Back in the Saddle

Mid-October to Early November: Dad, Dakota and I hit the trapline to do a little moose hunting and some trapline work in October. Dakota had been waiting a long time to draw a moose tag there and I expected it wouldn't be too hard to be successful. Because of how high up we are (4300 feet in many places), there isn't much for ungulates on the trapline but one thing there is for sure is moose. It is definitely moose country and we've had moose right out the cabin door on more than one occasion.

Dakota looking over the swamp the bull from the cabin door went through the night before.

The first day we came across a good bull right away, standing almost next to where we park the trucks on Cabin Trail Road. I messed up the shot though trying to get Dakota closer. The bull was 279 yards out by my rangefinder and by the time we tried to get closer, the bull figured something was up and bolted. I should have let him shoot from where we were. Worse, the next evening, Dakota returned from hunting by himself about a half hour before legal light was up. He came into the cabin, dropped his pack, and then looked out the window about the same time Dad did. They both spotted a big bull standing 50 yards out from the cabin door standing broadside. The problem was, Dakota's gun was strapped to his quad outside the cabin door. By the time he got his gun unstrapped and out of the case, the bull was already heading away. If the gun had been in the cabin, we'd of had the bull. The next morning, Dad listened to a cow calling beside the cabin for about 30 minutes while Dakota and I were away, no bull answered her calls. The next day, the temperature changed, hit 20 Celsius for the remainder of our trip, and we never heard or saw another moose.

In between hunting, we managed to get some work done around the cabin. Beaver had dammed up the creek and I knew the dam had to go; if not, come spring runoff, the cabin would be flooded. So I went to work removing the dam, which isn't easy work. I'm not sure what the beaver were thinking because they never would have gotten the water deep enough to survive the winter in the creek. They obviously figured that out too because they have yet to come back to put the dam in again.

Getting geared up to tackle the beaver dam on the creek beside the cabin.

Using my hands and a hoe, it took a while but eventually the dam gave way.

Next up was burning the tall grass around the cabin. Dad went to work on that project and spent a while trying to get the grass to burn properly but it was still too damp. Now and then the wind would come up and he'd make some headway but it was often short lived. I had let the grass grow up over the summer, a mistake, and something I won't do again.

Dad trying to burn down the countryside.

With a dwindling wood supply, it was time to get enough wood put up for winter. The best wood for the wood stove in the cabin is smaller stick wood. Around the trapline, there is an abundance of the stuff and with my quad trailer, it is easy to bring back in 8-foot lengths, buck it up at the cabin, and then stack it on the deck. A few loads and some tough work later, we had enough for winter with what was already left over from the previous season.

Dad and Dakota with a load ready to go back to the cabin.

Bucked up and ready to be stacked.

Our trip ended without a moose but we accomplished a fair amount. It was great to have Dad back to the trapline again and it was neat to have three generations of Miskosky's spend some time together enjoying the outdoors. I could never thank my dad enough for instilling a love of the outdoors in me and I've been lucky enough to make my living through the outdoors for several years now. I couldn't imagine having it any other way.

November 2015: I got back to the trapline before the end of October and again twice in early November. I'll be back now each week until the end of January, with some trapping at the ranch taking place in between. I also received a call from an older couple that have 90 acres right on Lake Isle, about 30 minutes from home. Beavers had moved in, fell a tree on their 5th wheel trailer, and were making a mess along the shore of the lake. They wanted them gone and because I needed some bait for marten season, I took up the challenge and removed two large beaver from their property. The beaver must have just moved in because they had no kits and the house was small. The landowners also said they hadn't been there up until a few weeks ago.

With enough bait for my marten season, it was time to get some marten boxes up. The problem was, without the ground being frozen and no snow, I couldn't get anywhere without spending hours winching my way along my trails with the quad. Trapping by quad is not fun, takes forever, and makes travel difficult. However, I managed to get 15 boxes up in the lower bowl and three mink sets along the creek.

The cabin is still holding up real well.

Finally, some snow!

It finally started to snow, which meant I'd be returning with a snowmobile next trip in. I need to get about 40 to 50 more boxes up before I can consider my marten line complete. They are logging real hard on the south end of my trapline and I need to hit it real hard down there. It's some of my best marten country (or was) and the marten need to be taken out now before they either die from starvation, disease, or through battle with other existing marten in the areas they will now have to move in to because of the logging. The impact logging has on furbearing animals is far greater than any a trapper could ever inflict. Now that I have some snow and the ground is starting to freeze solid, I should be able to get set up down there.

Here you can see the next trees on the left destined for removal.

This cutblock will be 400 hectares, about 1000 acres in size. You can make out what used to be my trail
in the center of the photo. They are supposed to keep it clear so I can still use it to access certain areas.

If you look behind my quad, that is the extension of the trail in the previous photo. It too will soon be gone.

I had my 15 marten sets up for only a day. On my way out to head home, I made a quick check and discovered I'd already caught a single marten on Clear Trail. It's amazing how this trail is the first to give up some fur every year. We caught our very first marten here, our first lynx, and everything in between from squirrels to weasels to fisher and even a barred owl, which we successfully released, has been caught along this trail.

Right behind the marten box is a large squirrel midden Dakota and I have caught several squirrels from.

A really nice dark young-of-the-year marten.

Dad and I cleared Clear Trail the first year I had the trapline. Not having a name for the trail, it became known as Clear Trail, simply because we cleared it. It took us a lot of work but it has paid off in spades. It is also an enjoyable trail to travel down because it's just one of those places that looks wild, makes you feel good, and produces a lot of fur. I wished I had several more trails just like it.

I will be back shortly so stay tuned. I'll keep you up-to-date as the season progresses.

Cheers!