I have used 110s alot, and never had any pelt damage. I do use 120s also, recently I obtained some Belisle 120s, darn if they do not fit in any of my boxes or even mail box tubes that the victor connis fit. I also now have a new respect for them, as while trying to shove one in a box it went off. after about a 15 minutes of trying to get out and my finger turning purple, I put my tail between my legs and taught my wife how to compress the springs and put the saftey on.

I used 110's before, they worked out fine. I already spent a bunch for trapping this year so i am jus going to use them as 110's. i have 2.5 buckets of number ones for later on also. For bait a buddy puts up fish for me to use all winter for bait, and what ever beavers i come up with i use for bait. I use sable oil, gusto, marten magnum or what ever i got on had for lure. i wanna make FT's tip ups where ever i can. Like how he hangs that fur up high. I been thinking of a way to use his style set up with a number one victor in a portable cubby to hang them up. Mix up the sets some.

One of the best things about the 120s is the ease to secure them to the marten box. If the box is properly sized, pressing the springs up against the outside holds the trap very securely, no need to fart around with nails and such to hold the trap.

Yukon just let me know if I can help out at all. What are you meaning by a portable cubby. The black spruce cubbies I made worked out quite well for the 110's and my most effective set with my finicky marten. Also made a few with foot traps. A lot more time consuming than a pot but I have some time saving ideas from doing them that I would be happy to pass on to you.

Morning. FT, portable cubby as in plywood box, plant pot, coffee can etc. What ever happens to be the cubby. Sure anything to save time making sets faster helps. I was thinking about pre-cutting a buncha of poles from town here and one day adding them where i see marten sign, and or at places where i think might be good location. Well the fur shed is almost caught up, i jus have to finish making wolf snares, then get my supply of marten boxes ready. Then go pick up my bait supply.

Somthing I'm fooling with this year. This is a Belisle 150.



The screw stabilizes the trap and is rock steady.

I also have boxes with a small notch to allow the dog free travel through the bottom of the box. We'll see if it matters.

It may be obvious AV but if you bend your spring down it helps raise the dog off the bottam of the box when using connipans.

I do that with double springs, but with the single, it seems kind of tippy. I think that the notch will be the way to go with this particular trap.
The thing I like about this trap is the obviously larger opening, and they are extremely powerful. Always looking for improved dispatch.
Several years ago I tried the Barker coni-pans and was NOT impressed. However, I am willing to try the hardwood pans.

could be just me, but boxes i made out of plywood and osb 4-5 years ago are almost useless now because some critter eats them up. i'm guessing the glue attracts them? maybe mice,porcupines, maybe squirrels. i'm not sure who's doing it, at first i thought it made them look better. now i'm haveing to replace them with lumber i've milled myself. had i known this, i wouldn't of used plywood. anyone else have this problem?

Yes, its the glue the mice, porkcupines and SQUIRRELS like. As scrap plywood from the dump is cheap I just consider box repairs a normal off season maintenance job. Boxes made from non plywood material get damaged/destroyed by bears also.

yeah that's what i figured, i'll just keep on building more, but nothing with glue in it. i have some plastic boxes out but prefer to use wood. it may not make difference, but then again it might. if i was a marten i would prefer wood over plastic eh?

AV - Pans are great for conibear trapping marten. I have used them for years but with an almost square pan. The one in your picture appears to have very little depth and unless set very close to the bait I suspect some marten may jump over rather than step on it. On an earlier post I recall someone having this problem. I set my pan, which has a depth nearly the same as the width. about 4" in front of the bait and the marten fires the trap standing on the pan while working the bait and results in a suitcase catch virtually every time.

Thats the catch to strive for.Double strike to neck and chest results in the quickest most humane dispatch for marten.

bctomcat x2 on that pan positioning that is the best way too go.Agreed, with the pan on the inside jaw bent that far down will let the marten get way to far in before firing the trap and youll definatly get a high percent of hip catches.AV other than that pan position that setup looks deadly.

Here are some more pans that work well. Like BC tomcat I am a big fan of pan traps for mink, ermine, and marten.

#1 Corrugated Plastic spray painted. The trigger goes into the corrugation holes. This is the easiest to make.



#2 Wood with trigger wires bent and stapled:





#3 1\4" screen mesh. Trigger woven into the screen.



#4 old style rivit trigger replaced with tin and wood pop riveted on. This is what I used mostly prior to getting all the new style LDL traps

I have never had a problem using pan trigger here in maine. I use barkers coni pans and swear by them. In the last 5 years or so I have only missed ONE marten with these triggers! I put them on the outside jaw with them tilted up at about a 30° angle, I don't lay them flat and 99 times out of 100 there suitcased in my viictor 120's. I use the newspaper tubes mostly but have also used the flower pots too and had success with them. I like the depth of the tubes better and they tend to work through the snow better than the pots. We all get refusals from time to time, ots generally the females in our area that will not climb and I consider that a good thing! Although if I was getting the refusals thay familytrapper was getting I too would go crazy! I use only beaver, a fresh not tainted fist sized piece in the back of the box, skunk/vaseline in the tree above the set, and a smear of newt sterlings sexy sable lure on the bait, and that's it! That sexy sable lure has made a BIG difference the last few years! Its good stuff and id be curious how you guys in alaska do with it! We have to trap on poles not larger than 4" in diameter, greater than 45° in pitch, and trap must be placed higher than 4ft above ground or snow and some critters will just plain refuse a set like that, but one thing that I've gotten back to in the last cpl years that's made a HUGE difference in the number of refusals I get is toning down my sets and getting back to basics! I used to squirt fish oil on the pole and around and get carried away with lures. I think its just too much, and just one more thing for them to refuse. I've gone back to the less is more approch, a good bait (beaver) a good lure(sexy sable) and a good call(skunk) and most important a good location and that's it. I also agrre with you guys and don't think its a bad idea to throw a few random sets here and there to mix it up, but the less is more approach works best for me with least amount of refusals
Brian

Ak Viking - keep an eye on the trap to make sure the wooden pan doesn't have a chance of getting wedged between the jaws when it goes off. Hard to tell from the pictures but with a little down pressure it looks like it'll be close.

Do you guys use the pans on vertical sets or horizontal? Just curious if it make a difference. I am almost 100% 120 conibears now, but don't do pans.

[quote=Trapalaska]Do you guys use the pans on vertical sets or horizontal?

I usually use boxes on leaning trees or windthrow but will occassionally set more or less horizontal. I have never tried vertical as my system has worked very well for me.

Well trapping finally opened here, but can't go anywhere yet because it hasn't frozen over enough for the snowmachines. Was thinking about jus making a verticle pole set with the conibear romex stapled on the upper jaw against the pole and the bait wired above the coni. Then covering the bait with spruce boughs. I think i'll try this set alot more this winter especially in thick spruce cover. It'll help with snow covering the set too much. I saw that set in a older marten post. I'd say around 4-5 foot high. Or with a coni-clip to hold it and then have the trap chain wired to a higher limb or onto a tip up... so it'll hang away from the baited pole...Whats your view and has anyone tried it?