3-31-09; "Doug's wolverine"

Doug scored on a wolverine several days ago. He and Joey were hunting Kaiyuh, came across a fresh track, and the rest is to be seen in the photos. He skinned it in the shop this past weekend.

Tonight, following tradition, they had a dinner for him. I was bummed I couldn't go 'cause my back is giving me trouble, but I'm sure it was a great time.

Congrats to you, Doug!

(if you're wondering about the rock in it's mouth, ask an elder)

"The Cat"

Here's a late post. A while back Joey caught a nice male lynx in a conibear set. Pretty unusual for a cat to get caught that way, but he'll take it. We skinned it the next day in the shop and put it on the sretcher.

3-28-09; Beaver Finale'

Today we made the last trip out to the beaver trapline. Gerald "Pluto" Patsy and my friend Brian (the MARC pilot) came along. It was a warm, sunny day, no wind, just great.

We had five sets in (one per house) and caught two beaver; one medium and one blanket. Pluto scored on the blanket, as you'll see in the video. He's having a hard time drying it off 'cause it's pretty heavy. We pulled the sets and called it a year.

Over all, it was a very successful season. We caught a total of eleven beaver. At least nine guys were involved, many of them were out there multiple times. The catch was shared between the guys who did the work and several elders. Can't wait for next year!

3-20-09; Oh nuttin'

Skunked! No beaver today; only a couple of nibbles. We set another house and will be back in 2-3 days to look again. It was great having Bennett out there to help on another nice spring day. The wind was not too strong; the sun and mild temps were awesome!

The photos include Bennett after a flip from the snow machine, the guys checking the sets, fresh wolf tracks (3-5 wolves were cruising the area the night before) and video of Joey highmarking the graveyard hill.

"Beaver Fever"; 3-16-09

Tomorrow is Saint Patty's Day. I'd do something green here, but since I have a serious dislike for the Celtics, I'll pass.

Another day on the trapline. I figure we must have some kind of beaver fever, since we went out to check the sets during an arctic version of a hurricane. The video doesn't capture the full effect of the fierce wind, driving the snow like a sandblaster. I mananged to freeze a spot on my cheek, Randy got one on his hand, and Joey nearly got his forehead. It was WINDY and COLD!

But it was a great day. Randy got a nice small one and Joey got a blanket. The video and pics tell the story.

Snow machine playground; 3-14-09

Ahhhh yes! The peace and quiet of the great outdoors...no wait! Wrong video.

Beaver Trapping; 3-13-09

Yesterday we had another great day out on the line. At this point we have five houses set. Some have been inactive, some have caught beaver, and some have had the bait taken or nibbled on with no catches. Like all trapping, part of the fun is checking the sets to see what the results will be.

We brought home a couple of beaver yesterday. Joe pulled out a nice, big male, while Joey got a tender, delicious young one. Both were skinned later at the shop.

The nice spring weather combined with beaver trapping make for a lot of fun outdoors. Get out there!

Beaver!; 3-10-09

Well here's some video of the season's first catch. We caught this nice beaver in a new house which wasn't there a couple of years ago.

Joey Stickman pulled it out, as seen in the video, and dries it in the snow. Drying is very important; wet fur would quickly freeze and get damaged. Joey skinned it later in the shop.

Some one will have a tasty dinner!

3-04-09; Putting in the sets

Today we set a couple of beaver houses. The deep snow made things a little difficult. Snowshoes are required, and it's a bit more work to check each house to determine if it's a "live house". But we got it done, or...I should say...we got it started. Two houses aren't much, but it's a good start.

We'll have more pics and updates as we go. I had some video of Randy spearing out the hole, but I recorded it sideways, so it's canned. Hopefully the next will be better.

Oh yeah, we put in one connibear set for a wolverine to. You never know!

3-02-09; "Breakin' Trail"

The boys were out in the country breakin' trail. Joe ("Big Worm"), Arthur ("Ukka") and Randy ("Creep") were tearing it up. Good thing the snow has settled; three days ago I would have been stuck on the wide track, today we could rip it up with the Tundra. (If it's really possible to "rip" on a 300) We put in the trail to some beaver houses; planning to go back in a couple days and start setting the houses. Lots of Lynx (the season just closed) and Wolverine (still open) tracks made it interesting. Hope you like the video and pics. Randy is the guy rippin' on the Tundra.