Hunting and Trapping Introduction

Every year I make my annual pilgrimage down to Mahaska County to trap and hunt until my heart’s content (and my muscles ability to continue these extremely rigorous activities). My grandfather and several other of my relatives have either a farm or a property in Mahaska, in which permits a lot of acres of territory to hunt and trap. Ever since kindergarten over the Thanksgiving holiday I pursue to harvest a multitude of species that all are united by the fact that they are furbearing. These furbearing critters more specifically include ‘coons (raccoons), muskrats, minks, beaver, coyote, fox, and occasionally the odd ‘possum. As these creatures are harvested for their furs they are worth, a usually meager, ransom, which has many times allowed me to at least break even with the high cost of expenses that my hobby entails.
There is something more than an escape from school or a few dollars earned that motivates me to go down south every year, and I’m not exactly sure what that is. On the other hand I don’t think I’m supposed to know and rather this mysterious phenomenon that occurs between man, nature and beast should be left undiscovered, but yet loved and revered. I know that I’ve been hooked for life by hunting and trapping and I want to share my passion in this blog and describe some of the picturesque details that I’ve experienced while out in the woods or down in the river bottoms of the North Skunk.
Trapping and hunting has forever changed my life and has made me into the man that I am today and want to be tommorow. It has given me a great appreciation and knowledge of nature, which I strongly believe is a fundamental element of life that each man must experience at some point so as they will come to respect and understand the amazing environment that surrounds them while they waste their lives in the “cement jungles”. Also, trapping and hunting teaches us many admiral traits that make us better humans. It strengthens both our mental and physical stamina as we must outfox the fox in its natural habitat, teaching us to be clever, observant, patient, and understanding. I also believe there is something spiritual when we pit ourselves as a lone human against nature and try to overcome it. From all of this, the outdoors, which largely includes hunting and trapping, are going to be a main focus on this blog as my love for it is quite evident in the above text and in my future posts.