I weld a large washer to a piece of rebar to make a stake. Stake the chain down and no problems. Silly question but are you relying on the stake attached to the bottom of the trap to hold the coon? If you find they are still pulling stakes out you might try wiring your traps to an old tire. In my experience a trapped coon will crawl into the tire to hide and won't pull on your stuff much.
Yeah I was using the 2 pronged stake but either wrapping it around a small tree or setting a large rock on it. These were around a tree. Guess the worked back around the tree and got untangled. I’m going to get some rebar and secure it with that
I never set close enough to a tree or fence for them have something to hold onto. Leverage and bouncing are 2 of the main ways a critter can pull a stake, and coons don't bounce.
Smart. So set it out away from things they can use.
I am using a combination of Duke and other dog proofs. I attach using a steel screw attached to a stump—originally I used deck screws, but had a couple of those break, with a loss of the coon and trap. This keeps two legged predators from taking the traps as well.
That's what I do anyway. I've lost one trap in my life and I knew the stake was loose when I put it in. Should have moved it but didn't. A coon will grab stuff and pull or try to climb (climbing gives a better angle to pull a stake up), or they will hide. That's why an old tire doesn't get drug off when a trap is tied to it. They simply crawl inside it and hide.
In the three years of using them (and ~ 80 catches), I can only think of 5 times that I had a tripped trap without a raccoon (plus two possum, two cats, and a skunk) in the trap. And two of those had a coon paw still in the trap. Not sure if the coon chewed, or a coyote found an easy meal. But I’ve had no issues with being cabled off to a solid point.
Never had one pull out of a dp. Have had fur and toes in leg holds. I don't get the same catch circles that I do with a foor hold trap. I don't think they fight the dp as much for some reason. The animal and the area seem much more calm with dp's anyway.
I love the challenge of trapping yotes. They aren't easy for me. Get board with coons. Just curious, why do you get burned out?
I always loved trapping coons too. Not a lot of hyper-caution needed to catch them like foxes or coyotes. Coons are attracted to MANY baits & scents, and their hungry curiosity gets them into traps fairly easily. They seem to re-populate well too. I was happy to find coon tracks in the mud along a stream, swamp, or drainage ditch, and then see the silt disturbed or worn off the creek stones where they cross all the time. Ding-ding-ding ......... hot spot for trap(s)!!
I wish we'd have had DP's back when I was a young trapper!! They seem to be the ticket for coons compared to leg-holds.
