Advice

Hey everyone as I continue on down this road getting ready for my first real trapping season, I’ve come up with another question for you. What is your top piece (or piece’s) of advice? What tips and words of wisdom can you give a first year, mostly public land trapper? I look forward to reading your responses, and thank you for all the great answers you’ve given me so far. This place is incredible, and I have learned a TON from you all! God bless!

Stay positive and learn from every mistake. Patience. Rome wasn't built in a day.

Concentrate on picking the best locations & if in dog hunting areas put trap very close to (dirt hole). This will miss most hunting dogs

Spend as much time as you can between now and then roaming around the area you'll be trapping. While it's true that the habits and travels of animals can and will change between now and season, not all will change. A beaver dam will still be there, more than likely, come season. A hot otter crossover will likely still be a hot otter crossover in January. Muskrat dens will be the same if the water doesn't fluctuate too much. A mink will probably take the same path down the creek bed in November as he did in September.

Spend as much time as you can getting to know the habits of the animals you'll be trapping. You can do that to an extent by reading and watching videos but neither takes the place of getting out there and letting the animals themselves show you how to catch them.

Relax & take your time with sets, There will be no competition to deal with. The only thing on state land, You have to watch for hunters, Keep your sets off the beaten path.

My biggest hangup has always been not setting a trap or spending too long on a set because I can’t find the “perfect” spot. I’ve got better over the years but it still gets me sometimes. So my advice to you is to just start punching in sets. If a spot looks decent, don’t overthink it, just set a dang trap or three. Traps in so-so locations catch a lot more fur than traps sitting in the back of the truck, and you’ll learn in time which spots to set and which to pass up and make the decision quickly.

Second, take some time to study your sets when you check em. If you’re trapping coyotes don’t inspect em closely but maybe once a week or ten days, but when you do, spend a few minutes studying them. You’ll learn a lot from critters you miss if you pay attention to the sign they leave.

Just start putting traps out . Learning what not to do will make you a wise trapper

All of the above is good advice. Where are you at in Ohio?

Learn as much about the biology of the furbearers you want to target.
By studying the biology you will get a general idea of densities,their preferred food and habitat their habits,life cycles home ranges,where to look for their tracks and scat and what their tracks look like etc.
Then in early fall go out and use your biological knowledge of the animals to locate habitat and then sign of animals.Once you find sign then you can look for potential set locations for the up coming trapping season.
If you can take a trapping course it will shorten your learning curve substantially if it is any kind of comprehensive trapping course at all.
A good trapping course should supply you with a manual you can refer to when out trapping,as well as putting up fur.

Have fun and keep it fun! I still get "butterflies in my stomach" every time I approach a set.

Moosetrot

What are you targeting?

Weasels, mink, muskrat, coon, fox, and coyote.

Keep a log/journal. Number and types of sets, which ones produced, which ones didn't, type of lure or bait, etc. Something you can look back on and use for the future

x2.

Hunting dogs and wandering farm dogs can be a concern on public...consider that.

For coon, K9's and cats bed SOLID. Practice in the off season on different types of ground dirt, mud, sand, gravel, etc. Play with your traps, a lot. Use the tools you'll be using, making mock sets, driving anchors, digging dirt holes, placing dp's, using under alls, pan covers, wax dirt, sifters, pliers and everything else will prepare your muscle memory and help you organize your tools in your bag or bucket.

Practice makes perfect, now sets don't have to be perfect but they must be solid and the more confident you are the more successful you'll be.

For canines set in intersections of paths or roads. Bed your traps solid, no wobble at all. Gang set, if the location is good enough for a trap set two. A lot of predators travel in groups.

Have to agree with BOCO (at least partially) --- study the animals behavior --it will tell you what works. If you get the opportunity to watch your target animal -- do so. I am not talking about for 5- minutes until you decide you need a closer look == watch it until it decides it is time to leave the area and pay attention to the small details. 1/2 hour to an hour doing this is time well spent. Have lots of patience -- It took me several years but I finally don't always carry a gun on the trapline and shoot the first fur-bearer that I see. I now just watch them and say "see you in a couple days".

Get the current copy (2022-2023) state trapping laws/regulations. Study them and know them before you set. If there are any questions you have, find the answers before you go to set your trap. You may want to know your local fish and game officer personally. The officer can clear up any of your questions. He may be the one in your county that will be inforcing the law in the area you are trapping in. Always set legal. I never wanted to look over my sholder setting ilegal sets etc. This way you have the piece of mind that you are compliant with your trapping regulations.
Best of luck.

Excellent advice camlock We should all know the laws for the area we are trapping in .By being legal w e do not leave ourselves (all trappers) with a bad reputation with others also using the same areas

Set on sign!

I would recommend staying in the water as much as you can if you're going to trap public ground here. Just eliminates a lot of headaches. Especially the first part of the season as our season opens right during prime rutting time for deer so bowhunters are everywhere. Really wouldnt try running coyote traps on public till after deer gun season as most of the hunters are done by then outside a few diehards and rabbit hunters.

Two things; first - spend of of your time now trying to secure private ground to trap, you'll save a lot of frustration later if you don't have to deal with other people in your trapping area. Second, focus on quality sets, not quantity, initially. Make sure you pick the best location and bed (and anchor) the trap as good as you can. After you get smooth at making sets you can worry about getting faster and getting more traps in the ground.

check your traps on public land before light or at first light and don't use any body grip where there will be hunters with dogs

mark your traps with something other than just your tag , long shot you ever see a stolen trap back again but with no way to ID it you got nothing.

set on sign if there is enough sign to set 2 then set 4

get between the dens and the food source closer to the dens the better think about it this way , your trying to sell doughnuts are you going to sell more standing outside an apartment building with people rushing off to work or outside a dinner with great food.