Most people know I am a huge supporter of getting kids involved as much as I can in the outdoors! Sometimes the struggle can be real when competing in a world of technology, which is why I think this topic is super important! So, of course my first guest writers had to come from a family that is active in that cause! If you don't know Nick and LeAnn Biggs you need to check them out.....Look, HERE just happens to be a link to their facebook page....Isn't that convenient LOL!
I truly can not say enough about these two when it comes to family time outdoors! Heck, sometimes after seeing all their pictures and posts, I wonder if they can adopt me? But enough of me going on and on...let's hear from them.
Nick and LeAnn Biggs Post:
Most everyone is familiar with the old adage that “a family that _____ together, stays together!” Of course, everyone gets to fill in the blank in terms of what the glue is that binds their family together. For our family, it’s anything that pertains to the great outdoors. During our free time, folks need not look very far from some outdoor activity to find us. As different as hiking, camping, backpacking, hunting, fishing, and trapping can be from each other at times, they all have a common denominator for us; we do them all together.
Of all the activities mentioned above, trapping, by far, has the most to offer in terms of opportunities to teach us life lessons. There aren’t many days during trapping season, or on nuisance calls, for that matter, that our kids aren’t right there on the trap line with us. Regardless of where you call home, we all know, more often than not, the temperature and the weather, in general, during trapping season, are not what most “normal” folks would call pleasant. The fact that our kids know this and still want to spend time with us on the trap line makes us feel like we’re WINNING!
Obviously, especially in today’s climate where folks are offended by everything under the sun, trapping is a very controversial topic. While we always try to respect the opinions of others, we will continue to teach our kids the importance of trapping and how valuable it is in terms of our ecosystem, and ultimately, their development as successful human beings. Unfortunately, there are many individuals who adamantly disagree with ethical, humane trapping because they are ignorant to the benefits it provides, especially in terms of animal population and disease control. I think it goes without saying that our kids don’t choose to spend their time on the trap line with us because they know how valuable of an asset they are being to the ecosystem. It’s more along the lines that they enjoy being in the great outdoors and are all intrigued by the cat and mouse game that we often have to play with our quarry before consider ourselves successful.
At the end of each day on the line, the results are always different. Sometimes, we have a pile of stacked fur. There are other days where we have just a handful. And then, there are those days where we have a bunch of sprung traps with zero fur to put in the back of the truck. That’s just the nature of the beast that we deal with out there. However, here’s where the hidden gem begins to show itself. As parents, regardless of whether we catch fur or not on any given day, we are spending time with the ones that we love the most, our children, and that is so much more valuable than anything we could ever catch on the trap line. We get to take time to sit down with them at the end of the days when we didn’t catch any fur and explain to them that life is the same exact way. Life is tough, cruel, and unforgiving, which means, we don’t always get to lay our heads down at night without experiencing some sort of trial or tribulation. However, we ALWAYS lay our heads down at night knowing that we all have each other, and that, my friends, does make life okay.
The trap line is a magical place. Our kids are 14, 11, and 8, and it has already taught them the merit of hard work, perseverance, and dedication, all values that underpin a successful life. It’s taught them that it’s perfectly okay to be unsuccessful, as long as they’re not willing to give up! More often than not, we place so much pressure on ourselves and those around us to be successful, that we often forget that sometimes life’s best lessons are learned when we fail at whatever it is we’re trying to accomplish. We know that to be true when we watch our kids check a set that has been robbed day after day, only to eventually catch the critter responsible.
If you’re reading this, and you haven’t had the opportunity to share the magic of the line with your children, regardless of how old they are, what are you waiting for? Get them out there with you. They’ll be glad you did, and so will you. =-) Hope to catch up with you somewhere else down the line!
~ Thank you so much ❤️guys, your words are so encouraging. We hope to have more post from them in years to come!
If you are looking for more was to introduce your family into trapping, or even learn a little more yourself. Please join Nick and LeAnn for their Trapper Training Class. Information below:
