Trapper Ron 2012-13 Stuff

[gth]

You have some nice colored marten Ron. Most of the ones in my area look the the second from the left in your pic.

[trapp]

Got my first light coloured marten for this year this morning.



The dark ones continue to come. Can not beleive the numbers of dark marten I am getting this year. This was was flattened right in the box, never moved.

[trapp]

Well I have been posting on the forums but no time to update "Trapper Ron Stuff". Since my last posting i have dome one trapping course for 7 students and doing an ongoing advanced trapline training for a local First Nations student. So far I have 20 marten, 5 lynx, 2 coyotes, and some ermine and red squirrels. Not a big catch but ok for an old guy with bionic knees. Chased out of my high country earlier than expected due to very heavy snow. Up to my waist and just too hard on myknees slugging through it from the sled to my sets.

Now setting up our lower line for lynx and wolves. The fellow I am mentoring to be a future certified instructor will be helping me out. The trail so far is a 50 km run up and back and bit too far to be on my own for safety sake. I did do the run solo the other day, One hour from the last trap to return to the truck. Three and a half hours total. We will have several side trails as well. That trapline is not a very good marten line except at the highest elevations where we may eventually get set up for January.

Been busy making more wolf snares and lynx snares as well. Should have had that done last fall. As well my lynx pens and cubbies were not prepared so making them in winter conditions when I should just be setting is bit of a bite and takes up more time.

Wolf snares I make up. They are 11 foot long with toothed cam lock, kill spring and trigger. Five feet of 5/64 1x19 wire for the loop, with 3/32 7x7 tie back wire. Fish tank tubing for wammies, and 11 gauge wire for holding the snare out in place.



Lock and kill spring.



My snares all get put into plastic zip lock bags after boiling. 12 lynx snares to a package and 6 wolf snares with 6 pieces of 11 guage wire in each package.



First few furs sent for February sale. Will have another shipment before Jan 6.



My First Nations student with the very first marten set he has made. We made a lynx snare set right there also and he caught a lynx in it yesterday. I will help him pelt that one and one other my buddy gave him as part shares for being allowed to trap part of his line.



My favorite is solid boards however we needed a wolf board so I made up this 8 footer from Western Red Cedar. no time to biscuit joint a solid one.



Made up some 280 lynx boxes, 2" sides, 1" tops, bottom open except for two 1x4 straps.

[oldyote]

Very nice.

[trapp]

Here are my two shipments to NAFA so far.



Second shipment.



Now have 3 more lynx and a start to shipment number 3. Here is a nice clear small lynx. Wish they were all like that.

[trapp]

We went out to check the line and break trail the other day. Deep snowfall from this last few snowy days. hard breaking trail. We got a double on snares lynx at one of my cubbies. Just scent and no bait. One had went up the the tree and over the branches and was hung up nice and straight as you please.





When we went up the trail we could not see the old trail at all. We are on our way back and you can see more fresh snow while we were up there.



My buddy Ryan is up to his waste going in to check a 280 box.

[wolf1199]

Man i can't believe that i missed your post on here Ron. All i can say is well done and you got some good looking well put up furs. Your country you trap is awesome and that cat is picture perfect. Great job, i just wish you would post more and pics. We all like pics.

[trapp]

Thanx wolf. Next year I will see if I can get my Trapper Ron Stuff in a journal spot like yours wolf. Easier to follow then.

Heading out tomorrow to break the rest of the trail out and get lynx sets on working order again. See if we can get more pictures.

[trapp]

Time for a bit of an Update once again.

On some forums there are comments relative to dying traps. Some trappers are determined that traps need to be black, brown, green, or some form of camo. So For fun I painted some pink.

Today I caught an otter in one of my pink traps.





We have been checking this trap in a culvert from the top of the bank each time we go out. Today I paid for it by wading waist deep down the bank with my my bionic knees to fetch the otter and reset. Was not too bad going down, but climbing out was something else. Two steps ahead and one back. There is another otter there somewhere as there was sign of him in and out of the second culvert that has very little water in it. I do have a 280 at the other end of the one with the otter but no catch there.



Ended the day with a lynx and the otter. Then went over to my buddy Ryan,s line and we got another lynx.



A few pictures for last week. On this trip we picked up three nice lynx, a big tom and two juveniles.



This is one of my 280 boxes. They have not been producing lynx at all. They are an open box on the bottom except for a cross piece where the trap sits on and one on the screen end. it is my thought that they should be raised a bit above the ground, say 6 inches. So far all of our lynx (16) have been in snares set around the boxes or other lynx pens.



This is one of my favorite sets, I call it the corral set. About a 10 foot x 10 foot area or a bit larger is fenced off with some openings to set snares in. On some I have one wide opening with no snares. A large bait and a wing is hung from a cross pole.



This is another hutch type set open on both ends with a snare set at each end and other snares where where a lynx may go if circling the set, The bait is hung inside and a CD attractor outside.





This is a lynx caught in the snare in the last picture. It took the drag away about 20 feet.



Here is another snare set at that same cubby set just to the other side of the big tree where the lynx was caught.



We had a very nice trail for our sleds to check the traps. The snow was over two feet deep. Then some cityiot in one of those monster trucks with the tall wide tires and wheels decided to play and ran almost the full 20 Kms of our trail. Here is a shot of what our trail looked like. You can see in the following pictures it is quite a mess and riding is something else hitting those deep ruts. This is my buddy Ryan and his sled and skimmer.



My sled on a different stop along the way. You can see we were trying to ride the ridge between the wheel ruts.

[oldyote]

awsome pics of lynx sets. Very informative.

[trapp]

We were out pulling our lynx and marten sets the other day (end of season) We stopped to check the otter sets and as my buddies Ryan and Minette pulled out ahead of me I heard a strange noise. Just down the trail I picked up a few spare parts including a rear wheel. I caught up to them at our wolf snare station. Min was riding my old 97 Tundra. A great old machine with probably less than 1500 Kms on it. One of the rear wheels was missing on the Tundra. So we left the sled there and doubled up on my machine for the rest of the trip. When we returned Ryan got on the Tundra and started limping it down the trail for about 2 Kms. We made it just about onto the main road (unplowed but good trail). The whole back wheel assembly had moved sideways and jammed the track. We man handled it onto the main road.

So this is what we did. First we removed the skies and put them back on backwards. Unhooked his sleigh and hooked it behind my sled. Next we lifted the back end of the sled up onto the top of the rack on Ryan's machine and tied it on snugly. Way he went down the trail non stop til we reached the trucks.






The only problem was that we should have secured the skies so they solid, not able to turn. Every time the skies it a rut they wanted to turn. Subsequently it sort of had Ryan's sled wanting to do tricks on the trail with a mind of its own. Hope there is not a "next time" that we have to improve on this.

Sent the pictures to our son who flies helicopter recovery of sled in the mountains with a long line. His comments were not to publish those pictures in the North Thompson.

[Cam]

Well Ron i'am glad you got out to do some trapping this season

Thanks for sharing your adventures with us.