Would getting more be too much for a beginner.

I currently have 20 traps only 6 are for land trapping, and another 7 will be for water trapping but could be used on land. The rest are all water. For water I’m going after rats, mink, and the occasional coon. For land reds, grays, coyote, and coon. I am planning on getting 3 more predator traps. But for fun, I have 12 traps I have been eyeing just to try, and I want to try my hand at snaring. Should I get the extra traps? Would the extra traps be too much for a beginner? More than half would be set for rats and mink, so those lines would not be long, as with some of the ditches I trap, I can set a dozen traps in a short area. Just wondering before my outdoorsman mind takes over when I go to f-and-t or mtp or Fleming

You can never have too many traps.

Depends on how much time you have? You can learn more with more traps!

Get them if you want them. You don’t have to set more traps than you can handle, but you’ll have them when you need them. Im going into my second season and I probably own more traps than I could/should run all at once.

One thing is for certain, you can’t set them if you don’t have them.

This is where one of those like buttons would be clicked numerous times. Sorta like guns, never can ever have enough.

When starting out trapping,learn to recognize good fur pockets,learn to make solid productive sets,give your traps time to work and you dont need a whole lot of traps to catch a whole lot of fur.
Setting out lots of traps in poor locations spread out all over the place is a waste of time-you will be checking more empty traps and more time travelling/driving instead of actually trapping and racking up fur.

Dont listen to him- buy traps and then learn how to use them!

When I started trapping, I used to focus all my buying on buying more traps. I soon realized that I only had so much time,and the way I trap isn't conducive to setting a ton of traps. I pretty.much only trap public land. I have 3 day weekends, so the way I trap is to set on Saturday, then check on Sunday, Monday, and check and pull traps on Tuesday. So 3 checks total for any given area. It doesn't do me any good to own a hundred traps, I can only set so many in a given area. Setting too many is just silly. For a sample, i only own two beaver footholds and 1 330, because I can only set and catch for so many beaver. I only want to take 1-2 beaver from any given lake. I own a dozen 155s, a dozen 160s (that I need to sell), a dozen dogproofs, and a dozen and a half 1 1/2s, the three beaver traps, and a couple coyote size traps. I find it's all I need. Now I focus my buying every year on fur handling equipment, set.making equipment (drowner locks, chains, swivels, staking systems, etc), reading material, and better (not homemade) baits and lures.

I guess it comes down to how you run your trapline. Only get as many traps as you can reasonably run, and never forget to include set making equipment, fur handling equipment,, reading material, and lure/bait in your budget. And focus your learning on making high percentage sets, sets that will catch lots of critters. Setting 10 traps that catch something is better than setting 100 traps that don't catch anything.

I have never, not one time, set every trap I own in a single season, but somehow every season I convince myself that I need a few more lol the real amazing part is somehow I’ve been able to convince my wife I need more, too!

I have traps that I’ve owned since I was 14 that have never seen dirt. I just can’t bring myself to sell them though. I know I’m not gonna use them, but something in the back of my mind says “ well, maybe..” lol

I currently have somewhere around 200 traps. I’ll be ordering another dozen cause I want to see if the duke 650 is as good as I hope.

I used to just assume I could always get what I wanted any time but the moment the new owner of Sleepy Creek gets the DLS line under production I am making a large purchase. I am not taking chances again. The CDRs I want are getting hard to find too and I am not happy about that

^^^^^
This!
Concentrate on finding good locations and make good sets at those locations and you will become a good trapper much quicker that trying to rely on setting a large number of traps.
It doesn't really matter what your endeavor is, but trying to make up for lack of quality by increasing production or effort rarely if ever produces good results.

Boco's advice is spot on but here are some other things you may want to keep in mind. As a new trapper you will learn a lot in a short time. Set making will go faster and you will find more places to trap. You need enough traps to take advantage of those changes. Mid season is not the ideal time to be buying traps, but you also need to have some experience to know what you should be buying. Another consideration is that you probably won't be able to keep all your traps in service all the time. Some will get packed with mud, need cleaning and perhaps rewaxing and you want to have enough "extra" to be able to set all the locations you want.

I would sure get more muskrat traps.7 water trap in a good rat location isn’t near enough .

Knowing the following answers will help us a bunch!
If you are a student or adult with job, how much time will you have to put up fur in evenings, after work/homework?
Do you have a freezer to keep critters/fur until after season, to put up?
Can you/will you skin on site, then freeze, to put up later?
What does your local mentor suggest? He should be able to gage your needs best!

I set a lot of traps when I was starting out.

If you have a handful, it is tougher to find out what sets worked and what ones don't. I would say don't go crazy, but also don't be shy with traps. Its harder to find out what doesn't work with a small sample size. If you make 10 or 50 of the same set and they don't work, you know something needs to be changed. if you make two and catch nothing you cant assume it was the set. Could have been weather. The critters just might not have been cooperating.... someone could have been walking by.

A larger sample size makes it easier to make assumptions.

You can trap quite a bit with fewer traps if you have plenty of time for remakes. I have become a “string” trapper of sorts because of limited remake time. Depending on location, I will “lay a line” out from 4 to 8 sets on a number of properties when I have full days to make sets. No remakes during check days, dispatch and go only. This requires a lot more traps.

To give you an idea, I had 6 sets across this section of field.

Make sure you have good equipment and duplicates of any tools that you will need on the line before buying more traps. Great equipment will help more on the limited time aspect than more traps. Glove, boots, Waders, rain gear and the right gear for bad weather will keep you trapping. A great head lamp is a must in my opinion

Could go either way. It’s nice to have a lot of traps. But, my honest opinion, get proficient with something before throwing another in if that makes any sense at all. The advice given above about not needing a lot of traps if in the right spot is accurate. My first season I caught 27 red fox on one farm with 2 traps. Set 4 traps at my parents place for one week and caught 6 grey’s, 2 reds, couple coons and a coyote. It’s not bragging. It’s just a matter of making the best use of what you’ve got. Find the right spot and you won’t need many at all.

I agree with this. But, as a beginner, it will take you some time to find out learn to recognize good fur pockets. To learn, you are going to need to set out some traps and see which ones catch fur and which ones don't and then figure out what characteristics you can see to recognize good locations. Maybe it's easy for an experienced trapper to recognize fur pockets, but for a beginner you're going to have to just go set traps and see what works and what doesn't. For a beginner, putting out sets in unproductive locations is NOT a waste of time. It is an invaluable and necessary learning experience. For this reason, I think a beginner may need more traps than a experienced trapper.

Don't forget that your land traps will often be out of commission after you make a catch. Ideally, if you catch a raccoon in a land trap, and want to move that trap to a new location, you will want to clean and apply some protective coating to that trap before resetting. It's easier on you if you have more traps than you have sets. That way, when you need a fresh one, you can just get one that's ready to go from your inventory of prepared traps. With land traps it seems you will always have a few that are clogged up with mud and grass and are out of action until you clean them up and get them ready to go again. So, if you have 6 land traps, you may only be able to keep 3-4 sets working most of the time. There's nothing wrong with that, but you will learn faster and catch more if you have the time to check and service more sets every day.

Water traps are pretty much re-usable immediately.

Spend your money on 1-2 good books or videos, they will cut your learning time down and make the traps you have more effective.

10 good sets will out produce 30 poor sets.

Whenever you do purchase equipment of any kind go for quality over quantity. Good equipment that is well maintained should last for many years if not a life time.

Find what works for you in your area but always be open to ideas from others so you can continue to learn.

No trapping question is to dumb to ask other people for help on. Just remember one question can get 50 different answers, it is all based on what works for you in your area.

The ones I was looking at for fun, would give me 9 more

And thanks for the advice guys!!

Your wife will let you know when you need more traps, until she does, hide the new ones.

What is your 3-5 year plan? Or longer?
Typically it is far less costly per trap to buy traps by the dozen or in larger volumes than you are talking about. Sure it costs money to buy a dozen and use 4-6 for a few years but if your plan is to gain more permission etc. having some traps hanging is not real expensive. When you run short lines your income is small and in these times even smaller but your operating and or trap line costs are low. You were able to buy the gear you have now with non fur income so put some planning into your purchases. I also agree that buying some basic books or DVDS is a good investment. I did not have any trappers in my family so my knowledge came from experience, books, DVDs and demos at conventions.
You will also decide sooner or later if you want to put up fur or sell green or "in the grease" fur. You add income by putting up fur generally but you need to invest in more equipment and also time.
Bryce

If your going to have enough time to set, check and process fur i'd get some more. and get a few different traps for different sets so you can see what works best. like if you have all footholds for rats get a few conibears. for land trapping id try a few snares or cable restraints (whichever is legal in your state) and give them a try. one might work better than another and also different traps will have their purpose for their own sets that work better in certain locations.