Alaska Trapping

While I have enjoyed trapping the many species that Alaska has to offer, the one animal that is my favorite is the Lynx. Marten trapping is also enjoyable and the marten has always been the 'bread and butter' fur to the trapper. But the Lynx has a certain 'mystique' about it....it it not that they are difficult to catch; they are not difficult at all. It is more the elusiveness of the species that adds to the mystique. They are a very shy creature with all of the same characteristics of the common house-cat; plus a few of their own. A Lynx will eat just about anything it can catch; but it's staple is the Snowshoe Hare. Biologists have traced the population cycles of the Lynx and found a direct connection between the cycles of the Hare population and the Lynx population.

Lynx are so easy to catch that some trappers think that they are stupid; nothing could be farther from the truth. It is their feline curiosity that does them in. They are very quick to notice anything out of place and a small piece of surveyor's tape or bird's wing fluttering in the breeze is all it takes to get them over to your set.

There is another trick that I learned from my first trapping partner a long time ago. First make your set, then walk at right angles to it and make a trail that will harden in the snow. If you face your set, make a trail to the right and a trail to the left. I usually walk about 20 yards each way, the result is a 'T' shaped set that is 40 yards wide. You see, a Lynx will always follow a trail in the snow; it is easy walking in deep snow. If you want to get really fancy, you will set snares in the trail you make. I have also made 'blind sets' with traps in these trails. I mound up a little hill of snow and set the trap in the top of the hill; a Lynx will always step on the top of a small mound, this trait makes it easy for those who understand their habits. The set I have just described is very, very effective. If you do it right you will have a set that will be hard for a territorial Lynx to miss. There is another plus to this kind of set; you stand a very good chance of taking more than one Lynx. If one gets caught in your trail set, your cubby set is still working, as well as any other traps or snares you have in the trail. I am putting a photo on this page of three Lynx that I caught using just this method. Two were caught in traps and one in a snare.

This is a photo taken in 1974. It shows the results of my first year trapping. I was not alone though; I had the benefit of a partner who had been a trapper here for some time already. His name is Scotty Whelan and the fur you see here we took in one season on Hess Creek, above Livengood. There are eight marten, three wolves, one wolverine, eight lynx and a fox. We did not have any marten sets out at that time, the price was low and so was the population. The marten were taken in sets along the road; at this time we did not have an actual marten line. The other fur was taken about 10 miles down stream on Hess Creek. The wolves were a real challenge, they are very smart and although there were a lot more wolves in the area, this was the best we could do. The cabin in the background was actually the house I lived in when I first came to Alaska.

In this part of Alaska, I find wolverine difficult to catch. They are nomads, wandering far and wide; here today and gone tomorrow. I have trapped them in other more northern regions of the state with much better success. Because of their nomadic nature; you can never tell when one will come through. I would hate to count the times I have seen a set of Wolverine tracks, made a set, and it never came back. I have found that you can do well in your area if you anticipate that a Wolverine will come through sometime during the winter. The problem comes in because of the long length of time you may have to wait. You will have to keep the set baited, keep the snow off, (almost impossible) and put up with every other little animal getting caught in your Wolverine set. It is hard to keep a set working.

Years ago, I heard about trappers on the North Slope of Alaska that caught Wolverine in a very unique way. They have no trees to make a set with and it is almost impossible to keep the snow from blowing the set in and making it inoperable. They use a 55 gal drum, which are very plentiful there. (they have to haul all their fuel themselves) They lay it on its side and cut a 12" square hole in one side. Bait is placed inside the barrel and a 330 Connibear trap is fastened over the 12" hole. This is a set that will keep working all winter and work year after year.

I borrowed on this idea for my sets here in the Interior. The only thing I did different was, I used a plastic milk crate instead of a barrel. I cut out the two handles and lay the crate on it's side, wiring it to a sturdy tree. I wired a piece of bait inside the crate and placed a 330 Connibear trap in the open side of the crate. The handles being cut out make for a perfect place to hang the springs of the trap; this positions the main jaws of the trap like a frame around the opening. Then I chain the trap to the tree also. This set will keep working all winter long. If the snow gets too deep, just pull it up on top again. A Wolverine cannot get to the bait without setting off the trap. This will also work for Lynx, if one happens by. The only problem I have had with this is if a Marten tries for the bait he will set off the trap. He will not get caught because the jaws are too big and they close right over him without doing any damage. I have had this happen a number of times.

The photo on the left was taken in 1975; it shows the results on the first half of the season, there are two lines that the fur is hanging on, so you cannot see the fur behind the front row. There are twenty Lynx, two Fox, one Marten and one Mink.

Photo on the right is an example of a set that will take Lynx or Wolverine. It is simply a hole kicked in the snow with a rabbit in the back of it for bait, and a 330 Connibear over the entrance. I like to throw some rabbit fur, or feathers if I am using birds, around the hole to look like a kill. This set is a killer, it is not covered in any way, although you could place some spruce boughs around it to camouflage it. The link below will take you to a photo of a wolverine that was caught in this set that you see above.

Don't click on this link unless you want to see the results!

Wolverine