dont get the mind set of piling up fur ... not to say not to have the drive to go out there and catch alot of fur ... but dont just go out there and slap in a number of textbook sets without THINKIN .... take your time and learn WHY these sets are working and WHY sets ARENT working .... OBSERVE the smaller DETAILS at a set when ya have or havent made a catch ... take the time to track an animal to see where they go and try to THINK like the animal and THINK ... WHY .... i have seen certain trappers in my area go out and throw a number of sets out over the years and not pay attention to detail ... they are just about as good as they first started out after all these years ... they go on the words of others and dont THINK on their own ... to me thats the real key to learnin how to trap animals consistently ... altho im not a high numbers trapper and dont claim to know a fraction of what others do on this site ... i feel that takin ya time and learnin the finer details of habits is a big key in trappin success .... good luck to ya!!!

Not only that, but its what makes trapping more fun than picking up roadkill.

Tell you something else, after awhile, you get to know your target critter enough that you can tell what he's going to do before he does it. Now, I'm a coon trapper. But after 10 years of trapping almost exclusively coons, I can look a creek over and know where to set a trap. I know how they will come down to the creek. Where they'll leave it. And where they'll walk the edge. Don't ask me how I know. Be hard to put into words. I just know.

another idea, is to make a set to catch a particular animal. i know non targets will always happen, but if you want to catch a fox in a certain set, try and figure out how to catch a fox, not just anything that comes along. if you want to catch a bobcat make a set for a bobcat and try to learn as much about that animal as possible.

i'm happy with a bobcat in a coyote set, or a fox set. but i hate it when a 10 dollar coyote messes up a 75 dollar cat set, lol. or a 5 dollar coon gets in fox set.

some animals you can't avoid, one of them is a coon. they weigh at least as much as a fox or even bobcats so even pan tension won't keep them out. but as far as possums go, i hate them and avoid everyone of the stinkin grinners i can, lol. i do that with pan tension.

for the most part coyotes shy away from flashy type cat sets ( i know not always) and you can keep them out.

try this and if you pay attention to detail and the little things, such as tracks, and asking why did the animal step here or where did he come from, check scat to see what they are eating, all these things will help you understand the animal better and in turn will make you a better trapper. one big thing tho....you must have patience.

Ok lordy i'll bite on not catching possums in the cat sets. how much is your pan tension to avoid these worthless critters

Good advice from Gary! Learning from the animals themselves and making minor adjustments with each experience after analyzing the situation and eventually working out details to a near science is what seperates the most successful trappers in each area from the others. Its the secret of successful trapping. Ace

well said.

shaneb i usually run about 3-4 lbs. i know i'll miss grays and this coming year i might not run with so much pan tension so i won't miss them high priced boogers. everyonce in a while i'll get one by the tail, which makes me think he has sat back on his haunches to eat the lure or bait in the hole.

ya know this is gonna go against my tip ...as far as learnin from what ya sets tell ya ... but .... i have had tail catches in the past on possums ... and im wonderin if they dont scent mark ..... with the their glands .... rub em on the ground ... much like a canine urinating after a miss .... maybe sum pros can tell me if this is true ??

my tip would be to learn locations. next to ethics, knowing where to set is the most important part of being a successful trapper. IMHO

once you are in the area it doesnt matter if its a pocket, dirthole, stepdown, blind or whatever kind of set. if your trap is too far from the hole, you'll figure it out quickly when you see that track in the dirt. But location is much more complicated. Often trappers dont even know that they dont know.

For example I made 3 sets on a small farm. One set along a crop change performed much better and i pulled like 6-8 reds off that set.

So the next year i only had to set there. I learned the location to set on that farm and it allowed me to move those other traps to different farms and save time.

Not quite. One morning driving in i saw a red on the other side of the farm lane and walked over to see a highway of tracks in the snow. I threw a set in there and pulled 26 reds that year.

If i hadnt walked over, i was totally happy with 6-8. Lesson learned.

now that i think about it, after all the debating about which trap brand is best, how to make that super trick set, which lure to use, cleanliness etc. etc. its amazing we dont have more location posts and questions on here. possibly cause thats the hardest thing to communicate on a forum like this.