A fisher in a mink box!

Friday, January 11 to Monday, January 14:

Good friend Ken Colwill joined Dakota and I on this trip. The plan was to run the entire line on Saturday, freeing up Sunday to add more lynx cubbies and get a bait station set up. Ken has a Ski-doo and was looking forward to following us around the trapline.

It was -15 Celsius when we left the cabin Saturday morning. We'd had a big breakfast of bacon and eggs and with full belly's we left shortly after light. We had checked a few sets without luck and were traveling down Grizzly Road on our way to Pipeline Trail. Before Pipeline Trail, we have a mink and a ermine set on the creek at the bottom of the first pipeline. This isn't part of Pipeline Trail; rather, an extension of it. The trail down to the creek is a little steep but not too bad. At the bottom, we were shocked to find that a fisher had found our mink box and had decided to put its head inside. The 120 Conibear struck the fisher perfectly. However, the mink box was gone! I kicked through the snow and looked for a hump that might reveal it, but nothing! Next time through I'll have to look a little harder but for now, the missing mink box is a mystery.

Fisher are another amazing member of the weasel family. The Alberta Trappers' Training Manual states that, "as fast as a marten can catch a squirrel in a tree, a fisher can catch a marten in a tree." They have an incredibly long tail and can weigh up to 14 pounds.

The little trail down to the creek just off Grizzly Road where we caught the fisher.

Dakota and Ken with the big fisher.

Elated but shocked in the manner we'd caught the fisher, we were soon traveling up Pipeline Trail on our way to re-setting the #3 Softcatch for our coyote catch stealer. Dakota is bound and determined to catch this guy who likes to eat what we catch there.

On Pipeline Trail we discovered the wolf pack from the north end of the trapline were back. Six tracks could be plainly seen on our trails. Wolves are fascinating to study when looking at their tracks. While the pack ran down the center of our trail, every twenty yards or so a wolf would take off from the pack into the forest and then come back out a short distance later. Whether or not they were hunting hares is open for debate, but what else would they be doing?

The north end of the trapline only produced the one catch; albeit. a nice fisher. South Trail wasn't looking much better and Broken Bridge Trail was also non-productive. We'd encountered about four traps sprung by bait thieves but surprisingly had yet to catch a ermine.

On Old Forest Trail, in the same lynx cubby where we'd had a lynx give us the cold shoulder with a knocked down snare, we had a lynx! Number three on the season. Riding the Ski-doo and being in front allows me to see what's been walking on or along our trail. I'd been following this lynx' tracks for quite some time and was hoping he'd stay on the trail... and he did.

Notice the entrance to the cubby to the left of the cat. Above the cat is a CD for attraction.

Dakota and Ken pose with the lynx.

A short distance down Old Forest Trail from where the lynx cubby above is, we have a trail snare set just off the edge of an old reclaimed well site. I never took a photo of this set, but it is very similar to the one pictured below. When we came off the well site and the trail snare set came into view, I knew immediately something had happened there, but to heck if I could see what. Then I noticed the lynx laying buried in the snow under part of the set. We now had our second lynx of the day and our fourth of the season.

A similar trail snare set to the one that caught the lynx below.

Lynx number four on the season.

I figured we'd have to build at least thirty lynx cubbies to catch our quota of five lynx, now I was concerned that I had too many up with 14, as well as trail snares. The trail snares were now being taken down as we came to them.

Sunday was going to be a work day. It was time to get a bait station set up and we had lots of time now. Building lynx cubbies was out of the question with only one remaining to fill our quota.

Getting ready to hit the trail.

Our first order of business was to hit Pipeline Trail and check Dakota's leghold. I also wanted to check out a possible bait station site on the low side of the second pipeline but the wolves were on our minds. I decided we had enough time to run the entire Pipeline Trail and check for possible locations to put a bait station where the wolves had traveled on our trail.

After checking Dakota's leghold without success, we continued further on up the trail. Some ravens ahead on the ground peaked my interest and I headed towards them instead of staying right like we normally would. Soon we came upon a cow moose killed by our north wolf pack. Unfortunately for us, we'd discovered the carcass too late to catch the wolves, as they had already moved on. Only coyote tracks were still present. We added some more bait to the carcass and I set up five snares on the obvious trails coming into the kill. I also put up a #3 Softcatch in a snow hole set. With a little luck, the coyotes will come back.

Further up Pipeline Trail, on the crossover trail between the two pipelines, we set up a bait station where the wolves had been traveling. I set 10 snares up around the perimeter of the bait station and hung a rag soaked in wolf urine in a tree at the site. It would now be up to the wolves to come back.

The cow moose wolf kill on Pipeline Trail.

That night I skinned out the fisher. It didn't thaw out until about 8:30 PM and I knew I would be waking up at some ridiculous hour in the morning to turn it back fur out, after it dried enough leather out. Sure enough, at 3:00 AM there I was turning the fisher.

Monday morning saw us have enough time to quickly run Pipeline Trail and check our legholds and the snares set on the moose kill. Neither leghold held a coyote and our snares were without a catch as well. Nothing had come back that night. Perhaps our presence the day before was reason enough for the kill site to be left alone for a day or two. We'll find out when we get back. We took down both legholds.

Lynx number three and four and our first fisher of the season.

By the time we were done running Pipeline Trail and had our stuff packed for the trip out, snow was still falling on us like crazy, a wet heavy snow. It had been snowing since we awoke that morning. We were starting to get concerned about Boulder Hill and getting out. The top of Boulder Road and Boulder Hill haven't been plowed since before Christmas and it's a mess, with big snowdrifts building up with the wind.

Getting to Boulder Hill was easy, we hardly spun a tire in the heavy snow. Getting up Boulder Hill proved to be another story, however. I made one try and couldn't make it up even the better part of the hill. Backing down was an adventure because I could hardly see with the snow falling. It was time to put on the chains for the first time of the season.

Getting the chains on is a relatively easy task.

On good and snug. You can see Ken's truck behind us. He too was putting on the chains.

Even with the chains on, the top side of Boulder Road wasn't easy to navigate. Big snowdrifts would bog the truck down each time we encountered them, which was often. By the time we reached the unmanned gas plant the road was better and the chains came off. If they don't plow the road soon, it will be a five-mile Ski-doo trek to the cabin next time in.

Boulder Hill to the right. Straight ahead ends a short distance at a well site. Snowing like mad!

Until next time!