# Pulling Traps



## AF CYN (Mar 19, 2009)

I like to run a little hobby trapline when chukar season ends. I put out 11 traps this year and caught 3 canines in a week and a half. Not bad for me. Things I'm proud of this year--no traps got dug up and my weather-proofing strategies worked. 

I love hunting, but I don't know if there is an outdoor pursuit that is quite as satisfying as tricking a dog into stepping on a 2" pan. I feel like such a woodsman when I pull it off.


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## Slap That Quack (Mar 2, 2017)

That's sweet! Great job. I keep telling myself I am going to give trapping a go, but haven't pulled the trigger.


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## DIRTYS6X6 (May 19, 2021)

Nice great work.


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## taxidermist (Sep 11, 2007)

Good on ya AF!! I didn't even get the chance to lay steel this year. It's been a crazy busy year for me.


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## DreadedBowHunter (Sep 22, 2021)

Nice work! I love trapping. I reported a lost trap of mine last year that got dug up so I had to move to heavy duty rebar stakes and swivels. I haven’t got to get out this year after dying my new traps cause I have an infant daughter and a toddler to deal with in the meantime. Found a pack of 10 or so Coyotes in a pretty tight area that I need to go out and pinch a few. I had a Cougar piss on my traps last December so I sat on that trap with my 7mm-08 but he didn’t show up for a week and he went back up high and over the mountain into no mans land.

For anyone out there wanting to dip your toe into trapping I’d suggest getting two traps of the animal you want to trap and work on that till you perfect it and know how much work it actually takes to be a successful trapper. Use only a small amount of lure and bait to not red flag the prey plus scent control is 10x more critical when trapping than hunting.


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## Airborne (May 29, 2009)

Nicely Done!


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## colorcountrygunner (Oct 6, 2009)

Nice work and you certainly should feel like a woodsman for outsmarting a coyote! Whether it's calling, trapping or whatever it's not an easy thing to do.


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## one4fishing (Jul 2, 2015)

Nice work and thanks for waiting till my dogs are off the hills. 
Anybody thinking about getting into trapping on your own please think about bird dogs. Also to those who are into harassing chukars after the season, understand your dogs are more at risk.


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## taxidermist (Sep 11, 2007)

one4fishing said:


> Nice work and thanks for waiting till my dogs are off the hills.
> Anybody thinking about getting into trapping on your own please think about bird dogs. Also to those who are into harassing chukars after the season, understand your dogs are more at risk.


Hunting dogs and traps are not a good thing for sure! Years ago I long lined trapped, setting an average of 150 traps in the dirt and close to 100 snares. I never had an issue with a "pooch" stepping in a set or a snare. I'm sure one reason is I set it some very remote areas. Now it seems more folks are out and about. 

If your a bird hunter chasing devil birds, I highly recommend that you invest in a pair of quality cable cutters to carry with you! If your best friend steps in a foothold trap, you can get him out in simple fashion. But if he runs into a snare, you only have a minute to save your companion. 

These are what I use and are simple to carry.








Montgomery Fur has them and they are $79.95 Small price to pay for an insurance policy.


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## AF CYN (Mar 19, 2009)

Thanks, all. Yeah, I deliberately wait until after bird season. I'm too busy with my own bird dog and I worry a little about a bird dog stepping in a trap. I stepped in a trap myself this year, but my dog has never been caught.

I have never considered the snare scenario much. I carry a Leatherman with me. Are the cutters at the base of the pliers stout enough to cut snare cable?


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## taxidermist (Sep 11, 2007)

AF CYN said:


> Thanks, all. Yeah, I deliberately wait until after bird season. I'm too busy with my own bird dog and I worry a little about a bird dog stepping in a trap. I stepped in a trap myself this year, but my dog has never been caught.
> 
> I have never considered the snare scenario much. I carry a Leatherman with me. Are the cutters at the base of the pliers stout enough to cut snare cable?


A Leatherman *WILL NOT *cut the cable of a snare. The reason a snare is lethal and quick to dispatch, say, a coyote, the harder the yote pulls and fights the snare, the tighter it gets. I've had to cut snares before to get it off the yote. I buy 1000 yards of 3/32in. 7X7 cable to make my snares and a camlock with teeth. These camlocks have absolutely zero relax and are lethal FAST. I've used cable cutters from Lowes and they didn't cut clean at all. I carry a set of cutters that I posted, in my bag. If I cant pull a ground anchor out of the dirt, I use the cutters to cut the 1/8" cable I use for my ground/earth anchors. Trying to pull a 20" cable that has been driven into the ground is almost impossible, even with anchor lifter.


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## DreadedBowHunter (Sep 22, 2021)

AF CYN said:


> Thanks, all. Yeah, I deliberately wait until after bird season. I'm too busy with my own bird dog and I worry a little about a bird dog stepping in a trap. I stepped in a trap myself this year, but my dog has never been caught.
> 
> I have never considered the snare scenario much. I carry a Leatherman with me. Are the cutters at the base of the pliers stout enough to cut snare cable?


I don’t think any multi tool can easily cut a 3/32, 5/64 or a 1/8 cable 🤔 It wouldn’t hurt to check on a few sized cable before relying on a possibility of it being able to cut etc


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## taxidermist (Sep 11, 2007)

A good set of lineman plyers will cut the smaller cable clean. The problem with a plyer type of tool is having enough space to get the cutting edge of the plyer to the cable. You wont get your finger between the cable and the neck of a Yote, or your birddog.


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## AF CYN (Mar 19, 2009)

Good to know. Thanks for the information!


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## 2:22 (Jan 31, 2013)

Nice work AF'r. I'm happy for you and your success. Couldn't have happened to a nicer guy.


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