Seriously Jack..........if you have any of your gear for darting,,,especially the stuff from Russia, I think these guys might find it interesting as well as the critters

See the bear took two darts, lol.

Very cool Jack, thanks for sharing, wish you were not at the other end of the country. Would be fun to have a cocktail and talk and listen to some of your adventures.

Jeff

Great pictures, thanks for posting.

Your Vote maybe the one that makes the difference!

That's cool

And to think, I get giddy ifn I catch a little coyote with no mange. Can't imagine the adrenaline of hooking on to those. Nice to have the pictures.

I wanted to say Garth, but I sensed your wording of him , and so I was careful to follow your lead in discernment ...

Yes any info on darting , any thoughts and more photos you'd care to share would be so appreciated by this Tman Tribe.

The pal with Garth is all important , too...such a million dollar smile !

Thank's for sharing some of your outdoor adventures.I look forward to more of yours and mine also,thanks again for sharing.I'll keep you posted on my next adventure.

The leopard takes the cake for me!

Thank you for taking the time to share, really nice.

I’d just want to experience the rush of walking up on one of those!!! Adrenaline overload!!

WOW!!! I really am just totally awe struck!

I've spent much of today trying to convey to people the joy I feel at handling the Birds that I get hold, as a Ringer / Bander. Being allowed to do that, for science.

But, THIS?! Wow! Just a whole 'nother level! I'm completely humbled!

What kind of foot snares are ye using there, please, sir?

Insurance

Amazing Work!!!

Wow all I can say is wow

Outstandingly cool!!

The head on that wolf is amazing, no wonder they have serious bite power!!

I never knew "regular" leopards made as far north as the Amur (knew about Amur tigers). That must be the most northern extent for leopards. Very neat!!

This is amazing. There was a guy I watched on the animal planet trapping lions a lepords with foot snares when I was a kid. One of the things that got me into trapping . Think his name was darine Simpson or something along those lines. If I remember correctly his last show was called traper and the jungle.

Anyhow that brings me to my next point. He said people in different countries where always surprised with him and his gear and him as a trapper. Said they always thought he would be some cruel guy with bear traps and the like and where thrown off at how well he and the traps ( used exclusively foot snares, looks like either the Fremont or audrich) treated animals. Wanted to know if you noticed the same ? Again amazing post

That's some awesome stuff. You need to write a book!

I remember reading about a guy foot snaring grizzly bear for tagging, decades ago, maybe it was Gulo. I remember the big males were not taken lightly, and the catch circles were very impressive.

Saw some of those pic's in Billing's this summer,they made some of those lodge poles into toothpicks,very impressive catch circles,they were picking up and selling organic toothpicks lol.

I apologize for the length of this posting, but I wanted to answer questions from those that commented...

Trapper Dahlgren - I've been real lucky to work (and play) in various places. I have many hundreds of photos of various critters in traps. Any species in particular you're interested in seeing?

Jmack - Glad you showed the kids. They are our legacy. Thanks for the comments, man!

gryhkl - Thanks. One of these days I'll get around to posting a few more slides of other critters.

Taximan - Thanks Taxi. My trapping partner (aka wife) got a Canon Canoscan 9000F about a year ago. Works great. Will scan 4 slides at a time. Took me many days to go through 18,000 slides. I am very happy with the scanner though.

Boco - Thanks. I have always admired your posted photos and write-ups; thought I'd reciprocate a bit.

BernieB. - Tempting to think about the pelts I've handled (while still alive), but the thought of 100 years in a Russian gulag was somewhat of a deterrent.

Mac - Thanks, glad you enjoyed. I'll see what I can do about posting a few more.

btomlin - Yes, the entire time I was working on that (and other) tigers, the motor was running. They actually "purr" when under the anesthesia, but it's such a low frequency, you actually feel it rather than hear it.

bob1454 - Thanks. Glad you enjoyed.

imissed - No, I still get a kick outta pretty much every capture, from wolves to weasels. Not a one of them ever bores me. I'm fascinated with every catch (well, another skunk?).

Sharon - I'm still enamored with my little "junker" camera, and still take pictures almost every day on the line. I'm still trying to get a shot which is close to equal to your artwork. Someday, hopefully?

nightlife - Isn't scanning a PITA?Digitizing all those "heirloom" slides, then throwing away the originals? I agree. i almost dried as another 1000 slides went into the garbage. It's akin to throwing away my life's adventures.

lives2trap - You're welcome Sir!

Marathon - Peter Capstick? Naaaww. That guy could spin a fantastic yarn. I ain't even close to his calibre. I'm probably not fit to be his gunbearer.

Artrapper16 - You are correct. One of the papers I read before going to Russia to trap tigers was on the diet of the tigers. The authors listed "forest workers" as the third most important food item after Russian boar and red deer.

Wanna Be - Yes, the big brown bears often needed a double dose. Not so much for them, but for me.

Flipper 56 - I agree, Jeff. Too bad there's a thousand miles between us. I'd enjoy a wee toddy and hearing more about your "swimming with the beavers".

rick olson - You're very welcome for the share. Looking forward to hearing about your next adventure, sir!

Andy S, Wanna Be, 330-Trapper, and gdccowboy - Thanks guys, Appreciate it.

Pest's Dad - I know exactly what you mean. I have a Master Personal Banding Permit (mainly for gyrfalcon and other raptor work) but have done "ringing and flinging" of many thousands of passerines. Truly an enjoyable and worthwhile endeavor. The throw-springs I was using were Aldrich-type knock-offs.

NonPCfed - The Amur Leopard is very close to extinct. It is a subspecies, Panthera pardus orientalis. Probably less than 50 still in existence.

Wolfie - The Russian government wouldn't allow the use of foothold traps or foot-snares when I first arrived. They built monster wooden live-traps using local trees lashed together, which were a joke. Two months with no captures, then they agreed to let me use 3 foot-snares. Caught a leopard in less than two weeks (first Amur leopard ever live-trapped and collared), and they finally removed the restrictions.

EdP - Thanks, man! I've just (a week ago) finished a draft of a manuscript and sent it out to a friend to get his opinion on readability. I may publish that book, or it may be relegated to the garbage can. We'll see. If I go ahead with it, it'll probably be another 6 months before publication. I'm indeed working on that book.


Again, sorry for the length of this post....

Jack