Some trapping pics

trunew · Nov-22-2008, 05:50 AM

Here are some pics from trapping Lake Louise, Alaska. I'm not in these photos, but I'll post some more later with me if ya'll want to see my mug. This is my friend Darrel that traps for a living in winter time, with cats going for about $350 for a decent cat seen here in these pics and getting a few a week, he's doing pretty good for himself. The fox, is just a bycatch since their price is only in the double digits (but there are a LOT.) I should've had a .17 rifle with me, could have stacked them up with no problem. Weather was warm, oh around -5 to +10 (considering it will bottom out at aroun -40 sometime this winter.) Had a lot of fun. By the time all of the traps are set, he'll have about 200 traps set.

Deno · Nov-22-2008, 06:17 AM

That’s so freaken cool, I wish we could do that here in California… Thanks for sharing...

Rubberhook2 · Nov-22-2008, 07:02 AM

I know holes in pelts is not a good thing so what do you do when the animal is alive in the trap like that? Club em'?

Kurt · Nov-22-2008, 08:40 AM

The nasty ones u shoot in the head with a .22

StillinScrubs · Nov-22-2008, 01:53 PM

A trowel to the skull cap does a good job too. But I always used a .22, no deduction from my fur buyers.

Awesome cat photos!!!

Odin7 · Nov-22-2008, 02:31 PM

I was a Paratrooper stationed at Fort Wainwright (Fairbanks) early in my career and brought my traps up from Illinois with the dream of doing what you are doing.

Unfortunately, I never got to use them. We spent the winters jumping onto airfields and snow-shoeing over the tundra. The summers brought down time and plenty of fishing, but it was my boyhood dream to run a trap line up north.

Closest I got to a lynx was when I called one up. It was about fifteen feet behind me when I felt I felt compelled to look over my shoulder. Scared the bajeebers out of me and generated the need to write my name in the snow.

Way to live the dream in what is truly "The Last Frontier".

trunew · Nov-22-2008, 09:45 PM

Here's me getting ready for the day, gotta dress correctly in these parts. Layers are key and don't work up a sweat. Hell, it's only -10 that morning.

The house on Jan Lake. This place is literally in the middle of nowhere. No sirens, planes, neighbors for miles, just us and the caribou.

The correct way to hold a coil spring trap without being in harm's way. Not that getting them open I didn't have any close calls.

Heres my first lynx. That pink line in the middle of the picture is hold a duck wing. It is a visual attractor. Lynx are curious just like any other cat. They'll play with the wing by swatting it around, then they find the bait in the cubby along with the trap. This female cat destroyed the cat condo cubby we built.

This cat is still a kitten, believe it or not. But to subdue the animal, it depends on how it is caught, by a toe, it gets a .22. If it is a good paw catch, PM me and I'll let you know. Just with the sensitivity and bunny huggers these days, I don't want to get any flak or cause any reputable harm to this site.

To be in the trap ring with one of these critters and get stared down is a humbling experience.

Just thought this looked cool at the end of the day.

trunew · Nov-22-2008, 10:28 PM

As for trapping in California, it is very doable. Just gotta take their test and pay for a license and you can only use cage traps. I wish I new a little more about it back then when I was Cali or else I would've definately tried for the grey fox, coyotes, and bobcats. I just checked out how much a non resident has to pay for a California trapping license (well over $400) yikes. Would've made some of those long hunting trips on public land pretty interesting.