# How many traps



## MoZach (Nov 19, 2013)

I was just wandering how many traps you guys have out on your line at a time. I'm pretty sure 30 will keep me busy. But anyway, I was just curious because I hear of people having a couple hundred traps and snares out at a time and find that overwhelming.


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## hassell (Feb 9, 2010)

Depends if a person is doing it full time, here the regs. say 3 days is the max on checking traps, pretty rare I would ever leave a trap more than 2 days, if using leg holds its only fair to the animal if still alive, longer no check times will result in eaten catches which isn't very profitable. Only put out what you feel is a comfortable amount as to checking times.


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## Ruger (Jan 22, 2011)

I only have 10 out now, I add a few more every time I go out.


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## hunter3015 (Nov 27, 2013)

In North Carolina you have to check your traps every 24hrs unless (they are set in the water for beaver). Having a fulltime job limits me from having more traps out then I would like. But right now only have out 6 sets. Most folks not wanting me to trap till after deer season is out which is Jan 1st. Then might have 12 to 15 sets.


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## stevec (Jul 9, 2013)

Oklahoma only allows 20 unless you get a pro. license. I have 14 out and it is all I need with work. Weekends I plan on more raccoon traps out. Vacation is coming up and I plan on hitting it hard. wish I could set more!

Steve


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## coyotejon (Feb 4, 2010)

I think a lot of it depends on what type of traps you're using too. For instance right now I have about 30 traps out, 24 of them are in rat huts, few 330's for beaver, and a few buckets for raccoon. Say you were running 30 leg holds for coyotes, that may be a bit more time consuming than say grabbing a mink out of a 110 and resetting it. With the foot holds(unless they're DP's) weather can play a huge factor. If running dirt holes you will find and a rain, snow, or when things are freezing and thawing you are constantly having to fiddle around with traps, remake, blah blah blah. Say you were running all cubbies, you would have basically no line maintenance unless you made a catch as cubbies are fairly impervious to weather conditions. Another thing to consider is trap location. Most of these guys running 100+ traps have their sets very near a road so they may not even have to get out of the vehicle when checking vs a guy running 5 traps spread out on one farm, then 4 traps at another may require a little more walking etc.


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## squirrelsniper (Apr 14, 2013)

How far apart do you guys usually set your traps


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## hassell (Feb 9, 2010)

Depends on the animals you're targetting, my main animal's were marten, I set my line horizontal to the hillsides as that is their hunting technique, looking for their tracks, heavy squirrel and bird activity usually bring the marten in, snow slide area's are good for lynx as the hares seem to work those area's quite abit, etc., sometimes 100yds apart then sometimes farther, depends on what's happening out there.


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## Duke330Conibear (Jan 21, 2014)

squirrelsniper said:


> How far apart do you guys usually set your traps


When I'm in the water, I usually set it hard. I have a good amount of iron. I go through when I'm scouting and mark them and remember where the best spots are and those get priority. After that, I have a motto that I trap by&#8230;It's not going to catch any fur sitting in the back of the truck. (Indiana has no limits on # of traps, they just have to be checked every 24 hours.) To answer your question, I have set a #4 for beaver on a cross over and a 330 under some brush that looked like they were maybe crossing under (maybe 3 feet apart). Within a day or two, a raccoon had stepped on the #4 and spun around and found the 330 that I had hiding.


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## NattyB (Jan 5, 2012)

Pa has a 36 hour trap check, which might as well be 24 hour. Anyway, I've always trapped part-time on 2 to 3 properties at a time. The max I normally set out is 18, fewest is 6 and I like to walk a little. I try to gang set for raccoon and fox as much as possible. No sense in dragging out the inevitable. If 2 or 3 fox come through a night, I want to catch them that night.

My schedule (and my good wife) allows about 2 hours per run. I trap nearby my home and nearby my work. Home and Work are 1/2 hour apart. I run one line or the other, not both or I'd be in the Jeep all morning. My home properties are 7 miles apart. My work properties are also about 7 miles apart.

I find my biggest set-back is the time to keep a land-line operating during freeze, thaw, rain, snow like PA had this December. ...Pick up a Red...Cool...do a remake at 0830 hours, it rains by 1500 hours... Oh well. On the other hand, I really like the steel or cable working for me when I don't have time to call.


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## azpredatorhunter (Jul 24, 2012)

I can't remember how many I had out in Illinois (30-50)at a time, but here 8 cage traps took 1/2 a day to check last year... The place I was trapping had a stretch of road that was rough...it took 1hr. to go 5 miles in 4-wheel drive.


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