Trap line management

[antlercarver]

I see several people gearing up for the up-coming trapping season. Managing the trapping area can ensure sucess over many years. A friend who has been on the same line for more thn 50 years, last year on his first check around the line caught 18 martin and closed his sets because the catch was to few, he thought he was cutting into the breeding stock. With the amount of experience he has in that area he will make up his catch in the next few seasons because he did not damage the breeding stock last winter.
When Dad used to trap and when his muskrat catch dropped to about 60 per day he would stop trapping. He would catch 3000-4000 per season because he maintained a large breeding stock. He did this for several years and used the money to buy land, he ended up owning 11 quarters of land. Happy trails

[nube]

This is something I know little about but have read up on a bit. I will have to watch my line this winter as I am trapping for the first season on it and do not know what to expect. Supposedly it has good marten and good lynx numbers but I don't know. I think for me I will have to keep an eye out of the ratios between female and juvi's on the marten to see if I am over harvesting. I also want to trap different portions of the line. It is 7.5 townships so I think some parts will be better than others and I will have to gauge what the numbers are.

[mark-edmonton]

Nube ! You can rotate your line from year to year. West half one year easy half the next. Or just select harvest certain species per area?

[mark-edmonton]

Wish I had better access to beaver and muskrat . Would like some for bait this year! Usually don't start trapping until near Xmas! Have to wait for the Athabasca to freeze up

[diamonddave]

Originally Posted by nube

This is something I know little about but have read up on a bit. I will have to watch my line this winter as I am trapping for the first season on it and do not know what to expect. Supposedly it has good marten and good lynx numbers but I don't know. I think for me I will have to keep an eye out of the ratios between female and juvi's on the marten to see if I am over harvesting. I also want to trap different portions of the line. It is 7.5 townships so I think some parts will be better than others and I will have to gauge what the numbers are.

This is how we would do it as well. Good advice

[bill9044]

At the trapping show a knowledgeable fellow did an economics of trapping seminar. He more or less said that he would trap one part of his line hard for martin and get a large incial catch after a slow down in production on martin he would pull traps and move on to another part of his line. 1. Because after the initial catch was done and catches became fewer he wasn't getting enough fur per cost ratio.
2. Liked to leave breeding stock for next year.

Please don't quote me on this I am trying to remember the presentation. Hopefully it jogs someone else's memory to elaborate further.

[sourdough doug]

[QUOTE=mark-edmonton;2532818]Wish I had better access to beaver and muskrat . Would like some for bait this year! Usually don't start trapping until near Xmas! Have to wait for the Athabasca to freeze up[/Q

When the time comes I could freeze you up some carcasses and make arrangement for pickup at that time..

[mark-edmonton]

Awesome Doug! Thanks!

[wahbush]

Trapline management means taking the optimum amount of furbearers of all species that will not harm the breeding stock for next year.
Think of your trapline as a water tub that holds 300 gal.of water.The top half of the tub is full of tiny holes that allows the water to trickle down to the 150 gal mark(carrying capacity of the line set in late winter) each year.
In the spring of each year the tub is filled(animals born onto the line) again to the top(300 gal).Now no matter if you scoop(trap the fur) out 10 gallons,75 gallons,or 150 gallons,or none at all,the water will drain down(Natural mortality and or dispersal) to the 150 gallon mark each year regardless,and will fill again the next spring.
The only time you get a problem is if you scoop out more than 150 gallons,if you take 200,when the 150 is added in the spring,the top up will be 250 gallons the next year,as you have dipped into your breeding stock.
If you continue year after year to cut into the breeding stock the production on your line will be poor and will take several seasons of cutting back to get the line back to optimum production levels.
So what you want to do as a good fur manager is to take the maximum number of furbearers on your line without harming the breeders and maintain the maximum carrying capacity on your line,without leaving fur on the line that will die or move on.This is a simple analogy used to help trappers understand line management
There are things that the trapper can do to increase the trapline carrying capacity of some furbearers,but that is another subject.

[braggadoe]

right up until industry punches a 12" hole in your barrel.


theres a very good chance your line will not be the same in even a couple of years.

catch them while you can. as it's impossible to manage for the future now a days.

in all but a very few places.

[wahbush]

Not true Braggadoe,Industry or natural disturbance may change the carrying capacity(for the better or worse depending on the species,and amount of time passed since disturbance)but a trapper still must manage for optimum harvest according to the carrying capacity of the trapline,at any given time in the forest progression.
Traplines change over the years and I suspect you will learn that if you trap one line over 30 years or so.
I have trapped several lines in the same area over quite a number of years,and have seen the changes brought about on lines that were both cut over and mismanaged in the past due to lack of sufficient harvest of the fur resource.
As the forest progresses towards climax the animals that thrive on it change sometimes dramatically.A climax forest is definitely not the most productive for a lot of furbearers.

[moose maniac]

Originally Posted by braggadoe

right up until industry punches a 12" hole in your barrel.


theres a very good chance your line will not be the same in even a couple of years.

catch them while you can. as it's impossible to manage for the future now a days.

in all but a very few places.

Boy you sure like to complain about industry brag can't help but notice you sure like using the stuff it provides.... Like gas.... Maybe chopper fuel etc

[braggadoe]

i like industry! and all the things it provides.

the fact is, you can't plan very far into future now a days. as far as wildlife goes.

be it industry, or mother nature. a trapper can only control so much(very little)

i'm lucky and have a line with no logging or o&g. manage the marten. and they still fluctuate. with the mice.


i know other trappers that have seen marten numbers multiply, huge out of the blue. for no reason.


your kidding yourself if you think you can make a long term difference.

but it does make for a good discussion. looks good in the manuals.

[tomcat]

Originally Posted by braggadoe

i like industry! and all the things it provides.

the fact is, you can't plan very far into future now a days. as far as wildlife goes.

be it industry, or mother nature. a trapper can only control so much(very little)

i'm lucky and have a line with no logging or o&g. manage the marten. and they still fluctuate. with the mice.


i know other trappers that have seen marten numbers multiply, huge out of the blue. for no reason.


your kidding yourself if you think you can make a long term difference.

but it does make for a good discussion. looks good in the manuals.

X2, and industry provides great access. As far as the rest goes just learn to adapt.

[wahbush]

When you see marten in large numbers they are on the move and abandon home range due to a small mammal crash.Many trappers make the mistake of trapping them hard at this time,but if you do your due diligence and record your adult to juvenile ratio during these events,you will notice approx. 80% adult marten and very few juveniles.
This is the time when maintaining bait stations late into winter(while spring beaver trapping)will give you a respectable catch the following year,when other trappers will have very few marten.One year in 2005 we had a very large amount of marten on the move.I could tell right away by the large size of these marten they had come down from the North around the Bay.
During that unusual event a lot of trappers overtrapped and had no marten for two years.I maintained several bait stations well into April that year,and stopped trapping early.The following year I took 40 marten by Christmas,and quit because of climbing adult female ratios in the harvest,and the next year I was able to harvest my normal 65 marten,when most trappers still did not have enough marten to warrant running their lines.
This was the first time in 40 years that biologists and trappers had seen a two year near absence of marten after a small mammal crash.Every other time the populations rebounded after one year of reproductive failure.
In order to manage marten you need to know the dynamics of the population whether there are 80% juveniles dispersing in the harvest or 80% adults abandoning home range due to a small mammal crash.Being able to differentiate will allow you to have a harvestable population of fur every year,without inadvertently depleting the carrying capacity on your line.

[braggadoe]

Originally Posted by tomcat

X2, and industry provides great access. As far as the rest goes just learn to adapt.

traplines are are like a new girlfriend. you always wish you'd got one sooner.


adapting is a more realistic term than managing. in 2014. in most places.

[Big Grey Wolf]

Guys,cute story on trapline management. A friend was fishing in northern Sask a few years back, Traopper was netting fish asked friend to join him. He kept the walleye, but drove boat near shore and would pitch jacks into the trees. Friend asked why he was doing that, He said " Got to feed the fur" Trapline management??

[wahbush]

No,thats wasting a resource.Some people prefer pike to pickerel.
Late winter(when carrying capacity is set) is when delayed implanters like marten benefit from supplemental feeding thru maintaining baitstations,and I believe much more effective than nesting boxes.

[antlercarver]

Many people do`t know about delayed implantation in marten, fisher, bears and how it affects the number of young that will be born. The natural systems at work are complicated and interdependent with involvement of seemingly unrelated animal and plants. Throw in weather and human interference and it takes a lot of understanding. It is more than setting some traps and snares or which bait to use.

[wahbush]

Once you get to know the natural cycles of all the species and how some species are interdependent(wolves\beaver)A good fur manager will learn the ability to identify and predict,and smooth out the peaks and valleys of the natural cycles on the land.
Once you master these abilities it will pay dividends in that your harvests will be more uniform from year to year.The first most important step to becoming a good fur manager is an intimate knowledge of your entire trapline habitat.
Periodic aerial surveys are important and will allow you to use your time on the land efficiently.