This winter has been a pretty good winter so far. The Tasiqpuk Tuttu (caribou) Herd migrated down late, but have been wintering in our area.
I put out some bucket sets on the short line mid November, but no amaguq(wolf)sets out yet. Qavvik(wolverine)numbers are good this year, I managed to pick up 7 in my sets so far. One trip I brought home 3, which is my first 3-fur in traps for qavvik.







One trip I was checking the short line, I ran into the resident pack around our village. 3 amaguqs boogied towards the thick willow brush and 2 scrambled towards the mountain. So I was able to intercept one towards the mountain. After dispatching the amaguq and taking a closer look, I recognized the dark mask, dark grey back and white legs! Im 95% positive that this guy is the one I was on a mission looking for last winter, after it attacked my dog outside of my house. Long story short, my wife and i were watching TV and heard our dog Nuna crying outside in our front yard. I looked out the window and noticed my dog was pinned under my motorclye and all i can see was the top of the back of what I instantly knew was an amaguq. I panicked and grabbed the most deadly weapons I had in my porch, a pair of size 13 boots. I ran over and started hitting the wolf on the back with my boots! It kinda got confused and eventually ran down the street. I ran inside for my gun, a .17 HMR but it ran down the street. A snowmobile rounded the corner in front of it so it turned around and came back up the street. I missed the darn thing from 10 feet away, dont aske me how, maybe i should have aimed with the barrel instead of the scope. SMH

Last weekend I moved out to the long line and put out more bucket sets. Amaguq sign was good, so this weekend Ill be making a few gang sets. The last few years I have been slacking on making sets, but I hope to have all my traps out here shortly.
On my way home from the long line, I ran into a beaver lodge in a rather strange spot. My trail is top of a hill some 150 feet above and about 1/4 mile away from the main creek. I spotted a bunch of fresh willows protruding from the snow so I pulled up to investigate. My first step off the machine my left foot broke through the top layer of ice past my knee, next to where the beaver had the fresh willows jammed into the pond. I hopped on my machine and bamboozled out of their. So this weekend Ill be making a set for beaver since its right on my trail.


I started working on leather again, just a few projects I completed, I made a tool roll and pistol holster which I sold to a couple buddies of mine, and an urn I made for a family member.




Here is a picture of all the tools I was able to fit in the roll, without having to force anything in it.

Beautiful work!

Good to see your catching the wolverine! Love the blue bucket sets!!!! That is a heck of a story about the wolf, glad you settled your score! That is some awesome looking leather work! Love the holster! Hope you connect with the wolves and the beaver! Be safe out there!

Nice all around.

Very nice !!! Some great looking hair on that wolf !!

Beautiful Qavvik. Your leather crafting skills are amazing, to me.
Thanks for sharing.

Thanks guys. I’m thinking about having a ruff made out of the amaguq for my new atigi(hunting parka) my wife made for me.
It would be nice to trap some beaver again.
The leather work is a learning process, I’m not very good at super detailed work so Im developing a tribal design style.

Crazy wolf story! The things we do with what is at hand or foot or boot. . .

Yeah I panicked to be honest. If I thought straight I would have went for the gun or Viking axe in the first place.

I'm thinking the beaver house might be an attractant for the wolves. Especially once you make holes in the ice. What are you carrying for a rifle when out on the snogo?
Enjoying the pics!

Yeah, I was going to make some sets around the house, it looked like the beaver been making trips to the river to collect willows. I carry a .223 and a .17 HMR with me

Your leather work is beautiful and functional! Nice job with the wolverine and wolf payback!

Thanks bronco.

Glad to see you on here again, I really enjoy seeing your stuff. Cool wolf story. I like the way you teach us your words too, really cool.

I did a job at Toolik a couple years ago. I spent a few days running around in that country on a snowmachine, then a few months later during the summer. I can relate to the stark pictures you post of the miles of barren tundra, the willow choked creek bottoms and the snow covered mountains. That is some harsh country this time of year! keep us posted...

I went and checked the line today. The weather was beautiful, variable winds less then 15, and clear skies. -30 ambient, -55 windchill. I have been questioning how my WT has been running, the idle has been pretty erratic, bobbing between 2.5 rpm and 1.5 rpm so I just did a quick trip out. I had plans to put more sets out, but I wanted daylight if I had problems on the way home so the trip was to just make sure my four 330 bucket sets were functioning and GPS marked before the high winds hit.
Tuttu herds scatter the nuna(tundra) ranging in groups from 20-500. Wolf sign was good, the pack came around and followed my trail for about a mile, so next trip out Ill hopefully have my new 600 EFI Backcountry and a bunch of #9's to set. I love the mileage and dependability of the 4-strokes, but sometimes they can be a pain in the ***, so Im back to cruising a 2 stroker.



There are tuttu tracks everywhere out their, not so good with the pogo style suspension. My shoulder sockets hurt after those long rides out in that type of riding!

I pulled up on this qavvik in one of my buckets!


My wife made me a new atigi(hunting parka) with synthetic materials. Im loving it, fleece inner lining, Thinsulate Ultra insulation, and a gore tex like outer shell. Super light weight and very warm!

Awesome to see you connecting! Hope the new sled does you right and that you get the wolf gear out! Good looking parka! You going to put a ruff on it?

I’m thinking about putting my grey amaguq higavik(ruff) on it when it comes back from my tanner. Personally I like the fluff of amaguq for my higavik over qavvik. More fluff to stop wind around the face IMO.

Congrats on the qavvik! Thats a great looking parka and sure sounds functional. Those caribou tracks do make for some rough riding but your new sled should help smooth things out.

Sounds like a good time! Nice parka! I also like the mitts!

Yeah the A-arm suspension sure does make a difference. Ive been buying the later 600 SDI model machines the past few years which have an amazing engine. Its just hard finding parts for them since they are becoming obsolete.