Maine Trappers

You guys getting any? I think I started to soon.

Just coons and skunks so far. Start to look primed up. If it keeps raining I'll need a life jacket to check my coyote set.

Ten days ago up Allagash way:

Nice yote! Nice picture!

Nice!

Had to let this guy go this morning from one of my fox sets.

That reminds me, I gotta go put one on a board. You must be down south.

Yup, beautiful male. Oh well, no keepses until the 15th.

got seven coyotes two reds 1grey all coyotes are males no pups or females,last year 13 females strange year with all the rain.good luck all.

Someone tipped & chewed my box. Also, someone ate a marten out of a box.

I am still ticked about the fact we are required to use Lynx exclusion boxes for fisher/martin trapping.Do we have any representation at any level?

Quill pig.

Jeez everybody's quiet. Guess I'll post a few.

Jwood---Do you have any pics of that long box? How do you keep it straight and tight together?

Got a fisher here on the next check.

Hey Bob,
I build the box as one piece, then cut it in two pieces so it can hinge and provide the opening to put the bait and trap in. I have door hinges on some, others are pieces of heavy duty belting material. The hinge is on top, and on the bottom sides of the box I have a screw drilled into the wood on each piece. I close the box and wrap a piece of wire tightly to each screw to keep it closed and secure. So it's pretty easy to unwrap the wire on each side and hinge the box open when resetting.

Hope that makes sense. We are required to meet certain standards, but have some minor flexibility. You can see Ebsurveyor's design, which uses plywood and a round entrance hole, while I use a square opening, and others prefer diamond shape. My 120 size lynx exclusion device is 30" long, 19" on the long end, 11" where the bait is placed and trap is set. Four pieces of 1" pine, two 6" wide, two 7.5" wide. I tried and failed with wire cage devices, went to all wood, and now am experimenting with a wood/wire hybrid, with wire on the ends to improve visibility of the bait.

I'm too lazy to keep resizing photos to post here, but I have a bunch of pictures on an article I did about the exclusion devices a while back, and did a Youtube video showing the details of the box. Will do another video comparing the two styles of devices eventually. For what it's worth, I have stopped making the devices for 160/220 as they are too big and bulky, and I seem to have more refusals in them despite the larger opening.

Am I misreading something? I didn't think we could use these boxes anywhere in the state? Seems like BS that I can set K9 traps on drags south of Rt9 but cant use my boxes for martin and fisher.

How big of a fisher will fit in the "BS" boxes we are forced to use?

All boxes in pics are legal lynx exclusion devices. I've caught fisher up to 11 lbs and know of a few slightly bigger. Seem to get refusals on the vast majority of fisher visits to the box, though I've learned a few tricks that seem to help get them to go in.

I can't recall any over 10 pounds going into my boxes. My guess is I have more than three or four refusals (fisher) for each catch. Four or more refusals are common on some nights with 20 - 40 boxes out.

Butch and Jwood, thanks for sharing the great pictures.
I have been quite discourage sine the state came up with the horrible box deal. Fisher used to be one of my favorites critters to chase. I simply do not have time with work and business to run many traps with out going to the three day body grip check. I have little faith in the box idea that are mandated by law. I personally doubt we will have have true long fisher and marten trapping again. It sucks.

Mac

I agree 100% although I would like to add a few unacceptable words and call a spade a spade. But I wont. Fisher are for sure one of the top three animals for me as well. So as Maine trappers we might just as well sell/give away our 220s and 160s. What else are we going to use them for? Some use 220s for otter but I dont very often.

How are these now legal? Not complaining just not sure how they would fit the regs.

The box in that picture is opened up to remove the catch. Below is a picture of a closed box. Opening less than 4" diameter, more than 18" from entrance to trap, trap secured outside of device, etc etc.

I disappeared for a while but I’m back. Luckily I was able to knock down a deer early in the season so I’m taking the holiday week to do some trapping. Only have a few marten boxes and a few weasel boxes out. It’s hard going right now with all the snow in our neck of the woods. Jwood and ebsurveyor know what I mean. It’s an odd feeling to be setting traps out of a pickup while meeting snowmobiles on the same road. The snow did reveal lots of good sign though, and I’m hoping for a critter or two by the end of the week!

"Welcome back"

Been slow here but I only put 10 footholds out this year. 2 coons, 1 red fox, 1 coyote, and 1 mink. The mink was a nice sized male. Working on filling my second doe tag, hopefully I'll connect this weekend or in the muzzleloader season.

Hey Alex, you pushing snow?




He went that-a-way!

Pushing a pretty fair charge of snow ebsurveyor. Running tire chains on a lifted pickup and even some times things get a little hairy. That’s life in the woods though!

Note the marten tracks on the right. Looks like he refused to go into the box even with a weasel in there.

Looking good JWood. How much snow do you have on the line?

Probably 14 to 18 inches. Less snow as you go further north and west.

I just noticed that now. Sorry but the first two or three times I saw the picture it lookid like two of the old style boxes stacked.

No worries Scalloper!

Great pictures all. Thanks for sharing. I was out one early morning last Wednesday and drove right up on a nice bull. There is very little prettier then a bull moose with fresh snow

About a month ago on the coyote line.

I was too slow on the button, there was five in this group.

Going to set up martin fisher sled line. Not having no luck with Lynx exclusion devise. The wire cage part is packing up with snow.

Great moose pictures!

I have caught a few marten (no fishers) with wire. I like to cover them heavy with spruce boughs, make a tunnel with the spruce boughs.

My driveway fox like to go high.

Joe it had snowed the night before. No weasel tracks in the fresh snow.

Apparently pretty big if they are hungry enough! Still thawing this guy out so I can get him out of the box and weighed!

I HATE IT WHEN THAT HAPPENS.

Love that second pic. You should have him mounted like that!

Love to see this post. I always thought that trappers were resourceful and persevered in the face of adversity. It's nice to see the true Maine trappers adapt and keep doing what they love despite the restrictions.

My son was fishing Squawpan last week and came up on 5 bulls in a bunch.

With all due respect your statment is true except we are still dealing with death by 1,000 cuts as they are regulating us out of being effective and efficient.We can get the odd fisher in the required device we are forced to use but as another mentioned he sees 4-5 refusals to each catch and to catch a fisher over 10 lbs would be rare.

"Scalloper" is correct. The "no drags" for northern Maine has stopped me from foothold trapping for fisher & marten. The exclusion boxes require much extra work make & transport plus lots of animals will not go in them. Then there is the rule that bodygrip traps must be 100% under water. But, as JWood would say "you can't catch any fur with the traps in the shed".

Can one of you Maine guys show me anything about flagging in the regs? The only thing I can find specifically barring the use of flags/attractors at sets pertains to early season fox and coyote trapping. I've been playing phone tag with the warden all day trying to get a definitive answer.

Just got off the phone with the warden, flagging is legal so long as the article being used is not a animal part. No wings, no feathers, no fur, but anything artificial is fine. It can used as close to the set as you like.

I kind of see this issue from multiple perspectives. On one hand, there's a time to speak up about overly restrictive regulations and fight them, and there are some avenues to do that which are more effective than others. On the other hand, there is a time to make the best of a tough situation and get out there and enjoy trapping, embrace the challenge and be thankful for what we still have. Too much of one of those things without the other is unhealthy for the trapping community.

Many of the older Maine trappers I know are now sitting home and complaining about the complexity of the new regulations. They are not actively trapping, supporting trappers organizations, or encouraging others to get out trapping. There are others who are adapting and catching decent amounts of fur, although as you guys mention it's more difficult to do so.

Some of what I'm doing in my own trapping, working with my two boys, and sharing through the podcast episodes is an effort to focus on the positive side of trapping, recruit new trappers, activate old ones, and help build a stronger, active, informed base of trappers to influence things for the better moving forward. I hate these regulations just as much as the next guy, I've just chosen to save my unhappiness for the time and place where I believe it will be most effective.

The reason behind so many of our woes. A lynx track close to some of my cat sets.

Just came across this photo & wonder how common it is for no black tipped tail.

Anyone from maine here got pic's of there covered muskrat floats. Would like to see how some of you are doing it.

Any of you guys chiseling ice yet looking for beaver?

Beginning of next week after everything else closes.