Smart thing is to get another phone not your personal phone.Doing your research on ladies will reduce the risk of encountering someone who is not a good person.Pre-paid phones are so cheap nowadays so getting a 2nd phone should not be an issue.Not a dumb question.

The hobby is not legal except in a few locations in Nevada.  And there are social issues as well.  It needs to be a separate secret life.  The fine ladies you see are NOT your girlfriends beyond the time you spend together.   In my opinion, single men may not have the imperitive to cover their tracks but still should use a separate secure email and hobby phone.  Let's say you meet someone, you just close the hobby down.  Let's say you are out on a civie date, your phone is not going to ring.  
Providers are women & every once in a while one will get her nose out of joint & a separate phone & email can be invalueable.  
You really do NOT want to let anyone know you hobby.  Not your best friend, not your brother, not your buddies, not a girl you get serious with...  not even if you intend to marry her!   In the first cases, you never know what a drunk buddy might say in public (make one hell of a wedding toast:  "Jill's so great!  Finally got Joe to give up his Ho's!")   Why would you ever want someone to have that power over you?  If you must talk...  spill it here!  
If you get serious with a civie, you really don't want to discuss your love life...  If pressed you never tell how many GFs you've had (or how many hours they were your GF for!)   Even if you only had civie GFs, it's a jealosy minefield!  
Yes, the LE aspect is rarely needed but I think it's still a wise precaution.   My TracFone cost me 19.95 & is 19.95 every 3 months (minutes roll over if you don't let it expire).  I'm never going to run out of minutes.    If you can afford to hobby, you can afford a hobby phone (and TER VIP when you are adding to your bucket list).
Best Wishes,
skb

For one thing, do you really want a provider to have the same number your friends use to get a hold of you?  Think about it, what if you meet that psycho provider and you need to change your number...you really want friends and family inquiring as to why?

For another, a hobby phone costs nothin, a pittance, it's barely an impact on your budget. (If that statement is incorrect, maybe you are in the wrong hobby?)  It shouldn't cause you hardship and you can turn it off when you are not calling or expecting a call.

Eh, but if you think you don't need one, don't get one.  It's your life.

I'm single and self-employed, yet I use a Tracfone for making initial contact with most escorts and for all calls with some. Once I'm confident that they aren't the evil/psycho type that will make me regret it, I switch to using my regular cell. It's not the cost. My phone so much more convenient, familiar, and works with my car's Bluetooth.

I don't worry too much about hiding my hobbying from friends. And I don't use a hobby phone to try to hide from LE. To properly do so would require never turning it on at home, never carrying it with my regular phone turned on--more restrictions than I care to bother with for such an insignificant risk.

is a Virgin Mobile, costs less than $20 and I pay $20 every 3 months to keep it active even though I have more minutes than I need.  Virgin uses the Sprint network so the reception is good with no dropped calls.

If you use your regular cell, the number could be traceable to your residence and do you really want some phsyco woman knocking on your door because she needs help with her rent?  Most providers are not that way but if you don't see well-reviewed ladies and do your due diligence, this could result.

Google voice is your friend.  It took me some time to get it working like I want though.  Now I have a separate number that I usually just let go into voicemail limbo online.  Whenever I want, I can just click a link and it will forward all texts/calls to my regular cell.  I can click that link from my computer, cell phone or usually my ipod touch easily.  It also sends me an email whenever someone calls/texts, even if they dont leave a message.  I use a discreet email just for that.  

I prefer that over the prepaid phone.  I didn't mind the $10 fees for minutes, but I got into some texting conversations with a few and I had to keep going back to the convenience store to fill it, since I didnt want to use the CC online thing.  The trips were a PITA and not worth it.  Plus, it didn't have a keyboard, so I hated texting on it.  Google Voice is free and painless.

thanks, things i didn't think of.  i appreciate the feedback, always looking for good advice from the experienced of you out there.