How to Trap a Fox in a Leg Trap

Catch wild foxes using a fox leg trap.

Trapping a wild fox can be difficult because these creatures are very smart and cunning. The key to catching a wild fox off-guard is to prevent your human scent from rubbing onto the trap or surrounding area. Explore the area for signs of foxes and conceal your trap near a well-known fox path. By concealing a leg trap in the dirt and luring the fox with the odor of fox urine, you can catch a fox in a leg trap.

Things You'll Need

• Dead stick (3-inch diameter)
• Steel trap
• Large branch
• Extension chain
• S hook
• Fox urine
• Rubber gloves

Instructions

1. Scout out the best area to place your trap by discovering the paths foxes use to travel. Check wood lines and fence lines for tracks and fox feces and select an area well-traveled by foxes to set your trap.

2. Drive a dead stick into the ground within two feet of the fox path. The stick should be about 3 inches in diameter and should stick about a foot out of the ground. The stick will serve as a scent post for your fox trap.

3. Dig a shallow ditch about 12 inches away from the scent post as a trap bed. The trap bed should be deep enough to conceal the trap when it is laid flat but the surrounding ground should be less than an inch above the trap.

4. Set the steel trap carefully and lay it flat in the trap bed so the jaws are parallel to the scent post.

5. Strip a branch about 3 to 4 inches in diameter of any protruding twigs and lay it on the ground next to the scent post on the opposite side of the trap. The branch should keep the fox from approaching the scent post from the wrong side.

6. Attach an extension chain to the ring on the end of the trap chain with an S hook. Wrap the end of the extension chain around the middle of the branch on the ground next to the scent post.

7. Squirt fox urine onto the scent post. The scent of the urine will attract the fox and when it comes to investigate, it should step into the open trap and become caught. As the fox tries to run or free itself, the branch attached to the extension chain will impede its movements and leave a trail for you to follow in order to find the trapped fox.

8. Check the trap at least once a day. Remove the fox once it has been trapped and reset the trap if desired.

Tips & Warnings

• Apply a few drops of fox urine to a pair of rubber gloves to disguise the human scent and wear the gloves when setting the trap. Fox urine can be purchased online or obtained from a hunting supply store.

• Do not set your fox trap in any area where it could catch pets or livestock.

References

• Daily Puppy; How to Set a Leg Trap for a Red Fox; Dave P. Fisher
• Wilderness Survival; Traps and Snares