What are your thoughts on numbers and types of traps you buy and hold on to? Do you focus on certain traps for specific purposes because you only target certain animals? Or do you buy miscellaneous traps and set based on what traps you have available? Do you build a line or set goals and buy traps to meet the demand? If you run a mixed line or target different animals at different times, do you try to maintain a certain number of traps devoted to each species?

I have a couple hundred miscellaneous traps that ultimately limited how much I can set and what animals I can target. This usually leads me to running mixed lines. I usually buy used traps and pick up some here and there. I would love to develop a better strategy on what traps I have. Curious to hear how others manage their trap inventory.

There is a lot of good traps out there. I run a mixed line plus have a full time job. This holds me to how many traps I set. If I set all the equipment I have I would never have time for a full time job. ( wow that would be great). Owning a lot of traps is just a sickness for me, I don't think I will ever use them all. The fur market also helps me decide what gets trapped and what gets left alone.

I buy traps based on what I am planning to do. Then I just keep everything, lol. So for example, when I was trapping coyotes for fur I stocked up on #3 Monties and Montanas, and then later when I wasn't as broke, Jake traps. When I ran a coon line in Iowa, I bought 4 dozen Duke 1.5 coils and 4 dozen #11s of various brands and a few dozen DPs. When I moved to MS and started trapping coyotes for the live market, I bought several dozen #2 Bridgers. I still have all those traps minus a couple dozen Duke 1.5s I've donated to kids over the years.

Lots of different types of traplines,you will get a lot of different answers.
But first off you need to consider how much ground you have to trap,what species and their abundance(scouting) and how and when you will trap them and the time you have to devote to trapping.
Once you figure that out it shouldnt be too hard to decide on the traps,snares etc you will need.

I have gone to dedicated traps especially with low fur prices as I'm targeting certain animals but when fur was high I ran number 2's and number 1's for anything here then mb 750 for beaver because our body grip laws are very restrictive.

It's a bit different today, with the current fur markets. Back when there was a, somewhat, dependable market, I bought new traps. When rats were bringing $6-12, I bought 20 doz Bridger #1.5 of coilsprings to run on rat floats. I also built a bunch of colony traps. When coons were hot, I bought 10 dozen duke DP's and 6 dozen #220's. When I was big into coyotes and cats, I bought 10 dozen Sleepy Creek #3's and 5 dozen Bridger #2's. Not unlike cars, I would sell my traps after 3-5 seasons and buy new. Most times, I could replace my old stock with new for a small price difference by buying in larger quantities at trapping conventions. Working with the same size/type/brand of traps makes your line much more efficient. Starting out as a new trapper, I bought a bunch of different sizes, styles and brands of traps. It was a great learning experience, but I soon found the traps that performed best for me and my trap lines and stuck with them to save time and produce the best catch/hold results. Oh, I forgot about beaver. My go-to there are 4 doz. MB-750s and 4 dozen Duke #330's. I would never go back to the mixed bag of traps I started with, it's just way more efficient to bed the same trap all the time than trying to deal with different traps at each set.

focus on certain traps for specific purposes because you only target certain animals

Fur is not worth anything down here so I keep what I need to target what I need to.

If I was trying to make money (fur or ADC) I would have a variety to cover my expected targets but still follow that mindset

I’ve bought and sold thousands of traps over the years most folks work their way up to better traps over time. Depending on how you go about trapping depends on how you manage inventory the thing about successful trapping is the planning ahead.

This is a lot of it. I think a lot of guys get better at trapping, and as they recognize the small advantages certain traps have for the species they focus on, they migrate to a favorite trap. For what I did the most of until a few years ago I rotated to the 650 cast. I know a guy who chases the critters I did and he likes double long springs.

In Bocos case and other far northern guys they have a lot of species to manage on the line. My area only two species of interest to me and one species a very small limit. I only needed one type.

Trappers are very good at not getting rid of traps that haven’t seen dirt for a couple millennia, I’m guilty of that as well.

Osky

When I started out trapping, it was to protect the flock from canines. First set of traps were Victor #3 soft catch because that was were BMPs were going. Over the years, I don't have the flock, but I still am primarily a land trapper, so there are a fair amount of MB650 IL/OL traps and a few what I refer to as 'throwaway traps' for those areas where trap thief is likely. When cable restraints became legal used them in great numbers.

Over the years I have picked up a small assortment of various size traps to target specific animals raiding the neighbor's properties: fox, coon, weasel, etc.

Now that beaver prices are up, I am purchasing a few beaver traps: conibears and footholds. And as long as I'm in the water, using/adapting my smaller traps for other water animals.

You got that right Osky,as we get older,refine our methods and obtain newer better traps,a lot of our old ones sit in crates and bins and rarely if ever get used.

i got a couple garbage cans full of old traps I no longer use that I have to figure out a way to get them to Old Walleyed.
I lost count of how many times he has asked me for my old traps,lol.

When I first got back into trapping twenty-plus years ago I still had some Northwoods 1.75's left and not much else. I've always considered them a good trap for any of the critters I might find on my line here in southeast PA and about perfect for red fox which have always been my primary target.

I concentrated on buying those. I replaced the springs on every new one I bought, modified the chain by adding a center swivel and stake swivel at the end and put the frame link back on if it was missing. I soon had more than I could ever use but I'll still buy them if I come across a sweet deal.

I like my trap inventory to be standardized as much as possible. When I started running a coyote line in north central PA I bought a bunch of used Northwoods #2's and #'3's. I soon realized that the Bridger's of that time were identical to the Northwoods so I bought a bunch of those new. I use the # 3's for beaver as well.

Other than snares and body grips, every trap I own is a square jaw Northwoods or a Bridger clone of a Northwoods.

The Northwoods 1.75 will catch and hold everything from mink and muskrat to eastern coyote. If I could only have one trap, that would be it.

I still have room for more in my shed and I Have big garage. Several hundred just waiting for the right time..........jk

Check the fur market. Then ignore it and buy EVERYTHING you can afford every year all year.

I have all the traps for the animals I want to trap.