Trapping Info
This page was last updated: April 5, 2009
For Education ~ Not For Profit
TRAP FASTENINGS
Before making any set to catch your desired furbearer you must think of how you will hold the animal till you arrive to dispatch him. There are many ways to hold the animal till you arrive such as drowning wires, drags and staking. Useing drags has some advantages and disadvantages. Drags will cut down on your theft as the animal can leave the set area and search for hiding. Another good purpose of the drags is that with the animal leaving your set area , the animal dosnt destroy the set area which makes it real nice for remaking sets. The downside to using drags and grapples is you will have to search for some animals which can become time consuming.
Drags / Grapples
Figure 1:  Is a standard Grapple used in Brushy areas were the animal will eventually get tangled up after leaving the set area. Not reccommended for open field trapping.
Figure 2:  Is a railroad plate that is commonly used in streams. Dont let the size of this drag fool you, railroad plates are extremely heavy for their size , which enable the animal to move from the set but not wondering to far.
Figure 3: Is probably the most economical drag of all time. A rock rapped in wire to secure the trap to. The nice thing about a rock as a drag is in most cases rocks are available . The other thing is that most people passing by will not think its anything other than a rock.. This drag can be used in water as well as on land. When using on land you can also use the rock to serve as a backing.
Figure 4: Another easily found item is the log or thick branch. It as well as the rock  are found easily in the  animal wilderness. Make sure the Log or branch is thick enough to withstand some force that the animal will be putting on it when it tangles up.
SOLID STAKING
As with drags , certain stakes should be used for certain terain. Length of stake is also important and will vary with soil types. Always use a stake for the largest animal in your area.
Figure 1: Is a common rebar stake with a nut or washer welded on the top to prevent the chain from popping off the stake. Reccommended for Hard Rocky Soil types.
Figure 2: Similar to figure one is another rebar stake with the nut or washer welded on the top but the bottom has a triagle bottom welded to the rebar to prevent easy stake pullouts. Reccommended for Loose or Muddy soil types.
Figure 3: Is a wood stake which can be made from tree limbs or lumber. With a flat top  and pointed tip for easy driving. Used mainly for water trapping as the wood will swell from absorbing water which will make it harder to pull out. Reccommended for water trapping with muddy bottom creeks and rivers.
Cross Stakeing

Cross Stakeing or Double Stakeing as it is sometimes called is an excellent way to keep theft, and loss to a minumum. To cross stake you will need to drive two stakes  in the ground at 45 degree angles forming a X out of the two stakes as indicated below.
Cable Stakes
Cable stakes are another great way for securing your traps , similar to the stakes noted above but with more holding power. How the system works is simple.  The stake itself is made from aircraft cable with a loop on the end to attache to your trap chain and at the other end is a cable head.  All you need to do is attach the cable to the chain, insert your stake into the cable head and  drive the cable into the ground. Once the cable stake is driven into the ground simply pull out your driver and give a pull on the cable stake so the cable head sets itself sideways.    In the digram below you can see how  the cable stake system  works.  The driver is reused over and over and the cable stakes can be reused also. But you will have to dig them out or simply leave them in place for the next season.
Drowning / Slide Wires
Using drowning wires or slide wires as they are sometimes called can be a great way to hold furbearers when trapping the water. It has many advantages such as keeping the animal out of sight and away from thieves. Also in deeper water the drowning wire set up will only allow the animal to move in one direction and that is downward to the water where the animal drowns. If water is not deep enough for drowning  it will still cause the animal fo get into the water where the animal will less likely be able to chew on its foot as he will not go scuba diving to get to it. The other nice thing about drowner set ups is in most cases in deeper water the animal will not be alive so dispatching is not a problem.
Figure 1: The slide wire set up using a stake at the land side and a stake out in the deeper water.
Figure 2: The slide wire set up using a stake at the land side and a bag of rocks and mud out in the deeper water.
Figure 1:
Figure 2:
Figure 3: Is a close up of the slide wire mechanisim
Figure 3:
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