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Post by k9goodtimes on Jan 28, 2015 21:43:28 GMT -5
Sure thing Sally sensitive. Chill. I asked because all literature, 2 forum mods and my eco said other wise.
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traps82
#3 Newhouse
Hope is always alive
Posts: 3,208
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Post by traps82 on Jan 28, 2015 21:50:41 GMT -5
The inside jaw spread of a duke 3 offset is less than 5.5". I had the dec measure mine on Sunday. Lol Does he know how to read a tape measure? Hey, you said it, not me.... Pure genius............. Love and kisses, Sally
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Post by camohoyt340 on Jan 28, 2015 21:54:49 GMT -5
The inside jaw spread of a duke 3 offset is less than 5.5". I had the dec measure mine on Sunday. Lol Does he know how to read a tape measure? I am sure that is one of the requirements to become an ECO. So I'm guessing yes.
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traps82
#3 Newhouse
Hope is always alive
Posts: 3,208
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Post by traps82 on Jan 28, 2015 21:56:53 GMT -5
Does he know how to read a tape measure? I am sure that is one of the requirements to become an ECO. So I'm guessing yes. [/quote]
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Post by k9goodtimes on Jan 28, 2015 22:14:12 GMT -5
So I just laid out 13 #3 duke os and 10 #3 duke reg jaw. 9 of the os measured 5 11/16 at the dog. 3 of the os measured 5 5/8. 1 os measured 5 9/16. So yes they are legal. I was wrong. No modifications needed.
All ten of the regular jaws all measured 5 13/16.
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Post by camohoyt340 on Jan 28, 2015 23:33:24 GMT -5
Are we even talking about the same trap? Because every one of mine measures less than 5.5. I'm sure they started out right around 5.5 but when I bent my jaw tips up I lost a little bit of jaw spread.
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Post by k9goodtimes on Jan 28, 2015 23:38:27 GMT -5
I bubbled the tips so i dont bend jaws up any to lose width. Its probably all the coyote pulling on mine. Lol
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austinp
#3 Newhouse
the next fur season is never far from our minds :)
Posts: 3,008
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Post by austinp on Jan 29, 2015 5:54:15 GMT -5
fwiw: I used Duke #3 coils for fox and coyotes last season, from November thru January. I selected those due to features vs price. They are legal with no mods here in NY, they have relatively thick jaws and heavy frame, they are inexpensive.
Out of the box they require new chain and swivels, filing pan/dog contact edges for squareness, lowering the pan. In addition to that it would be a big plus to round the edges of all jaws, and/or add lams for highly favorable fox treatment.
It's a large enough trap frame to work well in frozen ground and snow. Beds easily. Holds anything that steps inside. But like all large frame traps without modified (laminated) jaws they are not ideal for fox in cold weather. Fox fight any trap the set much harder when winter comes because they feel exposed to danger out in the open with vegetation and cover long gone. That and the hard ground with fox stumbling across large-frame traps at the catch circle really does mandate laminated jaws or at the very least to round-smooth the jaw edges with a file or router.
I caught 50+ fox and 10 coyotes in the Duke #3 offsets fall thru winter, so that's more than enough sample size to figure things out. If you like to work up your own traps with light mods, they are a fine place to start imo. A local canine trapper here who does 50 - 100 fox/coyotes per year uses Victor #2s mostly stock and does fine, same as PSB down in SEPA. imo the Duke #3s are superior in the winter season when snow starts piling up. If I were serious about canine trapping here in NY going forward, I'd use Victor #2 FOJ and/or mod Duke #3s for the budget traps, Montana #3s as a pricier choice and #1.75 Bridgers on public WMAs 10/25 thru end of pheasant season.
If I had to pick just one trap for coyotes primarily here in NY and cost was not an issue, the Montana #3s with lam jaws would be my choice hands down.
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Post by pauljohnson on Jan 29, 2015 5:58:34 GMT -5
#3 Sleepy Creek
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Post by Lonny Mattison on Jan 29, 2015 7:01:42 GMT -5
I do not like having to always fix bent dogs. I like dogless or the beefy dog of the MB550's. If I can figure out how to keep them out of my grey fox area I would not care. But, these little Bridger 1.65's will hold them
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Post by J.P. Wilson on Jan 29, 2015 7:07:49 GMT -5
MB 650's (inside lams) and Jake traps. Aside from degreasing, dye and wax they're ready right out of the box. I do add chain and a shock spring to the 650, and chain to the jake but the jake already comes with a shock spring. Do not take the rubber jaws of the jakes or they will not be legal for NY state. Both are great traps. The bigger the trap, the bigger the kill area.
I'm not saying you need to have fully modified #2 traps and bigger to catch and hold coyotes. A lot of guys use stock 1.75's and stock #2's. Ideal fox traps and I'm sure they do loose a trap or two a year to a coyote mangling the trap. I don't want to take the chance of loosing an animal and where I trap I have very few fox compared to coyotes. That's why I run a bigger fully modified trap with inline shock springs. I also have Montana #3's, Bridger #2's and #3's with no complaints I've tried the 550's, they're a little small for my liking but, they're a good trap.
It's all personal preference and what you want to spend for money or spend time on modifying yourself.
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Post by trappermac on Jan 29, 2015 9:02:10 GMT -5
I have traps I like, but that means nothing. I catch 4-8 coyotes/year targeting fox, if the trap holds up I guess I like it. Hardly a good sampling size or solid qualification to say a trap is good or not. Anyone who thinks taking 10 coyotes is a sufficient sampling size is nuts. Now guys who run hard all season in all types of weather, take 100+ canines with many of them being coyote, guys like Zag, JP, Von, etc; - that's where you get the good advice from, that's where the real trap test occurs when it comes to yotes. For the rest of us we just have "our favorite trap", which is usually what we spent our money on and need to justify the expense. All this IMO of course.
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Post by nightstalker1 on Jan 29, 2015 16:46:40 GMT -5
I like the KB5.5 and the MB650 with inside lams to be NY legal
Always a good precaution when to take a second and measure the inside jaw spread of traps that you have not used before.
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Post by nyredfox on Jan 29, 2015 18:50:23 GMT -5
I use Victor #2 FOJ.. Almost 2 dozen Yotes this year, all by accident. Several Cats as well. They were on purpose! No problems with my Victors other than a few dogs that need straightened, which takes about 5 seconds to fix with a HD J hook tool.
Lost 2 yotes this year, both were in "Bridger" #2 Off-Sets. Both equipment failures....
Say what you want about a Victor #2 FOJ, but I am consistent, year after year with them. I wouldn't use them if all's I was targeting was Yotes, but for a multi-species trap, the best all around trap I have found.
Definetly like the Victor #3 Off Sets too. Plan to get more of them in the future for hay sets, late season trapping etc etc.
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Post by trappermac on Jan 29, 2015 19:14:18 GMT -5
Lost 2 yotes this year, both were in "Bridger" #2 Off-Sets. Both equipment failures.... . Be interested to know what those failures were Eric. I also have quite a few Victor #2’s in my arsenal, probably have held up over the time I’ve had them better than any other traps I have. Good solid trap. I used some Bridger #1.65 full mods this year in my hay sets (center swivel, lams, 4 coiled), nice stout trap that I look at as perhaps being a decent yote trap….but I don’t get enough yotes to offer a litmus test on them. I caught one of my yotes this year in a bridger 1.75, he stayed caught and the trap was fine...I like the trap for fox...but if I was a serious coyote trapper I wouldn't even think about this trap.
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Post by nyredfox on Jan 29, 2015 19:46:55 GMT -5
Lost 2 yotes this year, both were in "Bridger" #2 Off-Sets. Both equipment failures.... . Be interested to know what those failures were Eric. I also have quite a few Victor #2’s in my arsenal, probably have held up over the time I’ve had them better than any other traps I have. Good solid trap. I used some Bridger #1.65 full mods this year in my hay sets (center swivel, lams, 4 coiled), nice stout trap that I look at as perhaps being a decent yote trap….but I don’t get enough yotes to offer a litmus test on them. I caught one of my yotes this year in a bridger 1.75, he stayed caught and the trap was fine...I like the trap for fox...but if I was a serious coyote trapper I wouldn't even think about this trap. J hook that connects chain to trap... Either needs welded shut or a larger one... Actually watched one run off with my hardware. As the other one stood waiting in my Victor...... He was standing 50 yards away waiting for his buddy to escape when I arrived. I was just a "little" p&$/-d off!!!! Last year I had a lot of commitments and pan depressions with the Bridgers, but never fired. Did a lot of adjustments with them this year and was pleased with the overall performance, just need to put a stronger chain assembly on them. I'm not a fan of modifying and Stalker lives to far away, so I need a trap that works out of the box.
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Post by Lonny Mattison on Jan 30, 2015 4:52:39 GMT -5
Eric, I run many of the Bridger #2 offsets. I have noticed at times the pan depressions, but also have made some nice catches. Only downfall I see with them is IMO...they are not grey fox friendly.
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Post by nyredfox on Jan 30, 2015 6:41:47 GMT -5
Eric, I run many of the Bridger #2 offsets. I have noticed at times the pan depressions, but also have made some nice catches. Only downfall I see with them is IMO...they are not grey fox friendly. I like these traps as well, just takes some tuning, that I'm not used too.... Used them alot during this late season with great success....
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austinp
#3 Newhouse
the next fur season is never far from our minds :)
Posts: 3,008
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Post by austinp on Jan 30, 2015 8:13:50 GMT -5
Say what you want about a Victor #2 FOJ, but I am consistent, year after year with them. I wouldn't use them if all's I was targeting was Yotes, but for a multi-species trap, the best all around trap I have found. Definetly like the Victor #3 Off Sets too. Plan to get more of them in the future for hay sets, late season trapping etc etc. Of course I agree with all that, as stated in my opinion post. There are people who might question whether 10 or 24 coyotes (same difference) are enough sample size to validate an opinion but hey, the very title of this thread asks for personal opinions on NYS legal coyote traps. No other stipulations involved. The only concern I would have with the #2 Victor is working in snow. Of those two, I'd personally prefer the #3 Victor = Duke (same trap, except Duke is small enough to be legal out of the box) for work in the snow. Although the #2 Victor would make a better muskrat trap in dual use role than the #3s, but the #3s are an effective beaver trap as well.
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austinp
#3 Newhouse
the next fur season is never far from our minds :)
Posts: 3,008
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Post by austinp on Jan 30, 2015 8:15:28 GMT -5
Eric, I run many of the Bridger #2 offsets. I have noticed at times the pan depressions, but also have made some nice catches. Only downfall I see with them is IMO...they are not grey fox friendly. they could use jaw lams added for winter work on red fox, too
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austinp
#3 Newhouse
the next fur season is never far from our minds :)
Posts: 3,008
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Post by austinp on Jan 30, 2015 8:22:01 GMT -5
but if I was a serious coyote trapper I wouldn't even think about this trap. first you need to define "serious" and then we can go from there if you are serious coyote trapper working public WMAs during pheasant season, working private lands for coyote removal where landowners request you use certain size traps, you'd most certainly have something like a Bridger #1.75 in your arsenal. A serious any-species trapper has an array of tools to fit myriad situations, whereas a hobbyist sets a couple traps to check in the morning for amusement sake. no question in anyone's mind that the Bridger #1.75 caught literally 1,000s of coyotes in the U.S. this season, last season and will continue to do so next season, too. If you ever get serious about trapping any species, you'll need to expand your mind and subsequently your line of equipment in kind
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traps82
#3 Newhouse
Hope is always alive
Posts: 3,208
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Post by traps82 on Jan 30, 2015 9:36:38 GMT -5
Be interested to know what those failures were Eric. I also have quite a few Victor #2’s in my arsenal, probably have held up over the time I’ve had them better than any other traps I have. Good solid trap. I used some Bridger #1.65 full mods this year in my hay sets (center swivel, lams, 4 coiled), nice stout trap that I look at as perhaps being a decent yote trap….but I don’t get enough yotes to offer a litmus test on them. I caught one of my yotes this year in a bridger 1.75, he stayed caught and the trap was fine...I like the trap for fox...but if I was a serious coyote trapper I wouldn't even think about this trap. J hook that connects chain to trap... Either needs welded shut or a larger one... Actually watched one run off with my hardware. As the other one stood waiting in my Victor...... He was standing 50 yards away waiting for his buddy to escape when I arrived. I was just a "little" p&$/-d off!!!! Last year I had a lot of commitments and pan depressions with the Bridgers, but never fired. Did a lot of adjustments with them this year and was pleased with the overall performance, just need to put a stronger chain assembly on them. I'm not a fan of modifying and Stalker lives to far away, so I need a trap that works out of the box. I HATE those J hooks!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! They go in the trash and replaced with a HD J hook. I don't even save them for use on coon traps Signed, S. Sally
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Post by bluetickboy on Jan 31, 2015 6:08:17 GMT -5
MB 550s. Good right out of the box.
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Post by homebuilt on Jan 31, 2015 6:27:51 GMT -5
my favorite one is the one with a coyote in it!
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Post by silverfox on Jan 31, 2015 7:33:33 GMT -5
So I just laid out 13 #3 duke os and 10 #3 duke reg jaw. 9 of the os measured 5 11/16 at the dog. 3 of the os measured 5 5/8. 1 os measured 5 9/16. So yes they are legal. I was wrong. No modifications needed. All ten of the regular jaws all measured 5 13/16. cant say for sure but it looks like you may be measuring outside spread, and i also have no variation in my traps measurements, all the same, (i currently have no mods so thats not a factor)
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