Do traps only work if you are in the area?

[Dsoden]

I've had no luck all summer long with baited pit trap/fence lines near a pond in an area with animals, as I've seen suggested. My son thinks that animals are only simulated within a limited distance from were you are. This trap area is around 20 overland steps away from my home. Is he right? I can't seem to find any information about simulation distance. Thank you.

[Privateer]

 I'm going to say he's right.. Sort of.
You should be checking your trap line every few days, to once a week.

[Dsoden]

How many overland tiles from your home do you typically create successful trap areas?

[Privateer]

 Depends on factors like; Actually seeing game, types of terrain to use, and other 'people'.

Be away from villages by a few tiles (min. for me)
Find areas where marshes or mires meet forests. Areas where forest surrounds mountains etc.
Any areas where I actively see migrating animals.

 I usually build my trap fences about 1~2 steps into the forest edge bordering mire/marsh/mountain, make use of in place trees to help build wall/fence.

I usually wind up with 3~6 trap lines which I will check on a route. 1 ~ 60 tiles away depending on what the world looks like.
Lines that produce well end up with shelter and cellar. Usually about 2~4 days to complete routes.

[PALU]

How often you check traps depends on how you play. My characters tend to end up with a trap fence around the farm plots, which are placed some 3-5 tiles away from the homestead (which sits by rapids), and the traps are checked daily when not on a trip.

[Tom H]

I don't think your general proximity reduces the traps' viability. Specifically, being in their aggro/flee range will induce either their attack or escape. But just being in sight range has not stopped my traps from catching prey of all sizes. The biggest elk I've ever caught was well within bow range of my cabin.

I've had traps of every type adjacent to my cabins. I build a fence around the cabin to slow down intruders. The traps are almost always outside that perimeter. The deadliest are for the predatory animals who invariably show up. I don't bait for predators UNTIL I've actually had one visiting. Prior to that event, the bait will be aimed at deer and elk. I don't use the medium-sized traps until varmints show, gluttons and the like. Snares are usually in a cluster near the water, used for both birds and hares.

As for fence/traps, I choose a small lake for mine, within an hour or so of my cabin.. I can fence about 1/3 of the lake before I get bored...lol. I don't bait those traps UNLESS I find bear/wolf tracks in the vicinity. Also, when I see recent bear/wolf tracks, or the predators themselves, while traveling I set a baited bear deadfall very near those tracks. I do the same for deer/elk tracks.

I have 6 characters running and have had success with these methods for all of them, so, I can recommend them. The other ideas offered are good as well.   

[Dsoden]

Thank you for the replies. If you’ve got traps 60 tiles from home then that confirms proximity is not my problem. I’m simply in poor locations.

[ineedcords]

Hopefully Sami will post to enlighten us.

However from programming perspective I would be surprised if all tiles in the world always get computed (whether a trap has a hit) as that would be unnecessarily too cpu intensive.

What would make more sense is vicinity gets simulated/computed only. And based on that assumption, a regularly moving trapper has much higher chance of getting a hit on one of their traps.
If you create many traps (1 per tile) and keep checking in a rota you should increase your chances.

It is in my TODO list to check my theory but I use minimal traps and never got to test it so far, it is only a speculative theory so far.