Back in action!

January 3-5, 2013: We were back at the trapline after just two days in Edmonton. Our intention was to run the "lower bowl" (Cabin, Unnamed, Clear, Gulo and Center trails, plus the odd other sets we have up for mink and fisher) on Friday, and then break trail down south on Saturday. It had rained while we were gone and the snow had been knocked down a considerable amount. It was now cold once again and a crust had formed on top of the snow.

We finished up the lower bowl with little success. Once again, most of our lynx sets were knocked down with heavy snow and those that were still standing had their snares frozen solid. Our sets on the ground along the creek are constantly buried by snow and digging them out every time you tend them is time consuming. You also have to be careful, quite often you're carefully knocking away the snow not knowing exactly where the trap is. If you put your hand in the wrong place, you could get bit.

We never got stuck once and we were finding our new snow conditions were perfect for travel.

Our ermine population is crazy!

Saturday morning we hit South Trail. The earliest part of South Trail is very wide, so it receives a lot of snow that makes finding your trail difficult. If you fall off your trail when you're pulling the sled, you are stuck. Once you reach the Crossover Trail, the trails get narrower and have less snow on them, making travel much easier. On this day, however, the Trail Gods were in our favour, and we ran the south end only getting stuck twice. Our sets were in the same condition as the others in the lower bowl though, and each had to be unthawed and rebuilt. We caught two more ermine.

Two more ermine. We pulled all the marten sets on the south end of the trapline.

We finished the day at the bait station where we replenished it with another deer hide and a lynx carcass. Suddenly it looks like our coyotes are back. Two trails leading into the bait station could easily be seen where the coyotes had walked in on the snow. The two snares we had up were frozen solid but both were still standing. After thawing them out, we set up two more snares on the new trails. Problem is, getting far enough back from the bait station is difficult. With each step, you sink to your knees in the snow. We knocked down the snow as best we could, trying to keep a higher solid base, but our efforts were probably wasted. Not sure if a coyote will use the new trail or simply just come in much easier, walking on a new trail on top of the snow. We'll find out in a few days.

The furs we are sending to North American Fur Auctions for the first auction of the year.

  Until next time!