Long or short lines

[jph]

 What do yal think is better? A long line or a short line that has better sets in it?

[paul]

Hard to say. I do know traps that are still in back of the truck, in the boat or still hanging in the shed have zero chance of catching anything.

[Tony Howard]

Had and old trapper from NC teach me that a property will hold X number of animals and if you can catch them on one side of the property without having to travel to the other side then spend that time covering another property. If I know I will be on a property for 7-9 days I will only set the best sets and move on down the road. Keep in mind though a long line in Louisiana can be 10 miles compared to a long line up north where you can cover 100 miles in a day. If the set is there set it and worry about how long it is after your done. Like Paul said, they sure want catch sitting in the shop.

[turkey6996]

It is true that traps in back of the truck or anywhere else but in the field won't catch fur. But poorly set traps and bad sets won't either I tried the numbers thing one time and I learned if I run about 50 good sets I catch better then 100 poor sets. Idk what most consider long or short. But that is my oppion. Now with that said on my coon line I have two fish farms to trap and coon are so thick there I will be setting a lot of traps in about a two week period around 150 that is a lot for me I am going more towards the dp for this just becouse of the speed in wich I can put them out. Now I don't have 150 dp yet so I will be using some conventional leg holds too wich tend to take longer to set but that's ok to becouse I sure like to catch the few mink and otters they have there and the land owner likes me to catch them to. But that is my thoughts on it if you cN put out quality set the more the better if not I think set less but better sets

[paul]

I think that maybe a "poor set" is not the same for everyone. Most of the sets that I've made and thought were poor sets turned out to be just that, poor sets. But sometimes a poor set catches fur or even turns out to be a good set. We can't always tell for sure (in new territory) if furbearers are traveling a small creek or a little strip of brush. So I say set it up and find out for sure if it's a poor set (if you have enough traps). After a season or two if these poor sets don't produce, then don't continue to set them, try out some other area. I agree that 50 good sets are better than 100 poor sets only if these are proven sets for a couple of seasons. If these are all new sets with the good set and bad set decided by my judgment, then I disagree. I don't always have good judgment in picking out the good sets or poor sets because I've been proven wrong quit a few times by the furbearers I pursue.

[6riversfarms]

I try to cover as much territory as I can. Put traps in the best locations that are the easiest to access over as many miles as I possibly can is my philosophy. Why set 10 locations in one square mile, when 2 or 3 locations in the key spots in that square mile will do? And then i have those extra traps and time to go set up on an entirely different group of animals.