Trapping S.E. Kansas

This fall will be my first trip out there. My uncle has a ranch in Pittsburg. 20,000 acres.I have free range of the entire place. I will be targeting coyote and cats mostly. Any tips will be welcome. I'm used to the rock glass of southern Missouri.

Take someone from on here that already catches 200 plus coyotes a year to help you!

Topograph map and aerial map would be a good place to start. Look for saddles , low spots, high ridges etc. Look at where types of terrain meet, as well as where to types of habitat meet. IF its cattle country look around gates and ponds. More info on the place would be help full. Whats road system like? Cattle country? Crop Land?

Google earth is your freind. 20,000 acres. Gotta love your uncle.

Its all row crops with irrigation ditches. Some cattle pasture. Tons of yotes and cats. Its never been trap I believe.

Sounds like paradise, good luck. Those irigation ditches are normally hot locations for travel and prey. Espesially at dry crossings. Gangs set those heavy. The travel coridors leading to the cow pastures will be hot also. If your uncle has a dead pit for dead livstock, your golden..

Wildlife Management 101 ----- Food, Cover, Water,,,,,,,Coyotes are more easily trapped (FOR ME AT LEAST) at spots where THEY are looking for something in particular first,,,, rather than ME producing something for them to look for.. Where they are hunting for food entering a pasture, crop field or frozen irrigation/creek ditch. Where they seek cover moving from 1 area to another (blind set) or where/when they are thirsty. Coyotes on the plains, will not pass up a drink of water in December when things are froze so a pond or irrigation ditch should have tracks showing this. Looking at aerials and topo maps can help but Food, Cover, and Water have helped me as much through the years as anything. An example would be coyotes entering a pasture through the farm lane gate. Once he is there its like his eyes, ears and nose have kicked up a notch as HE is looking for a rabbit, mouse, bird etc., etc.. to satisfy that FOOD element. I didn't ask him to turn those on 200 yards back along the crop edge. Provide a set close to his entry and I have had a better chance of cuffing one than along his fence line or cropland route. He already has his senses tuned when he smells my goods. So that makes him more vulnerable from my experience. You have heard the term "that's just a coyote being a coyote" in their indifference to a set, my experience has been that he was not "looking" for 1 of those previous 3 elements and my goods weren't good enough.... my take.

Me and steeltraps will come help you out. What 2 weeks are good for you? lol!

Great sounding property. Good luck.

I'm about 25 miles from Pittsburg. Now from my experience only, hard edges are a great place to start. Brushy hedgerows, long fence rows, waterways, ect. Any abrupt change in terrain. Theyre hunting these areas at a trot on the outside of cover where theres easy walking. Same goes for down two track lanes running through the pasture. Another killer is where a big creek runs shallow or partially dry and pinches the animals down to cross it. Its like a bridge to us. Always think about easy walking. Even better if its in combination with cover. Especially with plenty of nasty underbrush and cedars for rodents and birds to hide in. Dead piles and pond dams mentioned above are good places to look for sign, aswell.

There's a lot of public land around Pittsburg and on South and West. My advice for it is to not even waste your time. Been there, done that. Lot of traps seem to grow legs and walk away after making a catch circle. The coyotes don't seem to act quite the same as on private land, either. I assume because of the high pressure put on them from everyone, but who knows?

That should get you started in the right direction. Any questions you have, I would be happy to answer on here or in private message. Hope this helped. Just remember, nothing beats turds and tracks on the ground or hair in the fence. Good luck to you and happy trappin'.