Sharing The Work & The Fur On A Prairie Coyote Road Trip

If you’re thinking about heading out West to chase high-dollar coyote, let me assure you that setting traps on unknown land and hoping for the best is not the way to do it.

- Ed Schneider

I have road-tripped many times, and while some have been epic adventures, other times I’d have made more money staying home trapping the back forty. If you go with friends it may be more fun, but if you split the fur as most partners do, the trip is going to come up short if you don’t pile up the pelts.

Trips that cost more than they make can still teach valuable lessons.

Sometimes you just get blind-sided by Mother Nature. Years ago, my friend Rich Thurman and I drove out to Wyoming in early October hoping to get in a line before the weather turned. The day we started setting traps was a seasonably pleasant 45 degrees with not a cloud in the sky.

Three days later, torrential rain was turning to sleet and then snow.

Mostly we sat around the motel with very little to do. We made attempts, but the dirt roads had not frozen, and the only thing under the snow was mud. Calling AAA wasn’t going to be an option if we got stuck out there.