Does anyone run their line after work? I have always done a morning check but I worked afternoons then. I am taking 2 weeks off because I have to use my vacation before December but I was wondering if I could run them after work? I would be running them about 3 pm and leave my line out for an extra couple weeks

I have checked them at all times of night and day. As long as i stay within our 24 hrs check window checking whe. time allows. I prefer earlier. Animal in a trap is easier to see in daytime and I line to get them released or dispatched as quick as possible.

kicker is I never know what time the animal gets caught. could be just after my last check oe seconds before I show up.. So check them when you can within your regs.

No problem running traps late as long as they aren't visible from the road.

When we ran big road lines, it would sometimes be between 2-3pm before we could get to the last ones even if we started checking early morning. Check your traps when you can sigpros.

I check when I can.
On the way to work in the dark
On the way home in the dark
Midday on the weekends.
As long as I check every day it's all the same.

This question comes up every year it seems.
I have always gone with run you traps when you can with in your regulations. People will say you have to be there first thing in the morning. So where does that leave the people like myself when I ran a all day line? You can't be at every at every location first thing in the morning. My day ran from first light to last light because i didnt like checking in dark. Some critter is going to be in the trap all day like it or not.
So run your traps when you can an try not to worry what others think.
Good luck

Mac

I check traps after work. I can get to my trapping grounds in about 45 minutes which leaves me about an hour and half to check them all before dark. I do all my setting on a Saturday or Sunday since that's the most time consuming.

The way I see the 24 hour check law is as long as you're checking your line at least once a day, that should be more than sufficient. The actual time of day should be irrelevant. Of course a C.O. might argue that but I'll worry about crossing that bridge if it comes to it.

That said, it does limit how many traps I can get out and tend. I also have to hike in to get to my trapping grounds, so that doesn't help. I'm not a huge numbers guy anyway. I just want to get out, set a few traps, and enjoy myself.

Thanks guys it will be within the 24 hour rule for sure. I was just hoping to be able to leave some out after my vacation

Anyone else set traps and spend the next few hours trying to resist the urge to go check em only to give in and check a couple with nothing in them then spend the following few hours hoping you didn’t run something off?

yep and I have had animals to remove and traps to reset at some of them..

I prefer morning checks. I set mostly two-tracks in farm country. An afternoon or evening check would mean the possibility of a critter in the middle of the two-track and the farmer unable to get around it.

Also, on one of my productive farms, they built a substation which electric company guys are always accessing on one of the two tracks I set.

And finally, some of my sets are visible from the road. I prefer to get there pre-dawn and remove critters before the public can see them.

If there’s no possibility of any type of situation like that on your line, then I agree with the others, check when you can.

I prefer morning but like you we cannot always do that. So some checks are done at 4pm. I don't like that but that is the way it is.

Nebraska used to require you to check traps "every 24 hours", so if you checked in the morning one day, and in the afternoon the next day, you'd be in violation of the law. Now they've changed it to "once every calendar day", which of course makes more sense.

I had the pleasure of talking to a conservation officer one time because someone saw one of my trapped raccoons on public land, and felt the need to report it for not being checked. How they saw the raccoon, I don't know, it was way off in a grassy field tucked under a cedar tree. Anyway, I was out camping at a different place, and wasn't getting these ones checked until late in the afternoon, so it wasn't a big deal, other than that some busy-body got all worked up over it.

I have always checked traps in the morning. If I had to wait till after work I wouldn’t be able to do my job wandering if and which traps connected.To me there is nothing like pulling up on a set of eyes at 5:00 am

Become a water trapper brother trapper and have all your yotes and fox slide down a drowner wire. I always catch canines when trapping creeks and other bodies of water. No issues running line after work then.

I often run mine after work. I prefer the morning so something is t bouncing around all day but usually my schedule it works better if I can run them after work.

Jim

Some of you worried people seeing them would freak out about some of the sets I've made. Hundreds of catches in the road ditch you can see from 1/4 mile down the road. Yes, I've had some stolen but I"m way ahead by setting them locations everyone else is scared to set. I recall several red fox that I could see over 1/2 mile down the road. lol

I used to run before and after, run them when you can,

If I'm setting muskrat dens, it's not uncommon to have rats caught by the time you come back around on ponds.

with my work schedule and my sons school schedule we run after work in the dark everyday except the weekends then we deer hunt in the morning check traps around 11 then back in the stand about 2pm. Saturday and Sunday only days we get to trap during daylight. i have all private ground and don't have to worry about theft and such. my only issue is when a a tractor runs over a trap when spreading crap i lose maybe 1 to 2 a year which in my mind is the cost of doing business.