Byron, Aapa and I set off early yesterday morning to go and check the line. We rolled up to my first set which has a trap on a kill and a blind set. I lured the set with some puppy [Please excuse my language... I'm an idiot] when I originally set it and a group of 4 wolves approached the set and just walked all over the [Please excuse my language... I'm an idiot]. I had my brother set up the traps while I directed him how to do it. Keep in mind hes been living in the city for 15 yrs so his trapping experience is limited. Now when we cut out our 1" crusted snow block to cover the trap an average block is about 1" bigger then the trap your setting, these blocks were 5" bigger then the traps we were setting so that's where we screwed up.
We set a trap about 20" away from the kill because of the high fox traffic, a wolf stepped on the outside of the trap and broke the crusted snow exposing the trap, another wolf stepped on the outside of the blind trap 10' away exposing it also. From the looks of it, they might have smelled the traps, but on the plus side the pack running the valley has about 10 wolves in it so not all of them know about the sets.
I pretty much got skunked on all the other sets, but we did set out a few more buckets and a few more #9's. Usually by now I have all my sets out, but with the collar bone still healing Im limited as to the labor work I can do. It just nice to get out into the country and enjoy company at the same time.
The ride home was hectic, we had to leave my 700 due to a worn out clutch that wont dis-engage. We were riding 2-up on the Trapper, and one guy on the sled. We ended up removing the seat of my 700 and mounting it onto the sled so the ride wouldn't be too bumpy.
So until next weekend........

Did you try smacking the clutch with a hammer or the likes ? That is If the spring is not broken. Not too hard but just enough to cause it to float closed or open depending on which one. I have no idea what I am talking about about that would have been my first attempt.

Bummer about the sets but you know what you are doing so keep at it.

On a Call, I didn't think about that, in fact thats what another guy told me. Im going to have to try that next weekend, hopefully it works.

I have a few differant machines that use those type of clutches. When they stick it is often just a matter of tapping with a screw driver to loosen it up. However if the spring in broken it will not return. I would still take some tools however.

Be glad it is not summer. Your seat might be trashed when you got back .

Good luck.

You are getting a lot closer than me ! but still not close enough ! Bet you are enjoying the fresh air and open country! smith

The belt wears and belt dust gets sucked in there making it black and tacky. Its possible its hung up like mentioned. I would take a few cans of brake clean to spray into the internal parts too clean them up also. Worst comes too worst bring a clutch puller with you. Good luck.

On a Call, I bought that machine used, and I usually blow out my clutches with an air hose. I read in an article that the Skidoo clutches are notorious for sticking, and washing them out with a spray washer is recommended, if that is not available then an air hose will work. I guess I should have blown it out the moment I got it huh? There are a couple of "landmarks" sitting out there that bears have taken care of, once they get a hold of them they tear them up bad.
GSmith, I dont like catching foxes or ravens in my wolf sets, so I set them back a about 20" or so, the down side is, sometimes you dont catch wolves either.
Littleman, I'll be sure to bring a few cans just in case.
Thanks for all the tips guys.

Hey good luck...give us an up date or photos of you towing her home

Nunamiut, Sorry I just meant closer than me to catching a wolf ! You are an expert ,I am rank beginner ! smith

Josh and I set out about 10 AM yesterday to check the line. This kid has never been trapping so I wasn't too worried about making to many sets.
For the first half of my line, we seen some wolf signs, just not around my sets. The east to west valleys had some smooth riding, but the north to south valleys had some terrible snow drifts! They were so bad the headlight on the Trapper popped, and the fricken' spark plugs actually jarred loose! Has that ever happened to anybody else before? These drifts were at least 1 ft tall, and everywhere! Traveling was SLOW.
The second half of my line had a lot of action, wolves were running all over the place, just not around my sets again. We had to reset a few traps because the wind blew away the snow and exposed the anchor's around the tree's and the trap's. We put in a couple more #9's for wolves here and there, and also a bait station with 7 snares. I've never messed with snares before so Im interested to see if we luck out. Pretty much all my buckets were full of snow, which is a bummer because there was a bunch of wolverine signs walking by my 330's. So, we hung some meat on a tree 15 ft away from the buckets and set a trap underneath it. I still haven't seen any lynx signs yet, but Im still looking.
This weekend was the first weekend I drove my snowmachine and I felt pretty good! I probably wont be doing any chipping with the ice pick for the rest of the season, but at least I can make sets by anchoring them to the trees. A healthy me would have my 40 mile line littered with traps everywhere, but that's not till next season. I'm going to have to settle for some nice slow rides and adding a few sets each trip out.
Its interesting to me that all the traps I covered with 1" crusted snow did not get exposed from the high winds(25+), and the 1 trap I set with paper towel got dug up by a wolf. No more paper towels for me, Im strictly going to set with crusted snow now. I'll take some pics of that process my next check for you guys.
Here's a pic of the north side of the treeline if you guys ever wondered what it looks like.

We ended up towing my 700 home on my brothers Siglin sled. Im going to thaw her out and clean out the clutch this week so we can use it for the next check.

Ya got some nice country out there Nunamiut. I went west and a buddy went east...both our wolf areas are really quite...unsure where the bleep they are...maybe tonight i'll go east and look for sign. Glad ya are out an about again.

Look forward to seeing your pictures of how you do it!

x2

Glad you're gettin gear out!

Yukon, with all the caribou thats wintering up here in the Brooks, there probably up this way. Its nice to see the caribou wintering around our area again. Guys been slaying the wolves all winter. I hope you guys find some signs.
I really like the scenery in the new area Im trapping, and there seems to be decent signs, Im thinking of heading back out that way next season.

:-) That must be fun hunting Caribou. I haven't did that yet. Once the kids get bigger i want to get out hunting animals i never did before. We expanded a few trails out there further out for wolves. But the main lines remain the same. Luck out there catching the wolves. Best expand the line if the country is looking that nice. If you get a chance can ya get a few picks of how ya do your wolf sets. In the open country i use crust as a cover. But 80% of the time i use wax paper and some light snow cover. Then i drive over the set. Seems to work alright so far.

Sorry you were not able to get it running while out on the trail.

However working on it a nice warm area should be much better.

Bummer about the wolves, at least you have a few to try and work over. Keep up on the bait. Have you ever tried useing a loud or smelly call lure to attract both either wolves or wolverine to your set ? Just a thought.

By the way...how well did the sled work for getting your sled back home ?

Yukontrapper, I really wanted to cruise another 10 miles this weekend. However, I seen a nice group of rams that I may have to go after this weekend if they aren't too high on the mountain. Ill get some pics on the sets this weekend for ya.

I didnt want to ride 2 up again on my 600 so we just threw her on a Siglin Sled and drug her home. I have the machine sitting in a garage right now, so Ill check it out tomorrow. Those Siglins are awesome! I wouldnt want any other sled.
As for attractant, I use Algonquin or Matrix for my loud smells. Usually I have some rotten meat for my bucket sets, but this year I dont have it. Im really hoping to catch something, but Im not going to go crazy with the set's. Every trip out I see at least 10 spots I would like to make sets for wolverine and wolf, but I just pass em by. The rides are more enjoyable when I don't have 40 wolf sets and 30 bucket sets.