A few pics from the traplines.

Went up north today to set some beaver traps.
Got my limit of grouse,seen around 20.
Picked up a beaver in one of the traps I set going in.

Great start! Looking forward to this season, always enjoy following your threads.

Nice! That kind bush looks familiar.

Right on

Going to extend the line a bit today.

I could make some nice meals from those breasts Bob.

Boy oh boy them grouse look mighty tasty.

How you usually cook them up?

I like to fry them like nuggets.
The wife likes to make a stew with Dumplings.

Went out today,real nice day,cool and cloudy.
Set a couple mink boxes and added a few beaver sets,but dont want to swamp myself.
I will take a day off monday to skin.

Nice looking beaver how's the fur looking.

They will grade semi hvys/hvys now if I dont overstretch the neck.
Got another limit of grouse today again.Seen about 15 today,mostly ruffed this year.

Nice, look dark too. No rats in that area?

Looks like s good day!!

Not much rat sign.
I set the rat toilets if I see some while beaver trapping.

If guys in Canada have to go "Up North" to get some grouse, then maybe there is something to Global Warming. Can't wait for the gators to start showing up here LOL............................................................ the mike

I think you misread the Original post,to clarify,there is none in town so you have to go N S E or W to the bush.
I have 2 trapgrounds north of town and one east.
I pot meat all the time I am out trapping.

Thanks for sharing the pictures.

Mac

Went out for half a day today to check.

Nice pics!
You were saying when boarding beaver you don’t stretch the neck area too much if you want it to feel thicker. Do you nail a half ring smaller for the whole thing or just cheat the ring you’re on by not nailing to the line around the front legs & head?

Nice pics and catches! I always enjoy following your Northwoods adventures

I just dont pull it tight.
For example,if it is on the line when I put the first 8 nails or so without it being tight,I continue to board on that size line.
If it is between lines I will drop it back to the smaller line.This is for early beaver that are just coming on to prime.
If I have badly damaged beaver or fully prime Feb/March beaver that fall between sizelines I will pull those up to the bigger line.
You cannot overstretch fully prime beaver with 3/4 to 1 inch underfur.
As a sidenote,I mark all my marten boards with sizes and stretch them between the size lines so as not to overstretch and to account for shrinkage.Basically similar to beaver,except the beaver oval lines are already oversized by a couple of inches to account for shrinkage,so no reason at all to board beaver between the lines.
Pulling marten skins to meet a size line marked on your board results in overstretching(thinning the flanks where the grader weighs the fur) and it will not stay in that size after shrinkage.
It wont make much difference if you are only shipping a few pelts but it adds up over time.A lot of money can be made or lost on a hundred marten by improper boarding.

That's not a Savage over and under is it?

Looks like you're getting it done! Great pictures.

Chiappa double badger-22mag over 410.
Great trapline gun.Just fold it in half and toss it in the bait bucket on the bike.

Good stuff Boco!

Good deal! Looks like your going to be set for bait this winter!

Good stuff. With that many grouse you are going to run out of 410 shells.
Washed a spruce grouse and got a new species of louse off it along with 6,999 of it's cousins. Been a incredible grouse season but there is lots of Hippobosciadae flies on them this year

Whats a hippoboscidae fly?
Nevermind,I googled it
A louse fly.

Ruffed grouse can spread parasites within their populations by using communal dust baths in summer.

Once I run out of 410's I will switch to the 20 ga,and when I run out of 20 ga I will start on the 12ga.When I run out of 12 ga I will start shooting them with the 22.When I run out of 22's I'll be sick of eating partridge.

Yea HFT,Its good to have 40 or 50 beaver carcasses to last the winter for jackpots and marten bait.
There are also a few people I know who like to eat some beaver meat,so I clean butcher some for them

Nice, Thanks for sharing.

Skinning day today.
Skinned 11 this afternoon,5 left for tomorrow.

Checked the line today after finishing skinning.
Seen well over 50 grouse today,90% ruffed,a couple flocks of a dozen or more,several flocks of 6-8 and a bunch singles.
Its insane the amount of grouse on the north line this year.

Looks like might get cold and maybe snow into Canada. Whats the weather suppose to be in your area up there.

Rain right now with some wet snow in the forecast.
I hate the wet snow in November-the coldest time of the year on the line by far-get wet and cant stay warm.I will take 30 below sunny and dry any day over that.No getting away from it though,its a productive time to trap.The animals seem to know hard times are coming and they really seek our a meat meal to keep warm.

Would a beaver try to go over the trap or are the other sticks that are sideways low enough?

I missed one today. Came around from the land side of the trap. Big willow must’ve been sticking out in front as it was carrying it along in the channel.

Bottom is hard-they are travelling on the bottom

Nice pictures boco….. I’m guessing u also have spruce grouse up there ? How’s the taste compare with the ruffed ? Ruffed grouse is my favorite wild game to eat ….

Normally the spruce grouse outnumber the ruffed and the sharptails,but not this year- ruffed grouse everywhere up there.
I dont find much difference in taste of young spruce grouse and ruffed grouse.The young of year spruce grouse are a lot smaller though with less meat on the breast.The meat on the young spruce grouse is pink.The older spruce grouse have dark meat.Same deal with the sharptails,but they are a much bigger bird than the ruffed.Some people prefer the spruce grouse for its more gamey flavour.My wife prefers the spruce grouse,as does my son.Myself and my daughter both prefer the milder tasting ruffed.

Checked the beaver line today,picked up a few more,and another limit of ruffed grouse.
Rained off and on while I was out there this afternoon,was a bit wet when I got home,should have wore the hip waders.

We got a got a dump of snow here. -8 tonight and a high of -4 tomorrow. Gonna hit a property in the morning where a guy wants us to clean up the beaver. It’s on a river but apparently it’s low and not moving.
Looks like your trigger wires are straight like from factory. Im guessing you set them way off to the side? I started bending them in a T and under the water this fall after watching a video of them around 330s at night. Waders are good for keeping the pants dry, but mine are like funnels for crap falling in. $100 frog toggs. They’re comfy but not very tough. I might bite the bullet and order a set of Dans briar proof, looks like they fit tighter up top.

Those are new traps,I havent got around to twisting the 2 wires together as a single unit like I normally do.
I like to set dead center when trapping open water,no need for them to get too far into the trap in most open water setting.

You twist em and set off to the side or in the middle?

Dead center for open water or in deep water channells.
The only time I want the beaver well into the trap is when setting multiple traps side by side under ice at the main den entrance or multiples at dam breaks.Then I move them over to one side.

nice job

photos just go to show that beaver a dumb until the are not.
Around here, most problem beaver are USDA square and stick/ fencing shy by the time I get to play.

Smart ones on the line are your seed for next season.
No need to waste time just skim the cream and keep moving into untrapped country.
Why I like furtrapping better than nuisance,and the weather is much more tolerable than trapping in summer.

Went out to check the line today.Beaver getting thinned out now.Also got a freeze up now,but it could thaw before the permanent freeze sets in.I will pull the beaver traps next run if still frozen.If I decide to extend the line further back in I will wait till good ice.
Got two beaver today,a mink,and two Otters,one otter was a runt caught in a mink box,the other was a big one but was eaten up by cats.
The runt Otter smelled bad of skunk,he must have tried to tangle with a skunk and got the buisness.
Picked up another limit of ruffed grouse.

I always enjoy your pictures. It looks like you have a lot of grouse in your area or is it like that all over Ontario?

Not sure how widespread it is but the ruffed grouse dont often outnumber the spruce grouse and the sharptails like they are this year.

Which of those three are the best eating grouse. I only ate rough grouse in my lifetime

They all taste good to me.
Ruffed partridge are good fried as nuggets,spruce partridge are good in a stew with dumplings and sharptails because of their large size are good for partridge kiev.
Had some partridge stir fry last night,

Your making me hungry for grouse.

They are good eating allright,but I'll be sick of them in a couple weeks,lol.

Thanks for the pictures Boco. Always fun to see trapping from further north.

Checked a few traps on the driftwood line today.
I set out 16 boxes to see what is out there.
Picked up 3 marten and a ermine.
2 marten are definitely adult males since I could easily feel the groove on the top of the head.
The other is a female,cant tell until I skin if adult or juvenile.
Forgot to take the pic of the last marten before I took him out of the trap.

I will have to set up a few test boxes on the northern line next trip up to see how the marten pops are up there.

You using 160s for your mink sets in case an otter comes in?

No,120s in mink boxes.
120 will kill any size otter quick

Nice pictures boco …. Thanks for the explanation on the grouse species, you are piling up the partridge !

Went out today to cut a couple trees that were across the trail into camp.
I had a couple marten boxes set at the beginning of the trail and one had a fresh caught Canary Marten.
First Canary Marten I have caught in about 8 years.The last one I caught was part eaten.Back in the early 90's I was lucky to get 3 canary marten in one season.
This one is an adult male and in perfect shape.
i froze him whole in case a taxidermist wants to buy it.

That last marten is a beauty. It should bring a good $ on the Taxi market or even tanned with the feet on.

It is unique allright.
Has a pure white head,bright orange body,and the tail is bright orange underneath and white on top,with a dark band near the tip but the tip is also white.

Latest check of the traplines.

Nice stuff.

Nice! What do you do with the 2 tone weasel? I like the white & caramel look, I tanned the one I got late last season. Makes me hungry for ice cream or something when I look at it.

They sell right along with the rest when tanned.Some people like the greybacks better than the ermine weasels.
I havent shipped a weasel to the auctions in probably 30 years.
So easy to tan and always sell out no matter how many I get.

Nice trapline pics as always!

Excellent job, your having a good season

Me and the wife went out to the Camp on the driftwood line for a couple days relaxing..
Checked a few sets I put in on the trail into the Camp.
Another cat tried to claim the beaver at the jackpot.







Picked up a nice fisher in a marten box at the trailhead.

beautiful Canary marten

Bob do you turn your boxes down facing when the snows come heavy?

No Bob,i got them every which way.The ones turned up I just give the bait a whack with the axe on the bottom to knock the snow off.
Animals enter the box even when it is full of powder snow to get at the bait.
The biggest disadvantage to the boxes that open up is that the bait diappears quicker from shrews and mice,but I normally have no shortage of bait,and I change it or chop it every week or two anyway.

I know the rodents play havoc on baits. Everything wants to eat any chance they can. Do you get much fur damage between checks on your marten and fisher. Are you running 2 or 3 day checks?

Not much damage from rodents as long as they are up or hanging.
Sometimes fisher or other marten will eat the odd marten.This almost always happens before the catch has frozen hard.After an animal is frozen hard they are much less attractive to scavengers.
After freeze up I will run 3 or 4 day checks but it depends on how many traps/lines I have out.I dont run near as many traps as I once did-too tough at my age now.
When you have a lot of lines out the check times will be longer of course.
5-7 day check is fine in winter when running 5 or 6 different traplines,that gives you a day or two off for skinning (with lethal sets of course).Much more than that then you run into other problems.

You don't get damage from Ravens or Birds of prey up your way?

Only seen that on beaver in open water nuisance, if they dont make it under water.
The ravens plucjk the hair out but have a tough time opening the skin unless the beaver is belly up.

Awesome pictures sir! Your trap line always fascinated me.

Had a weird catch today-a friggen bobcat,lol.
Never heard of one ever being caught in the north.
Their northern limit in North eastern Ontario is along the North shore of Lake Huron and around the lake Nippissing area between North bay and Temagami,and west of Lake temagami.
Those areas are around 400Km south of my trapline.
A few more check pics

That cat looks like our Pa. cats. More like a rabbit color phase. They sure blend in when there is no snow. It would be nice to have some ermine in our area, I like trapping weasels.

Better watch out Boco the 'possums will follow the bobcats....lol
Great pics...we open tomorrow.

He looks dark against the snow.
This is more the true colour,definitly not silvery like a lynx for sure.
He must have migrated from the south east.Too bad he didnt come here from out west.
I will put up a couple pics when I get it boarded beside some lynx pelts i caught at the same set a couple days before the bobcat

I just got done reading this whole thread Boco. It’s got me all pumped and primed to get out there when our season gets going. Thanks for taking time to share.

Yall are welcome.
Its a good way for me to reference the seasons past for many things,populations,weather etc.

Great thread and photos. Thanks for taking us along on your line!

Have you finished the book I sent you? Figured you might recognize some of the areas, as well as the traditions.
Great pictures, by the way.

Yes AV a good book a simpler time and way of life.
Great the way he goes thru all the seasons.
I believe the location was in Maine.

You can tell you're a lynx trapper, not a bobcat trapper Boco. You showed two pictures of that cats back and no pictures of his belly!

I wondered how far south of you the bobcats ended. I was surprised to see you had skunks, I figured the cats would range farther north than the skunks.

The belly looks different than lynx-spots are more distinct.

The belly is 85% of the value on a bobcat. That isn't a bad belly, looks nice and white with good distinct black spots, but it looks hourglassed (although that may be the way he is hanging). I'd say that is probably a B belly. Still should go for three times what a lynx will.

I sent a couple lynx to the auction last winter to see how the prices were coming along-the avg of the two was $208CAD ea after deductions.
6oo sounds good for the bobcat




Lynx belly for comparison.

Hard to believe when comparing the fur that a bobcat is worth more than a lynx, there is just so much more fur on a lynx. But color is everything to the buyers.

Yes,the spots on the lynx look more muted because of the much longer fur I suppose.
The bobcat belly looks Brighter for sure.
It is too bad I caught the bobcat early,would have been intersting to see it if it was fully prime in dec/jan if it could have survived the deep snow and lean winter months here.

Bobcat spots also can dilute a little has the fur gets longer. My guess is your kitty has a C belly after it’s stretched.

This is a C belly from my line.

Thats a nice one BP,what do they pay for something like that.

Checked a few today.









Got hungry on the road home-broke down and ate some of my lure.

Mustard packed sardines or Herring in Oil ? I prefer the mustard. Too good to use for bait. Good snack and protein. Just need some crackers and cheese now.

Smoked herring in oil Bob,I just use the juice after I eat the feesh.Good stuff for a quick protein snack out on the line.
I always tell people If I get hungry I eat some of my bait,lol.

Great pictures

$100-$150 at local auction

That's a pretty good price for those coast range cats. I can remember doing an awful lot of those for a 30-35 average.

Last couple of years coast cats have done better. That said my average last year was only $84

Checked a few boxes on the line.

You’re hammering those ermine Boco

Another canary, nice!

No not even close.
Just the way the sun was shining on it.

Neat critters!

What's a white ermine sell for?

Which book did VK send you?

I sell them for $25 retail and $22 wholesale.
Get between 50 and 100 on avg most years .

Cache lake country.

Checked a few sets today.
Picked up a cat in a trail snare,couple marten,and a couple fishers.

I hate the weather we get nowadays.
Cannot count on the ice conditions from one week to another unlike in the past.
Spent half an hour getting the bike out of deep water when it broke thru the ice.
Lucky I wasnt too far from the truck and was able to use my loading ramp to get the bike back on top after busting a bunch of ice with the axe.
Was a good workout and lucky I had my hip wasders on-the water was near 3 feet deep where the bike broke thru.

That's never fun. Although the bikes do float better than a snowmachine and are usually easier to get out in that deep of water. And yes I've used ramps in the same way, also to cross narrow strips of open water or where a culvert washed out.

Yes bearcat,these fording locations on the line only become a problem at freeze up time.Once frozen no problem,and when open also not much of an issue.In between-big problem when you get halfway out and break thru.
Over the years I have had the same problem with the truck on some back roads,but always carried the chainsaw and was able to cut the ice to get across
In spring when its open but there is still a snowpack the 550 tundra will skip across the open water spots without issue.

Where culverts have been removed or washed out we generally will build a bike bridge with the chainsaw.The trapper as well as local hunters will help to maintain the temporary bike bridges.

all part of the trapping adventures! but boy you are putting the hurt on the ermine LOL

Looks like a good year for the little buggers.Lots of fur and game of all kinds out there this year.
Our dry summer must have bode well in the rearing of the young in the bush.
Although early,my marten ratio stands at 7 to 1 (juv+adult males to adult females).
Over 20 weasels 3 fisher and 16 marten in 3 weeks out of 25 boxes.And 3 cats out of 1 jackpot and 1 cat out of about 6 trailsnares.
Might be worth running some longer lines this year once I start using the snowmachine.

Checked a few today.

When you set these boxes are you specifically targeting ermine? Or are they being set for ermine or martin?

Ermine marten and fisher.
Waxing the 120s allows me to catch all the ermine that visit.
If I wanted to just catch ermine and exclude marten and fisher I would install an access plate in front of the box and recess the 120 to function unimpeded by the access plate.

Awesome pics! Did that red fox climb the tree to get to the box on a horizontal log?

Red fox??I havent caught a fox yet this season.

I guess I was scrolling too fast one of the Marten hanging looked like a red fox with the black feet and red fur or Marten up here look different. I quit drinking so I can't blame it on being in my cup but it's a little embarrassing misidentifying and Marten for a fox as a trapper

Sometimes it is hard to tell the size of something in a picture when there is nothing to guage it with,
I have nailed a couple foxes over the years that have jumped up on top of a vertical box and got caught.

A good run on the weasel line.

It always amazes me to see them tiny weasels caught in such big body grippers. You got it down Boco.

I had something (probably just a coon) trip my 160. Box was at ground level as I was checking a couple times a day deer hunting. The trigger wires may have been a little bent so they’re each kinda pointing in opposite direction’s perpendicular to the jaws. When it went off, the jaw split them and the part that holds the wires prevented the jaws from closing all the way. There was fisher tracks around there before I set a week before, but I hope it was a coon. Gotta clean them out before setting for the good stuff.

Make sure your trap is solid in the box.narrow slots hold them rock solid even when the animals like marten and fisher are all over the box and springs before they enter.
Waxing the traps also makes them much more efficient/effective.

Are those weasels in 160s or 120s?...nevermind, saw in earlier post that they're 120s.

4 days ago I hung 3 wolf snares on a trail where I seen they were using.
This one came thru last night.

Looks like our coyote colors.

They come in all different colours,most of the greys seem to have a bit of tawney in them.

Very nice! Around here they might linger for a couple days, but then they’re gone for 2-4ish weeks

After freeze up,here when they cant get beaver anymore, they hang around the Moose yards.(and travel between them).

Nice. I'm used to waiting a month for them to come back around, but every wolf (all three of them) that I've caught this year has been on either the first or second check. Sure beats last year when I set traps the first of November and the didn't get the first wolf until the first week of February.

It helps once you get to know your line good and where and when the wolves use at different times of the year.It helps you get in front of them.
Gang setting jackpots as opposed to blind trail snaring is a good method if you want to really hammer them quickly.

Nice looking wolf. Any limit on the amount of wolves you can take Boco?

No limit on wolves for trappers.We do have a season on them here though.Wolf management needs to be flexible.Sometimes they need hit hard and other years not so much if at all.
Limit of two for hunters in NE Ont.
It helps to take a few each year if you maintain a substantial beaver quota on an RTL,It keeps things in balance.
I would not want to eradicate them though since having some wolves is beneficial to a lot of smaller predators especially in late winter Foxes follow the wolves around all winter.Lots of times when snaring a jackpot fox will blunder into a wolf snare at the same time wolves are caught..But wolves are extremely destructive to the health of a trapline when they overpopulate.
Like all other keystone animals management is key to keeping a line healthy long term.
Since some wolf packs utilize more than one rtl,most trappers in my zone keep in touch with their neigboring trappers to know how many wolves are taken.

I've never had much luck with wolves using jackpots, personally. Had them coming in and eating every roadkill deer I threw out a couple years ago, a lot of that in the offseason, but otherwise I can count the number of times I have had them come in and eat on a bait on my fingers and have plenty of fingers left over. I know other guys down here that have good luck with them, and a couple others like me that don't.

I was curious about the lynx picture? Is that caught in a marten set? A 220? Can't quite make it out? Can you provide some details on the set itself also as I am quite interested in the concept since I currently only use box sets....thanks!

Great thread as always Boco. Thanks for taking us along again this year.

Super pictures

All the lynx(and the bobcat) are snared.All at a jackpot set except one at a blind trail set.
Snaring cats is as easy as snaring rabbits,I find a suitable place where lynx hunt or on the routes where they travel between hunting pockets.
I will wire up a beaver carcass,or just toss it on the ground in agood thick spot of saplings,preferably dead,then I will block the north side,and hang 8 snares on the other 3 sides.The jackpot for cats will be about 20 feet in diameter roughly.If you are running a bunch of jackpot sets,always set the same amount of snares at every one,because if you have different numbers of snares to check at every jackpot you will miss some when checking,especially after it snows and covers a catch.
When animals approach a bsit they move low and slow,so we hang our snares 6 inches from the ground and a 6 inch loop.
At a blind trail set I will hang a snare for cats higher,about 8-9 inches off the trail and abit bigger loop maybe 7 inch.
Cat jackpots will take every fox that comes along in winter.But we dont have a whole bunch of fox here most years especially in the areas that hold lots of cats.A jackpot is just a variation of the standard Snare fence, (basically just a curved snare fence)

Thanks, the last lynx pic looked like he was almost up the tree standing on his hind legs...after the bait I'm guessing....

Thanks for taking the time to do this. Very informative and interesting!!

That is just the way he wrapped himself up on the killstick.

Do you set any footholds for wolves or cats at all?

Havent set a foothold for wolves for years.
I set a foothold once in a while for a cat if I can check it every day,which is rare.
I dont like dealing with live animals on the line or messing with re setting snowed in traps.Time is a rare commodity in the north in winter.

Thanks for taking the time to post your line Boco.
You sure do have some nice areas to trap.
Plus a variety of fur also.

I’m trying to find where you were talking about mink sets on your open water beaver travels. You could tell the fur was near prime by the tail? I got a couple mink and was reading the big bible, and comparing a Jan 22 tanned mink to the female I just got. Kinda tough to tell unless I got the actual graded fur in front of me.
This is the tanned Jan 22 one, underfur/guard hair doesn’t really blend in, yesterdays mink seems to be more of a contrast

An early mink caught before it primes up will have a ropy looking tail,You can tell a prime mink by the long guard hairs on the "bottle brush" tail.
The last part of a minks leather to turn creamy white(when dry) indicating prime is on the tail.
It makes little difference in what you will get in the current wild mink raw fur market.
The only reason I take any mink at all right now is because I have a market for tanned mink and they are easy to tan,and are there for the taking when trapping beaver.
I have not shipped any mink to the raw fur market for about 3 years now.

Thanks all for looking at my trapping journal.

Thanks for posting & all the tips!
I might try phoning GFW Dave to see if he’ll pay anything for them. The 2 I sent to FHA are still in their cooler and I guess there’s still 15 million over seas in warehouses from the ranches there. I’ll have to try tanning one, for some reason I’m always tanning beaver and they ain’t easy…lol

Heck Boco, this is one of the better journals out here.

Thanks Boco for the pictures. You are having way to much fun.

:Looks like your doing pretty awesome this year! Sweet on getting the wolf!

Another run on the driftwood line.Got one marten with orange toes on 3 of his feet,and two nice xdk's

If Boco's trapline pics don't get your juices going nuthin' will. Keep 'em coming.

Latest check,not much moving,need a cold snap.
Good time to chop up a beaver and replace the old stuff in the boxes.






The last marten was a big bugger,Be interesting how he measures on the board.

Never gets old seeing the ermine.

…Good time to chop up a beaver and replace the old stuff in the boxes.. [/quote]


How often do you freshen them up with bait? How about lure?
Trying to catch a fisher here and not sure what to do with bait frozen solid. Was lucky enough to get a deer the other day so freshened the boxes with liver and lung. Also have some older beaver chunks in them.
Thanks anyone for any advice.

It does, if you are trying to catch marten. Almost as bad as squirrels.

I suppose so Dirt. I don't have marten around here but used to have a decent population of weasels back in the day.

You dont miss marten by catching weasels,lol.Often catch several of each in the same box.They know where the bonanza is at.
Plus the little guys are $25 bucks a pop.
I wouldnt wax my 120s if I wanted to exclude weasels.

x2

Checked a few sets today.











Caught one cat at the snare fence.
I built the bush cubby with snare fence last year as a tutorial post but never set it up.

I activated it about a week ago by putting a bait in the cubby and hanging snares,4 on each side.
A jackpot is basically a curved snare fence,but the snare fence is quicker and easier to set up in an open type bush.

You are doing well, thanks for the pictures.

How long do you thaw those critters before you skin em?

Marten hanging in the cold room will be thawed out by tomorrow.
One cat is froze solid,he will be ready to skin tomorrow morning if I leave him hang at room temp.If I hang him in the cold room 2 or 3 days.
The other cat was caught fresh so only his feet,legs and head are froze,I will likely be able to skin him tonight.
The weasels thaw out at room temp in a couple hours or less.

Great pics Boco!

That sure is a TOTALLY different world than down here in the tropics...

First run with the snowmachine,got about a foot of snow now,with accumulations daily.
Was sure nice to run the trails with the snowmachine instead of the bike,Much faster and not near as bumpy.
Gonna make the first run on the north line tomorrow or day after.I will be able to access much more country on the snowmachine.Hopefully be able to set up some more marten boxes and a couple or 3 jackpots if the trails dont need too much work.

I'll second that! Very neat to see.

Love the snare jackpot. Got to try that when the lynx come back.

That snare fence is a very old set,muskrat.It works good in the more open country,probably be good in your country.
You can set one on each side of your skidoo trail when cats are using the trail with a cubby on each side with a foot trap and the snare fence parallell to your trail.Multiple catches prevent cannibalism and much better than hanging snares on your skidoo trail.
You can make up a few ahead of time,then activate the ones you want by putting bait in the cubby and hanging snares.
Some trappers here use their snare fences that were made 20,30 years ago,just a little mtc here and there.

I think the overflow finally freezing up. Ill look for good location for snare fences when I go to bust out the trail to my camp. I think busting out the trail going to be an all day thing as the willows are really hanging over the trails.

Looks like you'll being needing new skinning knifes from all the resharping from all that skinning. Great pics keepem coming.

Nice! Our forecast is looking warm with no snow in the foreseeable future. Gonna start ice beaver and get some boxes up with the quad next weekend after my call shift. It’s so quiet, I might sneak out with the truck tomorrow morning and hang a box or 2 on foot.

Checked a few sets.
Picked up another wolf on the trail.

Went for a skidoo ride today on the driftwood line to check out some new country,Found a good spur to make a few new sets.
Checked a couple sets on the camp trail.

Checked a few traps on a short spur this afternoon.



Caught the cat in a trail snare(no bait),snare was hung in the opening on the right where cat was using to hunt rabbits.

Thanks for sharing. Really enjoy the variety of fur you catch Boco.

Good year on your cats it seems Boco.

Lots of everything in the bush this year Mud,except foxes.All the critters are loaded with fat.
I guess our dry summer was good for the food chain.
Probably the high numbers of lynx was hard on the fox last winter.

Great pics Boco.

X2

I hope all that trapping doesn't take too much time away from the important things like posting on Trapperman!

....Still too soggy to get much done in western Oregon so all I can do is look at your posts.

No worries BP I have very few traps set out.

Great job as always Boco !! I’ll ditto BP way to soggy out and the rivers are flooded to even beaver trap . Can’t wait to get trapping

Last couple checks on the line.
Located an old bushtrail into a small lake on the line and drove the snowmachine in to check it out.Only a few Km in.
Rough trail,nobody been in there for a long time.
Supposed to be brook trout in the lake,for sure I know there are brook trout in the creek that comes out of it.
Looks like good marten country in there.I was looking for old marten boxes from the last trapper that had this line but didnt notice any.

Last check I had a marten come along and clean all the bait out of the box.(there was a weasel in the trap,second last pic in the previous post) He stashed the bait chunks down a hole about 20 feet from the trap.His trail back and forth to get the 3 chunks of bait was beaten down pretty good.
Well I re baited and re set yesterday since I figured he would soon visit the jackpot he had found.
I went today to look at this one trap and as predicted there he was.

Don't you love when a plan comes together.

Cool

Checked a few sets today,picked up 3 marten and another wolf.(blind trail set-no bait)

Wolverine set with the big cubby?

No,fisher set.
Wolverines are protected here,they are just coming back.
Spreading from the north and west of the province.
I see wolverine tracks every couple years.When I do I close my wolf snares or any fisher sets I have out, until he moves on,so I dont catch one.
If a trapper catches one accidentally he can keep it for his own use but not allowed to sell.

I see, didn't think about fisher.

Went for a skidoo ride down the camp trail today.



Not much left of a weasel,got snacked on by a marten-guaranteed marten catch next run,lol.

Getting caught up on the weasels.

Boy, that's a pretty shot of those ermine. You're living the life!

That is one animal I would like to have in numbers around my grounds. Nice put up Bob and good batch of weasels.

Enjoy the pictures, Boco. Just curious, why are your marten boxes facing up? Most of the others pictures I see from other trappers have the boxes facing down.

I have marten boxes set opening down and horizontal as well.
I change my bait often and horizontal and opening up are quick to re bait.
Opening down the bait needs to be wired in.This takes a lot of time if you run a lot of boxes.
I used to run around 80 boxes at a time but last few years I only run about 25.
According to studies done in the late 80s across NE Ontario,the opening up boxes produced the highest catch rate per visit..

I like the opening down boxes(except for the bait issue) they are good for trappers who dont have a lot of good bait available since the suspended bait lasts a lot longer.problem is old bait gets freezer burnt in winter and loses its attraction.(why I re bait every 10 days or so)

I like the horizontal boxes but they take a bit longer to set up if going into a new area.
A lot of times in the fall before trapping season when doing trail mtc where I can get to traps before freeze up I will change a few boxes to horizontal.
The way I set the horizontal box requires zero mts compared to the traditional methods of setting horizontal boxes.
Also with the opening towards the tree trunk there is less refusals.

Most years the weasels are fairly plentiful on the land,but like other species,some years they boom
There are more this year than the last couple years,The catch is dropping off now though since I am not moving traps into new areas and their home range is quite small so they dont fill in like marten.

Put up another cat yesterday,turned today.
Got 5 of the 10 put up so far.

Nice lookin kitty Boco. Nice work!

Nice and fluffy. How do they grade lynx? The same as bobcats?

Pretty much the same I think.clarity of the belly and weight of fur.
Most of mine grade HVY with A-B or B-C bellys
I believe they also look for the bright silver backs as opposed to off coloured(brownish).

That kitty is plum purty!

Your fur handling skills are unmatched...

Thanks Swampy,I just turned this old silverback.Stretched on a foxboard.

Dang! Your squirrels are big up there!

Had a mild spell the other day,guess it fooled this big old male mink.He was on the prowl pretty far from any water.




Checked a few today close to home.(battery died on the camera)

Look's like your catching more male short tail weasels.

Almost all males,rarely get a female.Might get 2 or 3 females out of 100.
They are able to avoid the trigger wires on the 120s,I suppose and are too small to wrestle a fist size chunk of beaver out thru the trap.

Very impressive Lynx pelt Boco

Checked a few traps today.
Wolves are savage this year.I set up a new jackpot about a week ago,just a small one with 7 snares and a beaver carcass and the hind end of a skinned wolf carcass for bait.
nailed 4 when they came thru,all nice well furred silky Light Tawneys,One nice big one ,one pup with one back leg eaten off,one pup half devoured and a big one half devoured.
I salvaged them all,the nice big one will go to auction,the one with the half the back leg missing will go to the tannery with two others I got a while ago, and the two half wolves I will tan myself and use for strips for mitt trim.
There are 3 snares left there,I will wait for a snowfall and go back and set some more snares there and re bait.
I estimated that pack to be around 8-10 wolves so should be a few left.

Good week,I can't believe you can check once a week,but that's Canada for you,lots of wanton waste there glad you can make something from the remains.I could see a 3 day check in the winter,or even a 2 day check on snare's,but that will never happen here in Mn.They have tried many times to fail every time.We do have a 3 day check on boby grip traps or drowning sets,under the ice I think they allow more time,could be once a week then.Good job on thinning the wolf pack down.

Wolves normally do a circuit and you time it.This particular pack was on a 4-5 day circuit in this area.Those wolves were caught yesterday-only the feet frozen.I already skinned the two good ones.
You cant check wolf sets (or any sets) too frequently it is counterproductive.
The animals wont come around if you are there bothering them.Especially wolves.
Main thing with wolves is to thin them out when they get too many.
Lice damage,and cannibalism is only a thing when they are overpopulated.It happens every few years.
Why I targeted wolves this year.Not healthy for the line(or the wolves) to let them run rampant.

There is no check time here.When you trap remote a mandated check time could cost you your life when there are blizzard conditions or long stretches of 40 below.
I look on the bright side,its easier to carry half a wolf out of the bush to the skidoo than it is to carry a whole one,lol.

Didn't realize that wolves would be that cannibalistic. Always educational
On Tman. Better than my PBS channels.
7 snares and 4 wolves. That's a fantastic catch. Kudos to your trapping eyes and reading sign setting those snares Boco.

Checked a few sets today,swung by the jackpot that had all the action last couple days,Another wolf found one of the snares and was promptly devoured by a couple others.
Only 2 snares left there now,gotta get back with some more snares and bait.
I'm calling this the "Donner Pack".

Boco, do you think the Donner Pack is a different pack than the ones that were snared?

No,all the same family group.They are all the same colour-Lt Tawney same genetics and age class fits.
I snared a lone wolf (14 dec) that was bad with lice on a blind trail set(no bait) about 10 miles north east of the donner pack.I believe he was originally from that pack but was kicked out because he was sick,He likely would have been eaten by the rest of the pack if he hadnt left..He was so bad with lice I left him in the bush.
I believe he was originally from the donner pack
The first two wolves I snared on a different trapline about 40 miles south east of the donner pack are obviously a different pack (Lt greys) because of distance.

Our wolf packs here in NW Wisconsin are probably more crowded than yours; in areas where their territories bump up against each other I see lots of tracks where it looks like skirmishes occur. Unless those tracks are just where pack members are getting booted?

Those are likely pack boundary kickback markings.
If they are seen in the same place on a fairly regular basis that is likely what it is.
One pack will visit,and mark the area,usually in a spot around a 20 foot diameter area where a couple wolves kick up dirt,snow etc,and leave scat and urine.
When the other pack comes along they will repeat the activity.

If you see similar in random areas the wolves sometimes do that when they find a food source or a place where they ambush beaver,etc.

Boco, what's the deer population like where your at?
I've never seen evidence of a wolf eating another.

No deer here,these ones kill moose in winter and they are found near the moose yards and have travelways between the moose yards in winter..
Not uncommon for wolves to eat each other when one is sick or displays unusual behaviour like in a snare or trap.
The smaller deer eating wolves are more in the central and NW of the province where deer are common.

Starting to put up some wolf skins.

Will be a tough year to frost scrap anything!

Yea,thats why I started putting some up now,cant count on the weather to get cold in the near future.
They are calling for cold weather not until February,I will do all my beaver then.

Fur is standing up pretty!

Yea they are prime for sure swampy.

You do good work on all your furs Boco. Handy guy with a knife and brush for sure

Thanks Ryan.I have picked up a few tricks over the years from the oldtimers.
Weather is not co operating for frostscraping the wolves and beaver so far.
Gotta go back to beaming when that happens and the freezers are full.

Beautiful work Boco!

Really Amazing

Nice fur Boco, I think that is were the money is made is in the shed.

Thanks Guys,Newfox it is a fact a lot of trappers lose money by either doing a poor job of putting up their fur(sometimes due to rushing it) or not putting it up at all.That said,I see a lot of great looking put up fur on here.I love seeing well handled fur pics from everyone.
Myself I never found that taking a bit of time to put up fur cut into my trapping at all.
My traps continue working when I am in the fur shed,lol.

Pretty nice craftmanship!

Really enjoy the pictures , Great looking job !

Put a deer hide flesh side out draped over a wood pile.
Woodpeckers have it really clean.

Got some marten ready for the FHA pick up on the 14th,
Couple wejack there too.

Beautiful pile of marten!

Robert what do you do with your off coloured cats and the titty bellied females?
Hats or dress them?

I grade the cats,send the good belly cats to the auction and send the off colored or early ones to tanner.
I sell them tanned to people who want a wallhanger and also make hats,also use lynx for fashon hood trim on capes and trim on otterskin mitts.

Boco, was that your thread I found in the archives about how to deal with cat teats? If so, it was pretty slick!

Boco, you’re the man!

Just got caught up on the last few pages of your thread, you’re the best at fur handling I’ve seen.

Wicked job on those wolves! That pile of Marten and Lynx look awesome!!

Thanks JP.
Wish you were closer I would give you some buisness like shakey.

No that wasnt my thread,but I knew about cutting out the stained fur around teats on the nursing female cats as long as the stain isnt too big.

you go an amazing job handling fur. i really enjoyed your tanning thread. Do you make and sell mittens? otter skin mitt with lynx trim would be awesome.

-38 here today. Probably gets some sets out for lynx in the next week or so.

Snared wolf number 9 today-number 4 from this particular pack.
Good sized Tawney male.

nice!

Boco what are you putting in ears when you’re skin side out on them lynx to prop them ears up? Cardboard insert?

The head looks huge in that second picture. Amazing to me how big they are.

Yea a piece of cut out cardboard to keep them up to dry.
Then I Dampen the cartilage and work it a bit to soften it for turning when I turn the skin.

Yea they got a big noggen on them.And big feet.

Man I'm envious! I got about 100 snares scattered about and can't catch nothing!

Snaring is like trapping.
When trapping you have to place the pan where the animal is going to put its foot.
In snareing you have to hang the loop where the animal is going to stick his head.

Nice wuff! You're really getting them this season. Typical year or better than normal?

I usually set for a few each year,but from the sign and talking with other trappers they are overpopulated this winter,which is not healthy for the line.
So I decided to target two packs,one on my sons line and one on my north line.
I normally take 2 or 3 each year.when trapping hard in my younger years i took more since I covered a lot more country back then.My best year was 13 from one trapline.There used to be more trappers snaring wolves back in the day.Seems like some today find them too hard to catch and skin,that is their excuse anyway,then they wonder why their lines dont produce good numbers of fur,lol.One wolfpack will cover several traplines,and one trapline can have 2 or 3 packs using different parts of a trapline.There are 2 packs that use my sons line and 3 packs that I know of that use the two lines I trap up north.
There are still a few good wolfers in Cochrane Kap and Hearst,some young guys too.And a few who take one or two every year to help keep their lines healthy.
I learned most of my methods from Ovila Sylvain,Yvon Arseneault and Arthur Dussault.

Good explanation. Do you have an idea how many wolves in each pack? Do you ever try to eliminate a pack or just thin it down?

Most packs are 5 -7.They rarely get bigger than that here.
Some years they get 8-12 not often though.In those years you see large packs all over where you would see normal smaller packs.This is one of those years here.
I have not noticed the actual number of packs go up just the numbers in each pack.
Pack boundaries are pretty well defined when the packs are mature and healthy.You dont have to kill all the wolves in a pack to wipe it out.Once you decimate the pack especially if you get the two Adults along with one or two two year olds or a pup or two that pack is done.If an adult is left it may strike out on its own into poor country where it has less of a chance to cross another pack where it would be killed.Any young wolves left will be killed by an adjacent pack that will move into the weakened packs territory.Packs are always testing each other at the marking spots that are maintained in certain spots.These spots are easy to see in the fall and winter with the large amount of sign left there on a regular basis.It is similar to a beaver territorial castor mound where one colony will cover up the other colonys scent then add their own.Why these mounds get so big.Once you wipe out one colony of beaver the other beaver will know that they can expand their boundary from the lack of activity at the territorial castor mound.Wolves mark their territory in a very similar way-Its how they communicate.As soon as wolves detect a weakness they move in.
Loner wolves are easy to catch in winter if you come across one,as they take big risk to get food,since they are almost always starving and in rough shape.Sometimes an old wolf will be on its own for no reason other than leaving the pack or being displaced.

Thanks for taking time to get me up to speed. Interesting stuff.

No problem BP.
To be able to catch any animal at will you need to be well schooled in their habits.
Best way to do that is spend lots of time out on the line and cover some territory..

Yes, very interesting.

Thanks for the observations from your area. I presume the main large diet is moose in winter or hibernating bears.

Definitely Moose John.
The wolves actually spend their winters around the moose yards and travelling between the moose yards.
They switch over to mostly beaver during the summer and the pack members are more loosely associated in the summer.
That said I have often seen bear hair in wolf scat in the fall.I believe the wolves get the bear out in the open in an old burn or clearcut.

one of the Phd students gave his presentation on the wolves they are tracking here. They are concerned with one of the last woodland caribou herds remaining. The some of collared bears were predated on in Feb-March period, trail cameras picked this up. More and more info is coming out with the DNa hair on the diets they are having come to light.
What was interesting was some of the Minn data on their wolves.....or I should say some of the shared wolves that cross the boarder so much.

Temps are starting to get cold enough to frostscrape.
Did this wolf pelt this morning.

I always find your frost scraping fascinating.
Do you work in a certain direction like top to bottom or doesn't it scrape any different or have a bearing on the final product?

I do top to bottom for the most part but scrape across in harder to get to places on cased skins like wolf where you can do the legs and around parts of the head.
Beaver or other open skinned is top to bottom then flip the board and do bottom to top.It doesnt matter it scrapes the same.
The heavy saddle on the wolf scrapes right off clean with no effort at all really.

Here is the frostscraped wolfskin dried and off the board this morning.

That is a pretty lookin' pelt there. Going to FHA?

No,BP I will send that one to the tanner and sell private.I have several people looking for tanned wolf pelts so the 3 I have done up so far are basically already sold.I also have a couple from last year coming back from the tanner in a couple weeks.
I have two bigger ones,nicely furred, in the freezer that I will soon be putting up that I may send to the auction.
Its getting expensive to get wolves tanned,but I can easily recoup those costs when I sell them,and with the cold weather setting in for frostscraping it is not as much work to put them up.

That’s a good looking wolf Boco! Why turn it fur out if you’re tanning it though? I’m guessing because you like looking at it lol.

Fur handling habits are not easily changed.

Great job Boco !! You got any videos of you first scraping ?

It doesnt take long to turn the skin.Plus I still have some wolf sets out and things change,
I make my final decisions on what gets tanned and what gets shipped or sold to someone else in the raw state when they are all put up
They need to be fur out to grade them.
But yes if you know for sure you could leave it fur in.But that limits your options if you change your mind.
Fur out is standard handling for wolf.

No I never made a movie about frostscraping-never made a movie about anything.

One Fine looking hide Boco. Interested to hear if any more have visited you jackpots or trail sets. Things are chillin down there i see!

Yes there are still wolves around.There is a pack across the river,one wolf from that pack has started making exploratory incursions into the other wolves territory last little while since I weakened the resident pack.They normally swing north along the east side of the river as the river seemed to be the pack boundary.
I hung a couple trail snares,they use an old overgrown logging road as a main trail on the other side of the river.One has now been coming across the ice on the river using a short section of trail by my cabin,and swinging north along the west bank.
Should be able to pick up a few more if I keep trapping until end of feb.
Just got a foot or so of snow from a mini blizzard so that should have got them moving.
I need to chop up a couple more wolf carcasses for bait.

You use the wolf carcasses for baiting the wolves yea?

Absolutely.
Like using castor for beaver.

I have a wolverine frozen on the board fur in right now. Going to try frost scrape it later this evening. Only used the method with a spoon for mink but if it works well for the wolverine ill do the other 5 the same way. Theyre fat this year. I dont want to deal with liquid fat

The fat skins scrape nice when frozen.
Frost scraped a few fat fall blackbears I kept in the freezer till winter-come out real nice and clean-no grease in the fur to take out later.

You’re crushing it Boco!
2 of my wolves were tainted. One I put in the bag but the other was terrible when I flipped it fur out. Huge patch pulled out on the side up to the spine. I could've probably saved from the shoulders up to the head though but didn’t. Just kept the paws & tail, I’ll do something with them. Skull I’ll clean up too. Now I know the smell when they’re no good….like bad rot. Poor warm weather and dead in the snare too long I guess.
The one I dropped off at JPs must be OK cuz he just sent me a pic of the damaged nose, ripped from the snare I guess.

Check your snares every 2 days if the weather is warm shakey.Or close the snares til cold again.
And dont wash them.
Just rub the dry blood with borax after turning.
The main thing about harvesting wolves is to keep the line healthy-too many wolves you wont have a very productive line,and they are hard on the moose.
Good pelts are a bonus.
A lot of wolves can have greenbelly even in winter,and they are perfectly fine when they come back from the tannery-you just gotta process them promptly,either dry them quick or salt dry them.Dont leave the fur wet or leave the hide in a plastic bag.Even shot wolves can get greenbelly in a few hours.
You can put a wolfhide on the board to dry and skin out the paws while it is on the board.
Like other species the more you do the easier it gets.

One reason I don't like snares. Many states (not Idaho) have longer check times on lethal sets than nonlethal (like footholds). In my opinion, if you are going to make variable check laws it should be the opposite, due to spoilage/wastage.

Boco gives good advice, I never wash anything that has any green belly. Wolves have very thick skin and fur, so they take longer to dry than most critters, and that bacteria keeps working until they are dry. Another trick I learned from a taxidermist is to spray any green belly (on the hide side) with Lysol. It will kill the bacteria and give you more grace time to get the pelt dried.

I snare everything and there is no wastage from snares any more than footholds.
Just dont snare in warm weather or check more often.Same goes for lethal sets of any kind for any species.As far as footholds I wouldnt leave a live animal in a trap under any circumstances more than 24 hours,especially a wolf.They can wreck themselves when held alive too long.
Like I said greenbelly is not a damage.It is not a taint until it turns dark brown or black,Taint is a damage.
I have shot wolves in footholds and by the time I got them home they had greenbelly.
It is rare to get a wolf here by any method at any time of year that wont have some green in the belly.
Snares are far more efficient and cost effective for harvesting wolves than footholds here.
Trapped and put up my first wolf when I was 16.I'm 68 now,lol.

I wasn't implying that you got any wastage, you've mentioned quite a few times about checking your traps/snares every two days or closing them during warm spells. There are a lot of guys that specifically use lethal sets in these places that have variable check laws so they can check once a week. Usually on the weekend because they are working all week. I've seen marten, coyote, bobcat and other critters in these guys sets for several days while hunting the area, when the weather is too warm. I know a lot of those animals were a total loss due to spoilage.

A big reason why I only start Marten trapping in December. Even though our season begins November 1st, it’s still plus temps many days. The Marten will be there in December and in January and in February. Primer too!

Those people should have been charged by the CO.That is illegal here.The law specifically states that although there are no checktimes whatsoever in the patricia portion of Ontario for trappers safety, it is an offense to let or cause any trapped animal to spoil.
When a CO does a trapline audit and finds semi-decomposed fur in a trap charges can be laid and repeat offenders can lose their trapline.

In the beginning where you say "the 2 adults", are you referring to the breeding pair? I've taken 4 females with the oldest being 2-3 years oldish, but if the breeding pair is still around, I suppose they may change their area. There was 2 sets of tracks that I saw near the bait but they certainly changed their habits.

Yes the breeders.


I missed a wolf today.
He got his foot caught in a small snare set for kynx.It held him for a couple minutes before the snare broke,since he trashed the jackpot,lol.
I had a couple wolfsnares not too far back from that lynx jackpot,but lucky for him he missed those.
He wont be back there anytime soon.

Hey Boco
Any more wolf action??

Went to check the jackpot up north yesterday,wolves coming in for the bait on new trails.
Will have to hang some more snares,or move a few.

Pulled some traps on a spur line close to home today.
Picked up a lynx and a red fox at the snare fence,and a few weasels.
Fox were very scarce here this year,this is the only one I got all season.Although I dont normally set specifically for fox they always get caught at the lynx jackpots.

Nice catches. I haven't seen a red fox around here in over a decade. Used to fairly common.

Looks like your having a good run at it this year Boco! Always enjoy your posts and seeing your put ups! Keep at it

Way different conditions this year HFT,not much snow and not too many cold days at all so far.
When I skinned the fox the poor bugger was just skin and bones.Pelt is nice though,

Picked up another cat today on the camp trail.
Other than a few snares up north for wolves,thats the only small spur I have any sets left on now,I pulled the one short line yesterday and the other one last week
I will leave the one cat jackpot and the 6 marten boxes set on the camp trail for now since I go in and out to the cabin often.

Good stuff Boco. I enjoy reading your wolf info and seeing those snowy traplines.

Great stuff !

Boco, on average, how many wolves do you get a year?

Looks like you still got the snowmobile out. Still winter there…lol
Along with bucksnbears question, when you take a few out of a pack, do you notice another pack moving in pretty quickly?

Nice to see how a trapline should look this time of year. 62F on my line today. Dang near T shirt weather.

I set for a few each year.
Depending on how long my lines are I may get a couple or maybe 6 or so.
Regardless trappers need to take some wolves every year to keep the line healthy.
Trappers who maintain sizable beaver quotas always take a good few wolves every year.

An adjoining pack will start testing the territory once you weaken the resident pack.But you wont see it if your neighboring trappers are harvesting other packs and not the same one as you are.
Wolves are a lot like beaver when it comes to maintaining or expanding home range/territory.

Trappers here are pretty tight lipped…lol. JP traps in the Sandilands Provincial forest and has had wolf success this year……that should narrow it down. He gets nervous showing me pics cuz I’ll recognize a certain tree….lol. The guys that were trapping last year near us aren’t there this time, but there’s some activity a few miles from their old bait site.

Kinda the opposite here, some of the good ones are tight lipped, but if I believed every story I hear we'd be taking 10,000 wolves a year here in Idaho. Lol.

Trappers here,as front line conservationists, participate in studies from time to time to improve knowledge and organize workshops and field trips thru the councils to share knowledge and techniques in harvesting as well as fur handling..
There are some who are loners and dont participate in the group activities,but even they talk from time to time with other trappers and knowledge and management techniques get trickled down.Also when trappers transfer lines to other trappers from time to time and get new grounds themselves,they cover the lines with them for a few runs to show them trails camps etc to familiarize the incoming trapper.A lot of specific trapline knowledge is shared that way.
Just in the local area which comprises 3 councils,there are over 250 trappers,so quite a few trappers here.
We have a skinning workshop coming up in March,and council meetings range from once every 2 months to 4 times a year to take care of buisness and for the OFMF reps and MNR fur techs to keep trappers informed what is going on politically,both on the provincial level and the local level.

Boco, when you weaken a pack and another pack moves in, does the new pack kill the remaining pack members or do they join them?

And how do you know if a new pack moves in rather than the pack just growing?

If there’s a pack of 8 wolves and you trap 5 of them. This spring they have pups (assuming there’s a female and male out of the 3 remaining) and let’s say 4 pups make it till Fall/Winter. Now the pack is at 7 when you start trapping in the winter.
How do you know if it’s the same pack or a new pack entirely?

I check their territorial marking areas that I know are on my traplines.I have trapped a bunch of different traplines in my area over the years with other trappers as well as on my own and know where the pack boundaries on my lines and other lines thru observation and harvest and talking to trappers who have been on the land and know their lines and surrounding country and the animals well.I recently took over a new line and it took my about 4 years to find the pack boundaries on that line and figure out how many packs use the line off and on and which pack is dominant.I am on my lines all year round and constantly observe the sign.
Once you take three or four wolves out of a pack of 5 or 6,after freeze up the remaining wolves can no longer take down moose easily nor can they defend their range from other wolfpacks that start to make inroads after they no longer detect territorial marking from the resident pack.
Nothing is in stone and it may be that one wolf could be absorbed into another pack but I doubt it very much.Wolves are inherently "to the pack born"
Unlike out west this country is very lean in winter and is why you see cannibalism in the face of weakness.Only the strong survive and the weak become feed.
After travelling on the line for a few years summer and winter you get to know the country and where the animals use.For example in winter it is easy to locate where the moose yard up,and this is where the wolves hone in on in winter.If they are not hovering near the moose yards they are travelling between them on predictable routes that successive packs have used for decades.
Wolf behaviour is very different during freeze up than it is during open water here in the James Bay frontier.Packs become much more loosely attached and often hunt on their own for beaver within their pack territory though.They come together to mark their territorial boundary in summer,and communicate thru howling over long distances and thru whistle barking when they are hunting as a pack.

Good write up Robert
unfortunately we do not have a large enough population of moose in southern Manitoba to support wolves

In central Ontario there is a type of wolf that preys primarily on deer.These wolves tend to be a smaller type than Northern wolves that feed on moose(there are no deer)
The theory is that the smaller wolves can do well on deer as they dont require as much to sustain them,and big size is not critical to be able to take down deer.-natural selection at work..

Thanks for that!

So would you say by weakening the pack down to 2-3 wolves you pretty much killed them?

Or are those 2-3 survivors more likely to runoff as soon as another pack learns about their weak numbers and find a new area to start a new pack?

Really it probably depends on the time of year and amount of food,and pressure from an overpopulation(or not) of other wolves.If they can make it to break up they might be able to steer clear of the dominant pack and live on beaver,or hang back and scavenge like rejected wolves often do.
One wolf I caught this year was a rejected older large wolf on his own.He was in bad shape and infested with lice and not worth skinning.

Good info Boco.

Thanks Boco! I’d ride 2up on your sled any day!

Pppp…pardon me? Who’s who? Hahaha

Looks like you and JP.
Posing for the Manitoba trappers calendar.

That’s bucksnbears and Jbyrd.

LOL.

Dang. Ain't nutty private anymore.

Here I've seen several times where a single lobo or a pair are using the same routes and crossings as a pack, just a couple days apart. Seems like the single is usually a big male and I assume that he is often an older male that has been booted from the pack, a pair seems to usually be yearlings, also I assume either booted or left on their own voluntarily. Last year I was trapping an area with a pack and a big lobo like that. I got all the pack except a smaller female, and within a week that big lobo had paired up with her.

We don't usually have the big packs here that I hear about some places, although I have seen where two packs joined and stayed together for a few days and then split back into their respective packs again. Something that I've never heard a biologist allude to happening. I seen where a pack of eight was today, that is a big pack for this area, I would say three to six is the norm.

In the few wolf books I’ve read, the one thing most have in common is stating that wolves are very predictable, but keep in mind, they can be very unpredictable…..lol.

Picked up a marten today.
Season ends for land fur end of feb.
That one is number 53 so far.
Good for marten this year,I never had more than 20 boxes out all season at one time.All pulled except for the half dozen on the camp trail which I will run til end of feb.I put fresh bait in those boxes last run-paid off I guess.Also had 3 weasels.

Nice numbers! I’ve got about 20 boxes up and I’m at 2 marten & 2 fisher….haha. Gotta open up some new areas and get deeper. The work is never ending.
Wolves haven’t been back which is good. Colorado low coming in tonight so rain turning to snow and colder temps. Gonna open the snares this weekend before the flight to Vegas. This Teresa or Taylor Swift or whatever her name is heard Shakey from D&R was heading out there and is trying to meet up on Sunday. Had to block her number.

Ha Ha ,bring her some green belly stink perfume,lol.

Nice day for riding on the line today,



Went to check a few sets on the camp trail,picked up a little fur.

I really enjoyed this thread this year. Thanks so much

Yes, I agree with you Chad. For those of us that live south we have to live the northern life however we can. Thanks Boco!

Why ya carrying snowshoes?

And do ever uses Stanley Staple guns to put up fur. Lol.
Just poken fun Boco.
Great pics.

I get tired out quick nowadays when breaking thru the crust every 3rd or 4th step.
Even though we only got a foot of snow,its lots easier walking on snowshoes when its crusty.
I have tried the stapler a few times to put up beaver,but dont like it.

lol on the stapler joke-I hate those things! Yes this has been a great thread Boco-thanks for putting in the effort to do it each year-I always enjoy it as well

Looking good!

I've got snowshoes strapped on my snowmachine year round. If you take them off when you don't need them, invariably you won't put them back on because you don't think you'll need them and you will end up some place where you would really like to have them.

I wear snowshoes a lot, it is a lot easier walking in them than postholing without them. I hate that crusty stuff where you can walk on top for two or three steps and then bust through, that will wear a guy out faster than postholing through every step.

Got some fur back from the tannery.
The white wolf I snared last year looks pretty good.

That wolf is an absolute beaut! Give you $50 for it!

Picked up a nice big dark male marten today on the camp trail.

Frostscraped a coon and an otter yesterday,and boarded them,

both were dry this morning

I assume any marten you get now grade heavy? Looking good on the frost scraping!

Yes BP.Actually marten prime up fairly early.
End of the season for them is end of feb,the late trapped ones are starting to fade a bit,more noticeable on the darker ones,still should fetch a good price at the auction when intersorted with same grade skins.

Went for a ride on the camp trail today and pulled my 8 marten sets.
Season closes end of feb.wound up with 54 marten this year with about 25 sets out.
Was nice out there today,only minus 5c and snowing.hardly no snow this winter.

Nice black and whites. THANKS FOR TAKING US ALONG THIS SEASON.

LOL,it looks like black and white pics but they are colour.
Thats the colour of the bush in winter.
Time to catch a few under ice beaver now that land fur is done.
Conditions are good.Fired up the chain saw for cutting ice yesterday.

Good looking wolf boco! Looks line you had a awesome season! You plan on hitting it hard next year for the marten?

Had a pretty good year for the small amount of sets I had out.Also some surprising catches-canary marten,bobcat,Coon and a coyote.I will see how the next couple auctions go HFT,I will be trapping for sure,how hard I dont know yet,lol.
I got quite a few lines I could set up,some I havent trapped for s few years.Probably just rotate lines instead of setting them all up though.

Thanks, Boco, can you trap the other lines out of your camp?

Yes mike,there is a couple lines on the closer ground that I can trap from the camp,I can also trap some from home.
On the northern ground there are some lines I havent trapped for a while.I have a camp there that I can trap out of.I havent used that camp in winter for a couple years
I plan to go down river from town to that camp this spring when the water is high to check on it and maybe do some fishing if time permits.I normally go into that camp by bush trail. A buddy of mine who hunts and has a trapline half way down river has a good boat and knows all the rapids and channells pretty good.He offered to take me down there.There is a couple tricky rapids to run but he is a youger fella so we should be good.

Gonna be holed up for a couple days here at home.
Blizzard raging right now with temps dropping to the minus 30s with the wind chill.Hiway is closed.
Time to do some frostscraping.

Is that marten/lynx country also?

Yea,all the same type of country.

Awesome

Got the last of the good wolves boarded,3 I did earlier and shipped out to the tannery.
These two will go to the tannery soon.




The 5 at the tannery will be sold before they come back from the tanner,one is already spoken for.
Good market for tanned wolves.

I got 3 more that were partially eaten I will tan myself this spring.There is enough fur for two pair of mitts two hats and quite a bit of trim.

Last week I seen where this beaver had been chewing out from under the ice early-ran out of feed.


I set a snarepole for him a few days ago and nailed him today.
Where he was coming out there was no water,but further down the creek there was some water so that is where I dropped in the set.
I figured he would be cruising under the ice looking for roots to eat.

I have never snared a beaver. Good job man!

Gonna target a few more under the ice.
Its fun checking the sets and seeing the big air bubbles in the ice-you know you got some action.

Went for a scouting run on Sherriff creek today.
Have a few more creeks to run on the close line to scout if the weather gets cold again.
It went to plus 6c today and they are calling for plus 10 Monday,
Too warm for trapping the houses high risk of taking a swim or sinking the machine when jumping dams.
Majority of beaver here are only acessible by skidoo in winter.

Odd catch today,an otter in a beaver snarepole.
He must have been attracted to the open hole and got caught.
Good thing I put Ice blocks on the safety crosser or he would have gotten up on the ice.

Boco, do you trap alone? Bad ice would give me the willys by myself.

Yes I trap alone.
I can read bad ice pretty good.If Im not 100% sure I check as I go with the spud.
That spot has a good solid 8 inches of ice.

Wow it was 85 degrees here yesterday.

You got a short fur growing season up that way,lol.

Had to do a bit of chizelin to get this yoke out.

lol you earned that one.

Lucky I got a good ice chizel,lol.
I'm not a fan of the low water winters.

I would recommend waiting a day or two before skinning that one. LOL

I can chip off some ice for the rye while I am waiting.

Rye with a lil hint of Castor!!

Absolutely Graham.

Before our bones wash out to sea I would love to tilt a bottle back with you some day Boco! Castor or none.

Same here BP.
Maybe we can meet up at an NTA or FHA convention in the future.

Think I'd up for a couple rounds for that sit down just to be fly on the wall and listen. Fella might pick up some finer points on the trade.

Dang problem for me is the conventions happen during my busy farming season....but who knows some day maybe. At some point I'll be too old to farm.

..and added incentive if crosspatch is buying!

Dang I hate that! But some spots it’s unavoidable. No more chainsaw for me…lol. Bought one of those ice saws, actually works pretty slick. If you push hard it cuts a bit faster, but easier to just push & pull lightly and let the blade do its thing. Still have to get two 2” holes through though. And if there’s one frozen to the ice, it’s careful chipping, then trying to lift it out with blocks of ice on it. The shoulder length gauntlets work good for getting right in there.

Bob did you sent your bobcat to the sale? If so just wondering how much you got for it

No Dan I sent it to the tannery,it is the only Bobcat I ever caught.
Maybe in a few years when I get tired of looking at it hanging on the wall I will sell it.

Hahaha! That’s what I told the wife 25 years ago. Now our living rooms all dark with fur all over. The polar bear will lighten things up though. Haven’t told her that legally, I can’t really sell it here. We’ll have to do a cheap renovation and make our living room a vaulted ceiling to fit it, but that will create more space for caribou & moose mounts. This trapping excursion I got myself into isn’t making us any money……lol

Alchohol and trappers? Id imagine a fight would break out at some point.

Oddly enough never seen a fight all the years trappers got drunk in Fast Eddies lounge at the FHA convention,lol.
If a fight ever did break out at Fast Eddies it would have to resemble the scene in the movie "Gangs of New York" with everyone sporting 4 or 5 skinning knives.LOL.

I can see it now: "Clean skinner eh? Draw your knife!"

What a great thread....just went through the entire thing. Down to earth, honest, educational. Boco...you live what most of us only dream of, and thank you for bringing it to life. You need to consider a book....!

I forgot most of my trapping years already trappermac,lol

That’s the thing. Who keeps a journal? Dave Vandermeers book is really good, but he was a kid, in the bush who thought it might be a good thing to bring a book, and wrote in his journal before bed in his shack. Frank Glaser book is also kinda based on his diary.
Great pics and tails of the season Boco!…but it’s not quite over yet.

Went out scouting on the close lines today,looking for some open water.
None yet even though the temps are fairly warm.managed to get in 3 pressure sets at some old dams.
Nearly got the truck bottomed out on an old snow covered backroad,was able to back out in 4x4 but pretty dodgy.
At least I had a shovel glad didnt have to use it.
Should be able to get some more sets in every couple days as the snow melts and the creeks open up.
Once the trails and logging roads are clear of snow here I will head up to the north line for a little beaver action.
The bike is in the truck today,fixed all the broken triggers on the 330s and made up a few oz of my version of Bob Wilsons green beaver lure.

Ice was dicey in some spots this morning. I wouldn’t try it this afternoon. Buddy went through in the “shallow” spots setting for rats. But he’s bigger and clumsy….lol. Asked how the old hip waders I borrowed him are supposed to stay up. I said to attach them to your belt, and he’s wearing sweatpants….lol. Me and his boy just told him to stay on shore before he wrecks his friggin knee. Pulled a 35 & 40lber out though. Lots of open water past the dam. Huge castor mounds. Beaver on both sides getting ready for battle I guess.



He rode home in his boxers.

Should look like that here in a couple weeks.
Only good for pressure sets right now,beaver aint moving yet though,but will on the first good rain.
Still lots of snow here in places.

Picked up one big beaver today at one of the 3 pressure sets I made two days ago.
It has just started to rain today so the beaver should start moving soon,

What are pressure sets? Or why are they called that? Not familiar with them. Really enjoy following your posts.

Boco has his own vocabulary for sets. First you must join the Boco Fan Club then you will be sent a decoder ring via Canda post.

A pressure set is a set made where aquatic animals follow the water pressure at a pinch point usually at a dam.A point set(what some call a bottom edge set) is also a pressure set.Some are natural and some are man made.A Millette set is a type of pressure set modified to work thru the winter even when temps get very low by creating an ice tunnel over a beaver dam.Millette set will take every aquatic animal using a watershed in winter so must be careful using it to not wipe out otter pops.
Very old common set.I thought all water trappers made pressure sets.In the old days they were made using foothold traps on a slide wire or made using a snare pole.The advent of bodygrips improved the set allowing multiple catches at one location on extended checks.
Funnel traps set in culverts are another type of pressure set.
The number one requirement of a pressure set is a constant flow of water.

That makes sense Boco, just haven’t ever heard those types of sets referred to that way in my very limited experience. Thanks for explaining.

A few bags of fur loaded to drop off in North Bay tomorrow for the June sale.
I;ll see if the men have any word on the buyers registered or expected to come for the sale.


.

Nice! Dropping off Friday morning on the way to Brandon. I finally got ole one toe this morning. She holed up pretty good until now.
I bet alotta trappers use pressure sets, they just don’t know it…lol.

That's a dandy of a bobcat.Congrats.

You still taking a few beaver Rob? Bears are out, Im heading up thurs.

Yes Graham,I've been trapping some open water spring beaver since mid april.
Still got sets out,fur is still good with only a couple with a bite or two around the head.
Snow is mostly gone now on the logging roads but still some on the shaded trails and in the bush.
Bears are out but not many yet.
Got the first nuisance contract yesterday up north,and expecting more-lots of beaver activity on the way up.

Boco, any work on the sale when you dropped off?

Talked with a couple guys they expect another good sale with the Chinese starting to play in the high fashon fur game now which is a change from the past.
It was a big surprize that the Chinese took almost all the high end cats at the last sale and other high end fur.
This is new for the Chinese as they usually want cheaper fur in bulk for low price.