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Post by trappincoyotes39 on Nov 2, 2005 15:06:53 GMT -6
Most know I'm a big fan of sterling traps, this is one reason why. Look at this modified bridger 3 day check and this is a normal happing for me, I know I can weld the dog, but still doesn't stop the spring pin problem and having the beefer springs blown off and the such. I have never had a coyote damage a sterling mj600 in any way shape or form!
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Post by ryanvo on Nov 2, 2005 16:36:39 GMT -6
WOW that isnt good I use #3 bridgers also this is the first year for me going to a 3 day check now I am kinduf leary. Would a heavier base plate help anything
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Post by walkercoonhunter(Aaron L.) on Nov 2, 2005 17:19:23 GMT -6
if you would check them 24-36 hrs they might not look like that...lol...even if pennsylvania would go to 3 day check i still would check every 24 hrs....
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Post by trappincoyotes39 on Nov 2, 2005 17:27:36 GMT -6
I have a base plate on all them and I can't be driving 160+ miles every day, I live out west and extended checks help me cover more ranches and help out more ranchers, there is a vast differance in trapping in the East US and the West. If fur trappers would have to check every 24 hrs you would have even less trappers than now, I don't know if that is possible. Our coyote densitys aren't that of other states and most ranches are 5,000+ acres in size. You have to cover alot of ground out this way. My point is I use sterlings because I have no repair work to do at the trap site just clean them up and keep on going, I can't say that for any other coyote trap, I like the coyote cuffs, but the dogs still look like this one! I have also noted mangy coyotes will fight a trap harder as well.
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Post by ColdSteel on Nov 2, 2005 18:18:30 GMT -6
3 Day check on legholds man that would open up a can of worms around here for sure.There is no way in this world I could set a leghold and check it 3 days later
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Post by Dun Dign on Nov 2, 2005 18:41:36 GMT -6
Sterlings are the Balls!! No Misses, No damage. They hit the pan, they stay there. Easy to set,and strong.
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Post by bobwendt on Nov 2, 2005 18:52:11 GMT -6
I trap the west (wyoming and kansas) and run every 24 because I make more money and catch more animals running every 24 formost, the ancillary reasons I won`t go into as that horse has been beat already. bottom line is I never have bought the "reasons" for a ck interval longer than a day.
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Post by briankroberts on Nov 2, 2005 21:22:17 GMT -6
No doubt the sterlings are tops, I don't really like the pan system though, I weld a piece of 1/8" square stock on my Bridger dogs at a cost of pennies per trap and that problem is solved, plus JC's clip for the springs stops that problem, my Bridgers are 100% Coyote proof. By the way without the welded dogs I have bent dogs on a 24 hour check , I don't think the amount of time in the trap has anything to do with it, its all about an inferior dog.....B.....
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Post by mostinterestingmanintheworld on Nov 2, 2005 22:40:58 GMT -6
I trap the West as well and I don't run every 24 and I won't beat the horse either, unless provoked. lol!!
Joel
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Post by bobwendt on Nov 3, 2005 1:16:36 GMT -6
I`m tired of poking guys that poke back. I`m looking for easier pickins`
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Post by zone 9 on Nov 3, 2005 6:50:56 GMT -6
WE used 1.75's for a while,to many bent up traps. Have had good results with Jakes,Sterling 600 & MB 650's,all good strong traps.
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Post by trappnman on Nov 3, 2005 6:57:40 GMT -6
funny thing- I've caught nigh on to 1200 coyotes in 1.75 Dukes- and NEVER had a blown trap, NEVER had more than a bent dog.
I have a REAL hard time believing people that have these traps blown daily.
If you use small traps- it is MANDATORY you use short chains.
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Post by bobwendt on Nov 3, 2005 7:07:33 GMT -6
I use the toy softcatch ,and bent dogs are it, and that not too regular. but 6" chain, mucho swivels and run every 24, no problems, tremendous success rate on dogs that could eat the average western coyote for dinner with no scraps left. and numbers that would stand with anyones except martry maybe or 1 or 2 unknowns, trappers I mean, not gunners from planes ot getter men. In fact I think marty mostly snares on the big numbers and steel traps only early.
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Post by mostinterestingmanintheworld on Nov 3, 2005 8:59:13 GMT -6
I can think of only one blown trap by a coyote. It was one of those old old cast jaw victor longsprings with the pan rusted out so bad it flopped around. I only set it because I had everything else I owned in the ground and was trying for a big catch that fall.
I walked up to him, big old red roman nosed sucker, and he hit the end of the chain and kept going. Looked like the trap had held him for a while, at least overnight.
I've had lions break a few traps up but have held more than have broken out.
I've only caught one coyote in a Duke. That was a softcatch in the wash below my house. It did OK except for the coyotes mouth.
Joel
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Post by Dusty on Nov 3, 2005 11:56:51 GMT -6
Smooshing the spring-holder-inner-groove-thingy on the lever helps a bit. Beefing up the dog means it's a real biatch to replace when it gets chewed up anyway. The reinforcement bar is good - welding the dog onto the trap is bad.
I run long checks and get some traps eaten. Most of my foot traps are lynx traps, so I buy the cheapest trap I can find that will hold all the coyotes (so far), most wolverine, and the occasional wolf. That's the Bridger #3. If I could afford it, I'd set all CDRs. I don't think wolverines fight as violently as the average coyote, but they are the absolute most determined critter on the planet, and have about 10 times the bite force of a coyote. They really like eating pans off CDRs. And twist-link chain. And drags. And .... For a couple lost critters a year (that I usually get eventually), I don't see upgrading to spendy traps.
Bob - you should come up and be my sugardaddy for a winter or two. I'll show you exactly why I don't check every 24h - and why I couldn't if I wanted to - for the one-time low-low price of 10dz CDRs, a couple thousand gallons of 100LL avgas, and you skin the things that aren't marten. In return, I'll try not to let you freeze to death or wreck an airplane with you in it. I'll even feed you and give you a caribou hide or two to sleep on.
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Post by bobwendt on Nov 3, 2005 12:16:59 GMT -6
goes both ways, come down here and run every 3 or 7 or whatever and see #1 if you can stay out of jail,#2 if you have any traps left to ck.,#3 if anyone at all will let you on land (100% private here), #4 how many feet and beat up still attached feet you have #5 if there is ever an animal not stolen by the time you arrive.
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Post by Rick on Nov 3, 2005 12:35:12 GMT -6
I've had two fox stolen in the last week (one today). I'm leaving about an hour and a half before daylight and arrived at these locations, both times, less than an hour after daylight. We have a 24hr check law, but even if we didn't.....if I don't get there at a reasonable time, some other knucklehead's putting up my fur.
Steve, not sure how they compare to the Dukes, but I've had a couple 1.75 Victors blown up. Welded baseplates and bubble-tipped the jaws, no more trouble. I got pretty good at whacking the dog back straight.
Rick.
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Post by Dusty on Nov 3, 2005 12:35:13 GMT -6
Bob - just to clarify - I'd never advocate long checks for everyone. I'd just ask that people who live in places where short checks make sense not try to push their ideas on me either. I check as often as practical. If I had good weather and reliable access that would probably mean 24h checks.
The sugardaddy offer stands. Don't forget your mittens.
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Post by bobwendt on Nov 3, 2005 13:16:05 GMT -6
never did that dusty, just told what I do, how it works for me, and why. guys that do extended cks I think have chips on their shoulders, I presume because the long cks are knawing at them- no pun intended. in your case if bitter cold kills the animal with in the dreaded 24 hr period deemed the "humane time" by most lower 48 dnr`s, or the animal is dead in a snare or conibear or drowning set, then no humane issues are viable, only loss of animal to rot, or 2to 4 legged predators. there is also the philosophy of a trap with an animal in it can not re-set itself and get multiple catches, to consider. I do what works best for me and care not what anyone else does as long as it does not adversly affect my opportunity to retain my trapping privelages in the future. now this sugerdaddy deal, you sure you want the banana belt weather change and the monsoon rains that would happen should I arrive in alaska?
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Post by thefoxtrapper on Nov 3, 2005 14:35:46 GMT -6
here in va, on land sets anything longer than a day is not legal and too long for many reasons, too many to list, been covered many times, now on the water sets, i would love to see a 3-day check mainly for otter, beaver and coon plug quick so need to go clean out anyways eventhough they would be fine for 3-days underwater, but otter is a waiting game most of the time, therefore it would be more financially and time efficient to have a 3-day check.....working on this for underwater conibears only, better than nothing, but i wanted the whole shebang, drowners and conis in trickle streams too...oh well....w
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