Someone willing to talk marten and footholds

Footholds and Marten. That's what I'm asking.

I'd like set info and options, and pics if you are so inclined.

And yes, I know there's a little about it in the archives, but I'd appreciate hearing and seeing more on the use of footholds, exclusively.

Thanks.

When I was a kid (early 70's) there was little information about marten trapping other than FFG articles and a couple rather archaic general trapping books written by great guys, but guys who had little or no practical experience with marten.

Back then almost all of the books, and FFG articles written by far north trappers, described the running pole set, and that seemed to be about the only set ever mentioned. So of course that's the set I tried. It didn't work out for me though. The area I was trapping in the Cascade mountains of Washington State is extremely heavy snow country, day after day of several inches to a couple of feet of snow per day is normal conditions.

I soon found that footholds set on the ground in a natural cubby formed in the cat-face of a big old growth evergreen tree was a great set. Sets in and around big old growth trees serve two functions; those big old trees with their cat-faces and other holes are just naturally good attractions for marten while at the same time providing good protection from the heavy snows.

When I first started using footholds I found the #1 longspring to be just fine, 1 1/2's are much too big and heavy imo.
In later years I switched to Victor #1 coil springs, I found them to be about the perfect foothold for marten. I now use 120's almost exclusively though.

https://trapperman.com/forum/ubbthreads.php/topics/4122878/Marten_set_tutorial

Lots of great information on this thread, foothold and otherwise.

https://trapperman.com/forum/ubbthreads.php/topics/3542780/Footholds_for_marten

https://trapperman.com/forum/ubbthreads.php/topics/2775804/marten_traps

Same with these. Some posts are about body grips, but lots of good foothold information as well.

Yup. Read the tutorial...and the "footholds."

But hadn't seen the "marten traps.."

Thank you both.

Unless you're in an area that's extremely cold where the marten will expire quickly in a typical foothold set such as the leaning pole set, I wouldn't recommend a foothold. Especially where it might be seen by the general public. Just curious why are you set on using footholds?

Waggler,

Hope all is well with you today. Thanks for the response and questions.

It's cold enough, hovering around the zero mark give or take a few degrees.
There's no public around, so that's not an issue.


Footholds. The reasons why.? That could take pages. But speed, weight, efficiency,their fur friendliness, as well as I don't care to see the signs of ecchymosis or other undue damages. On a more personal note, I've always liked the challange of getting the animal to place his foot in an exact spot. Besides snaring, footholds are how my grandpa rolled, and it could be that I'm just a little sentimental.

I do use conibears, they are my main beaver trap and have worked well for me in raccoon sets. I'm not opposed to them in every situation. They have their place.

Best to you, Waggler.

Scott

^^^^^^^^^
"On a more personal note, I've always liked the challange of getting the animal to place his foot in an exact spot. Besides snaring, footholds are how my grandpa rolled, and it could be that I'm just a little sentimental."

I hear ya.

Waggler,

Thank you.

May your shed be filled.

Who is Wrangler?

Good call grey dog.!


Jezzz, that was embarrassing

Here's some from this year...a couple small finish nails help keep trap on the pole. Works well when you have a good setup and it stays below freezing

Chunk of deer hide for bait nailed lasts most the season.

rosscoak,

I see it, and I like it.

Great picture too...I love the scene of the sun in the background.

About the horizontal pole.... do you think it adds to the attraction...I could see something like a block, or a couple 20D nails (or a Hagz) supporting the trap under the bait instead of wiring up a pole...but I wonder if that pole is adding to the visual effect..and then there's the issue of the "swing"....so the pole serves...cool.

Thoughts.?

I like this too...thanks.

I like that entire set.

I never thought of finish nails to hold the trap, I find already leaning trees and add bait wired under the pole (eagle reasons) and just tie the trap to the pole with flagging tape which I always have. The strike and weight breaks the tape and it's done. Never had a fail or miss knock on wood. I run 12 or so of these sets and 150 boxes with 110's or 120's. I prefer the boxes.

Yup. I am thinking "box style" also (well nothing as big and bulky as a box) More like pots,or cans, or some other stackable lightweight container just as would be done with a conibear. But......with a foothold instead right underneath as a standing platform as he attemps work the bait. Two #10 nails into the Hagz (or similar) and I'm on to the next set. If I'm relegated to a pitchy tree, a pole next to the set with a nail and wire to hold one end of the pole in order to swing 'em.

No need to go bigger than a #0, #1's work too, but more trap than needed, sometimes with the associated issues. Ground sets should be checked frequently, you'll have dirtier marten, but higher catch rates than elevated sets. I usually camo them with moss, or a hemlock branch tip. I prefer pole sets with the trap off the end of the pole, out in space.

Really to much to cover, with such a broad question. Basically, just about any set you can conceive of with footholds will consistently catch marten, if they are around and hungry. If they are ignoring your elevated sets, try some ground cubbies, flag sets, root holes, snow holes, etc, just check them FREQUENTLY, so as to keep from getting clipped fur, cannibalized, scavenged, or having them in traps for a prolonged time.

Limb sets are another QUICK, simple, efficient set, same as pole sets, I prefer the trap off the end of the limb, no snow build up on jaws, and about 90% left front foot catches. The #0 jumps are a really nice light trap for ground sets, if you have a snowshoe line.

Don't make things anymore complicated than they need to be. The best way to catch large numbers of marten is to make sets that are in good marten country, that stay functional even after a big dump of snow, and make LOTS of them, the faster and simpler you make these sets, the better. No need to get caught up with unnecessary equipment and gear. Hatchet, wire, traps, pliers, bait, and lure. Think efficiency, always try to figure out how to make things faster, which means more sets run. I like 2 or 3 traps per location, minimum. Pre-season work, and/ or scouting pays off.

I don't know how much area you have, habitat, number of marten you have to target, etc. Avoid pitchy trees if at all possible, with both elevated or ground sets. Such a broad topic, it's to much for me to really type. Do you have more specific questions?

You've about nailed it T4E. Thank you for the post.

Just really wanting to keep weight to a minimum and speed to the max.

Stay elevated, or solutions to quick flip ups that won't take up a lot of time if setting low, (maybe precut poles durring scouting. But that again is time.)

Bird proof containers over those #0's, plus they keep snow off that trap. I don't want to lugg around a bunch of bulky boxes.

Attachment points that will swing in conjunction with a system that attaches the trap in a platform type mannor on the side of a vertical tree. (This I'd really like some ideas about) Thinkin dock spikes with the heads cut off threaded between frame and jaws and spring or Hagz.

Where ya finding #0 jumps.?

Think i've seen your branch front left foot set with the spring giving tension around the end of the branch...like it.

Thanks again.

Scott,

One thing to be aware of. I've trapped marten with footholds and with body-grips for nearly 50 years in a variety of locations in Alaska and several places in Idaho. I've also necropsied literally tens of thousands of marten carcasses given to me by many dozens of different trappers. If you want to farm your area for marten, keep your traps elevated well off the ground. With very few exceptions, ground sets will result in higher proportion of females in your harvest than elevated sets. You want the males on the boards, you want the females out there reproducing...

Jack

Possibly the most important piece of information ever posted on trapping! Protect the resource and manage for maximum sustained yield! Thanks for sharing!!!

Sobie2

Jack,
Thank you for that important fact. I have heard, read, and made note of this very thing.

I greatly appreciate the reminder, kinda drive the point home. I'll be very attentive to low sets as ler percentages.
Let's keep those ladies producing, 2.5 littered is rough enough.

Thanks again Jack.

Agreed.!

Jack,
I saw you mentioned the elevated sets to avoid females. For sake of discussion, I'm curious how you determine a female will walk by an elevated set, that a male will then get caught in. Or for example, how do you determine the female you just caught in a ground set, wouldn't have also climbed a pole? Just saying you'll catch more females on the ground is something that has been passed around on here for years, but in my experience isn't really a fact anyone can prove. My experience has shown, when marten are being picky, many marten (both male and female) will walk by elevated sets, and get caught in ground sets. They will wander around under boxes, inverted coni flower pot sets, or poles, then wander on down the line, and often get caught in a ground set (again both sexes). Or sometimes follow along the trail, beach fringe, or snowmachine track for a few miles, passing up set after set, then finally climb up, and get caught in an elevated set. No real reason I guess, other than maybe they finally got hungry, or curious enough to bother. When these picky times occur, being a fisherman also (I call it going off the bite), they usually seem to be pretty widespread. Makes me think it's atmospheric/ weather related, or a seasonal time like I mention later, I tend to see this mid JAN.-mid FEB.

My experience has shown more importantly that DURATION of traps in an area is something to watch out for. What will tend to happen up here, is guys set an area opening day, and don't pull until it closes. You'll commonly catch some males at the start (bigger home ranges, so more likely to have multiple encounters) males overlap/ share home ranges A LOT. I actually don't think males have nearly as designated home ranges as females, females tend to be more tied down, pregnancy/ kits, at least some of the year. Males will just wander, we recorded movements over 60 miles in a couple months time, so probably just wandering willy-nilly. Anyways, the longer those traps sit in the same area, the more likely they will be found by a female, who tends to not cover as much ground. I like to move in, set traps for 2- 4 short checks, then pull, and move on. Leaves seed for next year, and yields high male catch rates. Actually higher catch rates overall, being on fresh ground all the time, unfortunately also take tons of work

So many factors at play, ever notice how your ratio of females skyrockets a few days before/ during/ after a full moon? I swear some areas just have more females!! Someone I know has a valley he traps, that always seems to have a higher proportion of females, compared to everywhere else, been that way for 35 years, consistently?? Strange!!?? Types of lures can even possibly play into male/ female reaction. Time of year also. My catch rates on females have always gone up about Jan 15th-Feb.15th. To be honest with you, I don't worry whatsoever about male to female ratios, unless the female ratio is including adult females. Juvenile females in abundance is a GOOD sign, of high reproduction. Although I guess if I ever saw a big check or two of mostly all juvenile females, I would wonder why????........while pulling traps!!!

Good rule of thumb for the original poster, 4 or more juveniles, per adult female ratio, is what you want to be seeing.

To many more thoughts to type, I'm a hunt and peck typer Any thoughts on these comments??

trapped4ever (and whoever else might be interested).

Great questions, all. First off, how does one infer that females will avoid elevated sets? In doing a couple decades of necropsies on marten carcasses that were turned in to me, in the western interior of Alaska, in central Alaska and in SE Alaska (ABC Islands), then in Idaho, when I was often looking at well over a thousand carcasses per year, it became obvious when looking at these collections which trappers were using ground cubbies and which ones were using elevated sets. Simply asking them pretty much confirmed my suspicions. The trappers using largely elevated sets would tender collections that would average 10-15% higher ratios of males in their harvest than those trappers who were using ground cubbies.

I certainly agree that trapping the same area for long periods of time also generally increases the proportion of females in the annual harvest. In these large sample sizes I was getting, the November ratios were usually heavily weighted toward males; often 70-75%. In December, ratios would decline slightly to around 60% males. January was usually around 55% males, and the February catch would usually plunge to 35-40% males. As you mentioned, however, there were a few trappers that continually moved their efforts to new grounds throughout the season, and their harvested sex ratios generally stayed well over 60% males throughout the season.

From my own marten trapping experience and from the carcass work that I did, it became clear through the years that indeed it was the relatively high incidence of adult females in the harvest that hurt subsequent year's harvests. However, it is difficult at times to determine if a female is a yoy, a yearling, or is an adult. The coalescence of the muscles at the sagittal crest works well for males, but is iffy for females (there are better ways to do this). Anyway, that is why I originally came up with the 4:1 ratio of yoy:adult female in the harvest as being critical. It was actually Midge Strickland in Ontario that suggested a 3:1 ratio, but for Alaska and Idaho marten populations, the 4:1 was a bit more appropriate, and seemed to work very well. Obviously, ratios of 5:1 or 10:1 are better.

I am not a fan of government regulation. Our trapping regulations are often already too complicated. I was encouraged many years ago to submit regulation proposals to the Alaska Board of Game to make it legal to only trap marten with traps elevated at least 36" off the ground. I resisted. In Interior Alaska at least, if a trapper wanted to 'mine' his marten populations, let him (or her). If another trapper was in it for the long run and preferred to maximize their long-term harvest, so much the better, and the suggested 4:1 ratio was offered to these trappers as a way to maximize their harvests on a sustained basis. Too, those tappers that were targeting mink (or whatever) and were incidentally taking a handful of marten would legally have to turn those marten in (basically wasted resource) if the traps were not elevated.

Are there situations where ground sets are reasonable for sustained annual harvests of marten? Absolutely (but perhaps a topic for another discussion).

Happy trapping!

Jack

Jack,

Some more questions on your deduction. Don't take this wrong, not trying to be argumentative, just curious on your thoughts. I have no doubt you are far more knowledgeable than me on marten, that's why I'm asking you! How many variables did you record for this "experiment". I assume date and location of capture? What about type bait? Lure? SOME believe marten gland lures increase their male catch ratio, either way, different lures can elicit different responses to the different sexes. Type of trap, and condition of trap, (waxed, good shape, or old rust bucket bodygrip, that triggers are sticky on), even something as simple as bodygrip trigger types and condition, pans or trigger wires, can often affect male/ female catch ratio's, how was the line being trapped, sets left in place all season? or rotated to new area? Duration of checks? Weather? So many variables, so few controls....... How would you even know the overall make up of males to females on any said given trapline, before harvest started? I guess you can kind of infer if you saw the same thing repeatedly, it ups your probability at least.

Having personally trapped thousands and thousands of marten, here is what I have observed. Marten are more likely to get caught in a ground set, than an elevated one at the same location, both males and females. Later in the year, or in an area of higher abundance females (good reproductive years), my female catch ratios go up. However, what I've always seen, is my female catch ratio goes up at the same rate, in both ground and elevated sets. I don't know if it's that they are hungrier, more curious, territorial, fattening up for impending implantation, or what?? It just seems female activity comes in waves, like I previously mentioned, around a full moon often. I would deduce IF females are indeed less likely to climb, these ratios should differ substantially?? Again just using information I have at hand, with no real controls for the "experiment", and like I said, I like to rely on my own observations, not just what I hear or read. I must have a "curious" nature, as I seem to always question what I hear/read, instead of just assuming it is correct:)

I've often also wondered if the females just get more active on a line, later in the year, due to many males being harvested, opening up opportunities for range/food. I don't think this is always the case though, because sometimes, if I set up an area that hasn't been trapped yet, my female percentage almost mirrors other lines that have already been checked a few times?? It seems there is more going on here, than just males being removed from the picture. My assumption is the males tend to be very territorial in high density locations, this is when you'll see them chew on others already in the traps. They tend to bite the vitals and or neck MULTIPLE times, I assume making SURE it's dead. In some instances, once the males are removed, perhaps the females become more active? The big picture to me, seems to indicate in general though, females tend to get more active later in the season.

I've trapped the same line for many, many years now, and understand and support the idea of sustained yield. However, marten run in 7-9 year cycles, and aside from that, there will be other influencing factors, mainly weather, mechanicals, etc, that will affect your seasonal harvest. How much refugia is available?? On building populations, I can't personally trap enough marten to stop the increase in my area, during the year of the crash, you could not trap at all, but the population will STILL be way lower the next year. Just a few more random thoughts....

Sorry, 358wsm, kind of derailing your topic. Maybe I should just PM Jack.....You'd never guess my trapping season just ended:(

Also, Jack, THANK YOU for not supporting the elevated trap proposal. On the RARE occasions mink prices go up, I like to run some combo sets, on the ground, and these will catch plenty of both species. Thanks for all your years of work up here, and Alaska is NO DOUBT a better place because of it.

I was wondering when a discussion on farming, sustained yield, etc. would pop up in this thread.
Plenty of guys on here who think you can farm marten. That you can get a sustained yield. I disagree with those ideas. No, I'm not going to advocate trapping as hard as you can all season long. Since a trapper can only cover so much country, he can only effect that much country. If your a hard working trapper, catch will likely fall as season progresses and you will likely stop.
The trapper is only there for about 4 months. He only effects the number of marten left to reproduce in his relatively small area and the number of adult females left to give birth. Remember, the marten left in March won't breed until Aug. They have to survive the spring and summer. The females have to raise the young they were carrying successfully. Trappers don't effect the weather. They don't effect kit survival. They don't effect the microtine population and they don't effect FIRES.
I like this quote from T4E," On building populations, I can't personally trap enough marten to stop the increase in my area, during the year of the crash, you could not trap at all, but the population will STILL be way lower the next year. Just a few more random thoughts...."!!
mt

T4E,

It's no problem, I enjoy learning stuff.

I'd actually prefer that you DID NOT resort to PM's and allow everyone the education.

Thanks.

martentrapper, (and 358wsm, trapped4ever, etc...)

I think you make a good point. Obviously, the way I put my opinions above, I inferred that, managed correctly, we could get sustained annual harvests from a marten population. However, like any farmer, yields are going to be variable no matter what we do or how well we take care of the resource. On the exact same acre of ground, will I get the exact same yield of wheat year after year if I'm doing things 'right'? 'Course not. By the same token, I don't think you can 'bank' marten. I've heard countless times from people things like "That piece of ground hasn't been trapped for five years. It's going to be packed with old, apple-headed males." Doesn't happen.

On the other hand, I have seen areas with a couple different trappers working adjoining valleys. One guy works it very reasonably, quitting when his yoy:adult female ratio nears 4:1. The other guy keeps at it, hammering it into February, and his harvest ratio at the end of the season is 2:1. The next year, the harvest (numbers) is very different on the lines, with the first guy still enjoying reasonable numbers and the second guy barely able to find a handful.

And yes, just like the wheat farmer, other factors (weather in particular) are going to influence marten populations. We will never see constant, stable populations no matter how good stewards or managers we are, but we can, and certainly do, have an influence on those populations on a critter as easy to trap as a marten. I'm a firm believer in the 'predator pit' theory, and, similar to wolf:moose predator pits, I believe there can also be a trapper:marten predator pit, and we should try to avoid that scenario.

100% agree with Gulo^^^^^^

Go to AK.

IMO, the more you stay out of the heavier white spruce, riparian habitat, the fewer females you will catch. Stick to that nasty black spruce and swamp "edge" areas and your male/female ratio will be better than if you are trapping along the river corridor. That might not be possible in some of the areas of SE AK.

But I am convinced that males will more readily inhabit the riskier, more challenging environment than females.

Thanks for chiming in on this White.

Do you suppose the bigger males being willing to 'risk' the more open habitats has anything to do with owl or goshawk predation on the smaller females?

Boco, are you seeing the same as White17?

358wsm, are we getting a bit far afield from your original question?


Jack

Man, I love it when Gulo and T4E get going! There is information that can't be bought.
Thanks, guys! Keep it coming

Seeing is believing. Only 99% here. Anytime I break into a new un-trapped for awhile area it tends have more male apple heads, but not necessarily a dense population of marten. My trapped areas tend to have a higher female composition to the marten population than untrapped or lightly trapped areas. More females should result in more reproductive capability.

I have had two years this decade where it appeared that there was almost a complete failure to recruit new marten into the population. No harvestable surplus. I pulled as soon as I recognized this. Should I have just trapped the adults?

What I have seen and what has worked for me,if I am trapping later in the year because of very high juvenile numbers overall,I will stay out of the old growth balsam/mixed forest types.These areas have a lot of downed coarse wood on the ground and lots of standing dead chicot.In the past when I trapped these areas late this is where I caught the most adult females.I believe they use these areas in late winter because it is good denning area and it is easy for the female marten to hunt under the snow.The male marten do wander a lot more at this time of year and they are often running down rabbits,so my harvest late is mostly adult male marten which keeps the ratio at a safe level when trapping later.
I am not a fan of the refugia method of managing marten.Marten are known to abandon home ranges over wide areas every few years when there is a scarecity(crash) of prey animals.The refugia method does not work in those cases.
I believe marten are somewhat like beaver when it comes to home range.Marten mark their area with scent.Beaver also mark their area with scent.Trap out the beaver and the adjoining beaver will know from the castor mound that there are no more beaver there and will come in.
I believe marten are similar,why a marten box at a good location can catch several adult males over the course of a season.
Marten will also take advantage of big baits and tend to stay close by.I believe this encourages other marten to come into the area.I have found marten caught in a set at a bait dump are often scavenged and partially eaten by other marten vying for the area.
Adult female marten will stay near a big bait late in the season and they fatten up immensely and very quickly.
I generally avoid setting for marten at large baits late.When I set boxes with a large bait nearby early I always set multiple boxes to avoid the cannibalism on extended checks.
I believe marten are a lot more territorial than most think.And it is the main reason juvenile marten disperse so much over long distances in late fall.Natures way.Gulo can correct me if I'm wrong but I believe the marten genome,like lynx is almost identical over a wide swath of northern north America because of their ability to dispese over long distances.

Well, my derailment has been derailed!! I thought we were discussing whether females are really less likely to climb to an elevated set?;)

I had about 4 paragraphs of "well thought out discussion" typed, and the internet ate it:(

Instead I'll just throw out more discombobulated garble. I see more material I disagree with, and some I can agree with, has appeared.

Regarding refugia management, there is WAY more to it than just leaving some un trapped area around your line. Is it high carrying capacity refugia, or worthless unproductive ground? How much refugia do you have? Are there other trappers in close proximity? What is the habitat/ geography like? One thing that doesn't get discussed a lot is ACCESS. Now some areas you can access the majority of the good marten habitat from a snowmachine, and some areas you can access NONE of the good marten habitat from a snow machine. Some flat lands are good for marten, some aren't, same with mountains. Areas in the interior that have lots of good access, are prime examples, as they are often in the trapper/ marten pit that Jack mentioned. Just to much prolonged pressure, and nowhere near enough quality, inaccessible refugia.

I've seen Boco mention not being a fan of refugia methods of management before. Are you simply speaking of the years after the decline, or ever? My experience has been: marten run 7-9 year cycles, following the microtine food base. On the building years, I can't trap enough marten to make there be less recruitment the following season. The Fall dispersal of YOY and wandering adult males fills these trapped areas back in every year, until the die off. What you will see the last big season, will be mostly adult marten with almost no recruitment, female uteruses will indicate very little reproduction. I generally always trap hard during the building years, and during the final year, where the catch is mostly adults. Then, I minimize efforts for at least the next 2 years, to maximize recruitment. Like I said in an earlier post, when the population is climbing, it's hard to affect them, UNLESS you don't have enough quality, inaccessible refugia, OR to many other trappers surrounding your area. Obviously there can be weather/ prey base anomalies. When they are crashing, my thought has been you might as well harvest, because they will crash whether you trap or not. Do you disagree with this Boco? You say these marten abandon their home range, are you thinking this is because of the microtine crash and lack of food?? If so, what other management strategy is going to work better, if there is no food? No food means they'll move or die, PERIOD!!
Are these marten getting together and colluding to avoid the trappers lines when they do move out of said home range refugia they are abandoning;)? Of course if a line is good productive neighboring habitat, some will disperse into it. This is basically part of what fall dispersal of YOY marten IS, finding a productive hunting area, that isn't already over run with marten. I do agree when they crash, there is no type of management that will keep them in high numbers, but I've never been clear on what strategy you find superior for managing microtine crashes causing marten to abandon the area?

It seems we all agree minimizing adult female harvest is ideal. So there is a start!!!

Dirt, was your experience with the un trapped area producing males early season or late? I've often had the opposite happen, if I set up a line late season. For example, 2 years ago I set a valley at the start of February that I hadn't set in 15 years, as on my other lines the female % catch rates were starting to go up, and I was hoping for a good pull or two of males. Didn't happen, as my female % catch rates were the same as the other lines, and these were all elevated sets;) Not the first time I've seen this. Early season lines on long term un trapped ground have yielded similar results as yours though. Still makes me think females around here are more prone to be active/ traveling further, late season. Putting on fat for impending pregnancy, searching for den site for birthing?? Don't know.....

Boco, really really interesting to me that your male harvest goes way up in the late season. Almost every trapper I know up here, that put's up any numbers and has many years of experience, sees female catch rates go up late season. Kind of interesting to get perspectives from so many different regions.... Is this a normal occurrence on your line, or just this year, due to good recruitment? It sounds like you have the same opinion as me, on how territorial marten can be. This late season I followed a big males tracks for a couple miles down the line, as he passed about 5 sets, with no interest. Then he came to a set with a frozen female in the trap, he went over and bit her neck/ vitals, like they tend to do in these situations, then went to the next set and got caught. Obviously that female induced a territorial response, but did she also encourage a competitive instinct that made him finally think he should get that next bait, before one of these other marten get it??? Who knows??

There is no late season trapping here. I'm usually done by mid Jan. I'm on year one of light trapping after the crash year; trying to recruit like you mentioned. My big number years include plenty of YOY. These usually occur on big vole abundance years. It is in the crash year that all I mostly have is adults. No voles; poor recruitment. I count on refugia, but I have mentioned before I cannot be sure from year to year if refugia are not being trapped, therefore I leave marten in my trapped area as a safeguard. Hopefully they are females.

If I don't watch where I trap,the catch of females definitely goes up later in the season.Of course core habitat for marten outside of the James Bay lowlands is old growth large mature boreal forest.Not true in the lowlands where old growth forests are 3feet high.In 2005 we had a widespread food crash for marten in Northeastern Ontario.Marten abandoned their home ranges in large numbers.It is easy to tell when that occurs where I am as the big marten from around the bay will be caught down here every time this happens.Trappers were giddy harvesting large numbers of nice big marten right into late winter.I stopped trapping,after Christmas that year as the juvenile ratio was not there.The next year there were no marten at all.Trappers did not trap after a few runs on the lines with no marten why would they?Most times following a crash the next year there will be a noticeable rebound with juveniles in the harvest.Not this time.Two years no marten.Big panic in the ministry etc.never seen a crash like that before.Huge areas of good core marten habitat refugia like the white river game preserve had no marten over the same period.They all left and were trapped out by the surrounding harvesters,who thought the refugia method would work like it normally does.It did not.3rd year I caught 54 marten with a good young of year in the harvest.Speaking with other trappers who quit trapping early because of the lack of juveniles,in the year of the big food crash,they had harvestable numbers two years after.


So my lesson from this is that if there is an absence of juveniles in a managed marten population,when there is a high number of adults constantly on the move,It is wise to curtail the harvest early in order to give the surviving marten a chance to re populate good core habitat.Others are of the opinion of trap them all,they will starve anyway.(I do not agree with this).
I use the ratio method of management and apply the half mile spread between boxes to avoid some adult female home range in core habitat,I have also identified timbered drainages that run thru old burns, timber harvest areas,and muskeg,that connect core habitat.These are the areas that produce high numbers of dispersing juvenile marten in the fall with some single sets producing a good number of juveniles. I also use the native cree method of pulling sets before the new year.
There is nothing wrong with leaving large areas of core habitat untrapped,but In my opinion no matter how you operate the goal is to keep the harvest of adult females to a minimum percentage of the overall harvest as much as possible.
I also see that large untrapped areas are not as productive as judiciously trapped areas.
I have never tried the hit and run method like you mentioned T4E,but I have no doubt it works well in your area.
Each area is different,I could not imagine having the numbers of marten to trap that T4E has and I am sure he is a great steward of his resource and does what works for him.
I have just related here what has allowed me to harvest consistent decent numbers of marten over several decades on lines in NE Ont.
Oh,and all our marten here climb eventually,although not every time,nor every set.They can be a bit fickle at times.

This is getting into biological carrying capacity territory. My input here would be this....
If the food base crashes, and you don't trap at all, the marten will still crash, as they have exceeded maximum biological carrying capacity. If you harvest more than sustainable yield at ANY time, you are by definition going backwards. Recognizing populations are in constant flux is important to management.
Boco, I suspect you face MUCH more competitive trapping densities than me. Meaning more trappers operating closer to your lines than me?? Don't know.... in your scenario that happened on your line, what do you believe made marten reappear on your line, where there had been none for two years?? Or did you mean you left ample seed stock by pulling early, and left them alone for two seasons?? I don't really understand how your line would go from none, to surpassing all surrounding refugia suddenly, as in theory, the surrounding untapped, refugia should have similar numbers?? Why would just your line suddenly uptick?? The adult males and females in the refugia have been left in peace remember??

I guess it should be clarified that refugia management is not always an option, due to things like easy access of all quality habitat, other trappers in competition, habitat destruction like clear cutting, etc. However, don't mistake over harvesting a lines sustainable production, as a failure of refugia methods. Two different subjects. EVERY trap line has a maximum sustainable yield, that is constantly in flux, exceeding this means numbers fall. The trick is learning to read the natural ebbs and flows of populations, and figuring out our part in the dynamic. Obviously, it sounds like in your scenario, some of your neighboring trappers exceeded their harvestable yield, thinking the marten were goners anyway. I think one time, in the last 35 years in my current area, I may have harvested to heavily on the peak/ starve or move year. Not sure though, because even areas that hadn't been trapped for 10 years, were slow for the next couple years. There is so much untrapped ground up here, if you get away from urban areas, that it's easy to try a new, untrapped area as a control, to compare to what you are seeing on other regions of your line.

It would seem to me in your scenario, you just turned your line into untrapped refugia, hence the more rapid recovery??? No????

Does this mean untrapped, inaccessible refugia is the only tool in the tool box, for managing a line. Nope, not in my opinion. Does it work in all cases, probably not, but I think it will GREATLY help your odds of being able to have strong, sustainable recruitment. I would venture to say having a line surrounded by a proper buffer of refugia is FAR more important to sustainable yield in my area, where so much top class refugia never sees a trap, than me watching my ratios. Simply because, as I keep saying, when they crash, they crash, period. No amount of refugia, or high male % ratio will make up for a total lack of successful breeding, due to starvation. Can I affect recovery, if I trap ruthlessly, after the bottom of the cycle. I would certainly think so, but once again, that would be due to me exceeding my harvestable surplus. It isn't like you can reach a certain number and sustain it indefinately, unless you are talking lower volumes of marten trapped, or if you are covering huge areas, in which case, the lack of catch rates should be pretty noticeable.

So...... my opinion here...... guys like the original poster 358wsm, consider adjacent lands to wherever you choose to develop your line!

We have registered lines here with quotas.There are no mandatory minimums on any fur except beaver.So a trapper is the front line manager of his resource.A lot of trappers work closely with the fur techs to adjust quotas on a scientific basis.Beaver quotas are adjusted by providing the fur tech with an aerial survey of live houses on the line.Marten and fisher quotas can be raised,even doubled some years if the juvenile harvest is high enough to warrant it.Just have to provide skulls or jaws tagged to the fur tech.Lynx quotas can be raised similarly thru harvest data from your line.
It is in the trappers intrest to manage his resource to the best of his ability,however he chooses to do so.Greed will only hurt himself in future seasons if he overharvests the resource on his trapline.If a trapper wants to catch more fur he can get on several different registered lines,as quotas are trapline specific.Some trappers operate on 4 or 5 traplines and can produce quite a bit of fur without harming the resource on any one line.
There are traplines in Ontario that have been producing basically the same amounts of fur over several generations of trapping familys working the line.

I'm having a hard time understanding how a population can be at maximum with only adults. Since a healthy population should be around 50% YOY in November in theory. Take away that 50% and that means your marten population is lower. When I have mostly adults, my population is low.

The fickle marten you mention Boco, is this late in the year? Or do you see this even in November/ December? Mine seem to start this behavior mid January, this is both sexes, prior to that, they tend to be pretty cooperative.

On a totally different note... Jack or W17, are you aware of any actual ADF&G or university studies (not just theories), done in various regions of the state, regarding fur quality, throughout the fall/ winter/ spring months??? I would really like to acquire more info on this particular subject for multiple species....

Dirt,
It's not that there are necessarily always more marten, just more movement, looking for food. However, in my experience often more marten overall. That is the constant flux I'm speaking of. This is speaking strictly for my area, as I haven't really discussed this much with other trappers before....

Say for example, you take a hillside, and fence it off, so nothing comes and goes. What's going to happen to the marten populations, as the feed source populations change. The marten populations will generally follow. I think different areas are affected in varying degrees, as many areas, marten have seasonal diet changes. Anyways, that given hillsides production will fluctuate, depending upon various components of the food chain. What if the voles food sources die, due to wet or dry weather? No voles, no marten. The carrying capacity and production change, due to many variables. When you are seeing the high % of YOY, that is a good sign, as that indicates successful breeding production, healthy stocks. Now the next year you see the same 50% ratio of YOY to adults. Does that mean you have the same overall numbers of marten on said hillside. Nope, numbers could have gone up, could have gone down, but your ratio could stay approximately the same. Now, when they are building in numbers, the food is there. What happens when it crashes??? Depends on the location, as seasonal diets may provide different nutritional opportunities, for example in Alaska, salmon carcasses, berries, grouse, ptarmigan, squirrels, hares, etc. When the population peaks, sometimes the survival of the previous years juveniles and adults, now combined into now grown adults, will exceed the previous years total production, in the same area, but with no food, starvation and lack of reproduction will eventually prevail. This scenario of food shortage induced relocation, is possibly a contributing factor to what causes those waves of marten that sometimes occur.

Boco,
Your example of 4 or 5 lines would be essentially the same example as my rotating onto new ground. With no registered lines though, here you just look around until you find an area full of marten, and set it, you aren't confined to a certain region or area as with a registered line. However, like you mentioned, if other trappers are potentially around, you don't have the ability to manage your area the way you do with a registered line, or if you get greedy, you are just shooting yourself in the foot! Always a good idea to manage for sustainability!

I could trap the exact same number of marten every year on my lines. That is sustainable. I could also adjust my catch numbers to adjust for maximum sustainable yield, depending upon the constant state of flux for marten populations, and catch MORE, in the long run. The big question here, how to recognize how much is your maximum sustainable yield, without exceeding it, and hurting future seasons...... Or you can just play it safe, and harvest minimal numbers.

It would certainly be possible for a trapper to have a sustained yield over many years if his annual take is low enough for the area he traps. Problem would be what number would be low enough. He would also have to not have fires, floods, or other weather related catastrophes effect his area.
mt
T4E, sent you a PM.

If you have been on your zone long enough you will be able to figure out a baseline quota for your area.There are open quotas for marten in NW Ontario but the trappers know their baseline numbers for sure.Logging, fires,and change as the bush matures over the years will change the animals and numbers on the trapline. This takes many years of managing a trapping zone to become familiar with these changes.You can identify the safe size estimate of home ranges of adult marten in different habitat types in your area if you keep records.Once you have a handle on that you can figure out a baseline quota to start working from,up and down in years of fluctuation in recruitment by keeping an eye on the adult female ratio in your harvest which will dictate when to stop trapping.Some years trappers don't trap marten,other years trappers will raise quotas to maximize the sustainable yield.
Most important for me is to watch the ratio of adult females in the harvest,and how abundant the marten are overall in the first few weeks of trapping, to help make these decisions.If I run 20 boxes for two weeks in good habitat in both core areas and dispersal corridors and only catch 3 or 4 marten,I am not going to waste time running a line.It is not hard to manage marten on a registered trapline as long as it is big enough with the correct habitat to hold a lot of marten in normal years.I don't worry about what other trappers take or don't take in their zones as they are operating far enough away not to really affect me.
But during a lifetime on traplines there are some years that things are very different from the norm.Each year is different to some extent but there are certain years that stand out.
The marten can refuse a set anytime of year here.Have seen many times they check out and refuse a couple sets then are hanging in a trap a 1/4 mile down the trail.

Jack,
This is an invaluable discussion here. I am learning, listening, and absorbing as much as I possibly can. Thank you for sharing this, it is why I had hoped it would not go private. I need to hear it.

Noted.!

358wsm...

Thanks for letting us ramble far too afield from your initial question, but it's been fun and a real learning experience for me. You undoubtedly are the kind of guy that will do well in Alaska, and your Cheechako period will be abbreviated on your way to Sourdough-dom.

trapped4ever...

I must be a bit too old, or maybe a few too many rough miles behind me. Perhaps it's because of a few too many toddies over the years. Anyway, I'm having a tough time keeping up with all this. You, White17, Boco, and a boatload of others out there have obviously caught more marten than I will ever see in my lifetime, and I truly appreciate your various perspectives. I've been trying to understand this marten population dynamics thing for several decades, and obviously, I don't really have a clue. I read all the 'science' I can get my hands on (I've even penciled a bit myself). I've studied various marten populations in western interior Alaska, Central Alaska, and SE Alaska, as well as a bit of sleuthing in Idaho and Far Eastern Russia. Once I think that I have it all figured out, I'm thrown a curveball and no way am I connecting. It's been a hoot.

One thing you mentioned earlier (in a previous post) was that "...marten run in 7-9 year cycles...". Fill me in, man. I've studied and graphed and modeled marten populations from about everywhere, and I can't seem to find any real evidence of cycles (the definition of "cyclic" infers that the ups and downs are predictable). Unlike Eurasia where the small mammal populations are indeed cyclic, there is no evidence of such predictability in North America (go figure...). With no cycles in the North American marten food, what would those marten populations cycle on? Unlike the classic snowshoe hare/lynx cycles, I can't find any predictability to the marten ups-and-downs. From hundreds of thousands of small mammal trapnights that I've done in hundreds of areas over many years, I don't see the predictability in the mouse, vole, or shrew, wide population swings. Educate me, man.

Jack

Absolutely ! It i think male density is higher in those areas because the females won't or don't want to take the risk. Distances without overhead cover are greater and possibly fox populations are higher in the more open areas. neither of which would be beneficial to survival. So just maybe..nature has programmed mama marten to stay out of those areas as much as possible

Smaller female marten are a different animal behavior wise than a large male marten.Savvy trappers can use this knowledge to skew the harvest to avoid some females.

Great thread.
Lots of great information floating around. I want to share my observations from almost 50 years of trapping marten in the Interior before I leave this planet!
When I started trapping in the early 70's there were just over 300,000 people in he State, snow machines were just coming into their own and there was lots of country to prospect. There wasn't much information around about trapping marten so you were left to your own imagination. Once in a while you would meet the right trapper who would open up and give you some advice from his last 20 years and that would start you off. The one thing that seemed to be a common belief back then and is partially true to this day is the marten will come through so have your gear out or you will miss them. Foot hold traps and pole sets were the method most favorable keeping the catch off the ground, although my final line I was given in the early 80's had cubbies that the previous trapper favored. The local fur buyer at the time had flown over that area and he told me that if I could get to a particular area within the line he saw marten trails, not tracks. It took me several years of cutting trails into new areas of the line and running 100 mile weekends I found the area.
Now that I found the area how do I manage it, do I farm it or do i hit it hard and take a chance on screwing it up. The approach I took was to farm my total line and had decent catches on the target years. My method would be to ride the line and open the areas where tracks were abundant leaving the other areas closed. I usually would trap 2 seasons than let it rest for 1 season. Marten numbers were not my goal but being able to return year after year and be successful.
Being a self taught marten trapper and the era I came from I can tell you that marten are a mystery. Here today gone tomorrow. Other observations, occasionally they appear in bunches only to be there for a week or two than gone. The line I trapped traveled up a couple creek valleys and there It seemed the ones I caught were travelers so the high country is where I focused on, moderately open black spruce ridge tops. The last few years I trapped it I went to very small stinky baits after years of lure, and attractors.
Well I wish there had been the information available back then that there is now so I could offer my scientific observations. But thats the way I started and its hard to teach an old dog new tricks.
Snap

So Mr. 358wsm I'll try to give you some practical useful field information. If you are going to try to manage on the 4 YOY to 1 adult female strategery don't panic if you start out of the gate 1 YOY to 2 adult females. Maybe some places, you always catch males and YOY marten first and then start picking up only adult females later after these guys, but not here. This ratio can bounce around a lot during the season. You just don't want to finish 2 to 1. If the vole population is abundant, I definitely would keep trapping expecting your ratio to improve.

Go to AK.

Jack, long rambling PM sent. Ha ha! Hope you aren't busy!

Oh snap, I like your post too. It brings up another few subjects, such as elevational densities.

Dirt, spot on!

This could possibly be an example of elevational density. Some simple example here.... The seasonal make up of a martens diet changes drastically in my area. I have some data on these percentages for my area, from studies I was involved with in the 80's &90's. Now as a common food source changes, marten (especially males) may follow it, up or down a hillside/ mountain. Example here: blue berries dying off at lower elevations during early fall, while ones at higher elevations are now ripening, marten moves up the hillside, following the food. Or salmon spawn is occurring, marten moves down near streamside, to feed on carcasses for a couple months. Throughout your trapping season, your maximum elevational density (of male marten especially) will potentially change on your line, a possible cause to Dirt's scenario. Or MAYBE, the females just wandered into the trap first!! HA!

My point was, any given section of my lines marten population density, in my region, will generally change drastically, several times a season. What causes this?? Snow/ weather/ food/ wanderlust/?? Being able to predict these increased density areas would be nice. Sometimes I'm correct on these, sometimes not so much. Having traps ready for these increased density occurrences is what it's all about!!

Sheesh!!! I think I need to start a thread called- Random Thoughts from a Crazed Trapper!

You are doing fine, buddy!

Thanks to all who've chimed in on this thread, and particular thanks to 358wsm for originally posing the question and allowing us to ramble in 360 different directions. Its been another learning experience for me.

Take home message from my perspective: 1) marten population dynamics are complicated and probably highly variable from place to place. 2) we've still got a lot to learn, and 3) in your harvesting, go at it conservatively at first, and once you have the wisdom of your particular place, manage it wisely.

After a lifetime of trapping marten, I had it all figured out. Then I ended up here in east-central Idaho. My trapping partner and I (my wife) catch only a couple handfuls of marten every year, but we do so in sagebrush. Really! Most sets are in riparian corridors coming off the Continental Divide where, literally, not a conifer tree in sight. That's marten habitat?

Jack

Gulo,
Just curious, but what elevation are you catching those marten in sage brush country?

Any observations on ratios of ermine to marten after a crash? I have been told that an increase in ermine can indicate a pending marten recovery.

waggler...

Our place (Belly Acres) is at just over 5,000' and we get a marten through here from time to time. The pass over to the Montana side is only about 3 miles (as the crow flies) east of us, and is a bit over 7,200'. Decent marten habitat along the divide with lodgepole and Doug fir, but a friend of mine traps that, so we stay away. Most of what we catch is at about 5800-6200' elevation. The interesting thing to me is that our catch is basically all dispersers. Out of 83 marten we've taken in the sage, only one adult female, so our overall ratio is still about 25:1. Too, it's tough to elevate our sets to 36" when the tallest sagebrush is only 30" tall.

drasselt...

Most every place I trapped marten, always got a handful of weasels as well. Never noticed an increase in ermine in advance of a marten upswing. I'll go through my old notes and will keep it in mind for future. Interesting; I've never heard that before.

^^^^^^
83 marten in sage brush; WOW, that's a new one for me.
I'll bet your friend does pretty well in the high country.

Send a few of those sage Marten to Ken. He might change his tune, as to gastro-delight!

You two east of big muddy boys need to understand the OP is planning to trap in Alaska. Second: trapping marten is easy, accessing them not so much, managing them is the complicated part. 204 marten in NYS probably means you keep your population below maximum sustained yield due to a trapper pit. You appear to manage people, but you got too many and not my ethics.

Also..."feeding wildlife" is illegal in Alaska so SOME troopers view pre-baiting as illegal also. Check before you try that

The OP wil be in AK soon.
However, In the ADK's and the Tug Hill area we usually get less than 100" of snow fall (sometime ago I saw 156" in one storm)..lake effect east lake Onterio can exceed that. Guess that's "...not much.." but still enough to cover the ground

I've only been trapping for about 39 seasons, still pretty "green," so yes, I'll take all the "good luck" wishes I can get.

Thanks for the kind words,

HUH!

I was trying to be helpful and answer your questions. Please delete my posts and you can go to Alaska.

Do you guys bait your traps? How is that not feeding wildlife? Just curious? I frequently use a whole beaver for bait guess your troopers would frown on my methods. I thought Maine was restrictive in some regards Alaska is worse.

358wsm

How bout posting some of your trapping pictures. I would be interested in New York fur. Especially in foot hold caught!

I can't speak for the experts, but this is my most productive set.

I love it, Dirt. Think I'll use that set-up, but I might sprinkle a little rosemary on the spam. Seems the males really like it..

Jack

Dirt.....You have a good looking yard for this time of the year!

I was trying to be helpful and answer your questions. Please delete my posts and you can go to Alaska. [/quote]

Ebsurveyer,

I owe you a huge, XL, Mtn. size APOLOGY.!!!

I Totally misread your post. I am embarassed, and shamed. I am VERY SORRY.

It was early here, I was not fully awake, not focused, and a bit dyslexic.

Sir, I am Very, very sorry, very embarassed, and I sincerely do apologize.

After rereading, CLEAR HEADED, I saw what you wrote, and was sick to my stomach for my ill response. I do hope you can forgive me, I am truely and exceedingly SORRY FOR MY OFFENSE.

Once season is open it is a different story. Ridiculous in some instances but when you consider the idiots on the highway and in the park settings the regulation makes complete sense. As I'm sure you know, when animals are fed by humans they become habituated. When they don't get that handout they can become intrusive. The next thing you know they are 'removed' from the population. Not the critter's fault. He's just trying to make a living.

TO ALL..

PLEASE FOR GIVE ME.

I am admittedly a bit dyslexic, and this morning I misread a gentleman's post, (Ebsurveyer) and then went on the defense.

I AM TERRIBLY SORRY, SICK OVER IT, AND EXTREMELY EMBARRASED. I WAS WRONG.

On the subject of pre-baiting, I just cut and pasted this from the current Alaska hunting regulations. I don't see anywhere that it includes pre-baiting for marten either before or during the season.

"Intentionally or negligently feeding deer, elk, moose,
bear, wolf, coyote, fox, wolverine, sheep, or deleterious
exotic wildlife (see page 142), or intentionally leaving
human food, animal food, mineral supplements or garbage
in a manner that attracts these animals, EXCEPT: you may
hunt wolves, fox, and wolverine with game parts that are not
required to be salvaged. (See page 17 for list of game parts
that are allowed to be used for bait.) Use of any type of bait
other than those allowed on page 17 will be considered a
violation of the feeding regulation."

White17, I'd be curious to know how the Troopers you are referring are making their interpretation. Doesn't surprise me though. Is there something in the trapping regulations that address the subject?
When I pre-bait for marten it is generally after trapping season opens anyway.

Yes Sir, and I still am here.

The few pictures I had went with all of my wife's and my belongings when we were robbed while attempting to make a move to another state 2 years ago. I wish I could see them also, along with our wedding photos, my tools, her many sentimentals, our firearms, our personal papers, computer, ID's gifts from my late grandfather...and the list goes on...EVERYTHING we owned (except what we had left in storage back home).
This I posted in my last entry in the "I read ths dreamers..." thread.

I could also contact my wife back on the mainland and have her mail you a copy of the police report if you need or would like further varification, I believe a list of our valuables is included in that report.

I could also include a document from my Doctor concerning my Dyslexia if you need or would like confirmation of that.

I am an honest man, who though I occasionally falter, does his best to walk in integrity and respect. Today I blew it and misread a post written by a man only seeking to assist and help me, and I took offense to what I "thought" I read, and wrongly defended myself against a non issue. If you could have seen my aweful response to the innocent posters post you would note that it had nothing to do with the innocent posters post. My response didn't make any sense to the posters attempt to help me. Thus the "HUH.!" in Oh Snap's immediate follow up to my aweful response (For which I am personally humiliated over and shamefully embarrassed by).


P.S. I also want to say, that when writing and texting there is lost the benefit of "voice inflection" and therefore you cannot hear my tone. I am in no way pounding my fist, I submitt this in the most sorrowful of ways with the deepest respect.

I also accept that todays misread, and my response may well of cost me my going to AK.
There are good men on here that put their trust in me who I am sure are now looking at matters with raised eyebrows.

If I could have seen the post correctly, I would have never responded as I did. But for some reason, it did happen.

Perhaps God has another direction for my life that I am unaware of and He allowed me to error as I did. No one here can varify my heart, and though my intensions are good, I have lived long enough that I have come to the realization that I am not the only one calling the shots in my life for the direction I journey, dispite my intensions. Thought I have often desired to kick against that, He is the one who ultimately does the leading, guiding, directing, and often redirecting. I am often only left with the option to to yeild and go where He would have me go. He does however give me one choice, to yeild to His leading or not. I have found in my life that resisting His directives has never been a good path for me to be on. So to the best I can, I yeild. If that sounds "churchy" it is not, I do not attend. I learned this in my treestand and by walking the often hard road of life.

That is all I can say in regard to the matter.

I return all carcasses to the trap line, including beaver. Prior to the season, that may take the form of a box lunch. Just a free, covered place to be eaten.
Regulations do require that carcasses be disposed of away from roadways, plain view, etc.

I forget which trooper it was.............but a few years back one of the brownshirt guys was addressing a gathering of one of the trapping organizations either on the Kenai or in the Valley. HE is the one who told the group it was illegal to pre-bait. Maybe someone from that side of the mountains remembers who and when it was.


Yes...once season opens everything is OK. .......apparently

Law Enforcement often have agreements with other agencies for enforcement. Idaho F&G can enforce Ag Dept rules,Forest Service litter, etc. May be a Fed rule and not in trapping regs.

White's correct It was Tory Oleck from Palmer. He came to a trapping school at Beach Lake a long time ago and told us he considered pre baiting to be 'trapping activity'. This was well over 10 years ago.
Viking makes a good point.
It may come down to intent.
Waggler posted hunting regs and they don't translate as trapping regs.

Also as you know Tom, on federal land it is the law as interpreted by the officer. Federal regulations and seasons vary greatly from the states. A great example is the foolish regulations built around the lynx seasons on the KNWR.

Drasselt,
I looked through the trapping regs but couldnt find anything regarding feeding wildlife. I believe however, the prohibition of feeding found in the hunting regs doesnt just apply to hunters though, but applies to everyone including homeowners.
Im not too sure about prebaiting prior to trapping season, but I would be surprised to hear someone make the argument that it's illegal after the season opens.
Is it legal to "place" traps prior to the season, such as leaving traps hanging from pole sets?

Then whats the difference between feeding wildlife and disposing of carcasses in the bush(back to the foodchain from whence they came).

Intent.