The RSM Trapping Club is back in action....

The Phoenix has risen... :)

Yesterday we finally broke the drought and assembled the troops for a short but productive outing.

Our first order of business was to get a bait pile out down near the old air strip, as there were numerous fox sightings down there as of late and, best of all, reports of a Cross fox using the area. We grabbed our new gear, which included a dozen snares, some call lure, and the necessary tools/wire from the boxes, and away we went.

Just between the "new" airstrip and the "old" airstrip, I found exactly what I was looking for. A rectangular stand of willows with a very convincing set of criss-crossing trails heading to and from one outside edge. Bingo.

We all went in on the same trail and went to work...














After the first bait station was set, we went for a short drive upriver to Fish Camp and set another...









Great care was taken to not disturb the area and leave no sign in the snow - even tree-crawling was employed...:)


When I re-explained about outstanding objects I mentioned that "...they are, to a fox, something they just can't resist checking out - kind of like when your friend plays "made you look!" they'll say something they think you can't resist to try and fool you."

I pointed out a nearby stump that had various trails meeting at it and illustrated its status as an outstanding object/pee post, and the girls responded with this message in the snow, and I just had to take a picture: (stump and tracks are upper-center...)


In the end, we finished up a good set at the second site, and now we just have to wait and see what happens....

The year of the snowmachine ride....

It's been a while since the last post so I figured I'd better get something typed up. As stated in the title however, the trapping season of '11-'12 has amounted to just about that - the year of the snowmachine ride. As in, "I shouldn't have bothered bringing all the traps, snares, and bait along, cause all I did was take a ride..."

From the start, the outings I have attempted to make productive have been waylaid by weather, other people's traps, others' tampering with sets, and not having enough time to do things right...

In some cases, all of the above conspired on the SAME trip...

So, long story made shorter - that is what I have termed this season. Looks like I will be sticking close by and catching a few fox for the remainder of the season, with the exception of the Kako trip planned for next weekend.

Speaking of which, John and Forde and I made a nice long trip, a.k.a. another snowmachine ride :) to Kako, after which we wrapped around the back side and met back up with the Marshall trail. Thought I'd post some pics, even though it wasn't the clearest day......

A couple of the views:




A look at the terrain from a little closer:


Fode, after falling into the Punji-stick-pit-of-death trap that the ptarmigan he was chasing led him into:


A few shots of the crew:







And lastly, a few more shots of off-trail scenery:







Though it was about as productive as the rest of the season has been from a trapping perspective, it was still a good trip.

In other news, the Trapping Club supplies we were able to get through the YKHC grant have arrived, and there will be pics this week of the kids examining their new gear, and more pics from this coming weekend of us putting the goods to use...

Stay Tuned...