Cool story, Ryan. Oh man, I would love that scenario. Would be out the next morning with everything I got, snares, traps, rifles, pistols, grenades...hehe. Look forward to seeing what happens with that bunch.

Awesome otterman. They make a great warm backrest on those lucky days. I brought 3 home many times on the skidoo with me. Didn’t always pull a boggan and some days are just too cold to skin them right away. Now I always pull my boggan cause when you get the chance you have to get as many as you can.

I follow two other trappers lines to get to mine otherwise I’d be setting everything I could. Both the other trappers don’t mind me using their trails and also don’t mind if I shoot stuff that I see but setting traps is off limits (my own rule) I’ll be piling lynx carcasses and anything else I have to try get this pack to head towards my lines. Hopefully everything works out and I can do my drive through during daylight for once. I used to shoot a wolf sometimes just going to check my net but for two years now the wolves avoid my trapline.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=ZgxghgyOhyU

Watching some old videos while I flip lynx and came across this one. My nephew was just a little guy at the time. Now he’s 12 and he’ll be bigger than me within the next few months.

What a professional trapper do during an extreme cold warning. I been frost scrapping beaver and otter.

I seen your video when you were scraping that wolverine. How was it around the shoulders and rump where the tougher fleshing is? I just checked my short Marten line before the weather gets my colder. Nice and warm -36 ride for one little Marten.

Got everything really clean Bam got an almost tanned golu now

I don’t think it will work that good on cased fur though. My otter was tough to do between the arms an the end of the tail. I should have pushed them arms in

For otter and beaver I trim the leg skins so they don't stick out before freezing.
For wolves(cased) I let them freeze horizontal with the legs sticking out.That way you can clean the legs also. I have a smaller scraper for in between the legs.Any small spots that were missed can be trimmed with a knife when boarding.

Thanks BOCO the otter did not turn out to bad. still greasy but I think that is coming from the skin.

My last beaver did not freeze in time to finish it so I left it outside all night in the -40. this morning there was almost nothing to scrape. So either Margo did a really good job clean skinning or the cold sucked the fat right out of it. I wish I had more beaver I got nothing to do today they are all on boards drying. Gone to Edmonton next week so wont set up a new line until the last week of January.

Couple busy days of skinning.

I’ve already got sections of my line picked out for the kids. Just baby Charlotte needs a lake named after her. Can’t wait to see them running their own lines. I’ll tell them what my grandma told me when I first brought a fox home “watch closely cause I’m not going to skin fur for you all the time” she said that as she grabbed her knife

And me in my lucky shirt

Your kids look very happy, its good to see.

I agree. Ryan is raising them right, and they will benefit from the things he is teaching them their entire lives, no matter where they end up or what they do.

Nice looking pile of lynx Ryan, I thought about you all fall while I was guiding. There were lynx everywhere I went. If you're ever down our way you got a place to stay.

Teaching the next generation of trappers! Way to go!

Nice pics Ryan!

Thanks guys. Might take you up on your offer one of these days Dave. Getting ready to head out in the morning for a couple days. Going to try get 40 more lynx sets out and look for a moose. My kids can’t eat pork chops and spaghetti and stuff like that. Real carnivores I’m raising.

I always look forward to taking my kids to check traps. I keep a short line close to town where we can take the truck then walk to check a few sets. Today I took Morgan and bobby and seeing that I fixed up the 3 #3s and 1snare last time I knew we were bound to catch something. We swung by the store and grabbed a kitkat and some Gatorade then took off to see what we caught. Morgan pointed out some moose tracks and older lynx tracks on the short 5 minute drive. She led the way down the trail and as we were approaching the first set I heard her say“whoa” and stop in her tracks. Lynx number one was waiting in the #3. Fresher tracks passed by so things were looking good. A couple minutes later and I could already see the glowing eyes waiting at the next trap but didn’t say anything so the kids could have their own little discovery. Morgan gasped and said she thinks she seen something like eyes glowing down the trail. My girl Morgan is a smart little bush kid. We took care of the second lynx and again more tracks heading down the trail. I told the kids we had a good chance of picking up one more in the last trap at the lake edge where I had half a lynx carcass for bait. A little side trail on the way held our third lynx in a snare. Onwards to the last set which turned up empty. A lynx had stepped on both sides of the pan but unfortunately, in this game of inches, missed getting caught. No complaints here though because I had my kids by my side as we went 3 for 4 within 5 minutes of our house. They both can’t wait to go again in a couple days and I can’t wait to take them.

Not the best pictures (iPad) but there’s the future trappers in action.