My Trapline

My cabin sits at about 3400 feet, the lowest point on my trapline.

After 14 years of failed attempts, in February of last year, I finally acquired a Registered Fur Management Area (RFMA) in the province of Alberta, Canada. The trapline is numbered 1804 and is one of about 1600 in the province. It is located in the foothills of the Rocky Mountains and is at an elevation that runs from 3400 feet at my cabin, to about 4300 feet in several areas of my trapline route. The trapline itself is approximately 48 square miles in size, not large for a trapline but not small either, at least in Alberta. The trapline is covered in mainly coniferous forest - pine and spruce - and has better than 20 creeks that I know of. I wil be honest though, I have yet to explore many areas in the southern end and a smaller portion northwest of my cabin. I'm 75 kilometres, or 46 miles, from the nearest town, which would be Whitecourt, Alberta.

The main furbearers I will be trapping are marten, Canada lynx, fisher, mink, wolves, coyotes, weasel (ermine), red squirrels and beaver. Perhaps even a fox may inhabit this rugged country. A wolverine would be nice as well. There are four quota species in Alberta - lynx, fisher, wolverine and otter. My quota is 5 lynx, 3 fisher, 2 otter and 1 wolverine. The rest of the species are to be managed by the trapper, which means attention must be paid to the sex and age of the species you are trapping. When certain conditions are met, then traps are pulled.