I have wanted to go down to Kansas to trap coyotes for several years now, but due to work and family life, it never materialized. My 11 year old daughter, who has been trapping with me since she was 2, recently asked about doing this, so we started to brainstorm on how to make it a reality.
To overcome the issue of cold rolling, knocking on doors 700 miles away, I chose a spot in north west Kansas using OnX, and picked out about 15 landowners in a loop and sent them letters. A week later, I received a phone call from a rancher with about 10,000acres wanting me to trap. I marked his properties out, and picked 10 more landowners to “connect the dots.” A week later I received another phone call, adding another 5,000 acres. A few days after that I received a call from a guy that used to run Greyhounds for coyotes, and offered up any assistance I may need to make this trip happen. He used to work at the sale barn, and drive feed trucks, so he knows a lot of the ranchers in the area. My phone rang again the other day, another rancher with about 8,000 acres, and has access to another 90,000acres.
I think I have enough land to trap, and I am closing in on a house to rent, so other than a few small things to take care of, this dream is getting more and more promising.
We are planning a trip in may to talk in person with the landowners, and to do some quick scouting. Then while my daughter is on her 2 week Christmas break 2023, we are going to go lay the smackdown on some Kansas predators!
