I really enjoy the pictures and this thread. Thanks for sharing

I bet them ladies sure could tells some good stories of the past!

They had some good stories for sure!

Marten haven't been moving around much lately. 5 from last week and just one this weekend. I also picked up a couple of lynx and a moose yesterday but no pictures. the moose was killed in a creek that I was just opening a trail through. thin ice, kept breaking through but I had a chance and it worked out.


marten mustve tripped.


I almost headed back to camp earlier on Saturday but I decided to make one more trail. That's when I got the moose. I was already wet, tired and hungry even before dropping the big bull. Once I got home I stoked the fire, put on dry clothes, popped season 2 disc two of SOA in the playstation and made this gourmet meal. Well not exactly gourmet but after a long day is there anything that doesn't taste 5 star?

Has it been cold up there Ryan? Been -45-50 here for almost a week. Congrats on the fresh moose. Wonder what that marten was thinking about when he stuck his head in that leg hold!

It's been cold but not nothing too extreme. Seems the Marten don't care for the cold. Don't know what that marten was thinking. The bait at the trap he was caught in had a piece of lynx tied to a tree. Maybe it fell? Maybe a couple got into a little scrap and they rolled into the trap? Hard to say what happened there. Glad to get a moose though. Not a lot of trapping season left but enough time to try for a few animals at the moose kill.

Marten trapping has sure slowed down. I realized how many more lynx i have than marten in my trapping area. Decided last trip to concentrate on cats for the remaining season and picked up 9 yesterday. I think ill go back to being a lynx trapper next year. Marten are addictive though. Wolverine finally visited a #3 too. Stepped on the trap jaw missing the trigger by inches which is pretty typical of this years wolverine luck. Seen 2 moose before. 270 was left at camp because i didnt want to be tempted to drop a moose while pulling a sled load of frozen lynx. Of course they let me drive within 120 feet or so. They werent scared at all so maybe they will still be there next week. No animals have found the moose guts yet. 2 wolverine tracks around so hopefully next trip is a ggod one.

Wow sounds like you are in good lynx country for sure. They must be near the peak because Im seeing more than usual down here too, but nothing like what you're getting. My son got a wolverine the other day that was eating his lynx. He lost two before he got him in a MB750. Just got his toes...lucky it held him.

Disappointing trip to camp right off the bat on friday. About half way out i seen snowed over wolf tracks poking around a wolf set i had out all winter despite the lack of wolf activity. Of course the set was drifted over so i reset it and carried on. The tracks were headed in the same direction as i was and i had another set ahead if the pack made it that far. The tracks were getting fresher as i travelled up river. I started making out the individual toes and then claws and knew the wolves were there recently so i sped up hoping for a chance in the dark. Smoking fresh tracks at this point. I rounded a long corner and thats where some of the wolves ditched the packed trail and i could tell by the bounding tracks that they were in a big hurry to get to safety. Two galloping sets of tracks followed the trail. Giddy up bearcat! Time to go fast!

Then at the far reach of my headlights two wolves running down my trail in the moonless night! The one running in second place is white and as i pull to its right it cuts hard to the left. Snow flies and stings the face as i leave the trail and hit the powder. I positon myself to shoot and the wolf cuts hard left again getting out of my dim light and making a shot near impossible. Literally a shot in the dark. The next couple minutes were spent keeping the wolf off the banks while fighting the deep snow and overflow. This is usually much easier for me but i was pulling a load of gas and because my hitch broke earlier i was tied up and a quick disconnect wsnt an option. After a couple close circles around the wolf i see the thin hair on the flanks and decide to catch up to the other wolf if hes still following the trail. Couple minutes later i see snow flying and breath steaming. This one is black and i switch my stategy to suit my not so agile ride. I lead it right to a cut bank where i would have time to get a good shot, well usually it works, but not this time. I was no more than twenty feet behind the wolf when he hit the steep bank, climbed half way up and stopped to look back i guess when he realized the bank couldnt be climbed. Pulled my gun and put a shell in and click, worked the bolt and click. The wolf ran along the bank until he found a way up about 60 feet further along. I worked the bolt and clicked about 8 times during this but no shot and then just as quickly as this all started...no more wolf. Mad is not the word to describe how i felt and thoughts of smashing my gun over the nearest tree crossed my mind. After yelling all the curse words from A to F i took a look at my gun and seen that the tube magazine had shifted forward, which caused the loading ramp to drop down which blocked the bullets from being loaded!! Shucks...still get all worked up thinking about it. I fixed it so it wont happen again. I dont like losing wolves. Cool thing to see i guess but still a tough one to swallow especially when it usually works out so much better. Oh well, im sure ill get another chance eventually. The crazy thing is i had a dream on tuesday where i was chasing a white wolf and couldnt pull the trigger no matter how hard i squeezed. One heck of a deja vu on friday.

Past four trips for lynx:0,0,9,0
Past four weeks for marten:14,1,1,2

About time to hang up my trapping hat and put on my hunting hat. Its actually the same hat but ive about had enough of resetting and then getting snowed over. Time to wrap up trapping season and start tracking some wolves i think.

Nice work on the lynx Ryan, been seeing a few on my line but not many. Good luck with the wolves

Ryan ,was it your 22 mag Marlin ? I put some tape on mine as it holds 13 shells and when I carried it with sling it was muzzle down so i figured if it ever slipped over the notch the tube would be out.Taped around the tube housing and the knurled cap.

LMAO! I've had my bolt freeze up on me a couple of times! One trip I was on a pack just before it got dark on a big rolling hill! Click! Click click! I took my bolt and stuck it to my exhaust for a couple of minutes before it shot. By then the pack scattered and I ended up intercepting 2 out of the pack! Its all part of the game. I just laugh and say, "Ill see you when I see you!"

I had a dream of my barrel breaking when I was shooting at tuttu(caribou) the night before I went on a hunt. The next day I was shooting at caribou and my gun blew up on me! Shrapnel to the face and all! I didn't shoot a gun for a while after that.

The time to track is upon us Ryan. Ill be doing a few camping trips within this next month to hopefully put a dent in the wolf population! Ill put out a few traps to have something to check, but Ill be going through quite a bit of fuel here shortly! Keep that gun covered up!

22 mag yup. I put some gorilla tape for now too.

I tracked a wolverine one year for most of the day. Caught up to it in some scattered trees with really deep snow and had a frozen bolton my 223. I splashed anti freeze on the bolt and kept aiming, working the bolt enough to set the firing pin and pulling the trigger until it fired luckily nailing the kavvik first shot. Long day light now, good for seeing tracks and animals at long distance. I was planning to go wolf hunting but my secondary clutch spring broke on my expedition. I started fixing the 550 but keep running into more stuff to fix. Might be time to think of plan C if im going to make the trip happen.

I think plan c is to borrow a clutch from one of my buddies. Plan D would be to borrow a whole machine which id rather not do. Im pretty determined to go look for wolves so plan E would be to borrow my sons 120. Be a long day but i could probably catch up to a wolverine if it had a full belly and a sore leg.

nice pic Ryan,some year too seem have more lynx than marten in some areas, i think marten move in highlander when too much pressure with lynx,lynx are more visible when matting time and male travel a lot.

I ended up borrowing my grandpas 550 to look for wolves this past weekend. seen some sign but the snow is just too sparce and solid to track effectively. hopefully we get some powder soon.



A few pics from my last marten check. I caught five total when snapping traps for the season. my camera has been taking blurry pics in daylight but I think it makes the last picture above look even better.



Didn't take much picture of wolf hunting but heres a couple. One showing the little moose shed I was going to make a crib board with but it actually flew out of my sled somewhere along the trail. It was just recently shed and looked like it was clear coated that's how polished it was. The other is just typical scenery along one of my wolf routes taken on my birthday this past Sunday .

Ryan thanks again for bringing us along on your trap line it's always great reading and something I look forward to with each update I'm sure you kids are growing like weeds and are keeping you on your toes ! Happy Belated Birthday I hope it was a great day for you !
Stay Safe out there !
Allan

Speaking of the kids. I took the whole family to pull some snares before. Just a short walking line with 5 snares. Yup. Its already that time of year.





Last weekend i was picking up marten boxes and the first 26 had marten tracks all around. Too bad it wasnt like that when the traps were set but its promising for next season.