All trappers have fond memories of that first catch-the excitement of finding that animal in their very own set. For Kaleb Ellis, son of Jimmy and Amy Ellis, that came in the form of a beautiful white ermine in rat trap placed in a cubby box. As I am traveling the scenic hill country of [...]
February 2010-Tom, Hawken and I are delighted that nephew Mike Roskos and son Charlie came to spend the day with us. They clambored out of their La Crosse residence early and went to hunt crows on other property. 8 AM they pattered down our wooden hallway floor as we savored oatmeal, eggs, coffee and diet [...]
The days are getting longer here in Western Wisconsin-ten and one-half hours of daylight now. The coyotes are very vocal as they enter breeding season. Our trapping season for them lasts until the middle of the month-I still have a chance! What a wonderful turn the muskrat price took this winter. We have sold some [...]
Jan. ’10-Trap Shack Showroom is warmed with the heater that’s been blasting all day for us. It’s end of 2009 inventory time. It’s a carefully selected time to count the remaining trapping and coon hunting supplies. Hawken busied himself digging in the waxed dirt with a shovel. An hour later-we had a large part of [...]
The WTA District 5 Winter Meeting will be held Sat. Feb.6, 2010 at Bud Pierson”s Fur Shed starting at 1pm. The fur shed is located at W22051 Wagner Rd. in Treampealeau, Wisconsin. This is always a great afternoon of comraderie with fellow trappers-there is never a shortage of stories! For those of you not [...]
Fisher season closed for us Dec. 31st so we pulled our winter line for now. Even though we had tracks we did not catch any fisher but we did catch 5 large and very prime coon. All were caught in square white buckets set with Belisle 160 traps and baited with our Muir [...]
Jan. 6, ’10-Welcome back and be sure to read “Steep Hills=Big Thrills” first. Lovely lacey snowflakes slumber silently as I swoon over the sights and sounds. The sights are brushing the cold away and the silence is a reminder of where our journeys began. All of us-you and I standing together in spirit, simply waiting [...]
Jan. 2nd, ’10-My hubby Doc Tom has described how invariably the front end of a snowstorm produces a weather system that causes cattle to calve. A client of Tom’s had a small herd of cattle nestled @ the bottom of a steep hill. I’d heard the story many times of how he slid sideways down [...]
lDec. 25th, ’09-The geese are honking their gratitude as I sling remnants of Christmas Dinner in their kennel pen. Slushy water is slopped with mashed orange peel and meatball grease. Fat particles float and swirl as Geezer buries his orange beak in the black calf bucket and puddles happily. The ducks flap and quack as [...]
The weather forecast pre-Christmas is good and the burning desire is there to get more traps out.We have an unfilled fisher tag and we have a friend that has seen them on the deer cameras this fall. Also have some springs at the headwaters of the creeks that flow through the picturesque valleys that provide [...]