Traps for the live market

[Mudcat]

Hello,

Glad to find this board! I have never trapped for the live maket but may give it a try this year. I am always interested in modifications that produce minimal foot damage, as I trap in a populated rural area and have to contend with domestic cats and dogs. And during deer season I have deer dogs roaming all over my trap line. I currently plan on using 3 softcatch setup the same as Bob Wendt suggested on another board. Would like to hear if some of you have found some mods that seem to lessen foot damage when in these types of areas. I am surprised to see the bmi 2 cushion catch did not fair well in the bmps as others I have talked with have had good results with it. Thanks for any help or suggestions.

Best regards,

Mudcat

P.S.

Anyone have any suggestions for the Greys, as they seem to be the most fragile to foot damage.

[rk660]

If I remember right, in bmp testing a modified (lamination, offset and shock spring) no 2 or 3 bridger scored higher than a softcatch in reducing foot damage.

[Edge]

I havent spent nearly the time I should with the BMP's but my take thus far is that a well laminated trap is very fur friendly.I have zero experience with either the live market or softcatch traps;and quite honestly,dont want any.
However,my private agenda is not my concern,trapping is my concern;so you wont see me slamming either one.

Edge

[thebeav2]

I have trapped the live market for 7 years.
The area I trap has a trap size restriction for land traps. Nothing larger then a #2.
So what I have been using are 1.75 sized traps. These traps are laminated the chains are atached to the end frame of the trap. The chains are about 10" in length with 3 swivels. I have had no problems with damage to red fox or coyotes. And I also have lots of deer and fox hounds to deal with.
The greys are another matter. There Is nothing In my estimation that fights a trap like a grey fox.
I have found several things that help cut down on damage to grey fox.

#1: Lamination of both the Inside and outside of the trap jaws will help.

#2: Short chains with at least 3 swivels.And I mean short, 6" and no more.

#3: Use a smaller trap. The bigger the trap the more weight will be out on the end of that very fragile foot and leg. This weight I feel Is the cause of most damage In your grey fox. So If you have areas that are predomintly grey fox locations try and use smaller traps.

#4: Don't use offset jawed traps I feel there Is to much foot movement with these type traps.

But nothing Is perfect.
Good luck

The Beav

[17kiss]

Interesting thoughts........ ;D

[Edge]

Interesting indeed.

My thought on gray fox is this;they use that Michael "AIR" Jordan jump spin move;to their own detriment...unless you "swivel"the jaws;some grays will continue to suffer damage.
Tweaking traps will help,but until they stop doing the steelhead twirl,you're still gonna scratch a few.

Edge

[17kiss]

I just spent 2 hours with one of the best fox live trappers on this coast. He showed me about 500 or so traps. They were all the same.Victor 1.5 softcatch. 100s of fox a year all over the country.Makes you think Doc might know a thing or two.

[Mudcat]

Were they modified? Softcatch seems to work for many of the trappers I have spoken with. Thanks for this info!

Best regards,

Mudcat

[Edge]

Having re-read my post,I notice what I typed is not what I meant(happens all the time).

1)I have nothing against soft catch traps; I just like the ones I have.

2)I *have* no experience in trapping for the live market;this will not necessarily remain so;if the opportunity comes around,I will at least try it;nothing can accurately be loved nor hated until it is first known.

Edge

[thebeav2]

17kiss
I know of whom you speak.But From all his posts I thought he used #3 soft catches.


In my opinion and experince you will do very well on fox with 1 1/2 soft catches but will miss and lose the majority of coyotes.
But then that's just me.

Beav

[ford1172]

I am a trapper for the live market. In my experience a 1 1/2 in either duke or victor soft catch will not hurt a grey fox. Grey fox is my main catch. I have though had greys that put up so much of a fight that they broke or dislocate their shoulders or something to that extent on their own. That is the only damage that i see that comes from my soft catch 1 1/2's. The downfall that i have now is that coyotes are moving into the area. They are very few and far between but they are here. I can't decide if i should move up in size or just not worry about catching them because there is not much of a market for them here in VA. We also have bobcats here. It is a not very often that i pick up one of them but it happens occasionally. If i were to guess i would say that i lost about 5 coyotes and around 12 bobcats this year because the trap wouldn't hold them.I believe that if my trap size went up my bobcat and coyote catch would go up. I'm kinda stuck between continuing strickly fox on the live market or going strickly for fur. Does anyone know if there is a trap that will hold coyote, bobcat, and also fox while not hurting the fox?

[thebeav2]

The 1.75 fills the bill on the coyotes and red fox and works great on cats. Cats aren't hard to hold but need a bit more jaw spread to get the steel on them, same goes for the coyote.

With all that said I will sometimes catch 4 or 5 greys and not have any damage then the next 4 or 5 will have bad feet.
I don't use the 1 1/2s due to the small jaw spread.

Like I said I don't think there Is the perfect trap that will catch and hold all animals and still give you a perfect foot or leg.

[Mudcat]

Ford, how do you have your 1 1/2 softcatch setup. I heard the duke 1 1/2 had lots of sharp edges and is not suggested by some live market trappers. I have only seen the 3, so I really dont know firsthand. One live market trapper told me he sold 90% of his reds caught in the 3 softcatch to the live market. Only 50% of greys went into the live market the rest had to be pelted.

Best regards,

Mudcat

[ford1172]

Mudcat,
I have my 1 1/2's with only 4 links of factory chain and swivels at the trap. I also move my chain from the side to the bottom of the trap. I am planning on adding shock springs to all of my traps for next year to try to eliminate some of my pull-outs. This season i caught right around 60 greys and only had one injured foot. Only picked up 5 reds but there was nothing wrong with any of them. Where i trap you have about the same chance of catching a red as you do a bobcat. The cats that i caught would not have stayed there very much longer. Most all of them were only held by a toe or 2. I have a friend that uses 1 1/2's also. He called me one morning and said you aren't going to believe this, but i just pulled up to a set and there was a bobcat in it. He said before he could get out of the truck and walk close to the trap the cat had taken one good lunge and was gone. A #3 soft-catch just seems like a little overkill.

Ford1172

[17kiss]

Beav , it was not Bob. It was a local guy that has been out of it for 10 years. He got busted transporting fox in Pa. He has his traps stock except for pulling shockspring off and an extra swivel. Bob does know the guy though. They shared Wyoming a time or two. Mudcat , I ran the Dukes for 2 years and did not notice any cutting . They do look mean though. Actually had better luck with Duke over BMI and Victor. Starting to consider a #3 softie myself.

[Mudcat]

Thanks for the info 17. How do the duke and victor 3s compare regarding coil springs strength? I own victor 1 1/2 and some duke 3s and just wondered how the 3s compared. I have some 1 1/2 setup with 2 music wire just in case a yote or cat comes by. It makes some difference in power but less than a 4 coil.

Best regards,

Mudcat

[17kiss]

Have not started playing with them yet. Will soon.