# how many traps



## kwas (Feb 20, 2007)

is their any formula for how many traps to set out on a given track of property? My farm consist of 225 acres and I think I can get permission for another tract of 300 and 100 acres. I just dont know if you can set up to many and spook the coyote and fox. Oh ya is calcium chloride for trapping the same thing you buy at the store for salting your driveway? I know you cant use salt. Just wondering if there is somthing special about this stuff. I bought this wax you bake in the oven and melt it in your dry dirt for foot hold traps The calcium chloride seems alot easer to use because you just mix it in at your dirt hole set. I only have 8 traps now but next year I'am going to purches more. Thanks for any info.

[/quote] We make our own luck


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## smitty223 (Mar 31, 2006)

I have seen a "mathmatical formula" for doing so, but couldn't begin to tell you how it worked. I'd have to think there would be too many variables to be real accurate.

Remember a few things that might assist you in purchasing traps:

You'll probably end-up having to "rotate" dirty traps with clean ones, or pulling the dirty ones & re-treating them, at which time you'll be missing fur.

You'll probably have a couple damaged, whether by coyote or farm machinery.

If you are new to trapping, buy a few of various brands to decide for yourself what you like best, and works best for you. Then sell those you don't like, or keep them for back-ups.

I use HEET (ice melt) when freezing sets become a problem, calcium shloride will do the same thing. Keep in mind it will cause rusting on your traps, so once whe wax is worn from the trap, replace it with a fresh one, rinse the dirty trap, and reboil it. I've used salt before.

Let me ask you about making your own waxed dirt. Ever have something boil-over in the oven? Use oven cleaner? I've always wondered how much of that gets into any dirt made in an oven used for baking?

You can make waxed-dirt in the summertime by using the sun & a clean tarp, or even in a clean tub with a plexiglass cover.

I've not used waxed-dirt, probably never will. If I were just dealing with damp dirt which might freeze.....maybe. But here, I can have enough rain or snow melt to fill a trapbed with water. No different than taking a cereal bowl, filling it 1/2 way with waxed dirt, covering it with water, and placing it in the freezer.....

Smitty


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## Mongojoe (Nov 2, 2006)

Well, yes, you can use salt... I used it for a quarter century or more. Just make sure that you use the plain salt, NOT the iodized.. I first learned of useing salt as anti-freeze in a story written by Ray Milligan. He stated that it was cheap, easy to find, worked well, came in easy to carry boxes, and that was what he, and many trappers he knew, used... And I figured that if it was good enough for someone like Ray Milligan, it was certainly good enough for me... So after trying it and finding no difference in my catch ratio compared to useing other methods of anti-freeze, I started buying it by the case at the first of each season... Just be sure to rinse your traps as soon as possible after pulling them.

As to number of traps in a given area... I did not have a "set number". I went by the amount of sign, and where I found the sign... I guess you could say, I went by my "gut feeling" of where to place sets, and how many to place in any area.


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## flatlander (Feb 28, 2006)

Can you put out too many sets though and spook canines? Or is it a waste to put out so many traps in a given area? I kinda want to figure out how big of an area i can cover next year.


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## smitty223 (Mar 31, 2006)

Well, K9 are intelligent animals....which is detrimental to their survival. They know their area well, and notice things that are "out of place". I'd have to think that if there were suddenly 20 dirtholes on a coyotes "turf"....he'd know something was up.

Learn to pick locations wisely (travelways & intersections), and make 2 sets at each location, and learn to make different types of sets. If a **** or grinner plugs-up a set, you still have one operable. Also, many species of animals travel in pairs (or more), so you have the chance at a "double".

lol, traps shouldn't be used like land-mines :wink: Besodes what I just mentioned, yes, it is a "waste" in a sense to set traps that could be better used (more productive) elsewhere.

Smitty


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## LAtrapper (Feb 5, 2007)

go for quality not quantity. if a coyote is in the area it will most probably notice one dirt hole and two is good but not too many. just move around and experiment.


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## kwas (Feb 20, 2007)

thanks guys, the quality not quanity makes sense and Im already seeing spots when im out in the woods and fields.


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