Living in the north country as I do I have found it to be a test of patience with constant snow and trying to trap. My trapping interest at the moment is around my barn yard area for wild k-9s after my poultry.

I keep digging traps up and resetting,keeping my dogs out of harms way, waiting....

My neighbor called and left a message yesterday asking if I got the fox yet, something killed ALL of her ducks. She asked if a fox would do this! <<duh>> No wonder the animal has not been down to my place, it's been feasting at hers.

That means it will be back to my place soon, since she has been cleaned out. I have a drake I have been contemplating slaughtering so he now sits outside as bait. A so called, sitting duck. Hopefully it won't end up to be a lame duck. There is so much snow here the fox can get over the fencing with little effort.

Now this morning there is 8 inches of new snow and another 8 due tomorrow.

Do any of you experienced trappers have any snow trapping tips to pass on?

Change over to snares!!! I know you can't but they are the answer to the snow peobelm

snow? What is that?

Too bad you can't snare. Cheap and effective.

Good luck.

If you have access to coal shale then bed and cover your trap in that. Then use a light sifting of dirt as a covering. About 1 gallon per trap should do. If you can’t get coal shale then buy a bag of sphagnum peat moss and do the same. You can also spray or mix some propylene glycol into dry dirt or either of the above to improve it a little. You can also use horse manure to bed and cover the trap. I wouldn’t recommend using table salt or calcium chloride as an antifreeze as it eats your traps and you will get an occasional K9 refusal from it. You could also just nail the trap to a small piece of plywood and cover it with snow depending on how much snow you are dealing with.

Are you dealing with coyote, fox, or feral dogs?

Snares would sure work, but they are not "snow proof" either. You still need to adjust the loop height as the snow piles up or melts.

Hope this helps.

Unfortunatly snares are illegal in this state as I am very proficient with them. I like them better because on the odd chance you get someone's trespassing dog they are easy to release. But as mentioned, they too aren't much good in deep snow and using them I rely on regular trail use by wild k-9s.

Almost another two feet of powder fell in the last two days. K-9s at this time of the year stick to plowed roads and access my barnyard the same way. So what I have been doing is after plowing I dig kind of a chute into a snow bank for a few feet forming a funnel of sorts.

On one I placed two traps offset of each other. At the end of the chute I dig out snow from underneath making a small cave and add some sort of scent, usually meat juice or raw chicken parts.

I have two of these set ups and hope the chutes work and draw the fox in.

The old boy hasn't been down since I got my coilsprings and recently found out why. He's been cleaning my neighbors ducks out so has had plenty to eat. Knowing that her ducks are all killed off, once the fox finishes feeding on his cache I know he will be back.

My worry is keeping my traps going with the continual snow and keeping my own dogs, cats and chickens out of them.

BTW- My neighbor used to like the fox, she is into anthropomorphing of animals and said the fox carries magic, etc. I have told her for weeks I will celebrate when the magic is dead and I am wearing it as a scarf! I just have to catch it first.

Most states aloow any kind of trappig on your own property especially if it is a NUISANCE Animal. Trapping period is illegal in MA unless its own your own property. A call to FW might shed some light, maybe special permit.

As I have stated before, snow trapping for predators in deep snow is easy if you understand that predators are like people, they will take the easiest route through deep snow that they can, and one of the easiest routes is where they have already made a track.

I have caught many this way.

1. locate fresh tracks.
2. approach the tracks from the side.
3. start a hole in the snow off to the side of a track so that you are digging underneath a track.
4. when you get underneath the track (do not disturb the track or it won't work) place a set trap. make sure the trap has a drag wired to it. I just use a long stout stick but you can buy drags.
5. carefully cover up the hole you dug with snow from back aways.
6. very very carefully brush out the hole and your tracks for a few feet so it looks like you were never there. I used to fill in my tracks with snow and use a coyote tail on a stick to carefully brush the top of the snow so that all evidence was completely hidden.
7. Make sure and mark the set somehow so you know where your trap is.
8. have patience. sometimes it takes up to 2 weeks for an animal to come back on his or her same tracks.
9. don't worry if it snows. sometimes these animals will walk in thier old tracks that look like small dimples in the snow.
10. When the animal comes along walking in their same tracks they will break through where you dug out underneath and they will hit your trap pan and get caught.
11. I like to use a little bit bigger trap than I normally would for dirt trapping, like a number 3 for fox and a number 4 for coyote.

Good luck.

Thanks for the tips!

I remember the old wolf trappers talking about making a set like that