Back from the line with a few marten for my efforts last week. That was a good call setting them marten poles. I've let the marten rest for the past couple years and it really shows. Lots of juveniles this year. Picked 16 marten on the way in and missed a few more.
Using Salmon heads for bait with a dab of Gusto. Seems to be working well.

The weather was ridiculous this week. Coldest temp I saw was 15 degrees above and the warmest was 43 degrees above and rain last night. Crazy overflow with current.

Finally found some fresh wolf sign.

They killed a young bull moose and ate about 1/2 of it. Got some gear out for them.
Opened up another spur of the line and placed a few set.



Had a buddy come out and run with me for a couple days just exploring and looking for antlers. Got in a little trouble.

Put out a few wolverine set but the marten have been cleaning me out of bait.
Saw lots of moose and caribou this trip and they were overly photogenic posing for pics.




Woke up this morn, went outside to relieve myself and heard the river flowing overflow from the cabin. This isn't good I thought. Could be a wet ride out this morn. As I stood there thinking about which way to go, the wolves opened up on the ridge across from the cabin. Nice to hear you I said and I'll see ya next week. The trip out was as wet as I thought it would be but made it safely to the truck picking up 5 more marten along the way in. I ended up putting 26 marten on the boards this week. I'm no marten trapper but they sure are easy to catch and put up compared to wolves.

Hopefully next week I'll connect with a few wolves. They haven't returned to any kills, leaving them half eaten. Breeding season is upon them and they should be covering some territory now. Good luck and be safe .

Really enjoy your Journal, thanks for posting!

Wow breathtaking scenery and incredible animal populations!! Your gonna make hay on them wolf kills man I can’t wait to see results.

Looks like those wolves were having a party there, beat down like a dog yard! Good luck on them, seems like they will be back to those kill sites.

I'm surprised those bigger bulls still have the headgear.

Way to go, nice marten haul. Easy winter as bulls still have their horns. Usually dropped around here by now.

Thanks for sharing those pics.


* just saw your post on your extraction bag. That post could save some poor trapper a lot of grief or save their life, if they pay attention. Never thought about packing flares.

Great pics,nice run on the marten.

Way to go on the marten!!! Thanks for sharing the scenery and the critters and hope you connect with those big boys!

You sure it was just the fact you didn't trap marten the last 2 years that brought them back? Must be a lot of voles, marten feed around if there's a lot of marten.
Quite the variety of color in those marten. They look nice and prime!
mt

Nice to see you you out and catching fur with all the crazy weather and ice issues that you have been having! Looking to finally start setting here maybe in another week for a short line.

Came home a little early for a board meeting and to pick up the new track and parts for the WT. Pretty much had to reset the entire line. Re-baited and knocked the ice of the marten traps. Picked up 7 more for the efforts. Using Salmon heads for bait and working well and really quick.

The cooler temps had the river and overflow in it's solid state and that's how I like it. Two packs of wolves had been back on the line and I was lucky enough to snare two of them on that first moose kill I looked so hard for a few weeks ago.
95# gray male and 90# gray male
Both quick kills. They evaded my snares at the top of the bluff and came down to the river 150 yards upstream. I'm no mountain goat.

Missed them on over a dozen sets froze up with a 1/2" of ice over them from that rain a couple weeks ago. Pee Post Pass was froze up solid too. Had to use an axe to chop them out of the gravel.

Pulled the groomer 80 miles with the Tundra and she did well.

Picked up a nice lynx and red fox too but didn't snap any pics for some reason.

Had all three of the girls out at the cabin for a nice family reunion
This old burn is really productive this year for juvenile marten.

Little afternoon lunch break along the trail. Coffee, grizzly bear sausage and mom's ginger snaps. Fuel for the trapper.

Good stuff JR !!


Beautiful bunch of marten !!

Always great pictures, Thanks. Question-how old is that burn?

Good to see you got a little snow! Way to go on the wolves! Bites to hear everything got froze down though, hopefully things will stay cold for you the rest of the season! Thank you for sharing your adventures!!

What a great week on the trapline! Thanks for the pictures and update, I needed the motivation. Caribou and overflow have been killing me lately.

Glad to see you getting some of those big dogs. Should have a few good weeks left for getting after them!

Great job! Beats water skippin!
Thanks for sharing!

Nice job on the martin and the wolves hope all is well thanks for the ride along

Good stuff!

Never a dull moment JR it's always a pleasure following along with you.
Stay Safe out there.
Allan