I got a old wolf size trap with a Drag on the end of the chain that looks like a giant tribble hook.How are these used and set up? I just figured it was rigged so a hound dog could track it down in the snow are something/more sporting?Thanks for any info!

That is called a drag, it is intended to be buried near or under the trap and when a critter is caught it will get hung up in brush etc, and hold the animal till the trapper comes back, they will hold an animal better than a solid stake because the brush will flex and bend

Thanks ELKMAN2, are drags common?Are they better in certain areas or any area O.K?Like ...the deserts would be a bad place to use one?I think they are pretty neat.Also are traps with teeth illegal in some states?Do trappers also catch wildhogs with legholds?

Yes, in some states(like mine, Maryland) traps with teeth are illegal.

I agree I'm sure some States don't allow teeth. Another drag I have seen is a horse shoe hooked on the end of the chain, The old wolf trappers I knew swore by them, Those guys made a lot of money trapping/snaring wolves before the ESA. The bounty was $50.00 if I remember right and they could still sell the skin, minus front feet!! that was how the bounty was paid, cut the feet off!!

Drags are effective with snares. The animal runs and gets some speed going before the drag catches on something, the snare is pulled good and tight and the animal dies quickly.

What trap do you have. Is it a 4 1/2 Newhouse.

Pan is worn bad,maybe you guys can tell from Picture.Trap opening is about size of softball.Hook is at least a foot long.

Not what you were hoping it would be 22WRF?

Your trap is not that old. It looks to be a Northwoods brand trap that came out in the mid to late 70' and were sold as a cheaper import trap. I can't tell from the picture what size it is, but if it is about 6" between the jaws it's a #4 unless it was highly modified a wolf would have torn it apart. More likely it was used for coyotes or bobcat. I used them for beaver traps on drowners. They had weak springs and we fourcoiled them. The rounded edges of the jaws would slip pretty easy on beaver hind feet.

I found that unless there was snow on the ground drags were a pain in the butt. Sometimes a critter can go a long way before hanging up. I used them in sets along traveled roads so the trapped animal could get out of sight after being caught. I spent so much time looking for them that I gave up on them and used a slide wire into the deep grass or brush. Try finding a coon 30 ft up a tree with 4' of chain and a hook hanging down or worse hung up on a branch and end up cutting the tree down.

375win

quote:

Originally posted by Skyline:
Not what you were hoping it would be 22WRF?

Skyline

That is an understatement.

By the way, the pan on that trap is not worn bad. Rather, the reason why you can see any lettering there is becasue it appears that the trap has been heavily waxed such that all of the lettering has been filled in with wax.

It could also be a montgomery, or a Bridger, or a Sleepy Creek, or a host of newer traps that are imported from the far east. It is definitely not a wolf trap. The minimum I would consider as a wolf trap would be a 114 newhouse, although they can also be taken with snares in deep snow. How do I know????????

22WRF
I haven't had much experience with Sleepy Creek or Bridger but I think the Mongomeries square jaws had round pans even on there bigger traps. I just have a bunch of 1 1/2 offset round jaws left.

375win

Thanks for all the info!
This post has been a lot of fun for me and i learned alot!

Blackbearhunter and all

If you want to learn a lot more about traps I can highly recommend the book entitled

THE STEEL TRAP IN NORTH AMERICA

by Richard Gerstell

It is a bit expensive (probably $40) but money well spent if you are interested in trapping history and traps.

Number two northwood squarejaw. Used for coyote, fox, and bobcat. Have used a lot of them in dirt hole sets. This is a very nice trap. It usually makes for a very high catch.

By the way 22WRF, the big dogs can be teken with #3 Victor coil springs, if roofing nails are welded to the inside of the jaws for teeth, no drag needed!1 How do I know????

I'm not even going to comment on that last post.

Elkman

You cheepskate. Why didn't you just buy a couple of Victor 14 Jumps. I had (and still have) many of them. One of the best beaver traps ever made except for maybe the 14 Newhouse.

Skyline

I'll coment on it. I've got my hand caught in a 14 Jump, reached under the water thinking I was grabbing the tail of a drowned beaver, turned out to be a leaf over the pan of a 14 Jump. Other than a couple of red spots and some discomfort no serious damage. I did have to wade out in the pond to pull the stake to get it off though. I can't imagine what it would have been like if there had been nails welded to the jaws.

Welding nails to a trap jaws is dangerous and borders on sadistic.

I didn't find that 14's held that much better and sold the few I had for a great sum to collector. A #4 Herters coil spring was a great beaver trap, still have some stashed away for retirement. I'll have time to go state hopping then, can't trap here anymore.

375win

Well you guys are acting like kids, calling names, I resent that but will not respond in kind. All I can say is if you knew where and what I was doing a dispose -a -trap was the order of the day. Those days are over for me but I know it still goes on. May some of you should visit the political forum and get the bad attitude out of your sysyem.

Elkman......I know I didn't call you names. In fact I didn't say anything other than that I was not going to comment............at that point. 375win didn't say anything that is not to the point.

Please tell me when it was that you had to use nails welded to a leghold trap to solve a problem. Leghold traps with teeth have been illegal in most jurisdictions for many years (or should I say decades)and the fact that nails had to be welded on would infer that it was after they became illegal.........otherwise you could just buy them with teeth.

I have lived my whole life in wolf and grizzly country. I have seen my horses get killed by wolves, cattle.....hell even coyotes eating the rear end out of a cow while it was calving.

I have seen colts killed by cougar and spent the wee hours one night stitching the face back on to one of my Dad's mares after a cat attacked her and peeled her whole face off from between the eyes down to the nose.

All this time I have managed to take care of the problem through legal means and by using legal traps, permits, rifles to do the job.

I have not had it happen to me, but I have seen the fish and wildlife officers come out and set poison for wolves that apparently could not be shot or trapped and they took care of the problem without hammering other wildlife that would have been innocent bystanders.

I have shot problem bears occasionally, but mostly I tried to educate them that my ranch homesite and pens were not a good place to look for food. Most of them took the hint.

I have been trapping for about 40 years. So tell me.........when is welding nails on the traps a necessary thing.

When there is no other alternative.. In Canada where you are from there Is no ESA and all that goes with it. as I said all that is over for me and I am a long way from where it happened and is still happening. I never said it was right,I said it worked. Just like gil nets etc.all of the stuff that still goes on,under the cover of darkness. Game Wardens would be out of work if every one obeyed the letter and spirit of the law..I do, but I knew lots of people that did not.. I also believe where I lived teeth were still leagl on traps I saw many beaver traps with them.

Elkman

If I ruffled your feathers, I'm not sorry. I want to deter any young or inexperienced trapper from thinking that would be an acceptable way to trap. Maybe I read your post wrong but to me you seemed pretty proud of the fact.

375win

Elkman..............if by ESA you mean Endangered Species Act.....the US version....then yes you are right. But, we have our own versino of it. You guy are not alone, the same crap is going on here. Our trapping standards are also being governed by the IHTA "International Humane Trappings Standards".....thank you European Union.

I can not remember any time in memory when traps with teeth were legal for beaver....unless I was really small and missed it....maybe on a drowning set way back when.

As to the Wardens being out of work..........not any time soon. Too many people doing things that should not be done. Too bad I think.

Skyline, I win not touch the trap with teeth thing again. But I can tell you a true story about the ESA, I lived in far northern MN. I knew a fellow pretty good he was a trapper and a good one. His brother lived across the border at Mine Centre, Ont.Also an excellent trapper, The Feds, had lots of wolf research going on with many radio collared wolves, mu buddy would occasionally catch one and he would dutifully let it go, his brother in Ont. would catch them too, every spring he would send a whole box full of radio collars back to the feds,to be reused. All a non resident needed was a $40.00 small game license and you could shoot wolves in Canada, and they were legal to bring back to the US. There was a taxidermist In Fort Francis that had a standing offer for wolves, $500CD. I know a lot of MN. guys that made an easy $500. This dated back to the late 80's and early 90's. I lost contact after that.

Elkman that is hardly relivant to the discussion. A very unique situation.......wolves have been legal to trap and hunt in Canada for most areas for many years. Not really our problem as we have lots ....well actually I guess it is our problem. But, you guys are catching up quickly with your wolf re-introduction programs.........

My point is that your ESA about wolves in the US has little to do with our similar legislation up here. Endangered depends on where you are talking about and wolves are anything but endangered up here. Our act covers more sensitive things like kit foxes, burrowing owls.........

You are comparing apples and oranges

No I'm not, my point was that because of an invisable line on the ground an animal was legal game 10ft north of the line was totally protected 10 ft south of it. Also my point was they were the same wolves, collared in the US and killed in Canada..That is what makes no sense to me

Well Elkman that is true enough. That kind of anomaly exists everywhere though.......a grizzly bear in BC in the rockies is fair game in the AM, but he travels a bit further through the pass into Alberta and he is protected now. A mountain/woodland caribou in the McBride area of BC is huntable, but he follows a few cows further east into Alberta and he is an endangered species.

Closer to the point.........a cougar in Manitoba is an endangered species and it is taboo to kill it. The cat wanders a bit further down the river and crosses into North Dakota and he is fair game....bag limit of 2!

Go figure!