Curious to hear opinions on if it would be remotely possible for someone to head to AK and attempt to catch a wolverine without having a remote cabin etc. Interested in hearing the holdups, potential, etc to entertaining this idea.

Ask Bruce T

LMAO!!!
Without a guide, it would be extremely difficult.

Are there any trapping guide businesses currently operating? There was a lodge on the Denali hiway that used to, I believe.
How much money you willing to shell out, 160?

In my opinion you would need to know ahead of time exactly where to go. You'd need a means of getting around the area....snowshoes........or a machine.....it would need to be an area with a known population and you would need some type of shelter, heat, food etc. Traps, snares, bait. Lots of logistics. Oh.......and i would say you should budget at least a month on the ground.

As others have mentioned a 'guided' trip would improve but not guarantee your odds of success.
Just winging it on your own I would say the probability of success is approaching zero.

Yeah, I don't know about "guided". Checking someone else's traps just doesn't do it for me. Sure would love to figure out how to make it happen to catch one though. Not sure how else to go about it.

Guided isn't exactly checking someone else's traps. They would be your traps, you would just be guided in where to put them. Almost certainly, a guided trip would greatly increase your chances of success.
If you were to come up here to catch a few marten, or a lynx, maybe a couple fox, go up north and catch an Arctic fox, those could all be doable without help. The wolverine is a different story.

I appreciate the info. Lynx would be another bucket list critter. I guess I need to make better friends with some folks up north!

DYI haul rd. Not much for lodging. i would do it early spring. Maybe rent a camper

I know of a particular village in SW Alaska where a few mile four wheeler ride will get you into high density (relatively speaking) wolverine numbers. Generally you won't need a snowmachine.

You would have to arrange for lodging, wheeler rental, and a generous amount of time.


So, it is possible, probably won't be real cheap though.

Or, we could hold another auction! White17, you up for it?

Sure just as soon as my new heart-lung machine gets here with a 6 month power pack !

Still in the process.Just on delay right now due to my heart attack earlier this year.Be next year or the year after.

I’ve often wondered if that was possible. I drove the Dalton last October and saw a lot of active beaver sign in the creeks. Actually saw a marten running around in the parking lot at the Arctic Circle sign. I wasn’t sure if it gets slammed with road trappers. Certainly no one is trapping all the way to Deadhorse?

Or stay with Sue! Cruise your line in style with that gigantic buggy she has.

I met a guy in October who was working at the Coldfoot camp. Said there was lots of marten around. Likely could be a wolverine somewhere. Expensive way to get one, staying at Coldfoot. Unlikely there's a reasonable cost way tho.

Yep, that's the way to do it, have a job on the slope and use the company truck to check your line after work.
It's been done before!

I would set on something on the side of the road in a pullover area.

I would suggest that setting close to pull over areas would be a fine way to catch some trucker or tourist's dog. Get off the road!

Pete

I had the guy in the tire shop in Coldfoot tell me the same thing.

Wolverine trapping on the slope by a non-resident has to be one of the worst ideas I can imagine.
Wolverine trapping by an Alaska resident trapper that has spent years learning his trapping grounds is still one of the great challenges any trapper faces. And other than maybe a handful of Village dumps, any trap line that has a population still doesn't have many.
They range far and wide, and if/when a wolverine does indeed visit a set, everything better be functioning and perfect. It might be the only shot you get for the season.
I trapped southeast Alaska for several decades and chased gulo for years, sometimes actually being successful!
For me, they are the Holy Grail of trapping in North America, so I understand the desire to catch one. However, like a 10' Brown Bear, a 60" moose, or a 40" ram, they are not common, and for a non-resident trapper from the lower 48, attempting a DIY adventure with the goal of going home with a wolverine pelt is very likely to result in a huge dent in one's bank account and no wolverine.

I suggest you come up to trap for the experience of trapping in Alaska. Set for any furbearers in the area and if you get a Wolverine consider it a bonus.

I agree with Rusty NewHouse.

I always hear about how it’s dang near impossible to find an area that isn’t being trapped already, and road trapping is impossible due to pressure. Is that true or just true within 50 miles of a town? Ive driven about 75% of the road system, it seems like there is miles and miles of road that are a long ways from civilization. You’d expect to find a line or a road trapper every 1/4 mile on the road system? It’s always puzzled me since it is easy to trap public land here and never cross paths with another trapper on a much smaller scale than the distances in Alaska. I’ll never come up and non-resident trap but I’ve always wondered and usually get snarky answers when I have asked.