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Re: Ways of Cutting Costs [Re: Outdoors Guy] #6941872
07/25/20 12:20 AM
07/25/20 12:20 AM
Joined: Jun 2013
Posts: 1,311
Indiana
K
kyron4 Offline
trapper
kyron4  Offline
trapper
K

Joined: Jun 2013
Posts: 1,311
Indiana
Gas/fuel is probably the biggest expense of running a trap line. I went from using my old Dodge truck (16 mpg) to my (don't laugh) Ford Focus wagon (34 mpg) . Cut my fuel cost in half, plus plenty of room in the back for critters and gear.

Re: Ways of Cutting Costs [Re: Outdoors Guy] #6942317
07/25/20 01:24 PM
07/25/20 01:24 PM
Joined: May 2015
Posts: 639
Southern Illinois
I
ilbucksndux Offline
trapper
ilbucksndux  Offline
trapper
I

Joined: May 2015
Posts: 639
Southern Illinois
Buy bait solutions and mix in your own meat instead of buying commercial bait. For the price of a pint you can make a gallon.


Gary Bartlow
Re: Ways of Cutting Costs [Re: Outdoors Guy] #6943502
07/26/20 02:14 PM
07/26/20 02:14 PM
Joined: Dec 2018
Posts: 5,214
Crivitz WI
Sprung & Rusty Offline
trapper
Sprung & Rusty  Offline
trapper

Joined: Dec 2018
Posts: 5,214
Crivitz WI
Stop buying crap you don't need so you don't have to skimp on things you need for your life interests.


No Jab.
Re: Ways of Cutting Costs [Re: Outdoors Guy] #6943833
07/26/20 08:06 PM
07/26/20 08:06 PM
Joined: Aug 2013
Posts: 8,312
Firth, Nebraska
jabNE Offline
trapper
jabNE  Offline
trapper

Joined: Aug 2013
Posts: 8,312
Firth, Nebraska
I make my own waxed dirt. Buy cheap .22 shells. Park and walk in when i can. Make my own coon bait. Sometime just take a step back before buying something and decide if you really need it. Rebar stakes may be very heavy to carry far but they last a long time and are easy to retrieve even in Rock hard frozen ground.
Super stakes are over a buck a piece plus cost of cable or chain and attachments. You can buy 10' lengths of 1/2" rebar for a few bucks, cut it to 20" lengths with a hack saw or Sawzall, and hammer on a right sized nut for a few more cents and viola you have a few stakes that will last forever.
Walnut hulls or hardwood bark is free and makes a good boil dye for traps.
I save old coats and use em for trapping, same with gloves, hats, you name it.
Just get creative.being frugal isn't hard but its more of a mindset and after awhile you fund all kinds of ways to cut costs.
Jim

Last edited by jabNE; 07/26/20 08:08 PM.

Money cannot buy you happiness, but it can buy you a trapping license and that's pretty close.
Re: Ways of Cutting Costs [Re: Outdoors Guy] #6943997
07/26/20 11:27 PM
07/26/20 11:27 PM
Joined: Aug 2013
Posts: 1,533
SE Minnesota
D
dustytinner Offline
trapper
dustytinner  Offline
trapper
D

Joined: Aug 2013
Posts: 1,533
SE Minnesota
Cut up my old t shirts from work with a round(pizza cutter looking)wheel used for quilting. Makes short work out of them and I have a bucket full of rags


Life member Minnesota Trappers Association
FTA,Sportsmen's Alliance
Re: Ways of Cutting Costs [Re: Outdoors Guy] #6944301
07/27/20 11:38 AM
07/27/20 11:38 AM
Joined: Nov 2018
Posts: 694
Ontario
S
Saskfly Online content
trapper
Saskfly  Online Content
trapper
S

Joined: Nov 2018
Posts: 694
Ontario
Stop Trapping is the biggest one........

Re: Ways of Cutting Costs [Re: Outdoors Guy] #6944353
07/27/20 12:41 PM
07/27/20 12:41 PM
Joined: Jan 2014
Posts: 610
Wyoming
T
thedude055 Offline
trapper
thedude055  Offline
trapper
T

Joined: Jan 2014
Posts: 610
Wyoming
Get better at trapping lol. That is about the best advice you might get. A good trapper can set two traps that produce and check them efficiently where a trapper of lesser skill may need to set 4 times the traps to keep the catch ratios the same. This increases costs from all sides. One set in the right location that produces one catch in one night is way more efficient than a dozen that produces two catches overnight.


Owner Wind River Trapping Supplies
Re: Ways of Cutting Costs [Re: Outdoors Guy] #6944362
07/27/20 12:52 PM
07/27/20 12:52 PM
Joined: Jul 2020
Posts: 195
Central Minnesota
Outdoors Guy Offline OP
trapper
Outdoors Guy  Offline OP
trapper

Joined: Jul 2020
Posts: 195
Central Minnesota
great stuff guys! very informative!

Re: Ways of Cutting Costs [Re: Outdoors Guy] #6944503
07/27/20 03:47 PM
07/27/20 03:47 PM
Joined: Aug 2011
Posts: 1,968
Peoria County Illinois
Larry Baer Offline
trapper
Larry Baer  Offline
trapper

Joined: Aug 2011
Posts: 1,968
Peoria County Illinois
I use a lot of free things like wood stakes- I cut them now and season them for fall. I use scrap for stakes and drags. A garage up the road gives me old brake rotors for weights for coon. Catch fish for bait or make your own. All of this takes time- if you don't have to time you may want to put a price on your time and see which costs less.


Just passin through
Re: Ways of Cutting Costs [Re: Outdoors Guy] #6945495
07/28/20 03:32 PM
07/28/20 03:32 PM
Joined: Sep 2019
Posts: 158
Iowa
K
KJD357 Offline
trapper
KJD357  Offline
trapper
K

Joined: Sep 2019
Posts: 158
Iowa
Buy the best equipment you can afford. It’s kinda like the old saying “If you think a good carpenter is expensive, just wait till you hire a bad one” Buy once, cry once.

Re: Ways of Cutting Costs [Re: Outdoors Guy] #6946075
07/29/20 06:47 AM
07/29/20 06:47 AM
Joined: Aug 2013
Posts: 8,312
Firth, Nebraska
jabNE Offline
trapper
jabNE  Offline
trapper

Joined: Aug 2013
Posts: 8,312
Firth, Nebraska
don't forget to save all your reusable snare parts after a catch. Locks, washers, swivels, whammy, whatever. Make new snares with cable bulk purchased and ferrules. Saves money instead of buying premade snares.

A box of canning salt, a bucket, and a couple cubed up carp or other strong oily fish and you have a salted bait that is well preserved and will catch anything from coon to mink to coyotes. Catch fish in off-season.

Trap wax is kind of expensive so is wax flakes for waxed dirt.
Go online and get the hobby lobby 40% off coupon for one purchase. Go buy a couple 10 pound blocks of pure paraffin unscented candle wax. Bust it up in chunks to melt in pot for waxing traps. If you want fine flake wax for waxing dirt use a block plane on the 10 pound block of wax and over a plastic tote shave it into fine curls while watching TV or listening to radio. This was a big $saver for me last few years and a tip I picked up here on trapperman forum.

Take a five gallon bucket, bolt an old carpenters apron to outside and viola a cool trapping bucket with plenty of pockets for bait, lure, tools, wire, whatever.

Most of us on here could go on and on and on with ways to pinch pennies on the trap line. Some of it don't skimp on though. A good pair of socks and winter boots is something I no longer cut corners on, for example.

Last edited by jabNE; 07/29/20 06:49 AM.

Money cannot buy you happiness, but it can buy you a trapping license and that's pretty close.
Re: Ways of Cutting Costs [Re: Outdoors Guy] #6946981
07/29/20 08:08 PM
07/29/20 08:08 PM
Joined: Apr 2017
Posts: 247
Nova Scotia, Canada
scotiantrapper Offline
trapper
scotiantrapper  Offline
trapper

Joined: Apr 2017
Posts: 247
Nova Scotia, Canada
Buy once cry once is probably the biggest money saver. Reuse snare components. Look after your gear.

Re: Ways of Cutting Costs [Re: kyron4] #6947030
07/29/20 08:37 PM
07/29/20 08:37 PM
Joined: Dec 2008
Posts: 8,113
Manitoba
N
Northof50 Offline
trapper
Northof50  Offline
trapper
N

Joined: Dec 2008
Posts: 8,113
Manitoba
Originally Posted by kyron4
Gas/fuel is probably the biggest expense of running a trap line. I went from using my old Dodge truck (16 mpg) to my (don't laugh) Ford Focus wagon (34 mpg) . Cut my fuel cost in half, plus plenty of room in the back for critters and gear.

During the height of the pandemic when gas prices fell...filled up 15 drums of premium gas for the fall season. Was at 1970 prices back then.

That bicycle use remind me of a 80 year old trapper who use to take 100 coyotes a year on his bicycle when he did 20 mile loop each and every day. In his pocket was a skinning knife and two baskets on his bike. What you can see on a bike is miles ahead than in a car/truck. He trapped till 93 and went into the folks home till 103. But still ran a line around the home. Gota love rural senior homes.....if it was not for a # 3 going off on his hand and a blood clot, who knows how long he would have lived.

Re: Ways of Cutting Costs [Re: KJD357] #6948045
07/30/20 05:50 PM
07/30/20 05:50 PM
Joined: Jun 2019
Posts: 624
Arkansas
A
Artrapper16 Offline
trapper
Artrapper16  Offline
trapper
A

Joined: Jun 2019
Posts: 624
Arkansas
Originally Posted by KJD357
Buy the best equipment you can afford. It’s kinda like the old saying “If you think a good carpenter is expensive, just wait till you hire a bad one” Buy once, cry once.

Helping my cousin with his carpentry business really shows just how true this is.

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