Trap Checking Requirements
General Trapping Regulations
Trapping Hours: Except in state parks, it is legal to set, place, check and operate traps from 12 a.m. (midnight) to 11:59 p.m. (24 hours a day) when the appropriate season is open. See Land Type-Specific Regulations for state park trapping hour restrictions.
- A person who is not the operator of a trap and does not have a valid trapping license or authorization may check a trap. If the person physically checking the trap will also be setting, resetting or handling the traps, removing the animals from the traps, or possessing furbearing animals caught by trapping, that person shall possess a valid trapping license or authorization for the species being targeted unless that person is otherwise exempt.
- All captured animals must be removed from the set once the trap is checked unless it is an under-ice set.
| Trap Type | Non-Submersion Set | Water Set | Submersion Set | Under-Ice Set |
| Checking Requirement | Once each day* | Once each day | At least every 4 days** | None |
*Weasel boxes that use a body-grip trap have no opening larger than 1 3/8 inch in diameter and are anchored to an immovable object shall be tended within a four-day period following the last tending of the set.
**Trappers must monitor water levels to ensure the trap qualifies as a submersion set.
Remote Trap Checking
Trap checking requirements may be met by the use of technology. This includes drones when flown in a legal manner.
In order for remote trap checking to be utilized, the system must meet the following criteria:
It has a control unit or remote camera that reports the trap status to a centralized application at least once every 24 hours.
It must be able to provide notifications of trap closures or activity at the trap site and system health issues within one hour of detection via email or text-based messaging systems.
It must have on-demand capabilities for determining signal strength and battery condition via a remote system check-in.
When the control unit reports a trap closure or the camera sends a photo of an animal in a trap, the operator of the trap shall physically visit the trap within 24 hours of the time the trap was reported closed or the photo was received.
If the control unit or camera of the remote trap checking system fails to report its current status within a 24-hour check-in period or reports a system health issue, the operator of the trap shall physically check the trap within 24 hours of the last communication with the device. The trap operator must follow in-person trap checking requirements until the technology is working again.
The operator of the trap shall keep records of notifications from the remote trap checking system for as long as the camera or the control unit is in use. If requested by the department, the operator of the trap shall provide the records of notifications from the remote trap checking system.