Tips for Trapping
Have you ever wondered if it is possible to hunt on several places at the same time?
Probably not because from a logical point of view it's impossible, and in fact it is with a gun or an arrow but ... what about traps?
Traps allow you to cover a very large territory for days without being physically present at every single hunting spot. It's like cloning yourself to chase your game on several points simultaneously, all day and night long!
Probably it's something more impersonal and with less adrenaline levels than chasing a game, aim and shoot, but certainly trapping is a great way for long range hunting, especially when you are looking for elusive animals with large living territory.
But trapping is not just to set up a device and wait; instead it's about knowledge and
strategy not only to cover as much terrain as possible, but also to succeed, otherwise it will be only an energy waste with poor results.
To avoid such undesirable situation keep in mind the following tips, especially if you are a rookie hunter.
1. Know your game
Before trying to trap an animal you need to know where it lives, its eating habits as well typical signs of their presence out on the field. The most you know about the animal you will hunt, the better.
If you know were an animal likes to life, what it eats and which its behaviour is, you will be able to identify the best places to set up traps.
2. Use proper size traps
Not every trap is for any animal, thus if you use a small size trap to catch a big, powerful predator like a wolf you'll probably fail. Same way, a big size trap to catch a squeezy, agile game will be useless since some animals are smart and fast enough to take the bait and leave away from the trap because of their small size compared with it.
3. Select bait properly
Bait selection is vital. Depending of what you are hunting the bait changes. Sometimes fresh meat will be better while in certain situations (like trapping scavengers) a two or three days old bait will be better.
Same way, the use of feathered wings moving upon the wind will attract predators attention better than just a piece of meat.
Bait selection depends of what you wish to hunt, thus knowing your game habits is vital as it was mentioned before.
4. Set up traps on the right place
Open land traps tend to look suspicious and probably will drive away animals, no matter how good the bait is, so try to mimic traps with bushes and other available materials on the area.
At the same time put traps where an animal is supposed to be, on this regards, best place to place beavers traps is on shallow waters while trees are better for wolverines.
5. Leave traps long enough
Animals are not waiting for you to set a trap and get caught, thus you need to leave traps long enough to attract your game attention first, and trap them later.
Setting up the traps and look what you have caught the day after might not be the best choice, instead leave traps for a couple of days to increase your odds.
On this regard,don't let traps longer than necessary because in such case your caught might be a bigger predator easy meal, so the timing between setting up traps and visiting them back is crucial.
6. Set up traps where you know animals may be
Never set up traps on an area without recent signs of animals activity, unless you know is their territory because of previous experience (i.e. last season profitable area).
Setting up traps where there's nothing to hunt is a waste of time, so save your energy and plan carefully where to place traps.
7. Always be ready to shoot
Regardless the fact you are trap hunting, there's always a chance to cross your way with a big game or a powerful predator, so never go out without a gun and be ready to shoot if necessary, not only because of hunting, but also as a life saving measure.
As it may be seen, trap huntting is an art and a science, being the success odd consequence of knowledge, experiences and hard work. Probably a little luck will be necessary too, but is the less critical factor.
