Set Locations Were To Make Your Sets

If you do not make your sets where furbearers are located you will not catch much no matter how well made your sets are made. This does not mean that you must find tracks and other sign to make good sets, even though it sure helps to see tracks and other sign where you are going to make your sets.  For instance, virtually every river, stream, swamp and creek is going to be inhabited by either muskrat, coon, beaver, otter, or mink . . . depending on which critters inhabit your area.  What does help, is to visit these areas before season . . . find sign and get an idea of which species inhabit the area and how many there may be. This will help you plan for how many sets to make in an area.  I like to make groups of sets so that I can trap an area in a shorter period of time and move on after catching the cream of the crop. Pre-scouting is very important. You can become aware of feeder streams and flooding located 1/2 mile in that you might not otherwise find while setting traps.

I  like to make land sets along my water lines as the banks usually have coon and mink for sure; plus fox, bobcat and coyotes in my area. When ever I make land sets I like to take the same care I use to make a fox or coyote set, even if I plan on trapping coon. The couple extra minutes in care usually result in a few extra fox and coyotes.

When looking for set locations for fox and coyote look for areas where fields and wood lines  meet, fence lines, old orchards, along two tracks, small openings in woods, or the edges of bodies of water.  I have a lot of sand in my area and it is easy to see tracks. If you do not have areas where you can spot tracks, try making some sets before season without traps and check for tracks in the dug up dirt.  Fox and coyote will also leave droppings along their travels. Typically fox and coyote droppings have hair mixed in them, whereas coon droppings usually are full of berry seeds in late summer and early fall.

When scouting for coon on dry land, look for trails to and from corn fields, barns and areas that coon frequent.  If you're in farm country, getting permission from land owners to remove coon from their barns should be an easy task.  Just use box traps and the farmer will be at ease when they know you will not harm their barn cats.  You should have no problem recouping your investment in a couple of box traps.  Plus you will probably get permission to trap on other areas of the farm.  If coon are along waterways they will usually leave their tracks along the banks in the mud.

Muskrats will leave small slides where they enter and reenter the water.  Feed beds are small piles of roots and cut grasses that the muskrat are feeding on. Feed beds can range from a handful to a bushel in size. They are an excellent place to make sets.  Simply place the trap next to the feed bed under a couple inches of water, stake to deep water and add a little lure.  Muskrats either live bank dens or small huts in marshes that resemble a miniature beaver lodge.  Both are excellent set locations.

Beaver generally are real easy to find.  They build dams, huge lodges and cut trees down. The important thing to do is to check if there is active sign. If it's easy for you to find an area, it will be easy for others and they may have been already trapped. 

In conclusion, if you have time to pre-scout for set locations do so, but if not, still get out their during season if you have time.  Places that you had success in the past would be a good starting point.