For me, the spring turkey campaign begins around Jan. 15. I don’t expect to hear a turkey gobble with love in his heart for another six weeks around here, but there’s no denying that the days are getting longer, and when the sun’s out, it’s shining a bit brighter. It’s a good time to plan and prep for the spring season, and few chores are more impactful — or more fun — than trapping predators.

I started trapping almost 10 years ago with the expressed purpose of reducing nest predator numbers on the properties where I turkey hunt. Like many turkey hunters, I’d noticed a dramatic decline in the numbers of birds I was seeing in winter and hearing in spring. My trapping efforts have focused mostly on the two properties I hunt most often; one is 72 acres, and the other is about 200. Both are in western Kentucky.

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In some areas, raccoons can become shy of dog-proof traps. That’s where 220 body-grips in bucket sets can be extremely effective. Learn how to use them in this video. Images by Godwin Photography.

During my first winter of trapping, I caught plenty of raccoons and opossums, mostly with dog-proof traps, and we had great turkey hatches on both farms the next summer. Was it coincidence? Maybe. But we’ve also had good hatches just about every year since. Even if it is coincidence, I’ll take it.

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To be clear, that trapping effort is combined with other turkey-friendly habitat improvement projects that include prescribed fires, plenty of food plots, and strict rules against mowing in May and June. Taken as a whole, the program seems to produce better turkey hatches. I trap every winter in late January through February, and I’ve expanded my efforts onto neighboring properties (with permission, of course) as well. I also target larger predators such as coyotes and bobcats just as aggressively as I do raccoons. I believe removing some of those animals in particular just before the turkey breeding and nesting season is especially beneficial to turkey nesting success. Simply put, coyotes and bobcats can eat eggs, but they also can catch and kill adult turkeys.

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Trapping isn’t easy, particularly when you’re targeting coyotes, and I don’t claim to be an expert. But I catch my share of critters each winter. Although predator control is my primary goal, I always end each trapping season with a freezer full of nice furs, some of which I have tanned and keep, and some of which I sell (not for much money, but for enough to cover some fuel costs). And I always have fun.

This past winter, a couple of Realtree videographers joined me for a few days on my trap line, and our goal was to create as much entertaining, instructive trapping content as we could. In the video above, which is loosely broken into two sections, you’ll learn all about nest predator trapping for raccoons and opossums, with subjects including:

- Dog-proof raccoon traps

- 220 body grip traps

- Trapping baits

- Gang-setting traps

- Raccoon skinning

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The nest-predator portion of the video teaches you the basics of catching raccoons and possums with a variety of trap styles and baits.

In the second portion of the video above, you’ll learn about coyote trapping, with topics including:

- Trap setup and basic equipment

- Trap location and dirt-hole setup

- Blending traps for a subtle presentation

- Resetting in productive areas

- Guns for the trapline

- Coyote skinning

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The large-predator section of the video teaches you how to refine the classic dirt-hole set to catch coyotes.

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The trapline was productive that week, and you’ll see some nice critters caught along the way. Watch it and enjoy it, and then consider putting out a trapline of your own this winter. After you learn a few basics, I bet you’ll see an improvement in your turkey numbers. You’ll also look forward to trapping season almost as much as hearing that first gobble of the new spring.