A front and rear axle hookup would be a perfect situation to take photos and video of them , snarling and talking. No worries of them pulling out in that one...

This past season was my first year specifically targeting wolverine.

I was running a combination of foot holds and 330's. Used moose, caribou, beaver, elk, deer and fish scraps for bait. They did not touch the fish and had little interest in beaver. Moose seemed to be their favorite though.

Caught 3 wolverine in footholds and one in a 330. I was using #3 coil springs that had been 4 coiled and using 2-3 swivels on each trap. A mix of old Victor square jaws and Bridgers some with offset jaws and some with regular jaws. I did not have any issues holding wolverine in the footholds, but I did have issues catching them in them. They spent a lot of time educating me... They were good at tripping traps regardless of how well I thought I disguised them. I used wax paper and snow to blend my traps. I started adding traps to sets them tripped or circumvented and they would find another way past the traps or just trip more traps. They had no interest in my cubby's with 330's.

Every wolverine I caught was missing a toe or toes on various feet and one female was missing all her toes on one front foot. I had nobody trapping within 30-50 miles of me so these suckers cover some ground.

I had most of my success and failure at snow hole sets. My last wolverine was caught in an unusual set so I included a pic of that. This set was made at the end of my line, its a 5 mile section they just laughed at my sets all season. Well till the last check that is. This set had three #3's spaced evenly around the tree, slight overkill but it worked.

This guy had a #3 on a front and a back foot back in 2009 maybe. He chewed down both anchor trees and took off with two traps on him. I found him hung up about 200 yards away.

Thanks fellas. Glad to hear #3s work.

I know they probably aren’t the best trap for gulo but they’re certainly more affordable.

Thanks for all of the insight. I’d post some of my sets, but I don’t know how. Amazing how much I felt I learned in one season.

Are you seasoned vets still feeling that way? That you learn something new about their behavior or travels every season?

I use 330 bucket sets for wolverine and I'm lucky enough that they seem to charge right in, however, I do pick up wolverine in lynx cubbies and I haven't had any issue holding them in a standard #3 northwoods or #4 longspring. The only issue is chewing which means less $$ and if you have a set out in the open where there is nothing for them to chew on they will be gone lickety split if they can't run with the drag. I caught a large male once in a foothold attached to a 7 or 8 foot birch drag and he ran straight up the creek stopping to chew on the drag every once in awhile. He eventually chewed the drag to about one and a half feet long!! He decided to go up a cut bank and the chain got twisted around a big root, he dug quite a hole!!

I prefer to just lull them to sleep but then your friend comes along and riles them all up and you have to put them in a sleeper hold.

Stone Cold Steve Gulo, is that you?

Appreciate everyone sharing their various methods.

Can’t wait for December. I think I’m most excited to hunt for carcass parts as wolverine bait.

Here in my office, I have a wolverine rug on the wall. My first wolverine. Circa 1972?

It is a small female. Caught it in a #2CS (a snowhole set for fox) by three front toes. She was probably was not in the trap more than an hour when my dog team and I (luckily) came up on the set and out came the ol' .22.

I'm pretty proud of my first wolverine.... but I definitely do NOT recommend the #2CS as a go-to wolverine trap!

Pete

Me and my grandpa and one of my friends were out camping. We had one lone caribou walk all along the ridge towards us while we cooked and ate breakfast at first daylight. I went down and shot it then hauled it back to the cabin. We opened some canned mandarine oranges for dessert and as we were eating those my Grandpa spotted something coming from the opposite direction. Turned out to be a wolverine that i then shot with my old 243 blr once it came close enough. I gave it to my Grandma. She had it tanned and she still has it amongst her treasures. First one that i didnt shoot was a long haired female caught in a snare. I love setting for and catching wolverine. Each one is awesome and Ill never get tired of seeing them in my traps and snares. I dont mind working with the fur too except for the big old males full of scar tissue. Seen a few over the years with nasty injuries but they still had plenty of fat on them. Tough as nails those wolverine. Hard to beat the 330/220 but i have a soft spot for snaring them. Caught a whole bunch in 2 coiled #3 soft catch traps set for lynx and ive only seen 3 get out in 30+ years. probably didnt catch much of the foot with those ones. A well built #3 with 4 coils is a good wolverine trap in my opinion and I have no worries setting my 2 coiled as well. A good catch above the foot pads and a little cold weather and theyre not going anywhere.

Mb750 pull out.

This old boy was scratching on my door while I was sleeping the night before. Caught him in a duke 330 in the woodpile

I was just getting over the cold when I picked this one up. I was restless after spending a few days inside so I took off to a short line around midnight. Came around the corner and the river was covered with big wolverine tracks and I had a trap set just a little further. Sure enough he followed my trail and ended up getting a toe in there. My headlight was dying and very dim so that was fun.


Last one for now. I just got out of the hospital and rushed home to skin this one here. I went out after a good snowfall and hit the wolverine country looking for fresh tracks. Late in the day I crossed big tracks and started following. About an hour later I spotted him running through deep snow amongst scattered little trees. Once I got close I loaded up and pulled the trigger and nothing. Tried again and nothing. I splashed my 223 with gas line anti freeze and put it on my back. Keeping the wolverine in a fairly open spot I kept loading and pulling the trigger until my gun finally fired. I was pouring sweat and my head started throbbing.
I was a little over 40km from town with no way to communicate. What followed was the worst ride of my life. I ran into two wolves on the way to town and the grey was easy so I got him and threw it over my lap. The black was just right there and I had lots of space but I was feeling like I was going to pass out so I kept going. I walked into my grandparents house and dropped to the floor. Extreme dehydration. When I stopped sweating and started to burn up was really scary but I could see town lights so I kept going. I was scared to go hunting for a while after that. My little nephew Rylan helped me work on both furs after getting an IV at the hospital. We skinned the wolverine then the wolf and I kept thinking how easily I could’ve got the black wolf.

I like a piece of wax paper i buy the stuff they sell for deli sandwiches no cutting measuring anything like that rip it for the dog lay it on and a very light covering of snow occasionally I forget it at home and when that happens I am not at all worried about leaving my trap fully exposed

Thanks otterman. Sounds like trapping wolves vs wolverines in footholds is very different.

Is there a way to upload pics from a phone to the thread?

Use the icon that has the blue arrow, above the area where you type a post. Top row of icons, second from the end.
I have a hard time doing several on one post, and you may need to re-size.

I'm technologically illiterate and don't know how to resize pictures. But somebody on here told me the simple way to do it if the website tells you the picture is too big is simply to take a screenshot of the picture. That works great and is easy, apparently screenshots are always a lower resolution.

Here’s an example of a set that was refused multiple times

Buckets and large open ended boxes are the only sets I had any refusals at. This year I plan to paint my boxes and cover them with snow and or brush to make them look natural. The buckets I will continue to keep putting out and maybe one will eventually stick its head in there.

Well, you had one stomping around there, and you are are a trapper. Figure out how to catch the SOB. That’s all I can do when I deal with a near miss. Nobody gives me a hug and suggestion.
You have been steered towards solutions, archived threads as well as personal knowledge.

Hahaha. Not looking for hugs, maybe suggestions. I have some ideas though thanks to what you’ve all shared. Maybe I’ll get plum lucky this year. Always look forward to my Minnesota Trap Prod orders in the mail.

Mike, you don’t always have to be so mad.
Edit: I know I’m new - only making a joke about your user name.
The thing I’ve appreciated the most about wolverine trapping IS the lack of resources online and how few people do it. I have no problem earning it the hard way.

You’re fine poking at my user name, Alder. I was trying to spur you on. Ultimately you have to make your success.

Good luck, hope you get ‘em.

I don't elevate my bucket sets like in your pic, I put mine on the ground and then put spruce boughs, snow, or tuck it in a logjam to make it look natural.