I've just returned from my first trip into my mountain trapline since November. It's a late season line because of the water hazards, it can be a dangerous line. I'm going to be spending a lot of time there over the next three months - trapping - continuing a research project - and filming wolverines. I thought I'd fire up a mountain journal and share some of the pictures and stories with you all.




As mentioned water hazards are a real challenge. Breaking through as you cross is bad enough… but knowing you have to return the same way makes it even more special.


My mission today was to haul four beavers way upriver and put some trail cams up. I'm setting up at two locations I've had a lot of luck at. My machine looks like a hillbilly machine!

The creek I follow is famous for open water all winter. Another challenge is hollow ice, you're cruising along and all of a sudden the ground falls out beneath you. You get to know how solid the ice is by the sound of it as you cruise along.

I get a lot of these, ice bridges that allow you to keep threading your way upriver. I hate it when they break out behind you, and then you know you have to deal with it when you return, this one stayed tight.



I had to break a lot of overland trail first which took most of the day. Lots of blow down and trees bowed over by snow. Love those dumps down the back of your neck. By days end though I got to where I wanted to get and got my baits and cameras placed. Even set a few traps on the way out with my fancy headlamp. Saw marten, lynx, and wolf tracks today plus four moose.




This is where the magic happens




But there's a lot more valley calling me upriver

And of course now that hunting season is over a couple elk decided to spar in front of my trail cams

Great adventure Bushy.

Thanks for sharing with us.....

That's a great looking river valley! Those hollow spots under the ice and the bridges that collapse as you go across them suck. Sure would be nice if there was a light weight portable bridge you could carry along with you.

This will be an enjoyable thread to keep tabs on - thanks.

Thanks for sharing, be safe out there!

Absolutely be safe!!!!! Those ice conditions scare the bejesus out of me! Hope you get the pic's your after and you connect with some critters!

This should be fun. Tough country to go it alone in. Be careful out there Brian. Some awesome looking country.

Looking forward to your journal, beautiful country.

Beautiful pics Brian, thank you for posting, can't wait to see more.

Looks like some awesome country. And the game there is unbelievable . Makes you wonder with all the predators they can make it there. Tough area to be alone in, hope your adventure is a safe one, and good luck. Look forward to seeing the pics and reading the stories.

That little bushy area looks like a nice sheltered spot for a line cabin.

Looks like fun for sure. I hate those conditions but that's what keeps heart firing on all cylinders. Looking forward to more!

Boco you have a good eye. A tent camp will do at first but I have plans to put a 16' x 12' small line cabin at this location up on the ridge. we'll see how that goes this winter as well.



These are the blinds we use to film out of but I've been know to build some bigger ones for longer shoots





A good location for filming wolverines as they have a central scent post here that is visited by any wolverine in the area

You have MUCH more disipline than I. I simply could not help putting in a set right there!

You could I suspect, if you were on quota, and you can turn that same $500 wolverine into a star worth much much more. Plus I look at it as research into wolverine behavior which I know has made me a much better wolverine trapper. I can pretty much take one when ever I need to. Plus I'm not saying I won't take one further upriver away from my camera locations.




This guy showed up at the scent post last year

WOW!!!!

Thanks for sharing - great photo's! I am familiar with the feeling of the ice dropping out and often have to worry about returning across iffy spots. But my river looks friendlier than yours!

I'm liking this journal a lot already, awesome back country you have there Bushman Looking forward to more of your adventures!

Hope you got a rope-a-long in all that gear!!

Where I go we have lots of that shelf ice that is hollow underneath. I stay away from some great trapping area because of that reason. Scares me just to drive next to it, let alone cross it.

Looks like a come along and some cable or strong rope to get yourself out of trouble if you are close enough to hook onto to something is needed in that country also.

Never met a meal they didn't like


I have a come-along packed on all my machines. The new skandic has enough room to pack the portable come-along, called a mule, under the seat in the storage compartment. And yes I've used them more than once. It's not so bad though, the first trip is usually the most exciting but weather conditions can cause the ice to let go during the day.

Nice pics busman. I sheep hunt up that creek every year. We have to ride the long way around though. We saw a wolverine above tree line a couple years ago there.

Been on that horse trail a time or two. Amazing how fast you can zip up into that country on a sled when conditions are right. I've hauled gear and fire wood to the forestry cabin with my sled. But you can never take access for granted.

Be careful on those creeks this year Brian , if they are like my creeks this year ,,, to much snow too early ,,,, there is no ice under mine at all , just 3 feet of snow and then water !!!
The McLoed River is even off limits for me this year , just too unpredictable!!!
Stay safe and have fun.

Thank you for sharing this adventure and pictures Bushman. Looking forward to following this. What are you using for internet out there in that tent camp ? How is the new Scandic performing?

By the looks of that load on the machine he has a satellite dish and generator hidden in there somewhere. He just needs a mattress and Oklahoma license plates to complete the picture.

Lol

x2

ps ... creeks like that FREAK ME OUT, be careful

No internet out there. I'm running both traplines so I'm bouncing back and forth until Feb 14th. I'm on-line when running the foothills line and totally off grid in the mountains. I have two satellites phones - Globalstar and a marine sat network for emergencies. You know …moments like this

Seems the marine network would be the obvious choice.

Ron I'm estatic about fuel mileage and oil consumption, simply mind boggling compared to the 550 tundra. I have perfect conditions for testing a machine to the max as we have record snows. Our levels to date are 30% higher than the previous record! I've pulled a sled every trip with between 100 to 300 lbs on it. It's much more stable and i have no problem crawling along in low and picking a trail through the bush. I've been stuck several times but due to the sled getting hung up or buried. I did have it working to climb some steep hills in deep snow and have felt it spinning in loose corn snow about five feet deep. All in all two thumbs up…but my buddy has a super widetrack in a 800, says its unstoppable, so we'll see.

Punch it Chewie!

Bushman does the skandic have the 600 etec or the 600 ace? I was just thinking today about a tundra for next year but had heard the 550 was hard on gas and the ace a little under powered so was leaning towards the etec. My neighbor has the 800 super wide, he's not really impressed.

600 etech it rocks

If your neighbor had six feet of snow and mountain grades he might like it?

It doesn't like the cold and has no recoil and is very front heavy he tells me. It does have good power though

I got the privilege of riding a new Tundra Extreme , with the 600 etec today , was very impressed with the power and fuel consumption ...... Was a great sled !

I've been so anti ski-doo for so many years I might have to leave it in the bush and never take a buddy along on the line to avoid the ribbing I would get,lol.
Bushman is that your new ride swimming or is that your old sled? Either way the fun factor is gone in those deals.

Keep the pics coming, stay dry!

Great pics and adventures Bushman, have fun and be safe.

I know you guys are used to that happening, (going thru into the water) but don't see it here to much. How the heck do you get that out now?? Must have a lot of help and winch of some sort??? Nice looking machine to be swimming. Hope it doesn't hurt the motor on you. good luck.

I have a 2014 Skandic WT with the 600 ACE motor. I've very happy with it. I've 1000 km (600 miles) on it this winter and all of it pulling a pig of a sleigh (borrowed). I haven't been stuck and can still break trail while pulling the sleigh. I don't know how much snow we have but it is half way up the side of a moose. Mileage is very good, traction amazing and I have no shortage of power. My main loop from my cabin and back is 168 km. I use less than 5 gallons of fuel while pulling the pig the whole way.

Rich i used the 600 ace last winter and while impressed just couldn't get used top the lag time on the take off, reminded me of my diesel tractor. But the crew that had them loved them. I'm a confirmed BRP user since 1974 and love how innovative they are. unless you've driven a new snowmobile its hard to realize how far they've come in a few years

SK - nope that's one of the 550's from a few years back. Drain carb, drain exhaust, pull plugs and pull over 1000 times expelling water, put plugs back in and hope for best…but get it in shop asap and drain chaincase etc. not fun. I've totally submerged three sleds over the years. i'm off to run a line but will tell you a good story later.

Brian I don't know sh*t form shinnola on snowmobiles, this is my first since the 80s. I do know that there is zero lag time on my throttle. my one boy has a 800 Etec in a Free Ride and he is impressed how responsive the ACE is. Maybe they changed something for 2014, it is bloody touchy. Either way I don't care, the machine hasn't been out of low gear yet with all the pulling. Does anyone have a SWT with the ACE?
My oldest boy just bought a Bearcat 20"x156" track and an 1100 4 stroke motor!! He is supposed to come to the trapline with it Saturday. I will be interested to see how its 125 hp compares to my 60. I don't know what you would do with all the HP, maybe drive bigger paddles?

Always ready to hear a good story of a wreck bushman, I've drowned lots of quads but haven't had the pleasure of a sled yet.

Seriously ? Oklahoma ? You ever spent any time just a ways East of me ? They turn the 'term' redneck in on itself.


Great story and pictures ...

LOL ! You may be too young to remember all the jokes aimed at Okies during and after the depression. The same applies to jokes in Alaska as the pipeline project was winding down.

Very very interesting.

I have also a carcass that is visited by at least three wolverines maybe four.

They eat everything I drag there.

Brian, is that a roll of tpee on the action packet or Ice? I know if I dumped my sled in the water it would be tpee :-)

Thanks for the adventure with more to come.

Have any of you folks seen the movie "running free" made in 1994? Just watched it...amazing footage of Gulo's.

wow weeeee!! excellent Bushman! What and adventure!!YYYYYYYYYYYES! Enjoy every moment,no doubt you are..but keep yer wits aboutcha=)

Thank you for sharing with the rest of us adventurers!

.

I blasted back to town to ship my martens today. I ended up with 40 for the first sale, plus a couple fox and fisher. I tried to focus on marten as the loggers are hammering my foothills trapline. Now that i have them out of my system I'm going after lynx and wolves. i don't bother with wolves when I'm marinated in skunk essence every day. But heading out again to try footholding some. I'll post a pic of some marten later.







So these are mostly Bridger's but I have four of the new Lay design as well. I have some liquified wolf scat plus a bottle of wolf urine. I also have a spruce cover scent my buddy a wolfer gave me. You wipe it on your gloves, trap, boots, when setting, he claims it's an amazing product, we'll see. Hopefully I'll connect on a few and have some pics. I really like foot holding even though cash wise it makes little sense.

That cover scent is interesting. I use a spray scentless cover on my snare sets when I'm done setting also just in case.

My furs all ready to go. Our Trapper's local held a meeting and our local NAFA guy showed up to pick up our furs..A fair bit picked up but lots of trappers saying harvest is down. Weather is part of it with records snow. I'm trying to head to mountains on morning but another heavy snowfall warning for overnight.

I was making my way down a steep switchback when I saw a trail of pounded down fisher tracks heading up-slope. I followed them a short ways and found a den it seems to be occupying off and on. Lots of tracks going into the den. I put two sets there so I'm eager to see how I make out.

Wheres all the snow you been getting. That photo looks like you don't have much. Still dirt on a den.

You got it snap. I had to hang onto a spruce branch to pull myself up the steep slope to actually get the picture. Hardlly any snow under the spruce and that dirt you see is so dry it's crumbly not frozen. Great bedding for a wolf trap. Don't worry Len we have 30% more snow then our previous record. It's actually prevented some trappers from going out this year. I'm out the door see you in a feww days.

I'm back home to head out and check the foothill line. Interesting trip to the mountains as the weather went crazy. Rain - snow - very high winds. There was no use setting footholds as the snow levels are dropping, rain is falling ect. I didn't want to waste the trip so, as my wife came with me so I decided to try out some of W17 wife training techniques. ( * note to Rick Mc the lurker…you talk to my wife and you're dead)

I've got to hand to Ken he really is on to something. I started her out light and had her haul my dog in.



Once we got there a hot meal was on deck




But the next day we started on clearing out a trail to our new cabin construction site. She's not ready for the chainsaw but is pretty good at chucking brush.




Her final lesson was on water crossings, something I had a lot of resistance on, but using some of Ken's advanced techiques, I got her across.

Here's an interesting moment at the wolverine research site.

Good to see you back and that the wife training is going well. One never knows what direction that line of training will go.

Great stuff Brian ,, the high winds and rain hit here as well , I was out on the line and it was as if I was driving through a war zone!!!! At first I took it as a curse , but after I got all the blow down cleared away , I realized just how much the snow has dropped , and I'm gonna make an attempt at breaking more trail tomorrow into some good wolf country.
Great pic's keep'em coming.

Good stuff Brian.
I'm wondering about my next check here in a couple days. The falling snow will mean a ton of missed lynx and I think I'll have to carry extra chainsaw gas just to get around!

It's a waste of time setting new traps right now. I picked up six marten yesterday, all thawed out. Wind is still whipping and lots of trees blown down, but snow levels are dropping big time. I pulled all my sets and plan on moving to new area as soon as cold comes back. This is one of the longer chinooks I've encountered, and they're always followed by big storm so winter will be back soon.

Nice pics Brian, this warm weather is something else, eh?

I'm used to chinooks but the extreme shifts add a new element. My buddy sent me this pic last night. It has red eyes too, albino I guess

That's a neat looking marten

Isn't that a canary? Nice journal I love reading all your guys journals

I'm amazed at how fat the lynx are! I put these two up the other night and I don't think they could be any fatter in the summer. This winter might be hard for some but not the cats. I love the spotted bellies!

I was told by an old trapper type that fat lynx means a rabbit crash as they are the main prey for lynx. When they change prey they start eating other prey containing more fat?

This theory supposable came from a guy who passed by the named of Dean Wilson.

I hear he knew a little about trapping? lol

Snow conditions are bad. Not only is it deep but we had rain which put a 8" hard crust on top. The new Skandic WT is getting a work out. In this pic I punched a trail up the hill. You can see how deep i dug on the right hand side. On the left i had turned around and came back down slope, so I stayed on top. In order to climb the hill I'd punch my way 20 yards upslope until I came to a stop, reverse 10 yards and punch upslope another 20-40 yards. I considered turning around and retreating but you know how stubborn trappers are.

Even that smooth pulling Alaskan tobbogan had to be left behind.

That's a great pic bushman with the sun over the hill.

Your Pictures {WOW]

How'd you manage to get out of that one...?

I was checking out your journal tonight cause i'm lazy and its too darn cold, again, for me to get motivated to do 'stuff'. I swear its gone above -20 but a handful of times since the 1st week of November. Anyways, is that a cat to the left of that gulo ? Looks like it to me.

I am enjoying your journal, keep up the good work and stay safe .. thanks for sharing.

Now that i've studied the picture some more, it is a cat, very neat pic ... ah, the wonders of trail cams !!

How'd you manage to get out of that one…?




We chopped it in half so that the pieces were lighter…then we put it back together with #9 wire!

A buddy sunk one in the Abitibi river,years ago,in 30 feet of water.Had to grapple it and build a tripod on the ice to lift er out.

That right there is funny

Use to be easy once you got them out of the water you could pretty much get them up and running right there then once you got them home drain the chain case etc. Now days you need a shop just to get at the carbs if you get water in them you are darn near looking at towing it home just to get it running again. I like the new comfy rides but I don't like the inaccessibility when it comes to working on them in the field

I got it going. Drain carb, take off muffler and drain, take out plugs and turn over 1000 times forcing water out of cylinder's, and get it rolling before it freezes up. I still had to take it to shop but at least we got it home.

Great pics Bushman

Conditions are terrible for trapping right now. After record snows we've now had record high temps for a couple weeks. A trail I broke last week still hasen't set up and was fun to follow yesterday. I broke a couple miles of new trail but decided it wasn't worth the inevitable work that would surely come.

Shouldn't set for wolves as the snow is wet and packs…but I still put out three fotholds. very thin layer of crusty snow over the trap so we'll see.

Here's a montage of the last dozen marten I caught. just a real world look at my sets. Not every catch is perfect and the ones that have a marten with a bait bag in its mouth always make me wonder. i tie those bags tight to the back of my boxes so those marten are really tugging, yet head catches. I've used wires across trap triggers and doesn't make any difference to me. bottom line is I rarely come to a sprung trap and no marten so i'm happy.

Be thankful you have some white stuff. Been three weeks since I've checked my sets. Not enough snow to go, too much to drive.... Ugh!!

The mouth bags are interesting. Could it be that weasels are pulling the bags out within reach prior to the marten coming. You have to wonder sometimes just what is going on when you leave. At least you have a bit of margin for warm weather to work off with snow. Are margin has come and gone. Well come to think of it it didn't really ever come.
What a crazy year.

I've noticed that the marten that have a bag in their mouth are smaller. I think they squeeze in the box and only nail the trigger as they tug on the bag. I always have to pry the bag out of their locked jaws.

How about this flying wolverine

Great pictures , I'm glad to see someone is catching some marten in Alberta ,,, I sure am not putting a dent in the pop's this year....
Our snow is settling to about 3 feet now and has a 6 - 8 inch hard crust making things a bit easier to get around on in snow shoes but still bad for breaking trail. With this hard thick crust it's gonna be another tough year for the deer ,,, the wolves and coyotes are running on top now.

Wow that is a great photo.

Jimmy it's killing me. My arms are sore from fighting the crust and my legs are sore from pounding down the snow to get some sets in. that heavy wet crust takes some stomping for sure. It's hard to see tracks if the light is wrong. Lots of moose around but deer are non existent and elk in small pockets. A death winter for ungulates

Here's another one for you Len

Cool photos!

Man, those are some amazing wolverine pics! Nice!

A big male that was captured today. Alberta Conservation Association / Alberta Trappers Association/ University of Alberta

Hey did you recognize him from any of your photos?? ;0)

Do you have any picture of the trap design? Interested in the trigger mechanism. It must be deep enought to prevent crushing the wolverine. I bet the inside of that trap is nice an polished after catching a few!

Nice Pictures and thank you for sharing your adventures.

Len - These sets are in different location. We're heading there Saturday to film the captures and releases live. This is the first time this guy has showed up to my knowledge. He was mad, slamming into front of log trap and smashing beaver around. Nothing like some meds to calm you down though.

Kass most wolverines are mellow inside but it's important its dark as they'll work at making a hole where ever they see light.

Another tough trip upriver. A wild winter with crazy temp swings. The record snows quit a couple weeks ago and were replaced by above freeze temps for a solid week. River opened up and ice is rotten. I hauled a big load of building material but was unable to make it all the way because of open water. But temps have dropped -21 today so I'll take another crack at in a couple days. I was able to access one of my trail cams though and had a good cross section of animals wolverine-lynx-wolves-moose.

That wolf sure has a nice coat, and looks like a full belly, too!

Took me two looks to see that nice black one up close. A bit creepy even. Always enjoy your updates. Send me some of that cold please. Id rather not worry about rotten ice.

More great pic's , thanks Brian.

The twilight wolves, do look creepy

our marten season closes, picking up sets tomorrow

Lynx and wolves are still open though, life is good.

Yup , still have a little time to try and redeem a lost season for me.
I'm just starting to see a fair amount of lynx sign , as for marten my season was a bust ...
Congrats to a fine looking table of fur , probably some of the hardest earned fur you have in a while .

That's quite a variety of fur. Congratulations, and may the auction be good to you!

Today was a great day on every level. My eight year old grandson Aiden, came on the line with me. I ran one of my shorter loops, 20 km, as it was -23 when we started out, and i don't want to make it an endurance contest at his age. Once the grandkids hit 13 I work them like a rented mule.

We set a goal of three marten and I told him I'd bonus him up $5 for every fur we caught, except for squirrels. He had to bring me luck and follow my instructions all day to earn his loot. We hit the first set and had a marten, big smile all around. We picked up a couple more marten in short order and Aiden was adding up the $15 in his head.

Then we hit a marten dry spell as we got into a lynx hotspot. The lynx walked through three trail snares without getting caught. The warm weather had caused the snow to drop a couple feet and my fencing had fallen over. I fixed them up with some advice from him. We had a trailside fire and lunch and continued on. We hit one of my cabins after picking up only a weasel, which he insisted was worth $5 as it wasn't a squirrel, now he's at $20.

We only had five sets left before we hit the truck and he was concerned the payday was over. I told him not to worry as one of my favourite sets was just ahead, but when we pulled up it was empty. Now we were both thinking it was a three marten day. But when we hit the next trap we had a marten, and the next one, and the next one ,and the next one. We ended up with seven martens and one happy grandson, $40 richer. But I'm the one who really hit pay-dirt, spending a day with my boy.

congrats on some nice looking furs,nothing better than getting the kids involved,way to go.

Great write up, he won't forget that in a long time. Especially the weasel he got $5 for!
Thanks for sharing.

Thanks guys. mountain bound tomorrow, I'm sure those creeks are froze tight. Hope to have some interesting photos when I return. I notice the lynx have started rubbing their faces on shrubs and cut logs. Starting to feel frisky I'm thinking.

That's awesome to get the kid out, thanks for sharing. Be safe out there!

Thats great I love it when my grand kids get to tag along they make even a bad day on the line enjoyable

Great day for sure.

Nothing better than a kid on the line with you.