Hunting Forum

Ok to start off with im not new to the sport of trapping but i am new to the idea of using trap drags vs stakes all my life i have trapped using re rod stakes but it's always time consuming then most of the time i end up having the stake hit a rock and then i have to move my set or the ground is so loose they pull the stake out and i loose my trap and fur so im giving some thought on using drags but iv never used them or know any one who does i NEED HELP i live in south east ky in the mountians i trap coon,fox,skunk,mink,yots,and bobcat i do some water trapping but use drounding slides for that does any one have any advise on how to use drags or even how they work, even how do you find your game and can a coon pull one of these up a tree or a yot or bobcat pull one in his deen i just need some help any advise will be greatly appreaciated have a good day and god bless

 

 

 

 

   

Drags work pretty well, and I never did lose any. When you get a critter in a trap, he usually heads for the closest cover where the drag hangs up. Never had any coon climb a tree with one or anything den up. They're almost always with 50 yards or so, just scan the nearest cover and you'll find them. We've used logs for drags, and the store bought hooks. The hooks are more easily concealed but actually the logs worked just as well. As always, have plenty of swivels in your chain and an extra spring doesn't hurt either.
So, try it with a few coon first and you'll see how well they work. Then you might have the confidence you need to try them with your canine sets.

Good luck-

Never used drags. But I remember what a drag it was using 1/2"X2" rebar and having to double stake because coyotes don't know a fox or coon set from a coyote set. Now I use cable stakes never had a critter pull one.

Here in the wide open spaces of the West a trapped coyote tends to head for open country rather than hang up in the first available cover so I always stake my traps. All of my coyote and coon traps wear 2-pronged grapples and heavy extension chains that have saved me alot of traps and fur thru the years. I's just a little insurance that if the animal pulls my stake, I have a chance of finding it after an extensive search. By attaching a drowner to the drag, I've used wire to direct a trapped animal into cover where it is hidden from view.

X2 on cable stakes. Just drive them so only the loop shows and attach trap.

I have caught fox andlynx using drags with an extension on the chain of 3 or 4 feet... The drag is a bent piece of rebar in the shape of a two prong anchor. The length is about a foot long and the hooks are about 6 to 8 inches curved just like an anchor. In the bush or brushy locations the seldom get too far out and if it is a field location, the can get hung up iven in long grass but normally the just head straight back into the woods and get hung up rather quickly. I am trying a bear food dnare and will use a rather long 10 to 12 inch diameter log. This worked when wecould use foot traps and should do sowith the snare. The thing that I like about drags is that the critter does not tear up the trap cubby noe leave any tell tale blood or other fluids at location... Have fun!!!

I have limited knowledge of drags usually used a log when I found myself in that situation. But from working a booth at Trapper Conventions know all the above will work. My preference is cable stakes.