That is something I am going to have to try, run thanks

Knees are gone, maybe one replacement next year, as said earlier more fun to think about than to actually do. I hadn't trapped for two years, set a few rat traps this year hurt like heck to go over the bank. Worse going down then back up.

I am in my 60s.... thought that when I get a few years older it would never slow me down..... that was years ago. Man was I wrong. With spinal stenosis and arthritis in my back and neck, a bone on bone knee and hip worn out I sure don't get as much done as I thought I would. Gave up water trapping a few years back as the creek banks were getting too tall and steep. Just focus on land critters now and did not hardly do any of that this past year due to the weather and work overtime. Now I am just going to set a few traps when I can and where I can get fairly close with a truck. I am on the verge of getting a side by side or quad to get around and cover more distance. Thinking about a good mule to take with me when we chase elk in the rockies. But more and more my outdoor jaunts are shorter.... may wind up being the camp cook for the gang in our elk camp. And I do plan on doing more for the young'uns as far as trapping goes. I am doing several demos a year for the kids and would like to take on a couple locals and help them get the bug. I love to weld and tinker with steel so that will keep me going. But I'll still push it and probably get my knee and hip fixed but the back …… seen to many back surgeries that only made stuff worse to try having one.

71.......moved south, run fewer traps, trap from boat, trap ditches (used a winch to haul a beaver up bank,) use lethal traps as much as possible, no after dark stumbling around, simple sets - blind, channel, snare.

Only 55 here but:

My knees are struggling. Have had to have fluid drawn off my right knee a couple years ago. Need to have it done again. Really showed when I started trapping this past season.

Both of my wrists have carpal tunnel issues from skinning. At night both of my hands go numb....every night.

My right elbow is a classic example of tennis elbow. And my right shoulder....from hammering stakes and skinning.

Like some of you, after the first week or so of trapping I get "loosened up" and it isn't as bad, but the pain those first few days....dang!

A few things I've had to do to be able to keep trapping are:
1) augering dirt holes with a cordless drill (used a Yoho shovel for decades. Dug over 1100 holes with it in 2 months one season in the 80s.)
2) went to earth anchor stakes instead of double rebar to cut in half the amount of pounding.
3) went to pogos instead of earth anchors so there is no pulling/prying/digging on pull day....just cut cable and go.
4) built a skinning machine for coons and otters.
5) and this year...bought a side by side to eliminate all walking and still get to where the trap needs to be set.

I'm not sure I'll be able to do this when I'm in my 70s or 80s.....

I got myself a great trapping buddy whose in his late fifties but is in the shape I was in back in my thirties. I'm 67 now and if I get a little tired, I just wait at the truck and eat a sandwich while he goes and checks the tough sets. I keep telling him how much fun he's having. With him on board, I'll be going even after I'm in a walker.

I’ll be 55 next season. One thing I’ve started doing is I try to have traps checked and skinning done at least by 6pm or so. I find the couple or three hours at night resting helps with the next day. This is while off work on vacation. I guess I’m not as tough as I should be but I just don’t like stumbling around a couple hours in the dark before work anymore. When I retire I plan on trapping like I do on vacation. First day of setting a new area I go longer than a half day but settle in with the plan while checking.

Beav gets the ironman award

You guys are wimps. Now with that said, I will be taking off June thru August, possibly September from ADC beaver. Been running traps since October. I need a break. Like it has been said, the first two weeks of trapping are tough. That is why I buy BC powders in bulk. Sarge

61 here. Never set a trap this season. Having my left hip replaced in May. Walking is very difficult. First year I haven't trapped in MANY years. Only deer hunted about 3 days. After a day of hunting it took 2 or 3 days to heal up. Getting old ain't for sissies!

I am 64 and still walk the majority of my water lines. I wish some were more accessible by 4 wheel drive since I do not have a quad. I don't get as much done each day like I did when I was say 45-50 but oh well.
I have noticed the beaver have gotten a little heavier in recent years!! LOL

Just turned 65 and set my personal record on MN coyotes last fall...just .gotta trap smarter every year to make up for the age......

With spine, shoulder, and leg probelms I’ve went to using disposable stakes and tying off to trees and such so the hammering, pulling, and digging are at a minimum.

One thing that I want to add to this, is if you quit pushing yourself, ya might as well roll over and play dead! The pushing to get in that one last set at dark thirty is what keeps you in the game! If you lose that, ya might as well sit in front of a keyboard on trapperman! lol

Very True Lee! One thing I noticed is I am sorer and stiffer now the season is over than when I was going out every day!

.....and that last set of the day has almost gotten me in trouble at times Lee since I have to pick up my Grandson Xavier at 3:00 P.M. from school!!!!!!

If I just could figure out why everything is heavier. I'm fine, but gravity seems to be increasing.

I went through a year bout of Poly Myalgia Rheumatica that I now have under control so I was back to normal this year with my beaver work. I had lost most of my strength and was afeared I wouldn't be able to set my 330's anymore.

I'm 62 coming up in June and I figure when I can no longer set 330's by hand I'll hang it up. I don't plan on quitting any time soon.

What Posco said........ both times

BTW, one of Astor's overland parties met up with Daniel Boone in 1811. Ol' Daniel was poling down the Missouri river on a raft all by himself with several packs of beaver he had trapped up on the tributaries of the upper Missouri. He was 78!

He camped with them overnight and they tried to convince him to join their party headed to Oregon. He got excited about the idea, but by morning told them he had better not as he was probably too old for the rigors of such a trip.