woodster_yote
New member
Last week a buddy and I headed north to Alaska. We've done this winter hunt a few times with the goal is to get a wolf. We arrived in Fairbanks and headed south two hours to meet up with Midnight Sun Safaris. We've known Coke Wallace for a few years now and he is the one you saw the Foxpro boys hunt with on Furtakers the past few episodes.
He had a pack of wolves spotted before we got there so we were pretty stoked. We headed out on snowmachine to set up camp. It's about a 25-30 mile ride. We left around noon and after one machine broke down, we made it to camp just after dark. The next morning we woke up to 20mph winds. We headed 6 miles downstream to try to locate the wolves and set up a few snare sets on some recent kills. We then played some wolf howls even though it was windy. We immediately got 2-3 responses. After 30+ minutes with no movement in -15 degree weather with 20+mph winds we decided the wolves didn't want to move or come into us.
The next few days we traveled at least 75 miles on snowmachines doing stands, checking traps, and looking for tracks. We never did hear from those wolves again and figured they moved out that night.
We started seeing a lot of cat tracks in one area so we did a few stands with rabbit distress and the decoy. One area had lynx cat tracks everywhere. After 22 minutes we spotted a lynx cat sneaking in. I had my 243ai and my buddy had a 17hmr. I pointed out the cat to him and he dropped it at 50 yards. It was pretty sweet watching that lynx come into the decoy and made for a great day!
Here is the first Lynx
The next day we went to the same area and since there was just one day left for the lynx season we thought we call for more cats. We stopped on the river and set the decoy and foxpro in the middle of the river and sat behind our snowmobiles. Again after 20 minutes I spotted a lynx cat sneaking through the willows. It was across the river from us with her eyes locked on the jack attack decoy. I had my 243ai again but didn't want to put a huge hole in it so I signaled for the 17HMR. Since the cat was directly across from us and the decoy was inline I was nervous the cat would spot us just past the decoy. We moved really slow and I lost the cat in the thick of the willows. My buddy didn't ever spot the lynx so he was no help. I finally got the 17hmr in my hand and saw the cat staring straight at us (well the decoy, but it looks like us since we were behind our yellow and red machines). I slowly pulled up the gun and popped the cat at 75 yards.
Here is the 2nd Lynx
It was pretty sweet watching those long legged lynx cats come into the call like that. Some days it would be nice to have thick, fluffy fur like that to keep warm.
We never did kill any wolves but one of the snare sets have a bunch of wolf tracks around it but nothing in the snares. It was a great trip and anyone looking to do a winter predator hunt needs to hook up with Coke Wallace . He does awesome winter hunts as well as fall sheep and bear hunts. Hopefully here in a few years I can make it on a sheep hunt. The northern lights were out and Mt. McKinley was on the horizon. It made for an awesome hunt and great scenery.
Here is a wolf he trapped two weeks before we got there. Pee Post with a foot hold!!
