Spring update

As far as we are concerned here above the arctic circle spring is on its way! Yesterday we had temperatures of 30! Almost above freezing, hot dog I felt like walking around in Hawaiian shorts. We still have the possibility of dropping again well into the negatives say -25 or so but it won't be for weeks on end! Life has been a whirlwind of activities lately. My primary activity it setting up and maintaining (running) a trap line! With the help of my Army Ranger buddy Glenn we have started a small line with only a few "sets". A set is a collection of traps that are typically centered around some attractor like bait, scent or visual. There are different sets for lynx, wolverines, and wolves. Since we are targeting all of these animals we have to make special sets for each intended species. Although each species has their own preference you may catch unintended species in different sets, wolves in wolverine sets or wolverines in wolf sets are the most common. All of the sets we are running use bait. This is Glenn's special bait, it consists of moose or caribou trimmings and bones put in a rubbemaid tote in August, then it has 3-4 eggs cracked over it and set in the sun to rot. It will eventually meld together and then freeze together forming a solid bait cube. The stink is indescribable, it just smells awful, but good to animals, or so I am told.
For a typical lynx set we find a natural "cubby" made by a fallen tree or a thick growing stand of willows. Typically you have to cut willows to improve your cubby so there is restricted access to the bait i.e. a front door and side door, close up the back door. Lynx will almost never use the front door or obvious opening, they prefer to sneak around to a side just like a house cat sneaking around. Once you have your bait hung and your cubby and doors made you can set your traps. We are using coil spring leg holds, long spring leg holds, Bridger leg holds and snares. There are different sizes for different animals. For lynx we use a smaller #4 trap. We set these where we think the lynx might step around the bait. The snares are positioned in natural causeways the animal may travel in, like low indentations or extra high snow banks. Once a trap is set, live, or hot (ready to spring) you move it into position securing the chain of the trap to a nearby tree or to a piece of thick #9 wire that you can stretch to a tree or anchor (wire is cheaper than simply having a longer chain). You then cover the trap with wax paper to keep the snow from building up in your trap causing malfunctions. Then you conver the wax papered trap with snow and try to make it look natural and even. A common wolverine set is a piece of bait in a 3-5 gallon bucket with a conibear trap at front. Wolverines like to dig hence the bucket and they will just bowl into anything hence the conibear. Very simple but effective set. Last is the wolf set we use the big #9 coil spring traps. We found a nice ridge (wolves like to travel ridge lines) dug a big hole and burried a whole tub of bait. Wolves won't come to bait just sitting in the open, they are very smart so you have to hide/bury it. After the bait is taken care of you set the big #9 coil springs around the bait and wait for the wolves to show up! Trapping in Alaska has been a dream of mine since my childhood. Ever since my father would regale me with stories or his father trapping and hunting in Alaska. I remember going to my grandfather's house and seeing his wolf, wolverine and lynx rugs hanging on the wall and being mesmerized by the amazingly beautiful and savage creatures of the far North! Unfortunately I have not trapped an animal yet, we have had lots of tracks around our sets but nothing in the traps yet. Glenn says it's only a matter of time the only problem is the season closes April 15. Hopfully I will be blessed and trap something other than the 9 foxes.


















I have been using my snowgo to run my line. Keeping it running is a full time job. It is not exactly reliable but it hasn't left me totally stranded...yet. It has been a great way to see some country and to get out of the village. Fortunately I do not have a lot of money invested in it so if it does die I won't be financially broken, but heart broken. I have put a lot of work into that machine and it has brought me to some beautiful places.



I was also fortunate enough to travel on my first ice road! We went to Norvik, then on a seprate trip all the way to Kotzebue. Every year the borough cuts an iceroad on the river from Kiana to Kotzebue. The road makes it possible for people living in villages to take trucks down to Kotzebue with trailers and buy fuel, groceries or items that would cost too much to ship. Since we were driving a truck on the iceroad I guess I am officially an iceroad trucker!





Life in the village has not changed much in the last few weeks. Caribou/moose meat in people's freezers is getting low so people are still hunting caribou. Soon the ducks and geese will be here and spring hunting will be in full swing. We are getting more day light, it is light when I walk to school at 7:30 and not dark until about 10:00pm. This week is HSGQE, the high school graduation qualifying exam, after this week of testing we probably won't see a lot of our students. The daylight and cabin fever will drive them into the wilds. Hopefully students will choose to prioritize school this year.........heres hoping.
As you can read I am staying amazingly busy in the village. There are many little events and nuances that I don't write about that a phone call could shed some light on. Feel free to give me a call. Thanks for reading my blog and taking an interest in my adventures!