result will be absolutely delicious.