The opener of the Kansas furharvesting season doesn't get quite the same fan-fare as the upland bird opener. However, to those outdoorsmen and women who enjoy trapping they've been looking forward to last Wednesday all year. It's the perfect time to take advantage of the renewable natural resource of species like coyotes, raccoons, possums, skunks, beavers and muskrats. And for the first time ever, Kansas now has a limited-quota season on otters.
My boys and I started our trapping expeditions a few years ago. They were studying history in school and had asked about the fur trade and trapping. I geared up with some traps, read a lot on http://www.trapperman.com/ and we set out to try our luck.
I quickly learned that trapping was hard work. And you just couldn't set traps anywhere and expect to catch anything. Trappers must know the sign, habits and habitat of their quarry more than any other outdoor pursuit. Most of the fun for my boys was getting out and romping along the stream and finding all sorts of "treasures" little boys manage to bring home. It was also quality time I could spend with my boys.
They learned about the natural world and we talked at length about life and death and humans' role in the scheme of things. Furbearer populations kept in check keep Mother Nature from wiping them out with disease and also keeps the food chain in check. And speaking of checks, it's the only thing I do outdoors that pays me back monetarily. Our first season we made nearly $200 on our catch. It didn't even come close to covering our start-up costs, but it more than paid for gas and snacks.
I set 15 traps yesterday and checked them this morning. I had three possums, two raccoons and a skunk. My boys and I were taking odds before they left for school on how many critters we'd catch. They'll run the line with me this weekend after basketball practice and we'll be off and running again this year. It was indeed a good start to the furharvesting season.
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