Beck's father was a "year round man," piecing together a living with a wide variety of seasonal work, including carp fishing, trapping muskrats, delivering milk and raising horses and crops on his farm. During the December to March muskrat season, 9 year old Bob Beck would check his traps early each morning, then run 5 miles back to school. "The fishing, the trapping and the waterfowl hunting was just part of my blood. Still is," Beck recalled. Today, there is little or no market for muskrat pelts or meat. The few trappers who are left keep the meat for themselves or sell some locally, mostly out of a desire to keep the trapping tradition alive.