My Little Trapper Boy

Had both my wife's family, and mine up for the holidays, and after a couple days of entertaining, it was time to get outside. My dad had brought up his snowshoes to go for a walk with my little guy, but as we were waiting for him to arrive at our place, Myles asked "can we go trap bunnies".

I went in and checked with mama, and she said we were good till 2PM. Quickly grabbed the snare wire, multi tool, trail tape, and the .22 for any bonus grouse.

Got Myles' snowshoes on, and loaded my snowshoes and the dog into the back of the car and waited for my dad to arrive. He loaded up his gear and we were off.

Made it to the trail I wanted to work and we unloaded and geared up. We didn't have to walk very far before we came across the bunny highways. We haven't had any cold weather yet so they haven't been on the solid run, but roads are starting to form.

We got about 9 or 10 sets done before it was time to hike back to the car. I was extremely proud of Myles and how far he was able to walk in his snowshoes, he was extremely eager to learn how to set the snares, and was a big help gathering sticks to help make funnels in the trails.

Maddy got a good work out trudging through the deep snow but loved every minute of it, and grandpa got a few sets done himself.

Myles was having a bit of trouble settling into bed tonight and was getting himself into a bit of trouble, I reminded him that if he didn't do a good job, he wasn't going to be able to check traps tomorrow. He was asleep within minutes.

Getting ready to head out to the bush.
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He loves the outdoors, and loves "the forest" guess he comes by it honestly.
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His first snare set.
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Those are some big (snow)shoes to fill! I had to remind myself, one of my steps was 5 of his, but he didn't mind playing catch up.
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Taking a break with his puppy girl.
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Two of my favorite people to be out in the bush with.
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Awesome pics , looks like he's having great fun and it looks like you got plenty of snow too

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Originally Posted by trappermatt

Awesome pics , looks like he's having great fun and it looks like you got plenty of snow too

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Winter is well underway, we got another 20+ cm Christmas eve/day, another 10+ on the way throughout today/night.

As always great to see the pics and read about your adventures. Let us know how you make out with the bunnies.

Good on you T.R. Looks like good times. Enjoy it while you can. Before you know it, he'll be the one taking you out! Cheers B525

Thanks guys, nothing in the traps today, but we still had a blast. Little man got up, ate breakfast and we were off. Fresh snow on the trails and roads made for a nice walk, as well as the falling snow throughout the day. Didn't take long to check the snares, and we set a few more as well.

We walked to the end of the trail which cuts onto a bush road that is sometimes ploughed by locals, but hadn't been touched in awhile. We shoed up it for quite awhile looking for bunnies and grouse but we didn't hear or see a thing, Myles even commented on how quiet it was, I reminded him that, that is nice once in awhile, and he agreed.

He's in bed asleep now, has been for the past hour and a half. He would hop up onto the bank and head off into the woods on his own with Maddy when he'd see rabbit tracks and try and follow them to see if he could find one. I'm extremely proud at how brave he is and able to just go off on his own, but he does remind me to wait right there for him :)

Back out tomorrow!

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Maddy is also, sound asleep!
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that's an awesome account. Good for you and the little guy. My daughter 3 years old was almost to tears as our lake isn't safe to fish just yet and there is no snow for the machine. She has been talking about ice fishing for weeks. She did come scouting with me but we are looking at tracks in mud around Bancroft.

How high up are you with all that snow? I'm jealous.

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Originally Posted by Mdiddi

How high up are you with all that snow? I'm jealous.

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In Timmins, got another 10-15 tonight, another 2 on the way tomorrow.

Just noticed that you have a blog...nicely done !!

http://camoismycolor.com/

Beautiful up there. Been up there but mostly just south on The Grassy Road. Met some trappers up there one day when the wife and I were going into Sothman lake for pike. I told my wife we wouldnt see a soul that day and ran into the ten or twelve trappers. They were launching first but moved out of the way and helped us pack the boat and get on the water first. Nice lads. They were part of a trapping group that was fixing one of the lines up there cleaning it up. I didn't know till then that they were the ones clearing the portages for the canoe heads.

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Originally Posted by MikePal

Just noticed that you have a blog...nicely done !!

http://camoismycolor.com/

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Thanks Mike, I snagged the domain quite sometime ago, just never did anything with it. Figured maybe keep an archive of my outings, registered a smugmug account as well, to do the photo's as it allows me to save/share in high res, with better organizing. I still have some catching up to do on there, just havn't been in the writing mood.

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Originally Posted by Mdiddi

Beautiful up there. Been up there but mostly just south on The Grassy Road. Met some trappers up there one day when the wife and I were going into Sothman lake for pike. I told my wife we wouldnt see a soul that day and ran into the ten or twelve trappers. They were launching first but moved out of the way and helped us pack the boat and get on the water first. Nice lads. They were part of a trapping group that was fixing one of the lines up there cleaning it up. I didn't know till then that they were the ones clearing the portages for the canoe heads.

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The MNR stopped clearing portages etc, a long time ago up here, it's either the paddlers themselves, or trappers like you saw that keep them clean.

Well we went out this morning, but I didn't have high hopes. The 15+ cm's of snow last night had me knowing the snares would be buried, and I was right. I wasn't going to let that dampen mine, and Myles' spirits though, he was full of youthful optimism and checked every trap with excitement.

As we checked, I cut the wires and removed the trail tape as it's back to the work grind tomorrow and with a schedule that changes daily, I don't risk leaving them out and not being able to check them the next day.

We made it to the end of the line and no fur was to be had. Myles asked dissapointedly "why don't we get bunnies all the time" and I asked him, do we get partridge every time we go out? "no" well bunnies are the same, we don't always get something when we hunt or trap, and that's okay. We got outside and had fun, and you did such a good job. He smiled, looked at me, "I did a good job dad? does that mean I get rainbows? (skittles)" I laughed, yea, you can have rainbows when we get home.

So home we went, hung up the gear to dry, cleaned and oiled the .22 and him and mom went off to the movies for the afternoon. There's still plenty of season left and we'll get him 1 or 2 before we're through!

Well done Jason. The bunnies will come.