First of all I agree with WB concerning all his reasons for preferring footholds. That occasional fox on a pole set is fun as well as getting rid of that potential trap robber. I hate it when a fox starts running my line eating marten.

But to address Family Trapper's question above....for me it goes like this.

I trap in black spruce because that's where the voles are, and that's where the marten are. Especially early in the season when the tundra is freezing and overflow is forcing voles out at the edge of their habitat. Marten hunt those edges because that's where they are being successful.

Another thing is that the wind blows a bit more in that open country so a foothold on a pole stays free of snow to a greater extent than in heavier cover. Also, and this is a biggie IMO, the set is more visible from a greater distance than it is tucked in under a large tree. Look at a marten. His eyes and ears are bigger than his nose. If they see a leaning pole from a distance they will check it out. If there is movement such as the hanging wing I use for bait, that too attracts them.

Finally, that open country presents more risks to the marten than a heavy white spruce forest. Consequently, I believe a guy will catch more males in that environment. Maybe it would be better to say a guy will catch fewer females. I find a higher percentage of females in the white spruce because (It think) it's safer and their range is smaller anyway so they have better cover throughout the area they are using. So I avoid setting in those areas to a large extent. And, I try to be done with marten by February to avoid that time of greater activity by the females.

And as WB said, you can oftentimes release those females from a foothold.

As for snow build-up on poles....The type of set I use allows most of the snow to fall through the trap as there is no pole under the pan and jaws. I also try to stick with poles that are just a bit bigger than my thumb at the small end. There again as Dave says, that can be hard to do in some areas where poles are in limited supply. But a number 0 on the end of a pole may have a bit of snow on the pan but virtually none on the jaws.

Love the pics and discussion.

Pole size is important. In high snow areas you can put a box on a leaning running pole and have it remain working in almost any snow conditions but the pole has to be skinny. No need to put under canopy cover. The pole needs to be around 2" diameter as snow cannot build up on it. The cubby box will get snow piled on the roof but it sluffs off also if the pole is on incline or elevated.

An exposed box attracts marten all on its on, so I don't like to hide them. W17 hit the nail on the head when he said it's perhaps the big box that acts as an attractant. I know an aboriginal trapper who uses no bait or lure just sets up his boxes. He claims marten investigate every nook and cranny anyways so why waste the effort. he catches marten.

As for consistent marten avoidance of sets I find it hard to believe in some areas they are Einsteins, where in others they enter every set. Yukon 254 I believe is right. A marten would rather eat a live vole then your tainted old hunk of bait. Catch a marten under these conditions and you'll see belly fat. On my last run I picked up 2 marten out of 70 sets, hardly a good ratio but fresh sign was every where and I predict my next run will be different. when that first big snow comes the marten are running around like crazy, but with full bellies.

In tough conditions, later in winter, you start catching more mature females so there is some avoidance by them early on as well. But a hungry marten isn't going to pass up on a free meal.

Yukon 254 cubbies are 7" x 7" opening, 10" deep, and 4" x 6" at the back. I drilled a 1" hole through the back to wire bait or pull my onion bag baits through.

ok. it's -33 and 7 am, trapping time. Let's see what today brings.

I noticed they had eyes a few years back. I bet they can see stuff from upwind of a set.

You missed one!

I'm new back to the game. When I was a young buck all we used were leg holds. Now it is body grips for most everything. I'm OK with that. I like the animals to be dead when I get there. I've kill critters all over the world with a rifle but I shudder to think of an animal waiting for me to show up. THIS IS JUST MY PERSONAL OPINION! There are those who will think me soft for this and you know I'm OK with that. I sleep real good every night.


I use homemade long boxes for my Beslisle traps. Yes they are big and awkward to haul. I get to leave mine out however.

I use 160 for fisher and 120 for marten.




This set had a neat story. There were two that hit the set and the second pulled the first out of the box and tried to get at the bait.

Our first pick up. We caught a couple more, they are in the skinning shack thawing so I could take the traps off - yes that is a pain.
We caught more marten in the 160 fisher sets than the 120 marten sets. How ever the sample size is statistically insignificant.
I am very happy to have my own line and a wife who wants to share all the great times out there with me!

It only demonstrates that we do things differently.


* Anyone have any pictures of snare set ups for marten? Has anyone done a multiple snare pole? Kind of like for squirrels?

I quit doing this as I ended up with snare marks in the fur

sweet.

Could cable size be a factor?

Yeah it could. The other big drawback IMO is that they are easily put out of commission by a relatively small amount of snow.

For me it's about 50/50 foothold/BG. I have seen damage from BG's, mostly frostburn. If it drops to -50 or so for several days and I can't get out there it can happen. They don't move much then though. Also with a BG less marten crap to deal with. Love the footholds for speed,ease,weight and effectiveness. I use #1 ls and wish they were 0's.

Sometimes pole size matters............

Smetimes not.
And who says footholds aren't humane?...

I saw this in a thread for weasels but it would ce
rtainly work for marten off the ground..........Now If I can just find some plastic jugs I'll try it out...........

My $0.02: My experience and expertise is less than many other posters on this thread. However, after 12 years on our little valley line, I've formed some considered opinions. We switched from leg holds to Belilse 120s in flower pot 2 years ago. The main reason was that my daughter didn't like to find live, fight in' mad Marten in a set. Since I am thrilled to have her along, I gladly wrote the check for the Belilses. An unexpected benefit has been that I now have no sets clogged with birds, and few Marten refusals, so I think we're ahead in total numbers of caught Marten. It's a real bummer to find a Camp Robber in a trap that has been chewed on by the Marten you didn't catch. My 2 main gripes about our current system are that my kids can't set the 120s by themselves yet, and the pots crack easily in the cold.

there are ways to place your bait that will keep gray jays out of your traps. One guy here uses pop cans with the bottom cut off and puts the bait inside then squeezes the bottom shut then hangs it on the end of the pole. The can also acts as an attractor, last year he ran out of bait and just hung the cans and guess what?? caught just as many marten in the sets with just the can as he did with the bait in it lol oh yeah and no birds...............

I've always used cans to hold bait. Through all the years I've trapped marten I doubt I've caught more than a half dozen birds in my marten sets.

Interestingly enough that is what I always thought. But was always perplexed by this photo. Notice snare on top of the pole. The conifer really held the snow in this situation. Old set. Don't do it like this anymore. The snare and conibear must be spread out a far greater distance. There can be no chance of overlap. That does not mean trap to trap. That means back leg or tail of marten to the next set. It is not very close. ;0)


I have used 1/16 cable heavily loaded and have not seen damage on the limited catch I have had.
The key is the larger cable vs small IMO. But that is limited.

Okay here is a teaser. The first snare conibear setup I ever set. You tell me what happened here. The conibear was set first in line. A jump stick placed over the set as usual. This set is about 8 years ago. But it was not until last season that I really figured out the extent of what was happening in this set.
Discussion here. You want to see how Marten react towards conibears in a resistant phase. Start putting a snare after your conibear and watch the results.



Early on I was setting too large a loop and had some hip caught marten.

Snares have a place on the line. A neck caught marten the snare can be used at times. They leap and die.



Don't get me wrong on the setting under cover. I don't avoid black spruce at all. But given the chance I will take cover when I can in White spruce rather than leave it out in the open. I have never had problems getting marten to my sets. I have never seen where setting in cover has seemed to put me at a disadvantage at all. I can believe the eye appeal for sure. But given the fact that I have never witnessed much at all of a pass by syndrome due to them not finding the set. I will work under cover in white spruce when given the chance. However having a work schedule it always meant that my marten traps were not checked as often as many that do it full time. I liked an advantage over snow depth. Again everyone needs to do what works for them.


Wade
Will get to the tip up tutorial later. Seems I had a pretty good one somewhere. But not sure where right now.

That can work for most furbearers. Had a serious robber last year. Real Houdini. Took two traps, but got him.... Well crap. Can't find the picture, but what happened was I had a weasel that was a real expert at robbing what was otherwise a great set. It was a newspaper tube with a 120 in it. Well, I finally put a rat trap in the tube, behind the coni. He got hit with the rat trap, a bit far back, drug himself and the trap back through the 12o, and got nailed with a perfect neck shot.

Trapper378, that picture is to small to make out your marten set.......maybe you could explain it?

Found it

Then there is always this...........