Happy New Year Brian to you and yours

Are those the plastic tracks on the Argo? How you like them?

Back at you AK. 2018 should be good


Nunamiut- The tracks are rubber and awesome. Smooths out the ride and goes anywhere. You can spin a track off on a tight corner while rubbing against a bank or tree but they're pretty easy to put on.. They're also incredible on muskeg.

Just back in from the trapline. We've been under a cold weather advisory for a week but it's warming up today.



With a beautiful sunset last night




I connected with the kit that ate its mommy last week.




I also took a big male in another foothold




The wolves haven't been around for a couple weeks but as I was sledding out I hit the packs tracks heading towards my sets. But they deviated off the trail 30 yards from where I have a series of footholds. I'm thinking they picked up scent of fresh urine I used and are wary of it...for now.

Nice pic of the lynx

Wonderful story. Great ram. Just a quick "me-too" on the huge black bear experience. November 2017 I did what has been an annual solo hunt in Adirondack designated wilderness. Five mile hike in from pretty remote trail head. Absolutely no one else anywhere around. Always looked for a bear but usually see deer there. 3AM my first night I could hear an enormous bear approaching my tent. Because it was 13 degrees F out, I was bundled up tight in the mummy bag. Getting caught inside a tent as a huge predator attacks is a recipe for death or serious injury, so I struggled to get out and confront the bear with a headlamp and hunting rifle. The faint light beam lit up the huge bear and I said out loud "One more step and this will be the shortest hunting trip I have ever had." He stared and studied and then turned and went around the lake. I went back to bed. Next day I am way up on this snowy mountain, far from camp, and I hear a ruckus below me. It's the bear, hot on my trail. At fifty feet he stops, looks at me, starts sniffing (am I pepperoni pizza?), and I shoot for his neck. He turns and runs. No blood in the snow, and later I find the small beech twig that deflected the bullet. I figure the deer have heard this mess, and I descend the mountain and do a mile-long sneak down below, leading me back up to the base of the mountain, at its far southern foot. It's a wild area where I have sat and watched fisher, pine marten. Really a quiet spot. Here and there I'd hear twigs snapping up top, and I put it down to spooked deer or heavy snow breaking spruce branches. Well...as soon as I sat down on a rock on a deer path where I killed the biggest deer I have ever seen in the wild some years ago, I hear a twig snap. Looking up hill I see a flash of black fur. No way, the bear is coming back, but this time he is sneaking in. A minute later he is peeking at me through the space between two fallen trees above me, and slowly gathering himself for the rush and pounce. When I saw what I was sure was his neck in my sights (no scope, I am super old school), I fired. He went down at thirty yards. After his death moans died off, I slowly picked my way up to him and then put two more into his chest. Based on the photos and the size and weight of his hide (54 pounds fleshed, squared over six feet without the head, with the head 77 inches long), head, etc we estimated him at close to 600 pounds. When people say black bears aren't predatory or dangerous to humans, I can say one literally tried to eat me. Undeterred by getting shot at. A total predator. I will never see them the same way again, and I have enthusiastically hunted black bears for a long time. Your guy had a real run-in with one, too, and was lucky.

Predatory black bears are not to be taken lightly. In the last 20 years we have disposed of three of them, all of them stalking a human.

Just returned from another run to pick up some supplies and my wife and head back out. Plus just had lunch with a couple fellow trappers so life is good.


One of the small kits I caught had some nice spots on the belly. Closest I'll ever come to a bobcat I'm thinking




I picked up a larger female from the same set a couple days ago. I even had to build me a new stretcher as I left them in town.




Because of weather conditions travel upriver has been dangerous so I've been forced to trap in a very small area. But recent cold snaps have tightened things up and I headed up river on this trip.



The extreme cold we had forced overflow up a few feet on top of existing ice and then froze hard. Where I typically bang across rocks is now a frozen skating rink. Made for really good going.

I ran into some fresh wolverine tracks at a location that I had caught one at before. Originally I set for lynx at the site because of a clawed up tree. But I've since discovered its a wolverines scent posting tree.



I started out by excavating the bole of a tree and placing a bait. It's about 10 yards from the scratch tree.





And hope that the finished product will snag one before the season ends. I also placed a foothold at the base of the scratch tree.

I love coming around this corner and seeing the vista in front of me. Nothing between me and the ocean but solid bush



It was good to open the door to the cabin and see everything was tight and mouse free




I elevated my floor for storage and to take advantage of the view




The only frustrating thing about getting older is knowing that I'll never have enough time to see everything I want to see in this paradise. But I still have a few miles left in me.

oh by the way the wolves single filed as a pack right through a wall of snares I had up around my bait site. They literally threaded a needle going through. They also didn't like the looks of my footholds either. They think they have me figured out but we'll see.

Thanks Bush... Could you elaborate a bit more on the wolverine scratch tree? How hi they mark, how often they have these trees, how often they visit the trees, more so or less so at certain times of the year, will multiples use the same tree, any type of tree they prefer? The last may be a silly question if you do not have much variety.

Thanks for the wonderful views

Osky

Little is known about wolverines marking trees with claw marks and urine / glands. I had never heard of or read of it before I observed it personally while visiting a friends line in Northern Alberta ( I know...I know Rick, I ripped your beautiful parka on that trip)

That trapline has a phenomenal amount of wolverines on it and I got to track lots of them as we were interested in filming them. I followed one that led me to the first scratch tree I had ever seen. It had been freshly marked but I could see old scratch marks as well. After that I've discovered other scratch trees on my own trapline and also saw a video trail cam clip of a wolverine scenting a tree. Once you find one they stick out. Very much like a junior version of a bears.

Anyone try this? Talking with trapper buddy today and he mentioned he likes to wire up his cam locks with squirrel wire so they close lightning fast. The wire drops off once the loop drops and doesn't effect locking at all. I fabbed up some Z shaped wires and the snare does close up wickedly fast.

Good luck on the wolverine Brian once I figure out how to post pics on here I will post some of the collared wolverine I caught this year along with the map showing his travels for a 3 month period.

Pretty interesting concept with the cam locs. Let us know how that works out. Thanks for sharing your adventures with us along with all the awesome pic's!

I’m jealous of the amazing life you’re living. Awesome pics and a great story teller.

Thanks for comments. I will let you know how locks work out

Just back for the day then back out. Spent a nice few days with the wife coming along. Always a good idea to marry a farm girl they know how to work.







Looks like the canines are breeding. Trailed a couple coyotes for a few miles and lots of frolicking and playing based on their tracks in the snow. Plus blood in the urine

Picked up the last kitten out of the family that chewed their mom up. The young lynx sure have nice bellies

Perhaps you remember that I have a grizzly bear that keeps digging up a hole at my main cabin?


https://youtu.be/pwOfDXAaL_g


Looks like the bear has followed me to my line cabin. This hole wasn't there in August.

You are fortunate, Bushman, that is some spectacular wilderness. Please keep posting. Here in PA we hunt bears pretty hard. Our firearms season is just four days long, and we kill about 3,000-4,000 bears a year. A few are picked up in early archery and extended seasons that are an extra couple of days or so in a few high problem areas. It is rare for people to have run-ins with bears here, because they are so conditioned to being hunted by people. Mamas with cubs excepted, of course.