Trapping- What did you catch today?

[fishermann222]

yep I will take some photos tomorrow of the village for everyone. Musk ox season starts on the 1st of Feb goes until middle of March. THey are not hard to hunt, drive around on snowmachine until you find them, then stalk them and shoot. THe hardest part is seperating the cows from the herd. sometimes you have to wait hours for a good shot. When I go out I go with another guy or more, but usually we shoot one musk ox only. I will make at least three musk ox hunting trips this year. Two other guys I travel with alot also have tags so we will go and shoot one a weekend for a few weekends. That way we can take our time butchering and fleshing the hide, and shoot some fox also.

Sometimes after you kill one it is very hard to get the rest of the herd away. yelling and screaming while driving the snowmachine up to the dead animal usually helps. Sometimes a shot in the air is needed.

Get after those weasels, they are cool little critters.

[The Grebe]

222...I don't suppose they call them "Musk Ox" for nothing, are they pretty stinky? I was watching a program on a cable channel that led me to believe they are right up there as far as smell goes?

[fishermann222]

Actually grebe they don't smell real bad at all. THey do have an oder, but nothing like a skunk

After you get the hide off it really smells like you are butchering a cow. The meat is alot like beef. you leave most of the fat on, and it is marbled nicely as well. ONLY thing better than ox is dall sheep. Moose is close to ox as well.

[leechmann]

OK, now whats wrong with the smell of a skunk?lol

[fishermann222]

I can smell you from here leechman

[leechmann]

Hey I got the stink off. A couple of reds, caught in the same location. Fur looks great on both fox.

[fishermann222]

Nice job leechman, must be nice to skin something besides a stinker for a change

I am still waiting for the weather to break before I set traps. Sorry guys I know you are waiting for pics, but it just does not pay for me to get out on the line in sidways rain when it will just freeze the traps down at night. It is looking like on thursday the weather should break. Here is a pic of a few fox put up. One is 62" nose to tip of tail and one is 61".

[leechmann]

Nothing cooking today. I saw alot of sign. Had a couple of fox work the dirtholes, but didn't commit. I hung several new snares today. Have to see what tomorrow brings.

[fishermann222]

I willnot make it out today to set, I am really getting bummed out. Today it is blowing a steady 55 and gusting to 67mph. Raining also, and 35 degrees.

I can't even hunt them in this weather. Suppose to be like this through thursday. Its the great Bering Sea weather in Feb and March.

[fishermann222]

Ok new updated forecast

Today

Cloudy with isolated rain and snow showers. Highs in the upper 30s. Southeast wind 20 to 35 mph except 45 to 60 mph with gusts to 80 mph along the coast.

Tonight

Numerous rain and snow showers in the evening...then scattered rain and snow showers after midnight. No snow accumulation. Lows in the lower 30s. East wind 20 to 35 mph. East wind 45 to 60 mph with gusts to 80 mph along the coast in the evening.

Last check it was blowing 84mph

[Stiff]

Fisherman,

Sounds like you are really laying the groundwork to appreciate a break in the weather if it ever happens.

I meant to ask you a few questions the other day. What will you do with the hide from your ox assuming you’ll get one?? Also, what do you wear for footwear at this time of the year? How much actual daylight do you have now? Does twilight seem to last forever??

[poutpro]

I checked my under ice beaver sets, and one had set off the baited coni and left me with some cattails. I found where they had been using some alternate runs, and have them set now, and will hopefully hook up with another one. I had cardboard put over the hole and it was nearly completely open when I went back and checked them after 3 days of very cold weather. Without the cardboard, I think the ice would be getting a little thick for my chainsaw.

[leechmann]

I wish you luck Poutpro. At least the ice is cooperating. Things have slowed down around here too. I've given up the beaver action until spring now. Still hitting the fox though. Got the two reds yesterday, just got back from the fur shed, as I skinned them out. Both were males. Must have been running together, caught them in a double set.

[hookset]

leechman, where do you trap by?? I have a bunch of fox that i want gone(or thined out) on my farm near ponsford. any intrest or is it too far for you.

joe

[poutpro]

When do the fox start mating? It seems like about this time last year that the fox hunting got really got as they were all paired up, but there also was snow, so they were easy to spot. I tried going after them last weekend just spotting and stalking, but with no snow it is VERY difficult.

[The Grebe]

It has been my understanding that the fox do what is called the Fall Shuffle, the young fox are booted out of the family and move off to find territories of their own.

Sometimes the litter mates will run together for awhile, but for the most part the red fox goes about business on it's own. They may crisscross territories, but they don't pack up like wolves, or like coyotes sometimes do.

Once a territory is established, then they start looking for mates and I do believe that for this area the mating starts in Dec. and Jan. and then there is the gestation period and then the pups are born in the spring.

Used to know this stuff to the letter, but it's been awhile!

[J48jake]

This is a great Thread. I hadnt trapped since high school and I recently bought some land that is big enough to run a trap line on. I was just wondering if anyone knew where I can sell my furs anywhere close or far from Milaca. Thanks for the input and I will try to post some pics in the future.

[picksbigwagon]

My sentiments too, I have been reading fur fish and game for a number of years and I wish I had land and more importantly time to learn how to trap. Keep the pictures and stories coming..............

[fishermann222]

I hope the weather breaks soon .

Last night it blew as high as 88 registered by our local airport weather station. Many areas just to the south on the mainland were over 100. Alot of sheds had roofs blown off and a few houses lost all the tin for roofing. Tin was flying through the air like newspaper. Quite the wind.

When I get my ox ( I say when because it is a harvest not really a hunt, drive up and shoot while they stand there) I will get the hide tanned and give it to my dad as a gift. Last year I had the hide tanned and I have it on my wall. In future years I will probably comb the quviut out and give it to someone in the community to spin it. Then they can have it all as long as they make me a nice neckwarmer and hat.

For footwear I use "bunny boots" if it gets super cold. If it is -10 or warmer then I just use rocky 1000grams thinsulate if I am running within a few miles of home, otherwise I will use my iditarod pack boots. I am far enough south of the circle so we get down to 4 hours of daylight, which is not bad. Go to work at dark and come home at dark, same as Minnesota. Only time you really notice is on weekends.

Twilight lasts forever in the summer, but not in the winter, it gets dark rather quickly when it gets dark.

[Stiff]

I met a family on Montana Creek one year and traded e-mail adresses so I could send them pics I had taken of them. I sent the pics in September and asked how the year was progressing. The Mom wrote back a nice note explaining that they were well into fall and the days were growing shorter very rapidly. They live up near Fairbanks in the town of "Northpole". She ended the note with...

..."The Night is Coming....."

It sounded so ominous the way she wrote it. Obviously those words stayed with me.

[J48jake]

Hello all, I just bought a dozen new traps and was wondering how everyone here "breaks" in a new trap. I will share how I do it and I am just curious to other options.

1. I boil all my traps in a degreaser (I like the non-toxic ones)

2. I then rince them in cold water really well and let them hang dry for about 2 days.

3. Next I boil them in dye.

4. After they are completly dry i dip them in some oderless wax.

Then I am ready to go. Let me know if anyone does differently

Hey Fisher, I was wondring if you knew much about the tropper program in alaska? I was trying for the DNR Conservation academy in Minnesota this year but finished as an alternate. I was just looking into Alaska the other day.

Thanks

[fishermann222]

The trooper program is pretty good I guess, from what I hear. We are very short on troopers, and being a trooper gives you a great chance to live in the bush where the great hunting and fishing is. The downside of that is I know troopers who put in 800 hours of overtime a year working in the bush. They are now seperating our troopers out. So we will have wildlife enforcement troopers (brown shirts) and regular troopers (blue shirts). Check it out. Could also look at being a jailer, they make decent money and have a week on week off schedule. would be a GREAT to have every other week off during hunting season :)

Looks good on how you prep your traps, if you have a dishwasher you can run them through the dishwasher instead of boiling in degreaser, works great.

You do burn the wax off the tip of the dog and end of the pan right?

[leechmann]

Hookset, I trap all over the Park Rapids area. I've done some trapping for people out your way. I have a Becker county Plat book. If you want to give me the township, and section number of the land, or your can e-mail me, that would be great. Let me know what you want to do.

[leechmann]

Hey look at me Fishermann, I thought I was you today. I must have put a few of those snares in the right place yesterday. Whats all this trooper trapper talk? LOL

[fishermann222]

WOW, showing me up. Looks like I will HAVE to go out today to reset, even if the weather is terrible. Seeing that has me all fired up.

Trooper talk? I am trying to get you to move to AK

[leechmann]

I know the feeling. Every time you post a picture of three or five, it makes me crazy. Then I tell my son to get into the truck, we need to get after it.

I was at the local bait shop today, and my buddies came out to see the fox. One of them opened up the pickup door, and started complaining that it was stinky in there. I told him it used to smell skunky , so I put a frozen bottle of fox pee in there to thaw it out. I told him it smells good now!!

[hookset]

leechman whats your email

joe

[leechmann]

[email protected]

[leechmann]

Well, what ever magic I had going yesterday, It ran out today. I came up with nothing. I set a few new snares, and looked over some other spots. It snowed just a little bit this morning, just enough to cover up any fresh sign. Have to give it a day or so, to see what those critters are up to. Fishermann, I hope you go your line going. Let us know.

[fishermann222]

rain rain go away, it is January. 32.9 and raining hard. I at this point I am just praying we manage to keep enough snow around for musk ox hunting, or it is going to be VERY abusive on the machines.