? On resetting foothold traps.

[sleepr71]

After you have caught a critter in your foothold..what do you do with that trap+ catch circle? My concern is scent left behind from fur/blood/etc on the trap itself. Do you….
A)Nothing..reset,bed it & put it back to work.?
B) scrub it off with dirt & reset it..right there again.?
C) Pull it…replace with a “clean” trap & make another set close to the original?
D) Rinse it off with clean water & reset?
E) Boil/Dye/Wax again..?

Just curious what your routine is at your catch site & the trap itself after a catch.?

 

[canine933]

Scrub it off and reset. I take a rake with me and sometimes clean the catch circle up a little.

 

[Railroader]

Fluff the duff, and set it back. You are after predators. Predators like blood...

 

[2dye4]

After you have caught a critter in your foothold..what do you do with that trap+ catch circle? My concern is scent left behind from fur/blood/etc on the trap itself. Do you….
A)Nothing..reset,bed it & put it back to work.?
B) scrub it off with dirt & reset it..right there again.?
C) Pull it…replace with a “clean” trap & make another set close to the original?
D) Rinse it off with clean water & reset?
E) Boil/Dye/Wax again..?

Just curious what your routine is at your catch site & the trap itself after a catch.?

A

 

[gawildlife]

Yup, rake it back into some semblance of a set and pop the trap back into place. The circle is now "lured" better than anything i got in my bag.
However, some individuals are not as bold as others or may have past experiences to recognize a catch circle so I'm on the lookout for tracks on the edge on subsequent visits. If seen then I use the circle itself as my "dirthole" with a set on the edge or a trap 2-3 feet back.
But only if evidence tells me I've got an educated one on my hands. Otherwise I like them dumb and bold.

 

[sleepr71]

Wow..seems like I am way overthinking this one..?. In hindsight..there is SO much scent & sign at a catch circle..that they will probably have a hard time pin-pointing the trap(?) Sounds like….as long as I don’t get any Bait/Lure on the trap..it should be fine to just scrub it with dirt from right there,clean it off with my brush,and put it right back to work..

 

[Ol' Gobblero]

I must be the odd bird then. I will reset the original trap, in the the original bed, after raking it all back flat. I also wipe excess blood off the original trap. Then make a fresh set just outside the catch circle. More often than not, I will have another catch in the new trap. I continue this process until I am done trapping the property, and after each catch. It is common to have 5-6 traps set beside each other. Just keep adding traps. I have pulled as many as 10 yotes off of a good location with this method.

 

[sleepr71]

Thanks for the advice everyone! Im headed out to set some new ones & reset those. I thought today was going to be a washout…so I held off. Just a little sprinkle here.

 

[sportsman94]

The three coyotes I’ve caught this season all came from two sets right next to each other. I had one set, caught a coyote, reset in the same trap bed and set another one about 10 feet away downwind. Caught a second coyote in the remake from the first, then the third in the fresh set. I like covering both options of fresh set and remake if I have the traps o do it

 

[sleepr71]

I can see that working. Kinda like what Ol Gobblero was saying. There is so much scent & disturbance at a catch circle that it is it’s own attraction. I reset mine today. Let’s see what happens..?

 

[gawildlife]

I think I'm seeing a pattern here. Are y'all just putting in one trap per location?

I never put in just one. If a location is good enough for one it's good enough for two. If it's really good it's good for four.

Example, a road crossing might get one at all four corners.

I usually go for something visible coming from either direction on line of travel. They might be feet or yards apart but all visible from the others. If a pair or group moves by I want a shot at all of them.

Nothing like rolling up on a double or triple.

 

[sleepr71]

So far I’ve only set singles.It’s my first season trapping,so I only have 13 traps…so I’m stretched thin trying to cover known pinch points,intersections. I try to put them where they will be MOST visible & carry the scent from the most common wind for me. I DO agree though,that having at least 2,per location,would up ones odds a lot?