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Not many things nastier than mink musk glands. Seems I can’t skin one without damaging or otherwise releasing that nasty odor. Thank God our niece gave us a plug in scent thing for Christmas or Sara would evict me for good cause. I did learn how to flesh a mink tonight, after, of course, looking it up on the internet. I am drying the mink in our cold air, though, as that stink is too much for even the scentenator. All the fur caught so far – 13 marten and 2 mink – are now skinned and boarded. I took the furs I’d done so far to the office to have Bob, who trapped up north for over a decade, to critique, and his response was overwhelmingly positive – so I hope to get good value for what I sell and appear to be doing it properly. He did say I could use a little skinnier stretching boards to get some more length on my furs, so always something to learn.
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Mark Stopha
Alaska Wild Salmon Company
4455 N. Douglas Hwy
Juneau, AK 99801
www.GoodSalmon.com

It is cold in Juneau town. Right around zero, and some north wind. Skinned 3 more marten, and boarded those and one left from the night before. Used a propane Mr. Heater in the garage for heat and that was tolerable. 2 mink and a marten left to do.

Got up to pee at 4 am and we forgot to leave the water running so the pipes froze. Found a little space heater and extension cord to put next to the water line under the house as we always had. When I opened the access door, there was another heater left there from earlier pipe freezes. So just plugged it in. Took 3 hours to unfreeze but it let go about 7. Then off to work.

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Mark Stopha
Alaska Wild Salmon Company
4455 N. Douglas Hwy
Juneau, AK 99801
www.GoodSalmon.com

Spent the day skinning marten. I must say the trapping part is alot more enjoyable. But, the first ones are the tough ones getting a system down. Must take me at least an hour to skin, flesh, and board each one. I realized I got mostly large, male marten, and perhaps I was trapping ground that hasn’t been trapped in awhile. Seemed like much more to flesh than the ones I helped my brother in law with on Prince of Wales Island. Maybe because we are further north the marten have more fat, or maybe mine are larger on average and that’s why. Anyway, I just turned the four I skinned today, and they look pretty good. I also noticed it takes a long time to thaw out marten that have been frozen whole, so another lesson learned.

Tracked down an old friend, too. A Lebanese coffee and diamond trader from Koidu town in Sierra Leone who is now in the Congo. He made his home a rest house for us when we were in the Peace Corps there – fed us, too. So good to hear from him, and I passed on his information with many others he helped like me, and they, too, were happy to hear from him.
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Mark Stopha
Alaska Wild Salmon Company
4455 N. Douglas Hwy
Juneau, AK 99801
www.GoodSalmon.com

Not every time

Not one marten today. Pulled traps as I went to move them, then just decided to bring them all home as there’s a big cold front coming.

Beautiful day on the water. I saw a small pod of orcas on the way in. A large one was jumping out of the water and returning head first as if it were doing a sea world trick through a hoop. Others were slashing, and there was at least one tiny calf just watching on.

Time to start getting the fur ready I already caught and put in the freezer.
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Mark Stopha
Alaska Wild Salmon Company
4455 N. Douglas Hwy
Juneau, AK 99801
www.GoodSalmon.com

Another great day

4 more marten today in the traps. I hadn’t been able to check them for 6 days due to crappy weather this weekend, but all were in good shape in the freezing temperatures.

I pulled some of the traps at the start of the line that had no marten, putting them in sets in between other beach sets. Saw one deer on the beach.

The winds were surly today. When I ran down the channel, the winds were southerly, and when I turned the corner, they were north. My first sets had a swell right on shore, and I repeatedly went over my boots getting the boat offshore enough with the anchor to keep it off the beach. Thank goodness the tide was flooding or I’d really been cranky.

I had one trap where the marten must have moved the box, and it sent the bait down the newspaper tube and the deer backbone was caught by the conibear trap. The marten then went to town chawing on the free meat, leaving scat right on the log where he was dining. I’ve already caught 3 marten and a mink at this site, with other trap snaps, so there’s more to come.

Had a Peace Corps friend pass away on Friday from cancer. A great lady my age, with a husband and two kids. Way too young, and made me really appreciate the day being alive on the water and in the woods and remembering her during our time in Sierra Leone.
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Mark Stopha
Alaska Wild Salmon Company
4455 N. Douglas Hwy
Juneau, AK 99801
www.GoodSalmon.com