First check. First location.

[bogio]

This is how it started off.



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[braveheart]

Nice!!

[trappnman]

sounds like you are going to get a boatload of snow today/tomorrow

[RdFx]

Thanks for posting vid. Happy Skinning!

[bogio]

Predicting big snow but as of yet not much. Lot's of cancellations already. Pussies.



It is an area where several drainages come together. Intersection of multiple long running travelways where they seem to pile up. Where I set is a high knob/ridge on that bottom that they are drawn to. I bait up the high grass which is upwind of the set location.

No mange here. Don't remember ever catching a throwaway here.

Here's a couple of big boys that showed up there.


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[jim]

Lots of chain, do you have a shock spring too? Thanks Jim

[bogio]

Ended up with about six inches of dry powder snow. Spent the morning moving it at work, gonna do my own and parents now. Supposed to get down to minus 15 tonight and blow hard. That will be nice.


24 inches of good #2 twist link chain with 3 Sterling swivels and no shock spring. Standardized all of them last summer. Before was a mix of 2 to 3 foot lengths and a variety of swivels with a shock spring. Coyotes had ruined or tore off many of the springs thru the years so I elected to go without as advised. Got along great with the new setup. No mounding or trash fouling with this much length. Coyote's looked great as well. Ran Iowa Disposable Stakes as advised (THANK YOU!) with 12 inches total finished length. Absolutely no issues there. A clydesdale couldn't pull those things.



By season's end last year, I had a bucket full of shock springs that looked like this. They had several years on them and were just plain wore out.

[bluegrassman]

right now i have 2 different lengths of chains on my traps. some have 12 inches and some have 18 inches. i've been going to standardize all of my chains also but havent yet.

i was going to go with a sterling swivel off the baseplate then some #2 twist link chain to a sterling swivel mid chain then #2 twist link then a final crunchproof at the end for hooking up my iowa stakes. total of 18 inches altogether.

i like the 18 inch chains better than the 12. less mounding, less fouling. etc.

you think 24 inches would be better than 18?

[trappincoyotes39]

Bogio no offense but those aren't shock springs they are screen door springs, use JC corners springs and they will last a very long time. Even with larger coyotes. The heavy t bar keeps them from getting trashed up. Best shock springs on the market IMO of course.

[bogio]

TC,

I'll give you that those springs aren't as heavy duty as J.C.'s but they had been on since before J.C. went to the t-bar style. They had a lot of coyotes behind them and had served their purpose. I tried J.C.'s but it was just too much shiit to bury. Going without springs this year, I saw absolutely no difference in my coyotes feet or legs and bedding was much easier. Look at the coyotes foot in my throwaway video. That is pretty much what they all looked like. When skinning I saw NO issues with shoulders or legs.

As far as door springs are concerned, we had several out buildings at work that had a spring similar to PIT style shock springs on them. Every time the wind blew hard it pulled them thru themselves. I put J.C.'s heavy duty shock springs on them a year ago and have had ZERO failures. The wind will tear the doors off before those things fail.

Bluegrassman,

I doubt you would see ANY benefit going to a 24 over an 18 inch chain. Less to bury also. I've just always been partial to longer lengths. How much total length are you using on your disposables? Started with 16 inches this year and found it to be totally unnecessary. Cut them all back to 12.


Anybody seen a banty rooster around here?

[trappincoyotes39]

I agree to a point out west it took some more work to burry the springs for sure, but 3 day checks I found them enough benefit specially in wet weather in spring/summer to keep them from moving my anchor any on those extended checks and less shock as well. In farm ground no big deal but I like a deeper trap bed for sure any how. A pick ax worked great in gumbo out west and easy digging for the most part in farm country here.

I tried the other so called shocksprings I found none worth a hoot except Jc's. Plus the new ones save a guy the welding as they come with an elongated eye hole so direct hook up to a crunch proof.

Each to his own.

[bogio]

I could see a benefit on long checks in wet weather.

Were you using disposables at that time? If so, what type of setup. Are you using the same now in the midwest? After a season with the IDSs, my rebar will be taking a long deserved rest.

Your chain setup looks relatively short. Do you experience much fouling/wrapping/mounding?

[bluegrassman]

i have #2 chain on my iowa's. 18 inch total length. i just drive them however deep i feel is necessary. soft ground deeper hard ground shallower.