I have a fantasy to move to Alaska for a couple months and trap. Down here in Kansas we don't have Wolf, Lynx, Wolverine, Martin, all the "cool" animals like you folks do. So, in your opinion how hard would it be to find a unoccupied area to trap? Now lets not take this thread into the realm of my fitness, experience or ability to make this happen, lets assume I'm fit and wise in the ways of wilderness living.

Any ideas? Where would you start? Would the DNR be able to recommend areas to scout out? Is the trapping scene in Alaska already over crowded and cutthroat like it is in some areas here in the lower 48?

This comes up 2-3 times a year. I will condense the past conversations for you.

It would be almost impossible to do what you want to do, just for two months, unless money was no object. Just to hack a line out of untouched wilderness will take you years to catch all you listed.

Best bet is to hook up with a trapper with an established line and buddy up for your two months. Only other option might be as a caretaker at a lodge over winter, and those are very few and far between.

-TJ

Well I'm not the only one.

Edit: I was not thinking about just coming up and start trapping, OF COURSE, I would pre-scout, it might even take a couple years getting things ready. I think my real question was, is there anyplace left where a guy could find critters worth cash money when skint? That isn't already being trapped by someone else?

Yes. But it may cost you more than you take in. As TJ said, it can take years to get set up. It won't be anywhere you can drive to. You're going to need to fly, most likely.

Yes, there are a lot of places. But the places might not be what you envision. For example you could pick just about anyplace on the Alaska Peninsula a few hundred miles southwest of Anchorage and have as much country to yourself as you want, you'd find wolf, red fox, beaver, otter, mink and in places lynx. The climate is mild but windy.

You could also find many other areas in the interior that you could drop into without stepping on someone else's toes, but you'd have to do some checking to make sure the area isn't on someones else's line. Generally the more remote the better your chances will be, but don't just assume that because you're 100 miles from the closest village you won't find someone there, other guys fly into their trap lines also.

You'd probably have to spend some time in a couple of areas and check with air taxi operators, area fish and game people, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Refuge personnel (if you're on a refuge), etc, etc,. And just because one of these people says that no one is trapping a particular area, that is no guarantee that there isn't. You have to be pretty diligent in your research.

Alaska is a huge place, with many different climactic, geographical, and cultural differences. What you would like to do is entirely possible; it just going to take planning and some money, and some brains.

I don't know your age or other abilities, but if you're young you might want to work for a hunting guide in a particular area, that's a good way to get a feel for a place, and will help you figure things out.

do you have a Canoe?

I knew someone had to say it.

There is a old bus .

Free Range has been here long enough to rate some slack even though we want to poke some fun !

Let's give him the benefit of the doubt at this point

I agree. Heck, back in '82, or was it '83, I showed up on the shores of Kodiak with $6.15, and a dream...........

Are you sure about the $6.15 ??

Positive. And, I had a dog.
Hmmm. It might have been $6.20, in hind sight.
Just imagine if I had run into Ol'Blister back then! History would be re-written.

I didn't get to THAT island 'till 84, right before I got run off the Emerald isle.

New to the forums myself, been following them for about a year or so now I suppose. I’m down in the panhandle of Alaska and I can only attest to what I’ve experienced trapping on my island. Here on the P of W it’s quite a mixed bag. Most of the old time trappers like my grandfather (passed away in ‘96 or ‘97) and my uncles have settled down and quit trapping. The younger trappers (usually in their teens to mid twenties) aren’t many. A few here and there, but most are more interested in the “modern lifestyle”. The ones that are trapping seem to either not care or not know how to get decent prices for furs, which hurts trappers in that middle range that’s trying to make a penny or two to say the least.

Last season we had issues with trap robbers (the two legged kind) had about 14 traps robbed last season. But beyond all that there’s still plenty of space if you’re willing to push deep like my partners and I do.

There are plenty of places left to trap. Just do like I did and drive hours from town, then blaze a trail thru miles of brushy and swampy furless terrain, then cut your way up a brushy steep hill where there are only a few critters until you get to some suitable Marten habitat that has a handful of fur that might pay for your gas on a really good year, if you're lucky.

So your saying there's a chance.......

Seriously, take a good tradesmans skill up there and a will to work and good things will happen.
Osky

This right here. Check out APHA. Camp hands and packers are in demand, you don't need to be a guide. Try to find an outfit with a lodge. Work for the season and caretake for the winter. Saves your bush flying fare, you have lodging and instant access to local knowledge. You'll need about 6-8 months minimum to see this through.

Keep in mind though that there are guides who don't participate in APHA, so you may want to do a little looking around besides there.

Don't screw around ,go for it before your body starts to decline ! Get at it.

love it, you guys have a great sense of humor, what was the name of that movie were the kid ended up dead in the school bus?

Again this is just a dream, not looking to make money, just thinking if I had the time and money, maybe after I retire spend some time scouting and setting up a small trap line in Alaska, kind of a bucket list thing.

Thanks for the responses, both constructive and humorous.