I usually thaw them out 6-12 at a time. 8 is about right for after work and the kids extracurricular stuff is over.

First day of sunshine after the dark winter

A few pictures. Been a busy season.


One more. Upside down for old time sake. Debating my trapping plans for the weekend. Pretty cold out right now so we’ll just see what happens when I wake up I suppose

Great photos Ryan thanks for sharing them with us!

Ryan notice you pin the marten ears. Not sure why you do that but I do same thing. Idea is to stretch the head out and help with outlaw length of the skin but not overstitching the fur. Just put pin in the ear and pull down and pin. Stretches the head a tiny bit. The head in not only a bit longer but, when drying, is not shortening the rest of the skin. Gets you a small bit of xtra length and might be enough with some skins to get them to the next size.

The pup has sprouted up ! I bet he can pull a small sled with a bunch of beavers you catch plus some gear too .They seem to have a sense of self respect when they are working for you.I Used to pull deer home with my 2 mutts and they seemed to like it . Many thanks for your post .

You all are hitting it hard this season and it’s paying off!

What percentage, roughly, of your wolverine do you sell? I assume wives, moms, aunties, want some for sewing. Whale oil.........beluga? Is this an above average year for you? Quite the marten haul, wolverine too.

Thanks all. Marten trapper some years i sell all my wolverine and some years I don’t sell a single one. I gave my mom 5 last year and 2 this year so I’ll sell the rest. If they’re above average I keep those ones. Yes beluga oil. Fresh is good but aged 2/3 years is better with the occasional stir and good air circulation. Anything past that will bring the animals in but they won’t usually commit. This is about average or below for the line we’re running. Me and the partner both work full time so we’re just doing what we can on weekends. We’d probably get 500+ Off this line if we were trapping full time. On my own line 100 would be an exceptional year for marten. Average 50-60 with a high of 89. We got about 260 last year as weekenders. Still not sure of next years plan. I really miss my own trapline and the cabin life but I’m open to looking at another year on Sonnys line.

No. Straight dvds in the fur shack. Watched them all. Need more

I just pin them because it looks neater but I see what you mean.

My trapping partner Fredrick Blake Jr AKA Sonny. Good guy to trap with.
We work pretty good together but sure wouldn’t mind to see what we could do running different lines every day. Hopefully prices are high when retirement is an option.

Isn't Sunny retiring next year?

I got a Mcgruber DVD I never watch. Watched it 5 times when i was in Wekwahti for to weeks with no TV channels and only 2 DVDs. Even watched the directors cut.

I spent a few seasons back in the last half of the 80s doing an airplane line west of Fairbanks. Some old burns and some black spruce. All pole sets with foot holds. I had some aged seal oil which I dabbed a bit on each pole. Caught a lot of marten those days in that area. After the first year, some of the poles would have hair on them where a bear, or maybe a wolf rubbed where the oil had been. Long lasting smell.

Maybe that is why this bear always rubs this tree ukaruk smell from the traps hanging on it

I havent trapped my own line in 2 years but i guarantee any animals that passed by a set will have sniffed around. Most of my regular spots have an oil stain on the tree from Ukruk.

Its a balmy -32c today so I took tomorrow off to run traps. Feels so warm after that -44c (-52c windchill) weather.

Ukruk = bearded seal? = udjuk here

Ukruk means oil. Beluga oil in this case. I’m only using it in the 330 boxes. Some have beaver castor too. Best lure I made so far was beaver castors soaked in ukruk which was potent enough by itself but then I added some fireball whiskey. Majority of animal tracks went directly to the set those two years. It Was a clearish orange Color. Smelled sweet. Intensely sweet with a touch of cinnamon. Haha.
My best year for lynx and wolverine was with that wicked stuff

Fireball whicky..................I'm gonna have to remember that!!

Shoot I didn’t realize fireball was such a great lure additive. Have to try that out next season.