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Post by musher on Dec 1, 2009 16:31:41 GMT -6
Question for marten/fisher trappers that use boxes.
When not using poles and fastening to the tree do you position the box opening facing up or facing down?
Why?
thanks
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Post by John Porter on Dec 1, 2009 16:34:18 GMT -6
Always set mine facing down when I was in Maine..
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Post by Gibb on Dec 1, 2009 18:05:51 GMT -6
horizontal from the tree. Makes for an all weather set and less fur damage.
Jim
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Post by thebeav2 on Dec 1, 2009 18:10:14 GMT -6
When i trapped In Canada all our boxes were opening up.
Seems to me It was easier to place the trap and keep It In position. It also seems that It would be easier for the animal to get Into the box when It was going down hill so to speak.
Our boxes had 1/4 screen In the bottoms. Reason being the birds would hang on the wire and peck at the frozen beaver. The missed pieces would fall to the ground and In turn attract the voles which are the martens main food source. It seemed to work . In the 5 weeks we trapped we caught 93 marten.
We also never placed the boxes any higher then 4 feet off the ground. Reason being It was easier for the marten to get to the box but high enough for them to hang off the ground when caught.
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wbg
Demoman...
Posts: 182
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Post by wbg on Dec 2, 2009 5:30:33 GMT -6
Down, I've seen them set up, but seems to Me that you would have alot of fired traps after a heavy snow or even a steady rain. Also here in Maine any marten set is also a fisher set and I think when using 120 sized traps Your better off with the fisher climbing a small pole as it keeps his head low and well positioned for a solid neck catch.
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Post by thebeav2 on Dec 2, 2009 8:16:55 GMT -6
don't ever remember having any 120 sprung because of snow load.The over head cover from the spruce trees took care of that. And I doubt that rain would set off any trap.
The fisher population was non existent.
With the amount of marten we caught we must have been doing something right.
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Post by Gibb on Dec 2, 2009 8:43:05 GMT -6
Anybody notice the Dec. issue of the Trapper & Predator caller, the marten caught in the picture is the worse catch you can make on a marten. Hip caught marten will taint overnight. His box is positioned in the wrong set-up. You need the running pole behind the box.
You will catch more marten faster with boxes on the ground but your percentage of damage goes way up, unless you can check everyday at daylight.
Better to have your box 5 feet of the ground and use a good call lure like XLDC or GUSTO.
Jim
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Post by thebeav2 on Dec 2, 2009 9:01:09 GMT -6
That may be a concern In warm weather but we were running 3 and 4 day checks and most of our marten were either frozen or pretty stiff we didn't lose a one do to taint.
My buddy really stressed trap adjustment so the trap fired with a minimum of trigger movement. I noticed some of those 120s had 3" of trigger travel before going off. Not a good thing when trapping marten or any animal.
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Post by JWarren on Dec 2, 2009 9:33:52 GMT -6
there are two disadvantages to facing them up, the box fills with snow and aerial non targets like gray jays and squirrels can see the bait
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Post by thebeav2 on Dec 2, 2009 9:39:48 GMT -6
Tree rats are a given no matter what postion your box is In. Screen on the bottom allows the snow to pass on through. And like I siad with over head cover snow wasn't a problem. Never caught a Jay they were to busy picking up the morsels on the ground. Our boxes were at least 16" deep.
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Post by JWarren on Dec 2, 2009 9:49:56 GMT -6
Tree rats are a given no matter what postion your box is In. . I can't remember ever catching one in a downward box, how many times have you used downward boxes? |
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wbg
Demoman...
Posts: 182
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Post by wbg on Dec 2, 2009 11:20:24 GMT -6
The cause of hip caught marten is having the bait too far from the trap. I pin my bait just beyond the trap so that the marten is still in the trap jaws while working the bait. This results in a double, neck chest strike. When it was still legal to do so here I set many traps on poles without boxes or buckets and after a heavy rain I would have many fired traps.
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Post by musher on Dec 2, 2009 14:27:44 GMT -6
Tree rats are a given no matter what postion your box is In. . I can't remember ever catching one in a downward box, how many times have you used downward boxes? Facing down is a fairly popular method in this province. |
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Post by steeliekingfisher on Dec 3, 2009 0:40:42 GMT -6
My boxes are 6 inches deep. The bait is wired to the back and all boxes are facing down. I dont know of anyone here that has them facing up. Triggers are adjusted for hair trigger and like wbg said, they are working my bait when they get slammed. All neck catches and quick dispatch. Same goes for my mink boxes with depth and triggers, all neck catches.
Why down, constant freeze, then thaw, then snow, then freezing rain and so on. Plus, just my opinion, the marten are on the ground traveling, my flagging attracts them to my set area, as well as XLDC. When they are on the ground and looking up at the set, they see my bait and added attractor in the box, done deal.
I do have some boxes on the ground, similar set to my mink sets. All cubby boxes on the ground are set up on a tip-up. There is a lot of work setting them up, but with my vole population too much damage for a 2 day check. With the tip up set, they are all hanging off the ground once caught.
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