Made a dozen marten boxes this aft out of some scrap lumber I have piled up.
Just have to staple the screen in the back and bring them out to camp.




I keep a stockpile of boxes at the line cabins in case I want to set up a new area or to replace boxes that are too bad shape to wire up.

Nice job Boco, just did a bunch for fisher, cat, coon, skunk, mink..

What size traps go in them? 120s,,,,160s ?

I made some boxes a couple times. 175 on this load headed to camp. I made 250 that year.

I probably got about 400 marten boxes out in the bush at any time on 3 different trapgrounds.Each trapground has 3 to 5 marten lines on each.
I never set them all the same year.Most I would have set in one season would be about 80.
Every time I go into a line that has sit fallow for a season or 3 there are boxes that need fixed and some that need replaced.

Couldnt imagine hauling around hundreds of boxes each year.

120s Upstate.
I like using old wore out beaver boards to make marten boxes.
When you cut them with the skill saw you can really smell the castor scent of beaver in the wood.lol.
The key to a good marten box is the deep 1/4 inch slots.

I was setting 300-400 every year and picking them up when I was done. I could pick them all up in two days with the ATV and a small trailer behind it.

All set on the ground?

Yes all set on the ground. 80% are not within a half a mile of a tree. There are not many trees in the plains. All staked with rebar.

I'm about to start making some more muskrat floats over here.

Good idea with the beaver smell impregnated wood.

Nice Job

I like to set them like this if I have the time.
The boxes last much longer in the bush set this way

metric or Imperial?

Plus a little Beaver Grease in natures... Thompson's Water Seal

There are marten in NoDak??

Yes we have a few marten in ND. I was not trapping marten.

Boco, is that 1/2 inch material your using?

I use whatever scrap wood is available,old fence boards 1/4 inch ply 1/2 inch and the wore out beaver boards which are 5/8 or 3/4.
When using the 1/4 or half inch ply I use that for the sides where the slots are cut.You need to have the thicker ply or fence boards to nail or screw those to.
The only thing I dont use is chipboard(OSB) or that stuff made out of sawdust.They dont last more than a couple seasons.

Do you have problems w/ porkies chewing on them?

That was always a problem when I left fisher boxes out, which we can no longer do on public land.

Boco,

There are probably 100 similar boxes made out of cedar scattered around Chautauqua County

Twice that many rock cubby, if any still exist, that was 1995 and before

Hope someone found them and utilized them

Buzz,it is surprizing how some seem to last for years and others succumb to the elements after a few years.
I went into an new area on one of my lines a few years back and noticed old grown in blaze marks here and there along the river.I found sign of an old trapper that had made sets at these places,a few cut poles and some scraps of old wire,nails etc.

Used to have some plywood boxes chewed by squirrells.Dont see that anymore,I think the old glue they used to make the plywood was the attraction.They must have changed the glue.
I drop all my bait out of the boxes on the last run of the season,Since I started doing that i have not had any problem with bears knocking the boxes off the trees.

I noticed no leaning pole.No need? They work them just as good without it?

No need for a leaning pole,they climb the tree just fine.

mjm, what are you trapping? boco what size are they

There are a couple of old names for marten. Marten cat and wood cat. Easy to understand why.

The boxes were made for skunk and coon. Some were 220 boxes and some 160 boxes. You can see they are not all the same size in the picture. I made them so the traps just fit inside. The were 16" long is the only dimension I remember. off the top of my head. I did a mass production. I ripped all the sheets to 16 inches, then cut them to size for the sides and top and bottom. I used a 1x2 for a nailing strip. Everything was screwed together. They were made out of ACX 1/4 plywood. They held up well.

The wood pieces widths are two at 7 in and two at 8in.This fits the belisle 120.
The depth is 13 to 16 inches depending on the scraps of wood.

thanks guys,

Muskrat Float--- One Muskrat,,,three scoops of ice cream---Top off with Rootbear or orange soda.

Likely from the Gaelic name for Marten-Cat Crainn (translates to Tree Cat)

This is what Jerry uses. He can carry 200 of them easily In Feedsacks.
A 120 fits perfectly inside.nd even in extreme Temps they don't crack.some he's used for 20 plus years.

Origin of words great stuff Boco.

Are you finally buying a better trap?

Don't take much time to whip up a bunch of those. Milk Jug user going on 30 years.

Back around year 2000 they changed the glue and the bonding process when making plywood, before there was more animal blood meal by-product used in bonding = small mammal chewing for the salts etc.

Some fisher cubbies I made gotta get them out here soon

[/quote]Are you finally buying a better trap?[/quote]



I have always used the Belisle 120s
About half and half Belisles and LDLs
Used them both since they were first made.
Also have about 10% sauvageu 120 mags and 2001-5's.
The sauvageau 120mag with the strike bar is the best skunk trap ever made.

A buddy of mine who regularly trapped 300 marten a winter used 5 gallon buckets in the trees for marten,He put half a beaver carcass in each bucket.

Myself I prefer the wooden boxes.Plastic doesnt hold the trap very well and you need additional trap stabilizer with plastic.
Wooden boxes with narrow slots hold the trap rock solid no matter how you set the box,including vertical with opening down.