MOM Went Trappin'

To my surprise this AM, Tom said yes, when I asked if I could go with him to check his traps..... OOOPS! I mean..... "walk the trap line"...... He usually says... "It's to cold for you... what about the girls....you need to clean up the house.......blah blah blah...

So I jumped into some warm cloths and my rubber boots before he could change his mind.... He's been known to do that...... : )



Before you know it we were off..... The girls sadly stayed behind..... Maggie is great to take along but a little heavy for the 4-wheeler to ride that far and a little over weight to run that far....




Lilly can run and NEVER tire but doesn't pass the obedient test.... She'd be in a trap before you know it and than we would not only have a three legged beaver, four fingered Tom but also a three legged dog.....

I was prepared to do some "w a l k i n g" .......... because yesterday the girls and I "w a l k e d" 2 1/2 miles to where he was trapping and he said he had put on some miles too..... through the brush.....with a pack sack on his back..... and I thought "wow".... now that's a work out.


So we pull up to the first spot and take off our outer jacket and bomber hats.... Tom puts the pack sack on his back... tells me to carry the ax....I thought.. wow! here we go : )




I set off to follow the mighty trapper along the creek bed to check his miles of traps....we walked through a little brush and down a small embankment to the creek... there sat his first trap....out of the water... "darn water dropped" he said... we stared at it for awhile. Than he pointed out all the fresh poplar chewings and their caster mounds and than he decided to leave it... reset it tomorrow...

.
Okay let's load up our gear and head for the next.....OH!!!!!!.... that's all the traps on this
creek?




Back on the 4-wheeler to the next spot around the corner......we walked a little further this time........ I only had to get snapped ONCE in the face by a branch to know it's not a good idea to follow to close..... I'm a quick learner.... ;-)




We stop where he has his first trap on the creek bank....he looked confused... he says..."now did I pull that one? Where did it go?" I could see there had been at one time, a trap set there but there wasn't one there now.... He got a little upset. He couldn't remember......... I pointed out it was not there so he must have pulled it....but he pondered quit awhile 'trying to remember and just couldn't...he finally settled for what I said and we moved on...



The water had dropped a lot so his next two traps were out of the water... He reset one and pulled the other.... We walked along the creek on a deer run way for a total of about 1/4 of a mile both ways total........





I've figured out by now the trek along the creeks were not as far as I had imagined and you can't get lost as long as you follow the creek.....







Back on the 4-wheeler we head to the BIG BEAVER DAM... I know this one... we've driven up to it before and I've always looked at it in awe... these creatures built this massive thing... amazing.... By now I've peed on the ground... blew my nose in the air and spit. Y E S !!!!!! I'm one with nature...... Tom looks at me like "okay......and I'm the one with the problem?" Than he laughs!




We make our way through the woods to the edge of the beaver dam.... At one spot the water was RUSHING pretty hard through it... I'm thinking about hanging back as he heads across the top on the slippery, narrow, dam....toward the beaver house and rushing water....





He stops and looks back... I said, "I'll wait here for you"... He smiled and said.."come on, it's okay" aww man, I wish I had my life jacket... that water looks mighty deep and cold....one slip and in you go........






He helped me across the open spot where the water was rushing...I walked ever so slowly... We got to his trap and it had been sprung... Darn it he said.... so he reset it and I handed him the poles to place it back in the water.....



While he was monkeying around with it he started to lose his balance... I laughed and said...."is this where you stumble and fall in?" He said "YEP".... after some fancy stepping he caught himself just short of going all the way in...... We both had to stop and laugh.... It was a mighty close call and he would have been swimming with the beaver......




I was extra careful on the way back after laughing at him knowing my turn was next...... BUT I did manage to stay up right and dry....... WHEW!




One place left to go...... and I am having a blast...... I love the woods and Tom is quite entertaining..... There was only one trap on this creek too..... but on the way in he took a dirty fall.... "ka-boom"....... he looked up at me and we both burst out laughing..... did you break anything?" I asked....... "nope....and this isn't the first time I fell... something happens every trip I make... I just don't tell you... I have quite a timeout here by myself......




That was our last stop and now headed home....