FAQs On Trapping

Stay calm.  Your dog likely will be howling and could bite you when you try to free it.  Cover its head with a coat or blanket to keep him calm from biting. To learn how to release your dog from a trap, watch these videos:

• How to Release Your Pet From a Trap – Wyoming Untrapped
• How to Release Your Pet From a Trap – Virtual Workshop

No. Trappers have no legal responsibility for injuries or death to your dog.

Trappers target furbearers such as badger, beaver, bobcat, marten,  mink, muskrat and weasel.  Wolves, coyotes and fox are classified as predators, and fall under the jurisdiction of the Wyoming Department of Agriculture, but they also are trapped for their fur.  No license is required to trap predators.

Source: Wyoming Game and Fish Department trapping regulations and seasons, condensed (link)

Yes. In 2013, the Wyoming Department of Game and Fish (WGFD) issued 2,600 trapping licenses. The number of permits issued by the state doubled between 2000 and 2010. The number of permits issued in recent years has increased sharply as pelt prices have increased.

Source: Wyoming Game and Fish Department trapping regulations and seasons, condensed (link)

Almost anywhere on public lands, except national parks the National Elk Refuge in Jackson and a few other areas defined in WGFD regulations. Trappers can place traps anywhere, including on hiking trails. They cannot place them within 30 feet of an officially designated road. Private landowners can trap on their own property or give permission to someone. They must follow WGFD regulations. Private property owners or their agents are allowed to kill or remove animals, such as beaver, bobcat, weasel, badger, squirrel or muskrat, without a license if they are causing damage to their property. Property owners must report bobcat kills to WGFD, save the pelt and obtain an interstate game tag for it.

Source: Wyoming Game and Fish Department trapping regulations and seasons, condensed (link)

There are no restrictions on the number of traps. For the 2012-13 season, 15,440 traps were set statewide. This figure does not include predator traps, which WGFD no longer counts.

There are three types of traps:

1. A snare is a loop of cable, suspended at head height in a corridor known to be used by the targeted animal. The animal typically gets caught around the neck, and the cable tightens as it resists. It then strangles to death.
2. A leg-hold trap has steel jaws that clamp an animal’s leg when the animal steps into it.
3. A Conibear, or quick-kill trap, is large and powerful. It’s steel bars grip the animal by the body and is designed to crush the animal.

Source: Wyoming Game and Fish Department trapping regulations and seasons, condensed (link)

Wyoming does not limit the size of traps. In recent years, anecdotal evidence suggests that the size of leg-hold traps began to increase as trappers began to target wolves.

Source: Wyoming Game and Fish Department trapping regulations and seasons, condensed (link)

Yes. Studies reveal that about half of animals caught in leg-hold traps sustain cut skin or worse. Some suffer fractured or broken bones. Many animals will chew their leg off to escape the trap. They also are subjected to dehydration, cold temperatures and predators. Body-gripping traps designed for quick kills often do not kill quickly, and animals die slowly from crushed skulls or other internal organs. Some states and many countries have banned these cruel devices.

Source: “Traps, Trapping and Furbearer Management: A Review, The Wildlife Society Technical Review 1990 (link)

Yes. The trapping season for furbearing animals generally is Oct. 1 through April 30. Predators, such as fox, coyote and skunk, can be trapped any time, anywhere, except in national parks and the National Elk Refuge. Wolves also can be trapped year round in most of the state, except the national parks, National Elk Refuge and the “flex” hunting zone south of Jackson from Oct. 15 to Feb. 30.

Update:  A ruling on Sept. 23, 2014 by a federal district court judge in Washington, D.C. placed gray wolves in Wyoming under federal protection. Hunting, trapping, and other lethal take of gray wolves has been suspended until announced by the State of Wyoming.

Sources: Wyoming Game and Fish Department trapping regulations and seasons, condensed (link); Wyoming Statutes defining wolf hunting zones and seasons (link)

In Wyoming, leg-hold traps must be checked at least every 72 hours.  Some states require a 24-hour check time.  The check time for body gripping, quick-kill traps and snares can be up to 13 days, depending on what day of the week they are set.

Source: Wyoming Game and Fish Department trapping regulations and seasons, condensed (link)

Yes, but they don’t always know where traps are and lack manpower to adequately monitor.

Source: Wyoming Game and Fish Department trapping regulations and seasons, condensed (link)

Trappers are not required to disclose to the public or WGFD the location of their traps.

Source: Wyoming Game and Fish Department trapping regulations and seasons, condensed (link)

In 2012, more than 10,000 targeted animals were trapped. Since reporting is voluntary, the number is a rough estimate.

If the animal is still alive when found in the trap, it is killed by delivering a blow to the head (by using a club, shovel, or metal pipe) or suffocation by standing on the animal’s chest or choking the animal. Fur trappers do not typically shoot trapped animals because bullet holes can damage pelts and reduce the value of furs.

Yes. Traps are indiscriminate. Just as many “non-target” as target animals, including dogs, are trapped every year.

Source: “Traps, Trapping and Furbearer Management: A Review, The Wildlife Society Technical Review 1990 (link)

In the Jackson Hole area, at least six dogs were trapped between December 2012 and February 2014. Two were injured. One required more than $2,000 in vet bills. Hundreds of dogs nationwide are trapped every year, some seriously injured or killed. There is no official national database where dog trapping incidents are documented, although some organizations invite incident reports and provide results in their own, publically available database. Not all incidents are reported.

Leave it. It is illegal to tamper with the trapper’s property. If it lacks the required ID number, report it to authorities. If it is within 30 feet of a road, report it.

Source: Wyoming Game and Fish Department trapping regulations and seasons, condensed (link)

In some situations, trapping may be necessary to protect property or domestic animals. Trapping to control wildlife populations is not necessary, since populations stabilize when a habitat reaches its carrying capacity.

WGFD posts its regulations online, which you can view by clicking here.

Born Free USA has excellent information on trapping, which can be found here.