Started my 2025-2026 season today. Started late and only got 7/35 in. Headed home and my fourwheeler quit on me. 3 mile walk back to the truck and trailer to start the season. Nice day- at least it wasnt -30 and snowing..yet. Here are a few pictures from the day. If you notice something say something its only my second season ever!

This was what looked like an old half done prairie dog holes, right one was only 7 inches or so deep, left one a foot deep. Bridger no 2 in the bottom.


A little trail I found with sign on it, Bridger #3in the trail with a mouse hole under a sagebrush

Tight chains, WY is a beautiful state.

Connected with the first coyote of the season/ my first coyote in a trap on the first check of the year! Really studied location this off season and spent what felt like 7 life times bedding my traps rock solid

Congrats!

1st of many, congrats

Congrats. Hope you catch many more

Great start

Congrats

Cool!

Looking good, cool pics

Nice coyote, can't wait to see more pics.

First coyote put up, watched some skinning and fleshing videos almost frame by frame and it took me an hour and 40 minutes but here it is after being flipped fur out

Congrats on the first coyote! That is one you will never forget! And fur put-up will get faster/better with practice. Keep it up you're off to a good start.

Got out some more sets with my girls the other day, had a goal of getting another 12 out..then I took a 2 and 3 year old with me LOL..5 in and we headed home

This was a bald spot in a deep draw opening into a river bottom I threw a dirt hole set in the middle

If that drops into a river valley, I would expect some cat action there. Good luck

Put up a pretty fluffy red today, first red of the season, Set two traps back at the remake to hopefully pick up a second that comes to investigate the very smelly catch circle.

congrats, enjoy time with the little ones, they grow up fast

Bobcat opens here on the 15t, I've never trapped them before but I found a cliff hangover in a brushed up creek bottom and gave a couple sets a go. No trap till the 15th but maybe its ready to go? Not real sure how to go about it

I'd wait a bit on the bobcats, much better fur say in late Dec.
You'll get a better price on the later cats.

We start our line this coming weekend, coyote sets. We have some bone piles to set foot holds and snares on.

Nice start, catch all those coyotes you can !!
Love the fox too, we don't have them around here much.
Good job.

Thank you! Good luck! Ive found a few carcass dumps where people have dropped their remains from elk season, havent pulled anything off them yet though

If you've had some good cold weather your cats might be ok but we usually start bobcat trapping in Dec and go until it warms up.
We've had good luck with cubby sets and hanging attractants for bobcats.
Caught a big 39lb male on a badger remake, caught the badger 1st then the big cat in the spoils of his digging.

Sadly the LOs oldest horse passed this past year and his bone pile has been very active. Lots of coyote trails coming and going.
Hoping we can pull some of your good luck on many coyotes this Winter. We caught 9 last year.

If you get some really good bobcats I know great buyer for them. He's on here. We're going with him this year and foregoing FHA. But first we have to catch some, lol.

We havent had anything for cold weather in the bighorn basin, I heard of a little snow around Cody but down here its been 20's at night and mid 50's during the day

Drove up to Big Timber and collected my two nephews for a week of trapping and a doe deer hunt. After a 4 hour drive home they didnt even want to get out of their PJ's before we headed out, Set 4 more traps today with them so they had a chance to try their hand, tomorrow we have a farm to set for some coons and Monday will go kill a deer, theses are city kids that dont get this stuff at home so heres to making a difference stick.

Connected with another nice red today on the kids last check before they go back home. Tbone set on a two track intersection

That is a beautiful red fox. Nice last check for the kids. Good deal. Congratulations!!!!!!!

Great job. You’re on your way. Get that 1st one tanned ! MD

Great job with getting those kids some outdoor experiences

Get that fox tanned and give it to them

Nice !!

That's awesome to pull a red on their last check. Great memories.

Found a fresh killed antelope with the most coyote sign I've seen all year. Its right off a cow trail, followed it back 30 yards or so and set an intersection off cow trails, both littered in coyote tracks. Found a fresh pile and Moved that to the opposite side of my trap, urine on one side turd on the other.

-Wynot

Great thread! Thanks for posting.
I LOVE your state!!!!!

Its been extremely slow going, but with being in a new management position at work I enjoy the quiet alone time on the line now more than ever. Set my second attempt at a cat walk through today, feels better than the first one. Two Bridger 3's Y'd together on a drag between two large rocks on a flat desert of sage brush, both rocks are packed full of packrat nests. Seems like a good spot from the studying ive been doing.




Also found a mile of woven wire fence out on BLM with lots of crawl unders, getting some snares ordered and will try my hand and snaring that fence and these highway looking cow trails out across the desert.

I'd put some kind of attractant in front of and behind that set if you don't catch something soon.
Make sure you set legal on the fences, especially since it is BLM land.

Good luck, hoping for some nice bobcats pics soon !!
You're making me jealous, haven't started our line yet and I'm betting we get snow right before we start.

I have two lures on the rocks along side and a little pile of bait up under the rocks, would you add any other kind of attractant front and behind?

Good luck on the cats and snaring! Keep us posted.

When I trapped cats way back in the 70s in Oregon, I would use a goose feather tied with a piece of thread to a tree branch if there was one near the set, or an old dead stick maybe 4'-5' long held up by rocks if no tree.
Old school, as I didn't have a mentor back then, but it worked.

^^^ a feather on each side of the set, hanging from a wire or something.
Like the little blue and white feathers in this set.

I know that old guy in the pic.

Had to check some traps in the area and added some flagging as recommended

Afternoons like this on the high prairie sure make a man feel free. A Lords blessing.

A couple shots of the trails I ordered snares for

God Bless Wyoming!

That's some pretty country right there. Great place to run a trapline.

Id move there tomorrow if I could convince my wife!!

Wynot,
You live anywhere near Worland?

I have a good friend that lives there.

Yep, about 5 blocks from main street

When I come out to visit next fall (still trying to draw an antelope tag, 10preference pts) I'll send you a pm ahead of time, maybe we can get together for lunch or whatever.

If you have lived there for at least a few years and have gone into the Outdoorsman store you may have met Ken Kucerg. He co- managed the store for many years when Melanie owned it. He's semi-retired now and just works Saturdays or whenever the new owner Ray and his son Jackson are out of town for buyers conventions. He just sent me a pic yesterday of he and a buddy down at Boisen fishing. Limit of walleyes and one good trout.

Spent a few winters in the mid nineties lion hunting out of Ten Sleep, we would eat dinner a few times a year in Worland. Deep creek, Cherry creek, and elder canyons were all very gamey back then. I think often of those places and that area.
Good luck

Absolutely! Yes I have ran into him down there, the outdoorsman is where I turn in my stuff for the bounty and buy a gun when Im in the mood, great store

One of my goals for the last two years has been trapping a badger, last week my wife asked me what I wanted for my birthday and I said a nice cat or pretty badger would do, well this evening I got a two day early present! A gorgeous pale white badger in a duke 1 3/4 and man can they destroy some country! Off to the tannery in the morning and to the wall with this one. Now off to chase a cat and complete my year goals!

Thàt is a nice pale badger! Congratulations. I pulled mine out of the freezer yesterday. Not looking for to fleshing it

What a great badger! Congratulations. And Happy Birthday!

Congrats

They are some diggers for sure

They are cool until you have to flesh them. Then I hate them.

Awesome on reaching one of your goals with the badger.
We don't have them here.
How long and what type of anchor do you use when targeting badger?

x2

It was just a cable 18" wolf fang style anchor, but he dug everywhere but straight down as I understand is what they all do, if he would have dug straight down he could have been gone with my trap in less than a minute with those diggers

Nice !!
We left the feet on ours when we sent it to Moyle's, came back great.

Caught our biggest bobcat in a badger catch remake.
Maybe you'll get yours too !!

Pretty sure we'll have snow about the time we get to start our line.

Wynot,

I've bumped cats way out on 15 Mile rd in side draws when deer hunting. Look for the draws with rocky top edges.

Thanks! Ive never been out poking around 15 mile, im trapping the nowater drainage now

Snares and extension cables are in, will set the fence crawl unders tomorrow during my check, and this week going to pick up 20' of 1/2in rebar for stakes/ supports for the trail sets later in the week.

Got out today with a bust, but I got my first dozen snares out on crawl throughs with lots of sign in the snow of both fox and coyote. All snares are set legal anchored to fence posts not fence wire with long cable extensions. Set a few more sets, trying to get better at dirtholes, and missed a traveling coyote on an inside corner that didnt even stop his stride to smell the goods, just cruised right on over and down the road

Looks like good sign I am excited to see what you catch! Keep us posted. In the last picture what does the red X signal?

That is roughly where the Bridger #3 lays, though looking at it that x is probably 2 inches closer to the Tbone than the trap pan itself

Ran the line today, super stoked about these coyote snares and picked up a coon in a coyote snare...there isnt a tree within 4 miles and water within probably two miles! It really does figure this would be my first snare catch but hey, with a $10 bounty ill take him!

Better than a poke in the eye with a sharp stick. Good time of year to catch them.

Hey Wynot,

Those crawl under certainly do produce but those nice cattle trails you showed earlier can be great locations for snares especially if K9 tracks are present. It looks like a lot of rabbits going under the fence spot too. It might create more maintenance on those snares in the fence. I've snared both types of scenarios and have taken coyotes, but my preference is those trails. Maybe you are going to set up trails later. Hope to see a coyote snared soon.

Have a good day.

Thank you much! I set a cow trail today but was short on time while checking, I have a couple dozen more snares to hang over all of those cow trails, I have only found one stock pond with water in it still I plan on snaring all of the cow trails into that pond as well. I had to wait to build some anchor supports. Now that those are done I will be setting all of those. I am really enjoying setting snares though it's pretty addicting and I havent even snared a coyote yet!

Got out and hung another dozen or so snares over cow trails, all but one or two had recent K9 sign, hopefully these connect as the fence haven't

Looks good. I think you'll have one snared in those trails soon.

Nice thread!!!! Really loved following along.

Good looking trail sets! Hope you hook one up soon!