I have read a lot on here about gang setting and am in full agreement (first year trapping)about putting 2 or 3 sets in on good sign.

However, my question is about distance between gang sets. I have a few areas that have about 1 mile of creek running through them. All are bordered by crop fields (corn and beans) and most of them have some woods other than the trees on the creek. If there is quite a bit of sign every hundred yards or two hundred yards.....how many gang sets should a person put in a mile of creek?

You answered your own question. If there is good sign every hundred or two hundred yards, make you gang sets there. If you run out of sign and still have traps remaining, you may not have made enough sets on sign...Tom

Eric Cottrell and I ran a line two years ago and set up appox 25 trails leading to a creek from a wooded area about 1/4 mile long. In 9 nights we took 43 coons off this 1/4 mile strech of creek. Had we double set the trails, I feel we could have taken more and or taken them quicker. Every area has to be looked at location by location. If the sign is there, set them up heavy and hard and take as many as you can as quick as you can while they are there.

A real coon trapper would have done that in 1 night....... ROTFLMAO

I guess my question, being new, was wondering if there was 15 coons out there....if they walked the whole mile every day or two and were making all the tracks. I read one post on here where a guy only puts a set every 1/2 mile or so....that sure didn't seem like my plan so I was trying to get other opinions.

My basic plan is to lay LOTS of steel and if the weather holds for the week, move them to another farm the next week.

Thanks,

I do my coon sets like my canines, never less than 2 sets ANYWHERE. Too many + and not many - things to double, triple setting, IMO.

Thanks mhoward.....that is what I am looking at doing.

We were limited on traps. We were using 220 to makes these trail sets. Quick easy and dispatched when we arrived, I just wish we would have had more.

Again, you have the right idea, take as many as you can before moving on. If the number of takes fall to much move on, Tom

I know, I wish I could meet a real coon trapper One of these days maybe I can talk one into coming down and going trapping with me. There are piles of them $8 dollar coons down here.

$8.00?????? I am being told that ALL the buyers are starting out at $40.00 in the round! Surely they aren't lying????

Mike, that is one of the - I was talking about, not enough traps. A beginning trapper, or one with too few of a certain kind of trap, wpuld probably be better to "spread thin". It's hard to have every kind of trap needed in sufficient #'s for every situation. You got the job done, it just took a couple of more days...
I've been playing at this for 30+ years and still run short of certain traps/equipment every years. Had to reboil twice last year to keep canine traps clean and ready.

$8 for fur

$8 for carcass market

Looks like $16 coon.

Nah Nick, $48 coon!!

Mhoward, Nutria, thats the next surprise big payoff.... Go get-em

family units are still together early in the season. 5 or 6 sets would not hurt. later in the season (a month) back off to 2-3 unless it has not been hunted or trapped and still plenty of sign. even then some of the family units start to break up so less sets are needed when gang setting IMO.

As long as your sign is coming and going 90 degrees to the creek you are most likely working with different groups of coon. Set up every well used trail first then if you have traps left over set the trails showing lighter use. If you still have traps set your other farm and start asking permission on two others. You will need to move fairly often to maintain a good daily catch.
If I have a long cornfield bordering woods or a thicket I usually walk the woods edge and set every trail I can find. If a corner or draw looks good but has no trail I will put in a couple big dirt holes.

good info guys, can't wait for my first triple at a location. im so pumped to get goin i can't hardly stand it...

I never set less than three traps at any one spot for coon. Infact, I may set 3 or 4 foot holds, a couple snares leading to the location, and a couple of 160 trail sets if applicable. I once set 6 sets at a location and caught 23 coons in four days. If there is one there will be more.......

ACK - you are correct. This is one of my recent family photos. There are 3 if you look close. The 3 sticks in the top have one lure and the right hand coon (you can see the stick - look like its coming out its head) with a homemade lure.