The Ultimate Trapping Secret

“What is the biggest secret in trapping?”

During almost every trapping course that I teach — in groups or in private — there is always someone who asks me this question or something similar. And for years, my answer was the same: there is no secret, just basic knowledge, making sets, being in a good area with lots of animals, etc. Every time I say that, someone in the group says, “Sure — but I bet you’re not telling us your real secrets.”

Photo by Serge Lariviére.

As if there were some. I chuckle, but I also understand that for years, this is what trappers claimed, that they knew “things” that others did not, and that this helped them catch animals when others could not. This “old generation” train of thought was common, and successful trappers were happy to use this old line. As a kid growing up, I also heard a bunch of times various answers that were just as unclear: Put a trap in front of an animal, put a trap where an animal will step, put the trap between the bait and the animal, etc. I grew up trapping before the Internet and information was scarce. Eventually, I discovered the books written in English in the United States and was so determined to became a good trapper that I bought and read all of the books, learning English — and trapping — at the same time. I made a lot of errors, checked thousands of empty traps, and ran longlines for a variety of animals. First, I longlined for muskrats, then martens, then mink, then beavers, then fishers, then raccoons, then coyotes and then red foxes. I trapped in three different provinces, and one state (Tennessee), where I lived for school or work during the trapping season. I always tell people that trapping is much simpler than people tend to believe — but after 50 years of setting traps for a wide variety of furbearers in a variety of climates, I finally realized that there is a true secret in trapping, there is an ultimate secret. It is not lure, it is not bait, it is not a magic set nor a secret way of doing things. The secret is a lot more boring, less flashy, but it is the deadliest of all secrets — for all species — anywhere. Are you ready? Here it is: The ultimate secret in trapping is … set more traps.

Photo by Serge Lariviére.

Okay – before you say I am using the same vagueness as the old-timers, let me make my point. You learn of a new set — say a bottom-edge set for mink — you read another article about it, then another article. Then, you decide to try it. You find one location, make one set, check it for one week, catch nothing, and then give up. So, bottom-edge sets do not work in my area. Really? Based on one set for one week? I can show you hundreds of locations that will catch mink at some point, but not necessarily in seven check days. I can take you on any longliner’s line and show you hundreds of empty sets each day — in fact, every longliner that I know sees more empty sets than sets with catches, so if you want catches, put out more sets — set more traps — it is that simple. Put out sets and allow for some of them, I would say most of them, to be empty.

I live in good fisher country, and my best year I ran 250 sets to catch 50 fishers; five sets in top-quality habitats with top-quality bait, lure, traps etc., and it took five sets in top locations for 30 days each to catch one fisher. But 250 sets yielded 50 fishers, and I was happy as can be. When people heard of my catch, they would say, “There must be lots of fishers cause I only got 10 all season.” Then I would ask them how many traps they set and they would say 20 or 30 traps. Then I would think to myself, “Man, I wish I had fisher numbers like that on my trapline!”

Photo by Serge Lariviére.

Number of traps out is the key factor for success, and more traps always yield a bigger catch. You caught 40 beavers last year? Double the traps this year and you will double the catch. You caught 10 foxes with 25 sets? Then 250 sets will give you 100 foxes, it is that simple — set more traps.

Of course, other things come into the picture. Furbearer abundance, access, competition, diseases, etc., can all wreak havoc with your own statistics. But in the end, the only rule never changes: more traps yield more animals — so set more traps.

I remember as a kid hearing of one local guy who apparently was catching 100 mink each season. I was struggling to catch 30 on my own line and figured this guy knew things that I did not. Obviously, he must have had a secret set, a bait he made, or a secret lure that no one else used. Eventually, I was able to interview the guy and got my answer. He would not tell me his set, but I asked him how many traps he would set and check. His reply? Five traplines of 250 sets each! I was running two lines of maybe 100-150 sets at the most. So 300 sets compared to his 1,250 sets! He was running four times the sets, so no surprises, he was catching four times the mink!

I had the same awakening one year while longlining for raccoons. I was doing 200 raccoons while trapping fox, coyote, fisher, and wanted to catch more. I drove to the NTA convention and spotted Red O’Hearn — the well-known trapper from Iowa — and surely one of the most productive raccoon trappers I have ever met. Red was friendly, maybe because of my funny French Canadian accent, but when I got five minutes alone with him, I was hoping to pry some “secrets” from our conversation. I did, and it changed my life, and my trapping success. The next season, trapping the same old line for multi-species, I caught 100 more raccoons and finally broke the 300 mark, which was a goal of mine. Red’s secret was subtle, and he simply asked me a question.

Photo by Serge Lariviére.

“How many trips to the truck must you make to get your ‘coons back to the truck?” he asked.

I replied, “At one stop?”

He nodded.

I said, “Normally, one in each hand, if the ‘coon came by.” I was not sure why he asked this bizarre question. I thought maybe he misunderstood my question because of my broken English at the time.

He then simply said, “How many traps at one location?”

I replied, “Normal locations one — good locations two.”

“That is your problem Serge,” he replied. “If you can carry your catch in one trip, you are not setting enough traps.”

I raised my eyebrows, not totally sure I got his point.

He continued, “How many ‘coons do you think went by after your two traps were full?”

Photo by Serge Lariviére.

And when I did not answer, he added, “Exactly — a whole bunch — maybe one more, maybe five or six more. You were there, already stopped at that bridge, and there was ‘coon activity there. Double the traps and you’ll double the catch. Triple the traps and you may triple the catch! But you want more ‘coon? Set more traps!”

Then the conversation moved on to other things, and I kept thinking about what he said. Indeed, I always set two traps on a good raccoon trail and was excited to get nice doubles. I never had any triples — simply because I never would set three traps, regardless of how hot the location was. Red O’Hearn’s advice was again a reminder of the ultimate trapping secret for all species, all habitats, all situations: more traps catch more animals. So you want to increase your catch? Set more traps.

Years later, I witnessed another scenario that once again taught me the same lesson. I was trapping a very high-density fox area, and my biggest struggle was finding ways to catch foxes as close to the truck as possible. Small bait stations with five to six snares typically yielded three or four foxes on every check and I was ecstatic. That is, until one day when it snowed unexpectedly. The one bait station had six snares, two were closed, four were untouched, and there was not a 4-inch square without fox tracks in it. Foxes had eaten an entire beaver carcass in the 24 hours since my last visit, and not one of them was in a snare. I got mad, went to the truck, grabbed a dozen snares, and set them all — some in good spots, some just to say they were near the bait. I did nothing different, changed nothing, but the next day six foxes were dead and caught, some in the new snares, some in the ones that were untouched before, but the results were there — more traps yield more catches! Nowadays, when I hit this fox line, I step out of the truck with 50 snares in hand and every good snare location will get a snare. I also made some nice pictures of multiple catches when conditions were perfect.

Being a Canadian, I am reminded of an analogy in hockey: What matters is not how many times you shoot, it is how many goals you score. The best player may have a lower percentage of success, but if you double the shots, you will score more often.

IN CONCLUSION

My philosophy now is fairly bold: I set more traps than the number of animals that I think will come by. If there is a pair of beavers in a pond, I will set three traps. If I expect a location to yield one fisher, I will double set. If I find a good crossover, I will set as many traps as the location will allow, making sure that one catch does not render all of the other sets useless. My philosophy on empty sets has also changed over time: I do not worry if some traps do not catch a thing.

Photo by Serge Lariviére.

In fact, it was Bill Mackowski, a well-known beaver, otter and fisher trapper from Maine, who told me that to be a good fisher trapper, “You better enjoy checking empty sets!” Again, it took me a while but I finally understood the point. Set more traps and do not worry if some of them do not catch anything. A bunch of them will catch fur — if you set more, your odds of catching more fur are greater. “Simple statistics Dad,” my son Nathan, who studies in mathematics, would say, and he is right. Your ego may enjoy five catches in five sets, but your wallet will prefer 10 catches in 50 sets. If the location is there, set it. Traps are sold by the dozen for a reason.

This year, I was reminded of it again — at my own expense. On my fall beaver line, I spotted a nice crossover on an abandoned beaver dam and I set both of the 330s I had in hand there. The trail looked heavily used, and I saw another crossover on the other side of the dam. But I only had two traps, the snow was getting deep, and I was only there for two days, so the odds of a catch were low and I would do only one check. But the next visit was a harsh reminder: A beaver and an otter — yes, a nice double, but I knew I had likely missed two or three more otters, and maybe the mate of that first beaver. I honestly wished I would have had a third trap in place either way. A third trap with a catch would have made a nice triple, and an empty trap would have told me that only two animals came along, and that I had not missed any. But two full traps made me wonder what else had gone by without me catching it.

Yes, we know the lessons, but sometimes we forget. So you want to know how to catch more of anything? I will tell you a secret: Set more traps!

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