If I wasn't already trapping in Heaven, I'd be on that. That is the deal of that day. Wolves, wolverine and they pay you to hunt and trap. Wow.

Too good to be true...

Sounds like Urban's place.

-TJ

I saw that too, looks pretty good. Wonder how the trapping is.

It’s not Urban’s but close.

Would be an excellent adventure for someone.

I’m trapping near there and the fur is getting better.

Ahhh to be young again and have an opportunity to give it a shot!

whatever happened to the old forum member who spent the winter up in that area, he just kinda disappeared from Tman after that....

I believe that was BearBait. I think he took all his fur money and moved to a tropical island somewhere.....!

Pete

Dang, I got rid of the pesky wife. If it weren't for the pesky job (and bills) I'd be all over that too.

Too bad for having a "decent" job haha .

The best part is no pay.

Yeah, I guess the job isn't really the issue. I'd give that up in a heart beat if I knew the bills would be paid. Being a responsible adult sucks sometimes. I'm working on those bills though, so someday...

Someday: A long, windy road that leads to a little town called Never.

Do you really think that's a good job for a lower 48 dreamer? Wolves aren't exactly an easy target for your typical hobbyist coyote trapper.

A L-48 dreamer could do a good job of feeding the horses and keeping the place up. Would probably catch some more common furbearers. By the time he spent a couple winters there, there is no reason he could not become proficient enough to catch a few wolves and supplement his income with those incentives.

Heck, almost 50 years ago, I was a tall, skinny 'rat and 'coon trapper from NJ. But I had a dream. Here is the critical difference: instead of talking about it, I picked up and moved here. (Without a canoe....!) I even ended up catching a wolf or two, being President of the Alaska Trappers Association, holding an Alaska Master Guide license for many years and even serving on the Alaska Board of Game for a while.

If a NJ kid can pull that off, a L-48 dreamer with some spunk could make this opportunity work. (By the way, I'm still tall, but now I am fat too!)

Pete

If you are proficient with coyotes, you can trap wolves.

Yep. Taking this on and surviving is no less likely than pulling up stakes, rolling up the highway, buying a remote property, building a cabin, living off the grid, and having one's own little paradise.
I

If you can catch them here, then you probably can catch wolves if there are any. I listened to a tale last winter about a frustrated coyote trapper from the lower 48 that was disappointed he couldn't catch coyotes here.

I'm neither a coyote trapper or a wolf trapper. But, a rather famous wolf trapper (or infamous if you're a wolf-lover) who lives near Denali told me once that he has no trouble catching wolves, but coyotes give him fits. I think it was he who told me that it seems like coyotes have a guilty conscience which keeps them out of trouble, and wolves are arrogant which gets them into trouble.

A lot guys can catch coyotes and wolves in dirt, but throw some weather in there things will change pretty fast for them.
(Using footholds)

Ive had jobs like this at two different places in the past, and if i didnt have a 7 month old and a job with health care id probably take this one up as well!

I guess it all depends on what you are accustomed to...

I can catch a few wolves and coyotes up North here in deep snow. But when I started trying to snare coyotes back East with virtually no snow, I had a heck of a time. I'm STILL learning all over again!

Pete

This was how wolf behavior was explain to me by the local legend. Wolves are like teenagers; when they are in a pack they are arrogant and brave, but when alone they are more wary. Coyotes tend to be like teenagers that are alone.

Dang it Pete, I LIKE my canoe, why do you always have to bring that up?
I'll be up there again next summer, already have it lined up. Maybe I'll hang around and take some fur after.

If there are any, is the key.

I must say, having been on this site for a long time, and fielding questions from dreamers, not a single one is taking this opportunity is astounding.
One couldn't dream up a better shot at the "life" most claim to want.
Good grief, lodging, snow machines, working knowledge of the land and how to survive....
Dreamers and talkers.

Great deal to feed horses that eat like horses all winter, make cords of firewood as your only pay, keep the camp operational, and being a skinner and butcher for almost 5 months? Not much time for 500 dollar wolf bounties.
They used to call this indentured servants or being Shanghai'd in suckering people who didn't read the fine print while thinking about the dreams of how great it was to fed and the only pay you get is chopping wood.
This reminds me of the scene from Napoleon Dynamite where his chicken ranch employer paid him a dollar an hour.

No wonder my family left Minnesota 40 years ago. Ain't no free ride on an Alaska wilderness trapline, son.

Me and my wife almost bit on this and left our good jobs up here for the freedom this job would give us. Its amazing people expect more.

star flakes

It's interesting to me that you refer to a movie in an attempt to reinforce your perspective.
Did you forget to put LOL at the end of your comment?

It does seem to put a point on all the claims of "I'd move up there to trap if I only had the chance..." Bad enough that most L-48 trappers who THINK they could make it up North not only have no idea of what they would be getting into, but more importantly, it appears that they don't have the gumption to even TRY!

I'm struck by the difference in attitude of young trappers today, compared to say.... the folks who headed north during the Gold Rush era to mine and trap. No bug dope, no snow go's, no bunny boots, no Gortex, no GPS's, no communication with the people at home.

And here is a sweet deal that no one jumps on!

I learned a couple days ago about another "lodge watching" winter keeper job. (With not as many bennies as this one!) After reading this thread again, I didn't even bother to mention it on T-man. I will just call some young trappers around here. The L-48 tire-kickers and "canoe jockeys" just don't have what it takes any more! "Kids these days...!"

Pete

Maybe the people who were interested just emailed the lodge.

I would imagine 98% of us dreamers have responsibilities financial/children or others that we are unable to just walk away from. This would however be an awesome opportunity for a young person who hasn't committed to long term responsibilities yet.

What other furbearers are there to catch? Found a few pics and appears the place is mostly above timber. Like Pete said, cut wood and feed horses, but gonna be a couple years or more to get the hang of wolf trapping. I suppose 500 bonus per wolf is good, but not as good as having some good marten or lynx country.
Who's paying for the non res trapping license? Sounds like a good vacation opportunity but not that good of a trapping experience?
mt

Or an older "Dreamer/Tire Kicker" That just has to get rid of those loose ends before the trigger can be pulled. It will happen, it's just not going to happen yet. When, and yes I say when, I head north I'm doing so with a clean conscience and not shirking what's left of my adult responsibilities. I don't roll that way, I'm doing things the right way or not at all. I'll suffer as much as I have to when I head north, but it won't be on a monetary level of being in debt.

Planning fellas, I do my due diligence when it comes to this sort of thing. And Pete, I will be chatting with you more about this.

Hey, by the way. If it's okay to ask you guys some questions here then I will. When does the season really get into full swing up there? Early fall like October/November? Or if I'm not mistaken it's better to wait until there is ample snow for traveling better. Does that occur early on? Or is that more in the neighborhood of Dec./Jan.? I know a lot of that depends on the area your trapline is in. It's just kind of a general question for now. I have some ideas I'm toying with. Thanks for the insight...

Coyotes can be more difficult than wolves. Just saying.........
That would be the least of your challenges.
Amazes me that people go into debt to go to college, hope to find a job they end up stuck in, or hating, daydream about an opportunity to do something else fantastical, and when it hits them in the face, they simply go back to work.

Sheep.

Feed the horses first thing then haul wood and run traps for the rest of the day every day. Free gas and grub. Great opportunity for somebody. Use the horses for wolf bait. Save two for your escape with all the wolf hides.

Pete that was kind of my point just because a guy can catch something in condition they are accustomed too.
For example most guys trap coyotes down here a bit early imo , nice weather a joy to be out in50 to 60degrees for highs and catch coyotes but the same guy add snow to the equation.
It's on to snares pretty fast.
We can not use snare in Mt. For wolves so it's been a learning curve for most guys that trapped coyotes if they had always switch over to snares.
I like foot holds to me the switch over to snares is harder .

Well, that's all well and good, however, we on this forum get constantly plugged for advice on moving here, living off grid, the whole Alaska Dream.
For the life of me, I can't imagine a safer, more practical way of putting ones toe in the water, (or ice).

I arrived in Kodiak in '82 with $6.20 in my pocket, and a dog by my side. I'm still here. Juneau, now, but did what it took.
Bottom line, I really wanted it.

I'm thinking Pete might want to start charging Dreamers a consultation fee.

And rent out used canoes.....!

Pete

I prefer "active planner" over "dreamer". Ever here the phrase "A goal without a plan is nothing more than a dream"? Well, I'm a planner with goals. I repeat that to myself each and every day. Mostly because I know that I have some pretty ambitious goals (not dreams).

Either way, I'm sure you guys all get tired of the same old questions. I will try to find answers to questions on my own first. No better way to learn than to just figure it out.

Oh, and I already have canoe Pete...No need for a summer camp rental here. I haven't forgotten about the pics of that spruce burl either. Just trying to figure out how to get it to you.

I’m lower 48 and was thinking the same. I doubt I could trap a wolf with any efficiency but I can cut and process firewood with the best of them!

From what I can tell the timber is pretty sparse in that country.

I'm not sure where this lodge is in relation to the airport. Timber is sparse near the Horsfeld airport, but there is pretty good timber in the creek bottom half a mile or so East of the airport. Ray McNutt (guided out of Chisana ) used to winter his horses over at Horsfeld. Some winters they could get by without extra feed, and sometimes he had to fly feed in for them. It looked like pretty good trapping country, but I don't know anything about the current furbearer populations there. It's been a long time since I was over in that area, and then only in the summer time. Horsfeld is 25 or 30 miles East of Chisana.

Spek, Do you know if they access it overland from the Canadian side ?

Yes. Both horses and snogos come in from Beaver Creek, Y.T.

Pete

I don't know if they do or not, but anytime Ray would buy horses in Canada he would trail them in to Horsfeld from Beaver Creek, Canada. He said it was the easiest way to get them in to Chisana. There is a good horse trail between Chisana and Horsfeld. Not sure how it would be now dealing with the border stuff. Maybe have to have a birth certificate or pass port for each horse, haha. I'm sure all the health test, vet certificates and such has only gotten worse in the last 20 years.

Morning Pete. You had it answered before I even got my first cup of coffee down.

Is that the country Terry Overley used to operate in?

Yes it is AV, his outfit was at one end of the Chisana airport and Ray was at the other end.

If those are those Christmas tree spruce like these? Have fun!

Was just in there for a family trip(Chisana) great time working on the cabin and relatives cabins.

There's some thick timber in places down in the creek bottoms. Some nice cabin logs there too. Everybody seems to be looking for the worst possible scenario though, so carry on! lol.

The horse trail on the Yukon side is still in good shape. Dickson uses it every year. I used to guide for him so been all through that country, on both sides of the border. It wouldnt be my first choice of places to trap, but A guy might do OK on wolverine, lynx and wolves. Great sheep country though. Dont think customs is a problem out there, at least I haven't heard of any problems. There used to be a guy in Beaver Creek who made the trip three or four times a summer with pack horses. Always wondered what he was hauling...