well we all hear to set on sign, whether it be scat, tracks, etc.
how many folks start setting because the habitat is right? even though the visual sign isn't there, could it be a honey hole. this could be for any given animal well lets narrow it up and say grey fox, NO LETS NOT!!.
i hope this could be an informational thread for those that seek to trap a certain species so that they can add another tool in their toolbox.

For me and bobcats...habitat is KEY. Not so much habitat as it is topography and habitat combined. I often have no "proof" such as tracks, scat etc there are any bobcat in the area. But when I get into areas where everything looks right (based on past catches) I'll put in a set and often it pays off.

If an area feels "catty" be it because of the way the saddle of the mountain funnels them, the way a river directs their travel, or because this area looks to me like where they'll cross when traveling...I'll put in a set even if there is no sign. Why...because where I trap...you rarely see sign. It's obliterated by rain, or it is very hard to see as the ground is all fir needles.

Might just be I'm getting lucky...LOL. As you can have a bobcat walk right past your perfect set with no interest and othertimes...a so so set will take them. Bobcats...gotta love them.

But if they're not there...you won't catch them.

Im gonna agree with tlc lots of the places i trap just look like there should be a varmit there often teh soil down here getts pretty hard and there want be any or many tracks there to see

that is the way i hunt, i'm not well weathered as far as trapping goes, deer and elk are a different story. alot of times i will be out hunting, look around the area and see absolutly no reason why a animal would not use a certain spot or route. it might not be at that time but if the weather changes, the breeding season starts, food sources change etc.
i get that old special feeling that the game will be there on their watch according to their needs.

Like the others, I set more on location,although sign excites me,sign tells me theyve been there. Locations like natural funnesl, good hunting,like thickets or edges where terrain changes, like from cutover to swamp tell me they will come here. Location mostly for me.

so mike when you say location and you don't see the natural funnels, fence rows etc. but the habitat meaning appropriate, food water, shelter/cover exists do you set blind so to speak?
do you just find a backing and set a dirthole?
i'm not trying to be sarcastic but am curious as to how you might approach something like this.

Trap runner in most cases if the location is good enough for 1 set it is good enough for multiple or gang sets,since cats and foxes often travel in pair and coyotes sometimes in packs, I will use a combination of flat sets,dirt holes,and with cats I like trashpiles sets with lots of flash. I makes these sets along old log roads or cattle and game trails,Travelways. Also blind sets in trails and im starting to use more snares for trails through thickets. Know the prevailindg wind direction to best utilize,lure,urine or bait, and for the cats picking spots for visual attractors,that can be seen from different travel routes. As for backing, I like rotten stumps,logs,clayroots, weed clumps,most anything that will force the animal to approach from the front or side to investigate. Hope this makes sense.

As you spend more time trapping you will start to develop the same skills for figuring fur bearer movement that you have for deer and elk. Keeping in mind that cannines hunt mostly by scent and Cats I beleive hunt mostly by sight though I think thier sense of smell is better than they get credit for, Bobcats like house cats like to stalk and pounce, They seem to prefer hugging the edge of verical cover,be it brush,thickets,ledges or logs,they seem to hug these structures,much like a mink only in a slightly larger sense,you will catch a few out in the wide open spaces,but most wil be in thick spots or along vertical structure. You will see what I mean after a few seasons.

thanks mike,
here is another question for you guys. saturday i was out scouting for deer and saw a coyote on the hillside a long ways off, while he was hunting he never really used the deer trails, old fire trail that was there, he was kind of all over doing what he was engineered too do. i have seen this on numerous occasions where the yote doesn't cross the saddles, is off the road or deer trail more than he is on it, doesn't follow the fence line etc. now with this being said if i as trapper stick to the traditional set locations ie. fence crossings, on scat etc. am i doing myself any favors by not setting the hillside at a random place that seems to be inviting for a yote.i have started running snares to set the brush and crawl throughs but am striking out.
maybe i am looking at the funnels, saddles, buttes etc. from a big game standpoint and maybe need to try and look at the more maybe not so obvious topograpghy layouts.

Sounds to me that that coyote and winded somthing, I have noticed watchin them and fox, If they wind somthin,then lose it they seem to circle and weave like a birdog with thier nose up,makes sense,they are just a dog far as Im concerned. If you know the direction of prevailing winds that time of year it helps,our is west by nothwest in winter,therfore when trappin along a fence row,fire lane,what have you I set on that side. I beleive from lookin at tracks over the years that cannines hunt down wind of cover that might hold prey. Setting down wind the critter is more likely to find your sets.

Depends on the area and critter.

Some critters leave lots of sign, like coon. if your not seeing ANY coon sign, not the best place to set traps.

And then theres cats, wich dont leave alot of sign to begin with, so yea, go by feel to.

IMO on coyotes, i sign trpa heavily, they leave enough sign to see if they are there, but there is those places that look to good to pass even with the lack of sign.

i think you are right on the money mike. i figure i just happened to spot them at this time when they were looking for something particular that caught their attention by smell or sound.
do they tend to use the same fence crossing time after time? i'm sure they have their "favorite" routes through or around the fence that i just haven't seen yet or do you guys feel that if they can squirt through the fence they will do just that?
understand that the landscape i trap in is not crop fields but steep mountains, saddles just about anywhere a canyon starts leading down to the bottom. most of it is cattle ground with woven wire fencing and usually fire roads around each property. i often think that they tend to use the peaks and such to get a scent coming from the wind and maybe a visual of the area and might even prefer to hunt above their prey vs. trying to hunt uphill. this might be way off base, just thinking outloud

I don't care where you're at the location's features can be condusive to habitation of your quarry, but if the sign in the form of tracks, scat, or prey species doesn't present itself then you're going to be hard pressed to make a catch. Experience has taught me that for a location to produce it has to have sign of my quarry there as well.

understood, all the physical sign is there. i'm just getting schooled and trying to learn some more.

if the physical sign is there then takes note of trails, scat locations, tracks and the like so as to make sets.

Traprunner Im not really a coyote trapper,ours aint worth fur trappin, I try not to catch em but still pick up a few each year.Im with the other guys on the coon and beaver,When you see sign tracks ,droppings what have you make note of where the tracks run or where the droppings are,take a little time and think of why the tracks are on that side of the road and why did the critte do his business where he did. You will see that most critters,fox,coyote,and especially otter use the same type places to defecate, Otter will usually be in a place higher thean the surroundings, beaver houses,dams,on bluff ditch banks.

Down here bobcats seem to like the edges of logroads for toilets with sand and short grass or weeds,or maybe thats just the ones I could find.s

Once you have trapped them for several years you learn where the good spots should be and where not to look at, I still set a lot of cats sets where i think it will be good, most of them pan out, very few don't. Coyotes are a little easier as they will usually leave you a lot more sign then a cat will, I haven't trapped enough water animals to know where the good spots would be, so I go to where I see the sign and trap there.

Water animals for me are more a matter of them taking the path of least resistace while swimmin or walkin, Most of my water animal sets are blind sets,except for the ocasional castor mound, otter toilet or baitin a coon. we dont have mink and muskrat here anymore.

I've read for years "no sign, no set" and always beleived it.After trapping red fox for a few years....I started setting the best crossings...sign or not. Hay fields and dry weather sometimes don't allow much sign.Some crossings that had no sign at all had no catches for a week or 10 days.....then when the storms came thru the canines were moving and these locations "heated up" real well with fox every day or two.

I'd pay more attention to sign on the water line...especially for 'coon.

Trap runner, If you have the food, water and shelter you will have funnels, fencerows or more subtle things (like faint trails) Blind set refer to setting a trap where you think the animal will put its foot,(pinch points, trails, no bait or lure) not to just setting with no rhyme or reason. I trap fox and dont have any know-how for cats, but for fox, if i know there are fox in the area, i put my set where i THINK they will travel. If the sign is there, so much the better. My favorite type of sets would be at each end of a tractor lane going through a short piece of woods or brush from one field to another. If you can find a bunch of these and set only these you will do OK if you do everything else right. Just keep in mind theft and also put your sets where they are not likely to get run over.

good stuff guys, i don't trap any water animals eihter but i'm sure alot of this stuff is true for land and water.

as far as sign goes sometimes i feel that as mike taylor stated with a weather change alot of the normal movement or say "normal routes" change up a little bit. my thought is this, during this time of year here in where i live is a very pleasant climate,for a animal food and water are abundant, plenty of berries, fruit trees, mice, squirrels and young turkeys. now this all starts to change as fall approaches and then winter sets in. once this happens alot of the easy food disappears and the animals have to cover more ground in order to maintain.


now with this being said wouldn't they utilize crossings and such on a more daily route. i'm just trying to learn more and more to become a well weathered trapper, i know exp. is also key but i like to have a idea of what my quarry might be doing.

what about the breeding season? do you folks feel that anything changes when this starts for any said animal?