THE SPRING AND SOD SET.
When the season arrives you are ready to set your trap, and you do so in the following manner: In selecting springs you must find one that has an outlet so you can walk in the water for a distance of three rods, six or eight is better. Set your trap and take it up to the spring or place selected, walking in the water and using the greatest care not to touch bushes or anything to leave the scent of yourself. Place the trap in the place prepared in the early season, being sure it is covered over entirely, chain and all, by water. Then cover with dead leaves or whatever is on the bottom of the spring. Place upon the trap pan a small sod as light a one as possible, allowing it to be out of the water at least one inch so that the fox in reaching for the bait will step on the sod, which should be six or eight inches from the shore. Fox, like the human being, do not like to wet their feet.
Now you have the trap set and then comes the baiting. Take a small piece of meat and place it on the larger sod, using great care not to leave human scent, take a few drops of this decoy and place on the bait. Also take a rotten stick and break off a piece 6 or 8 inches long, being careful of handling, and place two or three drops on the end and stick it into the sod so it will stick up two inches or such a matter above it. Your trap is now ready for Reynard, and if you use great care in setting and in visiting your traps I am certain of your success.
There are many methods of catching foxes and I am acquainted with them, not all, perhaps, as each man has a little different way, but I am satisfied the above for a water set it correct.
Here in the East where I am trapping near the mountains, if we could not catch fox on the snow path we would not get any prime fur, says J. H. Shufelt, of Canada.
I will give one of my snow sets that I use here for fox. It may not fit your case as every locality calls for its own method, and foxes are slyer in some places than others. I use a No. 3 Blake & Lamb trap with a three foot chain and grapple. How to fix the trap? I take a large kettle and fill with water and put my traps in and get the water boiling hot. For every dozen of traps I put in one-half pint of lime not air slacked, and boil for ten minutes. Now take out your traps, which will be odorless and white as snow, and use gloves in handling and setting them.