The track of my snowmachine hung well over the end of my tailgate as I did my best to lift the back of the machine enough to jam my ramp underneath. I will never own another short bed truck.
I had picked up my aunt from the airport in Anchorage earlier in the morning. My wife and I were about to leave for out of state ourselves so she could get her much needed knee surgery and my aunt had agreed to fly up from her home in Hawaii to watch our two year old while we were away. Checking traps seemed like the perfect chance to get her out of the house to see some of Alaska before we took off.
![[Linked Image]](https://trapperman.com/forum/attachments/usergals/2025/02/full-59606-248408-358704ae_d2eb_448a_b3f4_eaa5e9220527.jpeg)
Terry and I had started trapping this particular valley about three years ago with moderate success. Some marten, ermine, and one very nice lynx. For me, it has never been so much about what I caught, as it is about simply spending time in the backcountry.
I grew up in Florida and absconded to Alaska shortly after getting out of the Marine Corps. While I’ve read a lot and followed all the usual internet groups, the majority of what I know about trapping was learned from Terry. From setting basic snares and cubbies to (This word is unacceptable on Trapperman)-posts for wolves, I’ve picked up watching Terry on our trap line rides. The wolverine, however, had been particularly elusive to us. We knew they lived in this valley by the tracks we routinely saw on our checks.
In our first year we placed a couple of 330 conibears in egg crates, using mostly aged fish for bait. While we had a wolverine curious enough to circle the set, not once did we get it to commit. If I recall, that year the only thing caught by one of those big conibears was an unfortunate ermine.
Year two started out better. We noticed an uptick in the number of rabbit tracks along the valley and caught a couple of marten on poles. We placed our wolverine sets in similar fashion to the year previous, however this year Terry had improved the boxes into a double ended wooden structure that housed a pair of conibears. We also added anchored footholds near the sets and switched to a moose head and scraps for bait.
That winter the wolverine foiled us again, once escaping one of our big 330s and a second time, managing to rip the pan out of a #4 double longspring, leaving us with only a tuft of fur in the jaws of the trap. Around the beginning of January, the temperature dropped into the negative 20’s and 30’s for several weeks and from that point on, we caught nothing.
![[Linked Image]](https://trapperman.com/forum/attachments/usergals/2025/02/full-59606-248409-img_6172.jpeg)
This year began with poor snowfall and high temperatures that made it difficult to get down our trail, but we managed to get out our first marten poles as we waited for the wolverine season to open in our GMU. Despite the weather we started out well and caught several marten, however, there was no sign of our wolverine.
Then, as the middle of January rolled around, we rode out to check our traps and found that the moose head we’d used for bait had been dragged a hundred yards away from where it had been placed. Thinking that it surely meant we’d caught a wolf in the TS-85 foothold set next to it, I rushed down, only to find that the trap had been completely frozen over by several inches of wet snow. In all directions around the trap were the tracks of our nemesis. Disappointed, we returned the moose head and reset the trap with some fresh parchment paper in hopes of protecting it from the next freeze, thaw cycle.
![[Linked Image]](https://trapperman.com/forum/attachments/usergals/2025/02/full-59606-248410-6251cf89_15dd_4d20_9fc5_3bab435961ce.jpeg)
Aunt Christie and I set off from the truck. The sky overcast behind us to the south, but mostly clear as we headed north into the valley. The snow was punchy and melting slightly in the mid-thirty degree air.
On one of our first few sets we picked up an ermine, nicely caught in a 120 conibear that hung on a tree below a bucket. I was glad to not go home empty handed with a guest on her first time coming along. The next several sets were empty, including bait, thanks to the marauding squirrels and camp robbers that love to give me fits.
As we came to where I’d found the moose head the previous week, I noted that nothing looked out of place with no fresh tracks near the main trail. I turned down onto the short side loop to the moose head anyway, doing my due diligence, and saw a flash of movement next to the big tree the trap was anchored to.
![[Linked Image]](https://trapperman.com/forum/attachments/usergals/2025/02/full-59606-248411-e60b11ea_f72d_40d0_b5be_53154b76fe75.jpeg)
There it was. The wolverine we had been chasing for what felt like ages! Caught beautifully by the rear leg in that TS-85. I quickly dispatched it, while shouting a few expletives in my excitement. My aunt sat perplexed at my level of joy and was slightly caught off guard, as I know she wasn’t expecting me to actually use the small rifle I’d brought along.
Later, upon returning to the truck and cell reception, I called Terry who shared his excitement in a similarly expletive laden manner as I had. What an awesome animal we had finally caught, a big male wolverine! And what a unique experience for my aunt on her very first time on a trap line. Frankly, I don’t think she quite realized how unique an experience that was.
The season is nearly over now, but I know that isn’t the only wolverine in our valley and we will be back chasing furs again next year. Tight chains all!
