The '14 - '15 line has begun...

Well, well.  Here we are again.  The waiting now underway, the clock ticking as slowly as it possibly can...traps are set, and anticipation is high.  Sleepless nights sure to come for the next 3-4 months.  Did we take off all the safety catches?...Did I remember to lure that beaver dam set?...Is this the week the wolverine comes back through his range?....   Ohhhh, baby....gotta love it.

This past weekend, my new partner and I (his nickname is 'Uppa') got out to a place we have been talking about setting up for over a year now.  Trees were cut, trails have been made, and the fun meter is rising.  The line thus far is only a 35-40 mile loop, most of which is travel time to and from. Our maiden voyage produced only around 20 sets - 1 for wolverine, 3 for lynx, and the rest for marten.  On the first check, we will hopefully expand the line to at least double that.  Primarily the line will focus on the lynx and the wolverine, with the marten sets thrown in to keep us in gas money. :)  That, of course, is just the plan.  I haven't set a trapline yet that didn't evolve and change in goals, purpose, and results.  So we'll see.

Heading out towards the line, into a burning sun.  Uppa is actually one of those 'trees' out there, just below the left edge of the sun.

As this is just the 'opener' post, I'll keep it relatively short.  These pics also have been featured in the daily pics, too, if you are reading those... The highlight of the trip was this natural cubby (unbelievable) that we found on the edge of where the timber meets the old 'burn'.  It is a DREAM spot for a wolverine set.  Virtually weather proof, and in an ideal location.  This one will be keeping us up at night for a long time to come.

Here's a pic of the edge of where the burn meets the timber:

We set up the moose head with a #4 double longspring and an MB750.  Uppa chose to put his close to the bait (he's bedding ti in the pic), and I put mine in that snow covered spot at center right, so that when they step over, or jump down from, that log, it goes SNAP!  The trap is bedded in this pic.  I added the fencing at left to create a better opening for them to come in over the log. We shall see.  It can be a looooong time til a wolverine comes back.

The first check is going to be Saturday, so I am chomping at the bit.....  All posts from this year will have the Trapping '14-'15 season tag, for family and friends wanting to follow along...Here's to tight chains!!

A couple of surprises this weekend...

Weather, weather, weather.  It's awful.  Actually, it's great for being outside, but horrible for winter travel.  Flights out of RSM have been turned around because of icing up, the river and sloughs keep showing overflow because the temps keep rising into the 40's for crying out loud, right before they drop back down and freeze everything and then bring snow again...and the forecast as of tonight says that it will get up closer to 50 this weekend!!!  You'd almost think this wasn't SW Alaska in January...

But regardless, we keep getting out there, as always.  Starting a family sure changes the frequency of the outings you get, but the quality goes up without a doubt.  :)  The greatest part of this year out here has been the addition of Warren, now that he is of a capacity to be actually engaged by what we are doing.  It started this fall with pike and sheefish fishing, and it continued into the burbot lines and now trapping.  I just cannot wait until the boys are both of age to come along, and we can get down to business like dad and I used to.

This weekend started out with a visit to the weasel traps again, and (see last post) we scored.   But we went out again and checked again after re-luring.  This time, no weasels, but Warren was simply overjoyed at the catch he spotted when I lifted the lid of the weasel box:

A double on Shrews!!!  Ha!  He acted as though it was a double on wolverine!  Priceless, indeed.  I love this photo :)

And then, I received a call from someone about a lynx that had been in a trap for at least two nights that they knew of.  The weather, as I had mentioned, has been awful, and that particular day it had been blowing 40+ and whiteout conditions.  Two nights and three days is long enough.   Forde and I decided to head out and put the cat down to avoid more delay with the ugly weather.  Made up a short video (long, 'full length' version not uploaded to youtube, but it will be on this year's trapping DVD) :)  and so here it is:  A brief glimpse of our ride, set to some tunes, and then the kitty dispatch at the end, filmed with the new GoPro camera!  A great second run for it as it performed well...

Thanks for watching!

And then there were five....

Today was a beautiful day. Really. The sun was out, nearly no wind, temps right around zero...about as good as you could want this time of year. Unlike the last few days which have been rediculous - more RAIN accompanied by sleet, snow, and then more RAIN repeated several times over the last 72 hours. That was the kind of weather that makes it suck to be a trapper. Weather that makes you forget you are on the Yukon Delta in the middle of winter for crying out loud.....

..But I digress..I said today was a beautiful day, and I meant it. So I set out this morning with high hopes of setting a new marten area I had scouted out on google earth as well as checking the existing 'line. It didn't take me long to realize that my plans would change. At the very first turn heading off the Yukon, the first thing I saw while entering the slough was overflow. LOTS of overflow. Overflow occurs when water pushes out, up, and through the existing ice and begins to flow on top of the ice in its normal fashion. This usually occurs when thawing or heavy rains occur (see above :D ). The trouble is this - usually, you can not tell if the water is 3 inches deep or 4 feet deep. You know the ice is down there. Somewhere. But you don't know how far. And so you have to gun the motor and hydroplane across the water in your snowmachine. Then you don't have to care how deep the water is - well, at least you don't have to care if you go fast enough.... I'll try and post a video of this later, because there are bigger fish to fry.

Today after crossing the various pools of overflow and arriving on the Kashunuk river sloughs where our Lynx sets are (No that doesn't give much away, the Kashunuk is much longer than you think....) :) I noticed Lynx tracks about 300 yds away from one of our sets. Of course, I immediately got excited, and started staring at the tracks. They continued in my very own old snowmachine tracks all the way to within a short distance of our Dead Tree set. Unfortunately at this point they turned left sharply, and went up the rise straight to the Turkey Neck set, which I had pulled on the last check. The little sucker went on a beeline directly to the set and munched what was left of the turkey neck and the beaver leg - now that the trap is gone of course...and then moved off in the opposite direction of the other sets in the area. So I continued on to the Dead Tree set. Nada. Undisturbed. The freeze/thaw cycles combined with the rain however turned the snow over the trap into a nightmarish, impenetrable crust. I think I could have stood on the pan and the trap would not have gone off. "Oh, well, at least we didn't lose any more bait", I thought. After the remake, I looked over at Sarah's set and I couldn't see it very well as I had to look directly into the sun. I crossed the slough and walked over the rise to inspect it closer, anticipating the annoying remake that the weather bestowed upon me. "But wait....what was that?!...Did I just see movement?... No, there's nothing there at the set...Something caught my eye though...what the..whoa! The flagging is on the ground! But there's nothing there....and the spruce hen is gone...but there's nothing th..." And then two little black tufted ears moved and appeared behind the trees making up the cubby. There, behind the stump, was Sarah's very first, and her very own, Lynx canadensis!!!!! Yesssssssss!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

First I must divulge this top secret photo of Sarah as we were about to disembark on one of our recent journeys. I think it is the trip during which she made the set, but she disagrees:


At any rate, here are some more pics of her first Lynx trapping endeavor. (first solo that is, as we all know she is partly responsible for ALL of our lynx so far)

She picked the location, she broke the dead limbs, she created the cubby, she blocked it up, and placed the stepping sticks:


Here she is with her finished product:


Now I have to give you a little background. On Saturday, while she was playing b-ball in St Mary's, she was fouled, and with that foul came a scratch on her left middle finger that left the whole fingernail coated in dried blood. Almost immediately upon arriving home Saturday night, she took off her glove and told me about the foul, and then added, "Hey that must mean I got my Lynx in the left front paw, huh?" This is reference of course to my belief in the 'voodoo' about drawing blood and the success of the hunt/trapping/fishing trip. There are countless examples from which to choose from in order to validate my claims, but I will let this one speak for itself. She did this all on her own, without provocation. I daresay she may even have been mocking the voodoo, but I will never know. I know this, however - the following are photos of a Lynx. And its foot is firmly held in a trap. Sarah's trap. And it is a LEFT FRONT FOOT that is IN the trap!!!!!! ......"Touche", say I !!!!! Every other Lynx trap I checked today was crusted over with snow and ice. I also must add that the rain began on Saturday, and the freezing temps Saturday night and Sunday night and...The Voodoo has spoken! If you want my bet, the cat was caught in the trap Saturday night, but I'll leave it at that. :D Have a look:




And, turn up the volume and check out this clip of a VERY VERY angry kitty. Lots of hissing and growls on this one:



Check this out as well - you couldn't get a Lynx paw any further in that trap if you HELD it for 'em:


CONGRATULATIONS to "Honeysweets"!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

3 Lynx in 5 days..and 2 Lynx in 2 days....

We are definitely on a roll. The Dead Tree set is producing more than I would have thought my entire line would, all by itself. There is just something about that location that funnels in the cats. The video in the last post of Lynx #3 shows a little of the sign at the scene, but does not do it justice. The Lynx 'rut' is just heating up now, and so things should get crazier as we go into the next couple weeks. Oughta be fun...

As stated in the title, we have now caught two Lynx in two days - and I forecast a third today. Two days in a row now we rolled up on the Dead Tree set and watched a Lynx run away from the set location across the slough - and still found a Lynx IN the set right after. Like Deja Vu. And so I presume that the one we watched run off yesterday will be in the set today. We'll see. At any rate, I wanted to post some of the pics we got from kitty #4, along with a video of the lassoing.

Here is a couple of the great shots that Sarah always takes:








This one was, once again, not impressed with me! However, when the time came for the "lasso rodeo", as I now call it, his temper settled down, and he didn't even take so much as a single swipe at me OR the snare of doom. Also, on this video, you can actually hear the growling without turning the volume up too much. Check this out:


In other news, the Pilot Station Trapping Project is still rolling. We have yet to catch a dang Ermine, but the kids are still seeing success on their Fox 'line:


I'm still catching fox too, its just that Sarah and I have become so occupied with Lynx, skinning Lynx, and finding new sets for them that we have taken the bullseye off the Fox sets for a while. I'm going to try to change that this week because the pelts are fully Prime and are truly gorgeous! Check out this one, the most recent I have caught:




Here's a close-up of how 'poofy' they are - this pic is from the side while the pelt is on a normal wooden stretcher - the stretcher is less than 1/4" thick, so the rest is all guard hairs and underfur:


These are really NICE fox! I'm off to go moose hunting and will have to check our Lynx sets when done, so will be back later hopefully with a Huge new post!

Good things come in threes...

Whoooo-yeah!!!!!

Lynx number three is hanging from the kitchen rafters, and I am riding another wave of giddiness.

'Twas another interesting day out there on the trapline. Man, it is wonderful to be able to say that... "out on the trapline." Once trapping gets in your blood, it can only be a matter of time until you dream of testing yourself against what Alaska has to offer. We have not seen even a glimpse of wolverine sign, but those, along with Ermine, are about the only furbearers here in AK that Sarah and I have not connected with this season. We have truly been blessed with a "mixed bag" of successes, and for that I am very thankful. That said, I must say that I am starting to think that of all the forms of trapper I can be, I think I would least mind becoming a Lynx trapper. I am not sure I can describe the feeling I get when walking up to one of them - and it matters not in the slightest that they are in a trap. Yeah, I can say words like 'majestic', 'beautiful', 'incredible', and even 'wild' - but they are not quite strong enough. To look into the eyes of a Lynx that you lured in and caught does something to you that I have never felt before having it occur. It just plain FIRES ME UP! Next year, if we are here, I am already planning on getting another dozen traps so that we can get out 18 sets instead of six.....

Anyway, enough about me - more about the Lynx. This one was a little more photogenic than the rest:


Here's what she did when I pulled the snare out of my pocket: :)


Now, in the event that any anti-trapping type folks have stumbled onto my blog (heh heh, WHOOPS on you!!!!!) I would like to post this pic to show just how distressed, worried, and utterly freaked out this Lynx was because she was in a trap:


uhm, yeah. We are both standing less than 30 feet from a WILD Lynx who is caught in a trap, and she's scratching her back in the snow, playing with a tree, and wiggling her tail. Now that's trauma! Moving on...

Here's one from a little closer that Sarah took - I really like this one:


Here's a shot of Sarah wearing her new Mountain Goat trapping hat that she finished sewing together last week:


And one of me with the spectacular creature that is Lynx canadensis:



The video of our check and the dispatch:


Here's a short clip of my crazy self on the way home. I was in rare form - and that's a camera under my coat - not a beer belly :)

"...to lasso a cat...."

Well, today was a long day at work. Was planning to get out and check traps as soon as it was over, but it was just draaaaaaaaggggiiiinng on and on......

But then - on my way to the office to clock out, I saw Albert Beans on the bench, so I walked over to see if he had gotten any wolves his last time out and to check why he had called me this morning. I believe his EXACT words were "..yeah, somebody told me yesterday that you had a Lynx over in the Driftwood somewhere...." My mind was backstepping trying to recover from the instant adrenaline rush when I realized/remembered that "the Driftwood" is the term that locals such as Albert use for an area roughly the size of Texas and Oklahoma...put together. Instantly, I thought of the Turkey neck set because of Pappy's vision from the other day, but I knew it could have been any one of our sets, based on the magnitude of "The Driftwood"...

Once back at home, I hastily rounded up what I thought I needed, only to forget half of it on my way out the door in a crazy, whirlwind of rushed, half-dressed uselessness, all while trying to keep Ada in the house and keep the snow machine running so it could warm up. A recipe for disaster. But I made it out of the house unscathed and soon I was barreling down the Yukon as fast as I dared go without looking at the speedometer.

Got to the first slough and made it to the turnoff without wrecking, which was impressive for the rate of speed I was experiencing. A few minutes and miles later, I was fast approaching the next turn, this time a left, which would bring me to the scene of the turkey neck set. It just HAD to be the turkey neck set. The catch to that set is this....it is about 3 feet off the trail, and just over a blind rise, which means if you are driving the trail on a snowmachine, a highly pissed off trap-caught Lynx would most certainly be able to ambush you and reach your jugular AND your vital organs with all three of his use-able paws...and likely his teeth would follow. Have you ever seen the frightening creature a housecat turns into around a vacuum cleaner? Well, to give you an idea, I am thinking I am about to roll up on a larger, much-more-capable-of-death version of a housecat with a roaring 550cc motor running around 4000rpm.....you can imagine what I am preparing for...so, I get to the turn, and, holding my breath, I goose the throttle and pop up over the rise, ready to bail at a moment's notice...and....nothing. Not a damn thing. Well, except for some tracks in the fresh snow which clearly show me that at least one lynx has approached, and REFUSED, my set in the last 24 hours. What the.....!

Hmmm....now I am really confused. Is there a set-off trap under that new snow? Is our Lynx gone? Did someone steal it?...I only then, in my heightened state, remembered that we have two more sets out there. OK, so the turkey neck set isn't the one Albert meant...I remove the drifted snow from the set and remake it, then I back out the trail, down over the rise, and head for the next set, which is the very one Sarah and I got the first Lynx in. As I approached the spot, I simultaneously realized that 1) There is, once again, NO FLAGGING marking our set (where it SHOULD be), and 2) There is a highly pissed off Devil Cat looking at me....We caught another one! Yeeeeee-hawwwwww!!!!!!!!!

And his demeanor told me that my previously expressed concern about the Turkey neck set was justified. He was not impressed with the trap - or me:




What goes through your head at a time like this?...well, here's an idea:

"Wow! that is about the coolest thing I have ever seen!....man, I hope that trap holds.....Holy Cow look at those white paws!....Man, if he pulls out of that trap, I'm gonna bleed.....Oh, cool - listen to that growling sound he's making!......."

And so, I put the camera down, because I realize I am going to need two more hands than I actually have, as it is. And I approach the cat. With just a snare. At this point, he is just waiting for me, watching every move, and growling at a volume that increases exponentially with every inch I gain on him:


Finally, I am barely out of his reach when I stop and give myself the quick pep talk. And then, a lunge - from both of us. Only his was much, much faster than my own. a miss. I once again prepare my steel lasso and move in. "C'mon, how hard can this be" I ask myself - and then I find out: I throw the lasso at his head. He sees this coming, about 30 seconds before it actually left my hand. He rolls over onto his back like an airborne bird of prey, and twice as fast (it was like watching "The Matrix" all over again), making the loop miss his head by an embarrassing distance. But the Lynx?..ohhhh no, he does NOT miss...he grabs ahold of that steel cable with every available claw - AND tooth - and proceeds to try and show me just how measly steel cable can be. I am convinced instantly, and out of concern I desperately try to pull back the snare. Heh heh. Not happenin'. He's got it, he knows what it's there for, and nobody's getting that snare back just then. I briefly think to myself, through the "fight or flight" haze, that if he wasn't stuck in a trap, he'd be using the snare on ME about now. I try again to regain possession. All my adrenaline is useless. He's still got the snare. And I am starting to think he can just keep it. Finally, he must have tried to shift his grip a little, or maybe he broke a tooth, because he let go and I retrieved the snare from the writhing ball of fury. I unsuccessfully tried several more times with the snare, before firmly deciding that although many others may doubt the intensity of what I was trying to do, I knew better. Anyone - and I say again, ANYONE, who has tried Lynx lassoing while the fore-mentioned cat has both front legs free, knows better right along with me, too.
It was then that I went to the backup plan: a dose of lead poisoning to the upper spinal column. The job was done. And I've got a lynx to skin. I'll post some video in the next day or so - got some good footage of him growling at me while actually wagging his stub of a tail. Yes, like a dog. I think it was a challenge......

As promised, here is the (unedited, so pardon my nerdiness...) video of the moments prior to and after the above incident. Enjoy. ...In order to hear him growl, unfortunately, you may have to turn up the volume to a very loud setting, as the camera didn't pick it up all that well - but you CAN hear it...I'll do better on that next time - maybe approach the Devil cat a little closer before I hit record. :)

HOLY CATS!!!!!!...or, well.....CAT......

We have caught our first Lynx of the Year! (and first Ever - but we've got to stay optimistic...)

SO, after checking two marten and one lynx set unsuccessfully this morning, Sarah and I crossed over to the North side of the Yukon to check the three cat sets from last weeks post. We were cruising down the slough, looking to the right up on the ridge for our cubby set, and we were getting to the point where I thought I must have missed it - as I hadn't seen the flagging and we were nearing the end of the point...when all of a sudden Sarah started whaling on me - my head my shoulder, my side...whack whack whack...I immediately thought we were about to hit a tree or something and looked back at where we were going when I heard her yell over the sound of the motor, "Cat! There's a cat! We got him! We got him! He's standing there looking at us!...."

I leaped off the snowmachine before it had even stopped, and immediately turned the camera on to capture the following:



I am a busy fool right now skinning away, but I will post these pics now and add some movies and some skinning pics tomorrow...

Just to recap: The cubby by itself...BEFORE...


Here's the pic of Sarah and the set Before (I TOLD you this was Sarah's Before pic in the last post, heh, heh)....


And here's Sarah's After pic:


Some pics during our approach:




A close-up:


An After pic of me:


It was a two-toe catch...


Look at the size of those paws:


A happy girl with an unhappy kitty cat :).....


Smiley ol' me....(Our snowclothes add about 80 pounds to Sarah and I hah hah)


Off she goes....


More pics coming...

SO CHECK BACK IN LATER/TOMORROW SOMETIME!!!!........

The Marten curse is GONE!!!!

Ha Ha! Today was an 'ice breaking' day for Sarah and I out on the line. We started with checking the only marten set we had out on this side of the river, as the travel across the Yukon was suspended after our deluge of rain last week. "Always a pain to walk to this set through the brush and snow", is what I was thinking as I approached it. But, I broke into the clearing and looked...."Yep", there's the flagging..."And holy cow there's a marten hanging!" I whooped and hollered for Sarah who was behind me in the thicket and she ran up, where we both proceeded to dance a little jig there in the snow. Yesss!!!!!!! It took me a while this year, but man did it feel good to get that first one down. Now we just have to get across the river and check the others we have out, along with stringing another 20 or so sets out. Hopefully tomorrow. Anyway, here's the pics:

Before:


And, happily After: Look at that Poofy tail!!! Primed up fur, Baby! Gotta love it!!!






Frozen stiff, Ha Ha!


We ended up putting out six sets. Three for marten, including the remake, because we had to take him home to thaw before removal from the trap. Two for mink/ermine, and then together we made our first lynx cubby!








It is set at the top of a creek bank (the creek is behind me in the pics, just out of sight). On the creek ice is evidence that the lynx are using it as a travel corridor. On both sides of the creek are thick willows and alder, good travel spots for lynx also, I am told. We hung the wing attractor high enough so it can be seen from on top of the bank on either side, and of course from up or down the frozen stream. A whole spruce hen is the bait, with lynx lure and then flagging as additional visual attractor. Covered the trap partially with wax paper and snow, then placed steppping sticks sround it and fenced in the cubby entrance/trap area with vertical sticks. I hope and pray we get an after picture from this one, baby!

We're going to try to get out and check across the river, which is now safe for travel again, and hopefully get some more sets out as well. We'll see what happens.