Marten set locations

mark-edmonton · #1 01-19-2015, 10:55 AM

Just wondering how everyone picks their locations. Usually I do ok with marten by setting just off my trail in various locations, but this year Is slow! Does anyone walk deeper into the bush to put their sets?

Torkdiesel · #2 01-19-2015, 12:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mark-edmonton

Just wondering how everyone picks their locations. Usually I do ok with marten by setting just off my trail in various locations, but this year Is slow! Does anyone walk deeper into the bush to put their sets?

My marten where way down this year. I set along my trails as well and have never had an issue before. This year sets stayed empty that normally produce 2-3 marten a year. I pulled everything Jan 4th to give the remaining animals a break. Hopefully they bounce back for next year, lots of rabbits and squirrels around so I don't think it's a lack of food.

uke hunter · #3 01-19-2015, 12:14 PM

Mark,

I don't think setting along your trail versus walking into the bush will make a difference. The call lure will bring them to the site from wherever they are...then the meat in the box will draw them into the trap.

Things are very slow lately.......pulling my remaining traps this coming weekend.

nube · #4 01-19-2015, 01:22 PM

I caught all my marten except 4 or 5 before January. Don't think it matters where you set. My future plans are to set double boxes in my good places and hit them hard till the end of Dec then concentrate more on Lynx and Wolves

mark-edmonton · #5 01-19-2015, 01:45 PM

Ya I'm looking into funding an alternative route into my line! The back way is mostly skeg, but if I wait til mid December it should be froze up enough to quad in! Will try for that next year

mark-edmonton · #6 01-19-2015, 01:46 PM

Also had a late start this year due to an officer development course most of December!!

Big Grey Wolf · #7 01-19-2015, 02:05 PM

Guys, marten have been slow this year for us as well. My theory is way less red back vole population and seems increase in fisher population that may impact marten. Brian had good article a few years back in AO. He recommended not setting on pipelines (to open) and trying to set more traps on the narrow seismic lines well back in trees away from open areas. General sets should be near water streams and last most important is "set on tracks"

nube · #8 01-19-2015, 02:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Big Grey Wolf

Guys, marten have been slow this year for us as well. My theory is way less red back vole population and seems increase in fisher population that may impact marten. Brian had good article a few years back in AO. He recommended not setting on pipelines (to open) and trying to set more traps on the narrow seismic lines well back in trees away from open areas. General sets should be near water streams and last most important is "set on tracks"

Can you explain what slow is guys because I have no idea. I set roughly 35 traps and caught roughly 30-35 marten. Is this normal or slow? I also got a pile of weasels and I know if I had double marten boxes at each set I would have done better.

Big Grey Wolf · #9 01-19-2015, 02:53 PM

Nube, you had a excellent year for your first season. You averaged 1 marten per trap for the season, a good average is perhaps 1/2 or 1/3 traps set/year. Uke did well this year I believe his average was 1 marten for every 2 traps set. (46 marten with 100 traps) Alot depends on how active you are brushing snow, rebaiting and adding fresh lure, moving traps to better area through season etc

nube · #10 01-19-2015, 03:02 PM

Thanks for the reply. Glad to hear that is good. I mostly checked traps every 10-12 days and a couple times my Jr Partner buddies went and checked and caught a few each time. I would say I had 5-6 checks and only rebaited if the bait was gone or it had sit for a month and was dried out. I also used muskrat and I think beaver is best. I think rebaiting every 2 weeks would have helped as well.
I also had issues with some boxes facing up that filled with snow and the marten could not figure things out even though they were at the base of the tree. Lots of things I could do better. Hopefully this is a low year for marten and it gets better than this. I plan on 100 boxes next year. It took a bit to find my lynx but I have a couple pockets now I can catch some in and hopefully can find a few more.
I can't wait till next year already and this year isn't even over lol

uke hunter · #11 01-19-2015, 03:12 PM

Nube...you did excellent for your first year!

I had 115 marten sets out and got 46 marten.....so....around the 1 marten for every 2.5 sets. This was my first year as well! Set traps everywhere on my line.....roughly every 1 km apart. Keep in mind that most of my line burnt 4 years ago. This year was just about learning the line and where the activity is. Next year should be much better. Plan on thinning out traps in some areas whereas doubling up the density of the traps in others. Some traps saw no activity this year while others produced 3 martens each! Plan on building another 30 boxes this year and having about 140 boxes out next season. Geez...can't wait for November already!

Pulling the last of my line this weekend. Still have 30 marten sets out. Set a season target for myself of 50 marten. Hopefully I will pick up the final 4! Only thing left in the bush will be my wolf bait station.

nube · #12 01-19-2015, 03:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by uke hunter

Nube...you did excellent for your first year!

I had 115 marten sets out and got 46 marten.....so....around the 1 marten for every 2.5 sets. This was my first year as well! Set traps everywhere on my line.....roughly every 1 km apart. Keep in mind that most of my line burnt 4 years ago. This year was just about learning the line and where the activity is. Next year should be much better. Plan on thinning out traps in some areas whereas doubling up the density of the traps in others. Some traps saw no activity this year while others produced 3 martens each! Plan on building another 30 boxes this year and having about 140 boxes out next season. Geez...can't wait for November already!

Pulling the last of my line this weekend. Still have 30 marten sets out. Set a season target for myself of 50 marten. Hopefully I will pick up the final 4! Only thing left in the bush will be my wolf bait station.

Awesome bud. A huge congrats because I know how it feels. How often are you checking traps? I know what you mean about next year already. Lots to do between now and then and next year I will be in a lot better shape

Torkdiesel · #13 01-19-2015, 03:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by nube

Can you explain what slow is guys because I have no idea. I set roughly 35 traps and caught roughly 30-35 marten. Is this normal or slow? I also got a pile of weasels and I know if I had double marten boxes at each set I would have done better.

You can't really compare yours to ours Nube because you didn't trap it last year, and I would guess the guy you bought it from hadn't trapped it in several years.
My buddy opened up a new loop on his line this year and caught 30 marten in 14 days, it hadn't been trapped in over 10 years. Across the river on the rest of his line, 6 all season. And this is a line he's caught 40 marten a year on for the last 10 years.
Something went wrong with the marten population all over it seems, not sure what it is yet but hopefully it will bounce back for next year.

Kittyslayer · #14 01-19-2015, 03:37 PM

Historically the 3 rd & 4 th weekend in January is the best for Lynx. This time of year it is hard to stay focused for me as the winter defiantly takes a toll, but I have waited for these upcoming two final line checks since last year. I guess what I am trying to say is maybe wait to pull the whole line till the end of the month if possible, you could catch a significant amount of fur in the next few weeks. We run 80 lynx pens and could see as many as 20 lynx/fishers caught in the next two checks if history repeats itself.

Kittyslayer · #15 01-19-2015, 03:43 PM

On a side note: All of our Lynx thus far in the season have been caught in snares set around the perimeter of the pen (none in traps unlike years previous were it was normally a 50/50 split ). I am guessing the warmer winter and lots of food have made them more curious than hungry. Anyone else experience this?

nube · #16 01-19-2015, 04:01 PM

Kitty I have noticed a bunch of cats walk around my set as well. I just assumed they came back later posisbly. I have one cat that is really bugging me right now. 2 checks ago he ate a caught one and didn't get caught in the other snares so I set trail snares and more snares around later the next day and noticed he had been back before I came to set the extra snares. Then my bud went a few days ago and all my snares out of the pen were froze shut or covered in snow and the cat knocked over the pen snares and started chewing on the bait. He has been taunting me. Hope I get him this week!!

KegRiver · #17 01-23-2015, 03:59 AM

I never really concerned myself with whether or not a set was close to a trail. What I did pay attention to was a site suitable for a set.

First, was it a likely travel corridor. I looked for edge structure. The edge of a patch of conifers, a drainage, anything that would channel or draw my intended catch. Marten hunt a lot of rabbits so any place that was attractive to a rabbit would draw in a Marten or Fisher.
However, such areas are usually large and indistinct. But a patch of Spruce nearby is a natural magnet for any Marten or Fisher hunting the area.
They like to sleep on a Spruce limb.

Second thing I looked for was a tree appropriate for the sort o set I intended to make. If I found such a tree close to the trail, then that is where I would make my set. At other times I had to go further back to find what I was looking for.

And, on occasion, when setting in a high use area, that's a relative term here. Our high use is someone else’s low use. Thing is, if I thought there was a chance that my set would be spotted then I would move it back away from the trail.

I never saw anything to suggest to me that animals avoided my trails or that they were any more cautious around my trails.

wallydog · #18 01-23-2015, 07:29 AM

do any of you guys set muskeg or find marten in muskeg. seem there is not much fur in the muskeg on my line.

jim summit · #19 01-23-2015, 07:51 AM

We catch the occasional marten in muskeg, have some areas with a couple miles of pure muskeg, might catch one or two marten over the season.
Have to travel through the area any way, so might as well set the box.

Usually on the edge of the muskeg there is a tree line of bigger trees or different terrain, a good place for a set, as lynx and marten/fisher hunt along these areas.