Furtrapper I just finished your entire journal. I am very impressed. You and snostorm@home will accomplish more before you guys are 20 years old than most young people I know around here will accomplish in an entre lifetime. Keep it up young man! I am very sorry to read about your friend and I will add you and her family to my prayer list. God Bless you and stay safe. Thanks for posting your adventures.

Snostorm - I was thinking the same thing, just wanted other opinions.

Flyman41- Thank you kindly! Trapping is a big part of both of our lives, and I for one do not intend on quitting for any reason short of a request from above..

February 19,2012: It Begins:

Today was -1 Celsius and BEAUTIFUL! Left the house at 9:30 this morning on the ski-doo and headed to the swamp for some muskrat trapping.
Managed to get around 20 sets out today, not alot. But alot of huts were covered over by snow as they were built along the edges.
Here's a green reed I pulled out of a push up:


and look, look there! Another beaver hut...


Finished set all flagged, only thing left to do was drive away!



Do I need to add another caption for this?


Someone had dumped this deer carcass here earlier in the season, not alot left now:


and unfortunately, someone didn't collect a cow this fall. As I found it's remains on the ice today...
If it's not a cow, tell me what deer, elk or moose has black and white hide..



But, the most interesting part of today's trip is this.
I found it on the edge of a field, what ever it was many years ago it got the rocks VERY hot as they are snow white and crumbling to dust. Maybe an outdoor stove or an old kiln or something similar? There was a grown in trench leading away from it about 30 feet long and a foot across, can anyone teach me something about this?

All thanks to my curiosity:


Should have taken more pictures, maybe a video. But if i'm there again I will.

Thanks for looking, check traps Wednesday after school. Hope to catch something....

February 22, 2012:

Today's trapline check produced 7 nice muskrats out of the close to 20 sets out on the lake.






Even got a bit of a smile in this one! LOL



Was a good day, had a couple of front feet in the traps. A rat by both front feet in the house, one in a 110 caught real nice by the neck. Gotta check them again Saturday and will really cover the houses well with snow as cold weather is here again Sunday..

Congrats!!

Was definatly a good first check. See what Saturday turns up with!

nice job! i wish there were more muskrats around here. a few people have told me they used to get them but i have never seen one.

They don't like super deep water and don't like wide open water for denning.
Around here anyways.

I'm attending the 2012 Manitoba Trapper's AGM this weekend. It's over tonight, will throw some pictures up tomorrow most likely, will be a late night tonight.

March 2nd & 3rd, 2012: Manitoba Trappers Association AGM & Convention:

This weekend was the 2012 MTA AGM and Convention in Eriksdale. I would say the event was a very good turn out, I went down to the convention center at 9:00 on Friday, and gave a hand to multiple people to set up there booth's and displays. And the local schools showed up there around 1:00 to tour the convention. Helped to set up the Whiteshell Trapper's Council fur bearer Museum and ended up doing an educational demonstration for the school with it. Here's a few pictures.








all Animals were of course dead, but were only semi-frozen so they were set up in to positions to make them look as life like or natural as possible.

Like this mangy coyote positioned to look like it was going back to gnaw on the bad case of sarcoptic mange on the back.


The School Showed Up, and Showed Some Great Interest:


Afterwards there was a series of Skinning Demonstrations for Coyote, Mink, Fisher and Beaver:








Youth Squirrel Skinning:




Whiteshell Trapper's Council also brought in there "White Beaver"




Followed by Live Auction:


and our local fur council drew the winner of the fur bearing statue of a man:



Then North American Fur Auctions put on a "Fur Fashion Show" right after dinner, I video'd most of it, but here are my pictures:



Pictured With Dave Bewick (Vice President of NAFA)


That concludes our 2012 Annual General Meeting and Convention. Hope you enjoyed the picture's!

Very cool! Looks like it was a very educational event, good to see youngsters participating!

Always!

I love these types of events!

very cool to bad I couldn't make it. I will be going next year though for sure lots of good stuff by the looks of it.

Snostorm - not sure where the AGM is next year, it was here 2 or possibly 3 years ago.

Thanks for sharing!

No problem! Just can't wait for Spring Beaver and Muskrat!

Cool, santa wears fur. Happy birthday bud!

Thank you for sharing the pictures. Looks like another successful convention. I see that I will have to tease Dave a bit for posing with all those pretty ladies.

Ron - haha yea copy the picture and bring it with him!

it is supposed to be in flin flon next year