Completely Frustrated and need some advice

daisy2007

New member
So I bought a dozen new traps this year. I got the #3 Modified Bridgers from Minnesota Trapline Products.
Heard really good things about them. They look great and I was really excited about getting them in the ground. I spent about a week stretch trapping with them and I lost more animals in those 6-7 days than I have in the last 3 years. I was checking my traps every day. Probably between 12 and 18 hours between checking.
I had some traps just covered in blood, some hair left in the trap jaws, bone and flesh in some of them. I figured from the sign left around the traps that I had lost 4 coyotes and 3 bobcats, near as I could tell.
I am so frustrated. I just don't understand what I am doing wrong. The other traps that I have are just #3 dukes. I never have lost that many things with them.
 
your traps may be freezing down, or they may be clogging with ground litter as they are closing. make sure your pans are night latched to eliminate too much free fall, which causes the animal to retract thier foot as the trap closes.it sounds like your getting toe catches.if you bed your traps solid and night latch your pans, you`ll get good high pad catches. also, make sure your trap covering is sifted to eliminate litter that may keep your trap from closing completley. hope this helps.
ky_yote
 
You might have someone else running your line for you! I use Montana traps and they've produced most of my catches this year. The only toe catches I've had were with Victors.
Did you adjust the pans on the traps when you bought them? A good pan tension for coyotes is about 3 to 4 pounds.
 
Ive been running dukes this year with the same problem, that is untill i found out i had some nice person helping them self to my catches. They would leave the coons and other small critters but would take the cats and yotes . I pulled them and will wait till I find a more secluded area.
 
Well thanks for all the responses.
I am trapping on private land, so the chances that someone is checking my traps and collecting on them without me seeing them is pretty slim. When I was down there I was staying at my friends house and running my traps. That is all I was doing. So I was around there pretty frequently. Also it would be pretty hard for them to come accross my bobcat sets.

I did adjust the pan tension. I did not however night latch them. I didn't have the right file around to do so. And I don't know exactly how to do it.
I believe I am bedding the traps really well and always use sifted dirt, so I don't think anything is getting caught up preventing the trap from completely closing.
There was freezing temperatures at this time, but I was using dry dirt and we were not recieving any moisture.
I also use fiberglass pan covers. Could those cause a problem? This was the first time I had ever used those. Used saran wrap before.

Now on the couple of coyotes that I actually got from these same traps were caught with perfect pad catches.

I talked to a guy that does a lot of trapping. He said that there is a possibility that the traps are closing to hard or clamping down to tight and breaking the bones of these animals, leaving only flesh and tendons for them to chew off or pull out of the traps. Could this be true?
He said to put a tiny bead of weld on the inside of the trap jaws so they wouldn't close down so far. Makes a little sense but I have never heard this before or have had these type of problems before.
The Duke traps that I had closed all the way down. The bridger modifieds have a gap at the top already cut out in them and are laminated.

I just don't know what is going on. I would be having a [beeep] of a time trapping right now if I could just keep half the animals in my traps!!!
I actually asked on this site about 3 months ago what were good traps for coyotes and bobcats and I had people recommend the modified bridgers from minnesota trapline products.

What kind of traps are you guys using for coyotes and bobcats? I believe I am going to be getting myself some new ones.
 
I highly doubt its your traps, You have the best traps out there almost /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grinning-smiley-003.gif, if I was a betting man, I would be betting on theres someone else running your traps ahead of you. I had the same problem on private land last year, found out it was a coon hunter /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/angry-smiley-055.gif. wonder if he's still smelling that old road kill possum that was layed on his muffler after I found out who it was /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif

don't get to thinking your traps and critters are safe on private land, cause they aint, theres people there that you dont know about. before changing traps, I would check my traps earlier and see if you can't catch the rat stealing your fur.

good luck and happy trapping.
 
This is my take on your situation.

You state that you have some traps covered in blood and some hair/fur left in traps. What kind of hair/fur?

My guess is that you are catching rabbits and kitfox before the yotes and cats come along and cash in a free meal that can't run away.

Are you staking your traps or using drags?

With the bridgers your using you should NOT be having what your describing IF you are actually catching the coyote or cat.

I'm from fallon, nv. and use #3 bridgers and #3 northwoods dbls, when I catch a yote or a cat they are there when I get there. Any time I find what you have described it is because my catch has turned into a snack for another predator.

chris from nv.
 
Don't give up on those traps! I would give TRAPPERKRIS'S post some thought.There could be coyote/bobcat sign there,but that doesn't mean it was what was in your traps.
 
Try Minnesota Brand traps. Not sure if a MB 450 is big enough for a bobcat foot but an MB550 should be. Others should help on this. These traps have held everything for me. Even the rabbits stay in them because the cast jaws don't cut in. I am way too inexperienced to fart around with a trap that isn't performing and the only help I get, is on this site and its good help. If brigders work for others that is good, it just got too fustrating for me. They were #1.65 regulars that I was using. Only worked good on skunks. But the springs on them seem really weak. Very easy to set. They probly need to be double coiled.
 
It might be someone coming through taking things out of my traps. Coon hunters are pretty abundant in Oklahoma. (I know my username states Las Vegas so I am sure that you all were assuming I was trapping in Nevada. But, I was home for the holidays in Oklahoma.) So that is where this all happened. It is just hard to imagine that someone was going through there, and me never happening to see them. The fur in the traps were from coyote and/or bobcat. In one of the traps I had like half a bobcat foot. The more I think about it the more I wonder if it was someone checking my traps for me. But I just don't see how that could have been. You think I would have ran into them. I was around there checking and re-baiting traps in the morning and bow hunting in the evenings.
 
If you've got a fur thief, they have a vested interest in making sure you DON'T run across them. I just can't imagine you're losing all these animals because you're using a certain trap. Maybe it'll happen occasionally, but from the scene you described I believe those animals should have been there waiting for you. Were you able to find any sign where the animals went after they got out of the traps (if that's what happened)? Blood, bones and pieces of fur should have meant you had some blood trails headed away from your sets if they got out. If you didn't find any, my opinion is someone is stealing your fur. Put up a trail cam (without a flash) if you have one and you'll know for sure.
 
I agree on some taking you fur. I had this problem on private land my self. Finally found out what was going on and my traps were being run a few hours before light. I built a set of tire cutters and put them in the trails and sifted dirt around the bases of them. After that never had a trap run again. But i bet a nickel to a dog turd some one is running you traps for you and getting your good fur.
 
The more and more I think about it and things you guys bring up makes me really think that someone just might have been checking them for me. Cause the amount of blood left around the traps was quite a bit, but I looked hard to see if I could tell which direction they headed off at. And I never found anything. You think out of those 7 critters gone that I would have been able to see which direction they took off to. I [beeep] sure should have put up a trail camera. That would have been a good way to find out. [beeep], this really sucks.
 
As long as you have a couple of swivles you shoulnt lose K9s or cats in those traps. Cats are pretty weak fighters compared to most other varmints. Like someone earlier said you could be catching rabbits that get eaten. Probably not 7 though. I think someone is helpin you out.
 
i never had that bloblom with my Bridgers my #2 BR had a little edge on them so i tuck care of that with a file'
All of my traps are off set and lamented so i would make a small weld on them so they stay open about 1/4 of an inch.
and from Wat it sound like you my be caching rabbits,
#3 BR is all i use for my cats and youts hope you get it this figure out they are a grate trap. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/confused1.gif
 
Last edited:
You know that a coyote will sometimes kill a cat or a fox they find in a trap and that may account for the piece of bobcat foot still in your trap. You won't find much sign other than a few pieces of fur and blood. If someone stole that one why would he rip the cat out of the set leaving the foot?
 
your animal is not chewing out ,you would have more than just hair and a little blood on site. you would have toes and feet. some one stated that you were probably catching rabbits and kit fox and yotes getting a free meal . that is most likely true.
 
I have 305 ac. that I live on and trap on in Oklahoma and I know that alot of coon hunters hunt a night with dogs. Here is my opion. A coon hunters dogs finds the traped critters at night, steals what he want. I've had to call the game warden several times around my place after several warnings to guys that didn't understand me the first time but after they received a ticket they got the message!! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif At night I would go out side and listen for coon dogs and if they are on you or you friends land I would give a warning.

You have good traps!! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grinning-smiley-003.gif
 
Back
Top