We started by heading out to an area where he had some sets and snares out, and the fox sign was plentiful for sure - he was already in the right place. It didn't take long and I spotted a nice cluster of spruce where we could employ one of my favorite snow sets I created while in Pilot Station - the "step-up Snowhole". It uses an upslope to the trapper's advantage, just as a step-down-set employed by trappers everywhere, uses a down slope to get canines to commit. Below is the finished set from a couple different angles, with some explanation:
We used an 'edge' where there was an open corridor of snow that separated a stand of spruce and some head high brush. The fox were using this corridor as a through-way, the tracks in the snow told us. :) We 'roughed it up' (think 'catch circle') and made the set on a bank, using some dead spruce placed in a V as our backing. These spruce chunks can come in handy, as the branches sticking out at all angles really help keep the canines from coming in the back or from angles you don't want them coming in from. Just make sure to bust off anything that hinders their approach from the trap side.
Chip in a nice level bed for the trap and bed it solid, center of pan five inches out. The trick is to place the trap and the shelf it sits on, the right distance from the hole so that the fox cannot investigate from below it (downslope) without committing, and cannot investigate without stepping up onto the pan in order to satisfy his curiosity.
After just a few words of advice and some quick demos, I turned everything over to my student and he made the set himself. He did it right, as two days later, he took his first fox out of this set. :)
Congrats. Man!!! Hope to catch a lot more with you in the future!!!
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