Guess I'll have to try to make me a snow spoon. Thanks Pard!

Yep, I use wax paper as well,... I've tried everything,... and I too think wax paper is the best in snow. The drag was about 4 feet long,.. a green willow about 3" in diameter. (red circle) It was my first set out of Chitina, so I use smaller drags there so they get themselves out of sight of any wandering public early in the season. Usually they head right into the brush,.. but this particular one just stayed on the trail for several miles til it got on the river.

How long a chain do you use? Do you pre-cut and carry those drags or cut them near the site? I had what I'm hoping was a coyote step in a trap with 5-6 feet of chain and a grapple head strait away from the set into a clearing, tangle up, break loose, tangle up in the brush, break loose, make it's way across the road, tangle up and disappear, probably picked up by somebody in a car or truck on the logging road. Never found drag marks away from the last tangle, area was pretty stomped up. Pretty disappointing; coyote tracks heading to the set, but with moose and people tracks everywhere too.

Thanks for sharing WB! Always very informative!

I have 5-6 feet of chain on all my traps,... always best to anchor solid if possible, altho when sets are made where joy riders, etc might travel your trails, then I usually use drags,.. just to get things off the trail. I usually use the same drags each year, and generally cut them nearby the set. The animal doesn't have to get too far either, especially with lynx,... it's amazing sometimes how close they can be to your trail & still people don't see them. If I expect people to run a trail at some point in the winter, I try to make sets along straight-stretches, as people tend to speed up there & are watching the trail more closely the faster they go, and less likely to notice something off to the side. Here's a lynx in the exact same set that the coyote was caught in that went out on the river. The lynx didn't pull the drag loose, and 2 people went right past it & never saw it, because I had a long chain on it, and it was able to hang right off the edge of the bank,...

Thanks WB!

Nice Photo's WB!
Aknative- I have a couple of them folding military trench shovels. Works great for bedding and covering traps. I crumple the daylights outta waxpaper then reopen it flat. Seems to hide better and no noise. Few twigs under the trap to keep from freeze down.

It also helps to wax your shovel

When we took the wolf trapping class here in Bethel, the instructor showed us how he uses a long handled shovel for making wolf sets. He just keeps it clean and uses it to dig out the snow and put snow over the wax paper. It looked really effective for getting at a set w/o have to reach for it so much.

Great info guy's! I'm going to try a little pee post snow trapping later in the year. I'll be using drags. Hopefully I won't have anything go more than a few yards. I'm too old to go chasing after a run away!

All this cold and no snow has made it impossible to get to my lines hopefully the snow comes this weekend as forecast! To give you an idea as to how bad it is the tundra is brown so I hung Christmas lights on the house today something that hasn't happened in years!

I'm crossing my fingers too Todd!

Crossing my fingers and praying hard. I have heard our river is froze I can't even get to it to check! Even if we do get snow it is going to be a lumpy ride and with all this cold the otter holes are going to be few and far between for awhile.

aknative , a waxed canoe paddle worked fine for me as a snow spoon .

We don't have enough snow to cover a trap or use a snowmachine here. The stars have been shining, with the moon being fairly bright lately, and the hoarfrost my snares looks like a string of halos at night. The good thing is when it does snow everything is froze up tighter than a drum for a change. Our winter moose season is coming up and that helps us keep track of the wolves for a while. The lynx are starting slow as our country is blanketed with hares so a hot meal is never far away from them. This lynx from last night had a #14 on each paw and the chains were wove together!

Well, we have snow for all.

A #14 on each foot. Awesome.

I was finally able to make it... Hasn't snowed in town yet. It has snowed where I put my trapline!! Got my but handed yo me for not being prepared. I only set 6 marten sets. I was headed out to a river to set for some otters I had seen earlier. Forgot my setters and no rope. What a crappy day.

I did cut some wolf tracks. Very fresh, no snow had accumulated in them and it was snowing good. He came out of the woods onto a logging road I have my line on. No rifle or snowshoes or I might have followed them. Looked like he was following a set of deer tracks.

http://fairbanks.craigslist.org/rvd/3458070257.html

$6600 for a 2011 Bravo! Holy Smokes!

Doesn't that beat the price on a new Tundra???

I had the opportunity to use a friends Ice pick this year for beaver trapping. It is an ice chippin machine. Wow. Made from spring steel.
I know what I am going to be asking Santa Claus for.
It is about 3 inches wide and heavier than I would like mine to be. Wears a guy out in a hurry. But oh boy does it go through the ice. Good exercise. I carry a lighter one for much of what I do. Chainsaw a line and clear with the pick. Some pretty thick ice to deal with already.