Wow nothing like pushing it to the limits. Hope the footage is a payday enough to buy some new slides ;0)

Good picture as usual! Is the tin over the windows enough for bears from your experience? Thanks

Len, we got a lot of world class footage. Hopefully you'll be seeing it broadcast at some point. Got a lot of wolverine over the last month and some exceptional wolf footage over the last few days.

I've never had a bear break a double glazed window cat catcher but I sure have seen their tracks on the windows before. I hung some bleach bottle around as well.


Boco I had an argo with tracks on standby but it's a buddies and you know how that works, you borrow it and it breaks.

As part of the wolverine research project we've found a wolverine den in the boreal forest, which is a first for Alberta. Wolverine dens in the mountains have known characteristics, just below treeline, lots of fallen snags or debris, good snow depth etc.

But in the boreal the dens are a bigger mystery. So this den we've discovered is pretty important. Partner leaving tomorrow to go film it and hopefully some kits coming out the den. I was surprised to find out wolverine kits are white when they are born. The mom moves the kits pretty regular but she has a collar on so we should be able to track any new dens.




Doesn't look like much, but it's home

That's neat, hope he gets some great pictures.

Hey Brian, seen some of the wolverine footage on sat at the High Level Ata meeting, the guys had some of their own cams out as well. That Rainbow Lake area is just crawling with wolverine.
I found it neat that the caller does not transmit when the wolverine is in the den, so everytime it stops transmiting he knows the wolverine is in the den feeding.

Matt is doing an awesome job for U of A and I'm proud our Alberta trappers are contributing so much towards the research.

Rainbow lake I'm convinced is a international corridor for animal movements. Historically it has produced big numbers of lynx and wolverines. Part of my goal is to have wolverine quota's adjusted upwards where the population can sustain itself. Like rainbow area. Neat about collar being underground and not transmitting

Is that a hole in the ground Bush?A wolverine was caught incidentally this year on the trapline across the river from mine this season.2 in the Hearst area last year(100 miles west of here) and 2 in the Otter rapids area(100 miles north of here)last year also.It seems they are expanding their range south and east in the boreal forest here.

Ok. I'm Jelous. Great Thread BTW!

Bushman, your cabin building pictures are worth SOOO much. Thank you thank you for doing this. I'm going to build my cabin this year based on your design.

Kusko - I'm happy to help out on the cabin should you have any questions as you go along, or as you do your planning.

Boco - We're seeing some interesting trends like wolverines expanding into territory where they've never been seen, and close by industrial sites.

Boco - that's the den. there's kits inside it at the time. Partner is off tomorow to see how its looking now. It is just an opening under a tree root system.

When I think about it I'm guessing a wolverine would have a tight entrance to its den. Small enough to deter a wolf from getting in and this time of year even a bear.

Trout - I'm sure there's lot of interesting bush things to do in your area as well. I think all of us guys with access to wilderness appreciate how lucky we are. But usually we've worked for it.

Pretty soon it'll be time to go watch goats. I know an area where they have their kids and there is always interesting happenings up there.




One thing about being above treeline you can see a lot of action. One of my favorite memories is a grizzly hunting goats on a ridge across a small drainage from me. I can still see its long spring hair whipping in the wind. i got some shaky footage on my camcorder. The bear couldn't see the goats over the roll of the ridgeline and the wind was blowing their scent away. The griz missed his chance by about 200 yards.

Love your posts Brian! You live/work a very interesting life in a beautiful part of the world. Millbury sent me a copy of Alberta Outdoorsman......Loved the picture of your sled in the hole! Looked like things got a little western on that trip!

Yukon - those darn northern sled works toboggan slide right out of holes. The curved nose and hitch design don't get hung up on the ice as you are yanking it out...sweet. Another trapperman discovery so thanks guys. I think a lot of us on here live interesting lives. Keep on doing so! Bears making an appearance your way yet?

Im sure they are Brian, but unfortunately Im behind the eight ball on a log cabin Im building for a guy so havent gotten out in the woods.

Again........a huge thank you , all of you guys that do these journals......excellent readin and learnin!

I'm glad there is an audience for our wilderness stories. It's kind of like going to what you think will be a boring party and finding someone there who is fascinated by your bush life, an appreciative audience so to speak.

I was telling AK Howler ( talk about hard core adventurer) that I had filmed a bull trout spawing with a small Nikon coolpix camera I was packing. I got both underwater film and photos. I just dug up this still shot. Check out this males lower jaw, think he's spawning?

This creek was four feet wide and at 6500', just at treeline, perhaps one mile from the top of the pass, which was the continental divide. The Alberta bull trout is one tough fish, but in trouble in some areas. I've seen a 18 pounder.

Hey Bushman! I sure like your trail cam pics, Parks Canada has some trail cams set up in Ivavvik National Park. Check them out, just goggle parks Canada ivavvik park trail cameras! There's a few nice pics!

X2! Yes, another huge THANK YOU to those of you who take the time to take us on your continuing saga of adventures in the bush! I'd also like to say THANK YOU to those folks on this board that also share their lives and those of their familys on Utube! Ryan and Muskrat come quickly to mind!

I'm reading a book that consists of 40 years of aboliginal photos taken by a famour photographer of the time. I like this one showing the size of a birch bark moose horn back in the day. About 1905