Moose must love tropical weather.

[starmac]

In just a couple of days temps went from 30 below to 30 above. The log road had plenty of tracks in the snow, and moose pellets were in the road in numerous places.
One large calf even tried crossing the tracks on the road and a train harvested it.
One large cow with two big yearlings hung around browsing about a 60 yards in front of my truck while they were loading me. Them yearlings made my mouth water.

The logger even saw 3 large black wolves on his way in this morning, which is a somewhat rare sight in this particular area.

[swheeler]

Those yearlings make the wolves mouths water too!:bigsmyl2:

[bearcove]

Yeah they come out when it gets warm after bedding down for a cold snap.

[starmac]

The boss saw another wolf comeing out last night, a gray this time. That makes four in one day, and I have been working out there the llast three winters and have never heard of a sighting.

I was talking to an old timer that has logged out there for many years, he told me if I saw wolf scat inthe road and it was black, they were feeding on a moose and had one down pretty close. He claimed they would gorge on it, and take a dump soon after leaveing the suite, and that they did in the road sort of to mark their territory. I don't know if that is fact or not, but I did see some black scat in the road in two places in the next ten miles after talking to him.

I mentioned to him that a moose was hit at the railroad crossing yesterday, and that was funny because one was hit in the exact place last year. He informed me that the train crews would drag them to the road and call and report them, so that someone could come harvest it.

Learn something everyday, now if I can just start remembering all I have learned. lol

[bearcove]

Seeing wolves is rare, we had them around our house and would hear them all the time. I walked a lot, cc skied when it was time, made my own trails, snowshoed a bit and never seen a wolf for sure, in the woods there. A few glimpses that I thought were a wolf, but probably a coyote. I guess that's good cause when they show up they feel confidant they are in charge.

[jonp]

Black = undigested hair. You can see the same in coyote scat with rabbit fur. In our neck of the wood the colder weather has them bedding down in yards (softwood thickets and swamps). When it breaks they are running everywhere

[Plate plinker]

I would be trapping those wolves if it is legal.

[starmac]

They are legal to trap, and or shoot. There are a couple of trappers with lines in the area. Marten and linx are their main quarry, but most do use some wolf sets too.

[Plate plinker]

I haven't checked fur prices for some time but wolf always brought good money i do believe.

[starmac]

I do not know the going rate for wolf hides are and it varies quite a bit on size, condition and color, but is generally pretty good.

Martens are the bread and butter for trappers in this area most years, mainly because of sheer numbers. lynx and wolves do supply trappers with a nice shot in the arm at times though.

[swheeler]

limit of 10 per day on wolves?

[starmac]

10 per day would be tough, even in the best of wolf country by the best wolf hunters or trappers.
The big reason that most trappers mainly target other species is economics. It is just easier to trap more bucks worth of marten than it is for wolf, especially in areas not usually inhabitted with many wolves.

The particular area these were spotted is not normally what you would call wolf habitat, more linx than wolves but even they are scarce depending on the year, and as I understand it the rabbit cycle.

[jonp]

I used to read about a pair of sisters that trapped up your way in Fur Fish and Game a few years ago. I liked that magazine and even had a couple of articles published on firearms specifically calculations of recoil velocity and terminal velocity relative to bullet expansion. You ever read it starmac and are those gals still in business if you have?

I got my best coyote set out of that magazine. Years ago when I was still young I went to a lumber place in New York to pick up a load of kiln dried hardwood. I pulled around back and a while I was waiting I saw an older man throwing pieces of hardwood ends into his truck. I noticed a Furbearers of NY or something like that on his back window so wandered over. I said something along the lines of "those pieces look just about right for a floating muskrat set". His eyes lighted up and he asked me what a young fella like me knew about a muskrat set. I told him not much but if your drove a spike in the end and stuck a corncob on it attached to a slider you might have something. The guy laughed and we started talking and he was delighted that someone younger than him knew anything about trapping and was interested. Great guy to talk to and one of those chance meetings that stick with you.

[starmac]

I do stil ocassionally read FF&G, but haven't subscribed to it in years, and am not famililar with the women you are talking about.

There are actually quite a few folks here that make a living trapping, most do something else in the summer, but not all. I do know several trappers personally, most that I know have other types of income too though especially in the summer. I do not know of anyone that primarily focuses on wolves, though they do put out and check some wolf sets.

[starmac]

JonP I have a younger friend of mine in Idaho that on years with a decent fur price, traps muskrats full time. He has a business that is basically a summer and fall business, but does whatever it takes to get the coon in winter. He is in his 30's and works hard at trapping when he does, it is not at all uncommon for him to catch over a hundred a day, which as you know is a full time job just doing the skinning, but his wife helps out a lot with that.

[Plate plinker]

I suspect nobody traps wolves exclusively because they range to far and the other packs are even farther out. To few wolves per square 100 miles.