Trapping wolves is all too often an exercise in frustration. Since catching that pretty black wolf early in December, the pack has only been back once, and I missed them.
I had several snares set in their trails (which they tend to use each time they come through the area), but the day before they came, a wind storm filled in all of their old tracks. It made me sick to see their new trails going right by 6 of my snare sets. All I could do was set more and keep waiting.
Although the action can be slow with trapping, sometimes you just get lucky. As I was headed out to the cabin to spend the weekend checking and setting lynx traps, I had what I consider to be a very rare and lucky opportunity, even for Alaska.
I was going through some open flats with sparse timber patches, when all of a sudden, a big grey wolf sprung onto the trail right in front of me. Even for guys who spend a lot of time in the woods, wolves are rarely seen, and shot opportunities are even rarer. Thankfully I was able to take advantage of this stroke of luck and shoot him before he disappeared into he woods.
He was a large, mature male, weighing 105 pounds. A wolf like this can take down a 1,500-pound moose by himself. He had a thick, silvery hide, making him almost immune to the cold, even down past -40F.
We also caught 2 nice lynx this and a very pretty marten this weekend to top it all off. The days are getting longer and I still have more than 2 months left of wolf trapping, so I’m going to keep at it! Stay tuned!