What is that clip you use on your marten traps? I can' quite see it clearly.

Any sign of lynx on the trail back to town? Gotta be a few somewsomewhere!

Nice catch of marten

Hey viking, here's a pic of what they look like. From my understanding they are made by sauvageau for this specific purpose, they come on their 2001 series traps. I make my own cables for it with a bench swager and aluminum ferrules. On the clip side I put a washer and a stop and on my anchor end I just put a small loop with a double ferrule. Of course the first one I put out that caught a marten failed, but that's because I didn't swage the stop on good. Lucky my ldl 120 mag took care of him quick, he didn't go anywhere. I double checked the rest to make sure they hold. The last 4 marten caught with them worked very well. Fast and easy to switch traps.

Kitty's are scarce in the area I'm trapping. If I happen to see more sign I'll put more sets out for them. But for now I don't plan on putting the hammer on them.

I enjoyed your video, thanks for the trouble to do this. Out of curiosity, what caliber rifles do you carry and what do you hope to get a shot at ?

Hey TraderVic, always a pleasure creating content for fellow trapper or those who are curious. I usually carry a .17 hmr on me, hoping to shoot some small game like grouse and hare. I also use it to shoot furbearers if I come upon them like lynx and wolverine. It may do alright for wolf if you really hit them in the right spot but something like a .223 or 5.56 are the way to go for them. I also carry a 22 mag pistol in my handlebar bag incase.

Update Time:

Went on a quick run through my gear yesterday and picked up some more good fur from the creeks. The part of the line by the river is still not producing, I would be a poor trapper if I didn't make my move into the hills and into a different drainage. Got a surprise red fox catch in my milk crate set on the ridge. Not really targeting fox but I'll take it. I was trying to do a speed run because my baby daughter is going through it now with an illness and I didn't want to be away too long. After all that glorious snow last week, our temperatures skyrocketed to almost 40 degrees, rain fell, snow is gone from the hill tops and open tundra. The valley's are still good. We are forecasted to get more snow again this week though. Just uploaded my video for this check, here's the link.

New Trapping Video

Thanks for your response, I enjoy your videos and "tagging along". Hope your daughter feels better real soon !
Regards, Vic

Update Time:

Did my midweek run through my line and tied with my best check this season. Well maybe my best if you count the ermine. Had some hope when I ran the river side where most of my sets are, got one catch in the middle and then it was dead again. This warm weather we've been getting for the past 5 days proves to drive the marten into the creek where my newer sets are. I set only 5 miles of the north side creek and I need to put more out for sure. 8 martens in that section, only 1 female. I'll probably snap traps a little earlier in the season to make sure I'm not eliminating them. It's looking good though with all these big males. No one that I know of has been trapping that area. I'm sure it's been decades since people have trapped marten over there. This weekend I'm going to plan on setting more boxes on the rest of that creek and few more alongside Egavik. I'll bring some 330's but probably not a whole lot. Looks like we're supposed to get some more snow after a lot of it has melted. Going to cool off also next week. Just uploaded the new video on YouTube. Here's the link:

New Trapping Video

Update Time:

I had a good trip on Saturday, got out nice and early and was able to make it back in the afternoon to take the family out for a nice ride. Put in a lot of miles that day! I brought 10 more marten boxes and a milk crate to extend my line into the next drainage. I had hopes to cross the river and make my loop back home but It was still quite bare and bumpy once I hit the valley there. It has been snowing pretty good the past couple days though. Hopefully It sticks good in that valley and doesn't blow away. First fur I picked up was from a box that I had about 1/4 mile away from a little wolf bait. I believe it's the same marten that has been helping himself to the bait the past few weeks. Last trip I noticed his tracks passing right by my box, so I made sure to put some fresh smelly bait. I didn't want to set close to the wolf bait and spook any wolves passing through there. Nothing on the main part of the line going along the first river. Ended up with 5 marten, seems to be a pretty steady catches in the second creek. Still catching big males. Have a good feeling about my milkcrate set that is on branchy old dead tree near the mouth of the creek. After I set it, I ran into some weathered wolverine sign about 200 yards down the trail. All in all a great day out in the country. I was glad to bring out the family after to enjoy the outdoors. I uploaded my video for this trip on YouTube, I'm trying different thumbnail/title formats to try and expand to more viewers. My goal is to reach more youth in the villages so they can be encouraged to go out and enjoy our beautiful country as my family and I do. Anyways, please watch if you have time and share with family and friends. Happy trapping to you all!

New Trapping Video

Way to go with the marten.Thanks for sharing the video.

Love the “How To” bits in the video! As a youngster I was lucky to have a few great trappers help me out along the way. But the YouTube sure has shown so much!

Thanks Bruce! Hope all is going well in your neck of the woods.

Thanks OJ! I too have learned some helpful stuff on youtube. But there's nothing like going out and learning the real deal from seasoned pros. I enjoy making videos and passing some knowledge along.

Thanks for the ride ! I did not get cold and enjoyed the ride on your line .smith Tally Ho

Haha glad you enjoyed there smith.

Update Time:

So we have a cold front hitting right now, about -30 now. It was -20 yesterday when I went to run the line, but it's supposed to warm up again it looks like. We have 20 degree temps coming in the next few days and then highs around 30 on Tuesday and Wednesday. With that said, I had a pretty slow check with just a couple marten. I'm thinking by next Wednesday the north side of the line might light up just based on how they're acting with the temps this season. I can be completely wrong though.
Yesterday was a nice rid, I ran all the gear. Finding plenty of places to start setting more 330's. I was able to complete the loop and boy did it save me some time. One of the marten was caught towards the mouth of the creek going into Egavik, probably biggest marten I've seen. I'll have to take his weight and measurements before and after skinning. I'll upload some pictures on here when I get to skinning. I crossed some fellow trapper's line and it looks like they're going further up Egavik. I had a chat with them a couple weeks ago and we don't mind each other's company in that area haha. Slowly but surely getting more gear out there anyway, and having a blast every step of the way. I just uploaded the video for this check on YouTube. Here it is.

New Trapping Video

Very nice marten.Perfect suitcase catch on it.Thats a big marten also.

Update Time:

So I skinned the big boy marten and he's a monster. I didn't get his weight because I didn't have a scale around. But I measured him before skinning and he was 21.5" nose to base of tail. I put him on a regular 4" male board and his tail was hanging off the end so I used a 4.5" board I had and he's about 26.5" on that board nose to base of tail.



Also I ran the line yesterday and set the rest of my marten boxes, now I can get more big gear out there. Really not a lot moving around, but at least I wasn't skunked. I'm figuring everything was kind of hunkering down during the storm we had a couple days prior. It was blowing 30+ gusting to almost 70, it sure left me some nice drifts along the line but fortunately my sets were well protected. I was able to make a loop around and made a quick snare pole for wolverine. Didn't really video that part because my camera was getting low on battery and I wanted to video the coast. Saw some muskox in the distance by my trapline and then on the way back on the main trail I saw a couple more small herds. I have a buddy that drew a tag so I may be helping him get one some time this winter.

In other news, I'll be heading into town (Anchorage) this Friday and on I'll be helping out the Iditarod trail breaker crew putting in the trail from Big Lake to Rohn. We call it the pre-trail trip and it takes a week. Most of the work is in Rainy Pass and the Dalzell putting in many bridges across the creeks, clearing brush and marking trail. I helped on this same trip a couple years back and it really is a lot of work. Just some amazing country over there though and I can't wait to be back. I was offered a spot on the crew a couple years back for the main break all the way to Nome but had to decline because I was transitioning jobs and had no time off. I won't be doing main break again this year but I'm aiming to do it next year.

Anyways long update. Here's the link to my video:


New Trapping Video