Im glad you enjoyed your trip. To bad about the weather. Weather is always a gamble for a trapping hunting or fishing trip you have to plan weeks in advance. Looks like you did what you could to make the best of it.

Awesome trip , thanks for letting us ride along !

Thanks for taking the time to take us along on your adventure!
Some of my greatest trapping memories came from my trip to Kansas about 13 years ago... Super nice people and beautiful sunrises/sunsets!

Looking forward to it , really enjoyed following along. Thanks For the pictures .

Enjoyed the ride along!

I’ve been wondering about you fellas! While I was plowing out around my house for the last week. Tough Jan, that’s for sure. When I was younger, tougher, and yotes were worth something, I wouldn’t give up. I was trapping a grown over, hilly place when they started talking snow, and I told the fella I was trapping for, I’m setting everything off. He said, I would recommend it! Glad I did.

Glad you enjoyed your stay here in our little piece of heaven, Mark and Joe. Your welcome back next year!

Planning

A trip like this starts months and even years ahead. The first trip was the hardest to plan for but the learning curve has grown much smaller.

Where are you staying? Do you have local access to food or are you taking all you need with you? What kind of conditions will you be working with? How will you handle your fur and carcasses?

I take a skinning rig with us and have had it for the last 5 Kansas trips. Frozen traps are a waste of time and opportunity so we use waxed dirt at all of our sets. This can cause more coon mischief as they love to pick their fingers through it and pull your traps out. I had a total of 150 gallons of dirt weighing 1,300 lbs and Joe brought a bunch as well. I upgraded to a tandem axle trailer to spread the weight out after we nlew a tire on the last trip with the single axle trailer. Intake 2 spare trailer tires.

Joe met me at my house around 2:30 AM and we left about 3:00 AM. This allowed us to arrive at the lodge before dark which helped with setting up camp. Once we got unpacked and the skinning rig set up we it was time to set up the truck for trapping. We loaded up the dirt and a compliment of traps and setting tools. We basically split the back of the truck in two and we each work out of our own side of the truck. We turned in for the night knowing everything was set up just right for the first set day.

The morning starts with two pots of coffee. One is for drinking and the other goes into our individual travel mugs. Breakfast was usually eggs, meat and potatoes. Bacon was first on the docket as the grease will be used for future cooking. We then make some sandwiches to pack for the day away from the lodge.

Some properties have already been verified and others required us to touch base with the owner prior to setting. We started setting in the cold morning right up to the noon thaw. This put usnoutnof business due to the mid so we utilized this time to verify the rest of the properties. Many place have been available every year and each trip has brought new and exciting places to set. The longer you trap an area the more people you meet and the more property that is offered to you.

Setting and Checking

The first day found us at historically good locations and at many different properties. We think of our Long line as a net. The bigger the net is gets us on animals from a larger range. We were working an area about 13 miles long and 6 miles wide on average.

Each day we tried to tighten the net up by adding more sets on the properties and setting other properties inside the net based on new sign. Ultimately we would like a fine net (trap density). and a large net (wide range)
after the first day our focus became split between checking current sets and setting new ones.

Most trips have had us setting for over a week to get our traps all set. This year we were limited by the daily thaw. many roads were un-drivable once it thawed and we took great care to keep the pastures and farm fields undamaged by our activities. The later part of the trip brought a new challenge with the snow drifting and cold. Our Michigan tires allowed us to travel many placed the locals couldn’t go but even we had limits. We were stuck 3 times in the middle of the road whick required a lot of shoveling to move the truck.

The Late afternoons found us skinning in the garage the lodge. We left the garage door open and had interaction with many locals that would drive by just to see if we were out there skinning.

The local people have truly became friends of ours and we now look forward to seeing each of them when we return. No place have I ever visited that has as many people that were interested in getting to know us. This is by far the biggest reason we return each year.

The catches get skinned and frozen green at the lodge. We bring most of the waxed dirt in large coolers and will use the same ones to haul the frozen furs back home.

Lodge Life

Having a comfortable place to call home is important on a trip like this. The first year we stayed in a camper and it was 10 below outside. The propane ran out in the night and getting out of the sleeping bag was a difficult task. Make sure you have cold weather sleeping bags if you are on a winter trapping trip!

Every trip since has found us in a hunting lodge. The accommodation’s aren’t fancy by any means but we stay dry, warm clean and have access to the kitchen for cooking. Joe and I work well together and often argued about who got to do the dishes. It was a challenge to try to get the dishes started before he did! Joe is an amazing camp cook and I can throw some grub together so we weren’t lacking in nutrition. We timed our grocery trips and tried to get most of what we needed at the local grocery store. We had a washer & Dryer but I still over packed my clothes. You never know what weather conditions you will find on a two week trip.

We were averaging around 75 miles a day on the line so we tried to plan on being out until late afternoon. Parts of the line brought us closer to the lodge so we occasionally made a pit stop before continuing.

Joe and I both had Note books for keeping track of our sets and gear. I draw a picture of the set location with landmarks and boundaries for reference. I marked each set with the trap style and the bait/lure used. Traps were totaled each day at the bottom and deducted if the trap was pulled. A tab at the top of the page listed the name of the site. Some farms had their own page while others had more that one page for the farm. If we pulled up to a new property I would name the location and make a map. If we moved on in the property and we were fare enough away from the first stop I would add a new tab and page. (John’s farm north and John’s farm south for example).
Each evening I would total the days sets, pulls and catches so I could effectively keep track of the gear.

Cabled earth anchors were used which made pull days easier. A quick cut of the cable and we were back in the truck. The cost of the earth anchors left is just part of the anticipated cost. There is no good way to get anchors out of frozen Kansas clay and even un-frozen clay would be too time consuming to attempt removal. On the first Kansas trip I left 60 chained super stakes in the ground because I couldn’t get them out. It’s been cables ever since.

On previous trips we would finish pulling on the last day, tear down camp, pack and leave. This made for a long tiring drive with many stops. We were much smarter this year as we packed up to go except for the items needed for sleep. We went to bed around 7:00 PM and were back up at 1:00 AM. This sleep before leaving helped greatly and only one 5 minute nap on the way home was needed. We planned ahead and knew where the fueling stops would be open as diving in the middle of the night can find a lot of closed stations. We changed our normal route home as the road conditions in Iowa were much worse than the southern option through Missouri. The temps were below zero for most of the trip with the coldest being -15. By leaving so early we drove through Kansas and Missouri in the dark but it was plenty light through Illinois which made the Chicago portion much better.

Upon arrival Home I messaged our friends in Kansas to let them know we made it here safely. I then waited for Joe to send word that he make the 2 hour drive to his house safely. Joe
Made it home and this brought our adventure to a close. It will be a month before I get my stuff put away and back to normal.

Thank you to everyone that followed along and the kind words of encouragement were always appreciated!

I hope to have you all back next Year

I know that was rather long so congratulations if you read the whole thing!

I did and thanks for posting

Great pics and catches Mark,thanks for the ride along.

Great story Mark. Fantastic pictures also. Thanks.

Mark, thanks again for the memories! This was a great trip.

I haven't done any out of state trapping adventures yet but have done some in state. Experienced much of the same as you have and hope to do Kansas one day soon. Thanks for bringing us along!

I enjoy these threads. Planned an in state adventure for this season but truck issues squelched that idea. Hoping for the plan to come together next season.
Once again, great thread.

Thanks for the ride along and the summary! I have done quite a bit of turkey hunting in KS and I fully understand that wet conditions definitely put limits on where you can drive.