caught momma today and the customer said there were 4 babies around and on top of the trap. I closed off all the holes under the shed except for the main and I put a multicatch squirrel trap in the hole. I left momma in the trap (advanced trap) near the hole with a comstock trap next to her.I figure they will try to come to mom again. Any other ideas?

Nope, that should do it!

I dont think the comstock will work very well with the size of our juveniles here now.Not sure if the multi catch squirrel trap will work very well either in my experience.Let us know how it works out for you.They may crawl thru the comstock trap without firing.Better to set several 7"x8"x30" safeguards or similiar type smaller pan style cage traps.I have had young crawl thru the comstock set for the adult to get caught in 3 safeguards set on either side of the comstock.

Bob, the new Comstocks have the trigger on the side ( or you could set your old Comstock sideways ) Anyway, nobody avoids the trigger wires anymore.

I have the side mount trigger wire traps and have set them upright and sideways the juveniles have gotten thru without firing the trap.If I were to put another wire all away across the ends of the wires like in mink trap mods for conibears that may improve the capture rate of the juveniles.They are still a good single catch trap.A bit to big for multi setting together in tight spots.

I usually set like pesky does and multi set smaller cage traps lured and baited then topped off with some hog gland lure added and they are usually all there within 8-12 hrs.Jims traps are a good trap for adult hogs and other larger animals no doubt.I need a bit more experience with them. We have had some dig arounds and under a couple of times but that can happen with any positive set cage trap set up.

if I dont have them tomorrow i will gang set with small traps. I didnt have any on the truck today.

your comstocks are falling apart?

Wonder if you took a AES ground hog trap and put it down the hole . Then braced it so they could not just push it out it would catch them young grounds hogs like the squirrel trap does . With the door reversed it could be a multi catch trap . I don't have any .

We started putting a ring almost every inch on almost all models when we started powder coating all traps last fall. We also add more heavy rings than we ever have, that are placed by hand. I want to thank Warrior for showing me one of his very well used traps. That is what prompted the change.

By reading the posts I can tell there is very much to be learned in how the wire trigger traps can be used no matter the manufacture.


Pesky- The next time you order a Comstock just put in a request to have additional rings added. I am sure Jim will be happy to accomodate.

I guess I posted too late.

The rings aren't rusting out, they are galvanized, but the 15 gage clips at the top of the door may be coming loose, and only on the upper door wire, nowhere else, no losses. The rest of the entire cage is done arduously by hand, heavy clips all around, very slow. Hmmm, here's a revelation, this is just a thought, put on a few hog rings. Guess its easier to complain about a clip on a public forum than to put on a few rings, really.

Kirk knows just how difficult this is, seems impossible sometimes. One small item is not perfect, so toss the baby out with the bath, make sense? There have been so many who have shared their experiences, supportive, good folks and great trappers, skilled, who are looking for better and want to help those trying to make a better product succeed rather than to pick a fight and exert their self importance, so that there are options from what has been out there for so long. Perfect, we are not by a long shot, but offering so many new options and dedicating every waking hour of every day for the past 14 months without a break.

This is and has never been about $. Ryan, please return all product for a full refund immediately. You are not happy and no sense remaining that way. The list of those who have benefited in so many ways is what gives the impetus to continue, all of the positives, so many. When Pesky invents something I will be more than happy to offer a critique as will others, go for it.

I should have a bunch of baby chucks tomorrow, little guys in wire trigger traps. One trapper just mentioned catching a baby skunk that fit in the palm of his hand in a wire trigger trap, no problem, and squirrels by the dozen. Longer trigger wires are the answer, as are other minorly creative innovations, just short of rocket science it would seem. Who would have thunk it? So many trappers have come up with a ton of great ideas, adapting, learning, growing, working with those who have sacrificed so much, thank you and all the Paul Winkelmans for the support and contributions you have made that will benefit all when all the details shake out, and there aren't that many left.

36 comstocks, and counting. My only complaint....I could not unwrap them fast enough.

I bet Jims traps would be the ticket built in a 7"x7"x18" size for smaller animals such as juv hogs and small coon or squirrel size animals.The smaller area would minimize the potential threading thru the wires without pushing the wires.They sure are a slam dunk trap for some applications.No complaints here Jim.Its more of us adjusting as trappers to the trigger set up and adapting to suit some situations more effectively.

Looks like the roller coaster ride is still on in full gear, wouldn't know what to do if we didn't have constant stress anyway. Anyone who has enough respect and decency to contact us directly with issues of any kind has always been treated courteously with the goal toward resolution, period, how to fix it an make it right in any way possible so that all comes out as it should in the field. There is no name calling but I did make a call and left a message day one after the not so nice post left on the ADC site but got no response and have also offered to refund and take back any equipment anyone is not happy with or make it work. Don't know what else can be done. We addressed the issue with coon reaching and pulling lock bars back last year by sending top safety clips at no charge to all who had been using our traps only to find that some clips hung up times, maddening. The simple fix came from a trapper. Just use tight 1/2 x1 mesh, problem solved. In my post on ADC the other day I said "I" might have to spot weld in the future myself," never suggested anyone else spot weld, there for anyone to read. Giving up on a cage trap because hog rings come off is about like returning a car because the tire pressure is low.

We have backed off a bit on advocating the use of smaller cages use in some instances with double door traps, coon mostly, because double door traps are already inherently smaller than single door traps in trigger placement. Though many have used 24 inch wire trigger traps for coon, it would appear that a 30 or 36 in a double door trap is necessary for consistency.

Ever notice how guys using the same equipment have far different results?

I also wondered about small animals. I came to the same questions with smaller animals, wondering how the wire trigs would work, something to adapt to with wire trigs. With pan traps, though baby animals can be taken easily, sometimes the larger animals can simply step over and avoid the pan, thus the reason I adapted and use a "crowding stick or sticks," pushing the large animal into the pan, adapting skills as a trapper.

Adapting with a wire trigger, the trap can be set so that the trigger wires go side to side instead of top to bottom, which pretty much covers the entire opening as mentioned by Paul. Wires can be easily switched out and changed, trading longer wires for shorter to fill the catch box and cover the zone completely. Straight wires from the top can be bent side to side in a T at the bottom to cover the opening, leaving nothing to chance. Stepping sticks as well as narrowing sticks will push a newborn into a trigger in a non miss situation, just basic trapping. Amazing is that even chipmunks and starlings have been able to trip even unmodified wire triggers cages.

Yep, I use cage traps for beaver, and I use CDR and snares, and Baileys, and Hancocks and Belisles, and BMI, 280's, 330's, 660's. I use wire trigger traps for lots of stuff, and Tomahawks and Safeguards. Point is, I use whatever it takes but using wire triggers more all the time as I learn how, but there is a long learning curve figuring how easily to adapt to many circumstances and anything new, just takes some time and when it becomes common knowledge over the years everyone forgets how they got to where they are.

caught two babies in safeguard multi-catch/nothing in the comstock but they were in it!

4 more this afternoon!
stuffed into the safeguard!

I would gladly buy these traps from you. Just let me know how much.

Pictured above with the handsome chuck, looks like an Advance Trap to me?

In response to the uncertainty about small animals, babies, being taken in wire trigger traps, as we stated we would do yesterday, today we caught 4 chucks, 2 tiny babies still nursing and 2 adults in wire trigger traps 18 to 30 inches long without modifying or taking any particular precautions. However, I will admit there is no telling how many times the little ones may have passed through before they fired. Have heard clients in the past say they watched some chuck babies go in and out before one got caught, before narrowing the opening. In this case we wanted to take the adults first, so set for them as usual, nothing new, before working on the small ones today. We put several traps sideways so that they would be more apt to take a small critter, did some narrowing on two more and will see how that pans out tomorrow. After the big ones are gone, when the little ones are tiny, we often use small squirrel pan traps for the kids. Doesn't take much.

Nice looking trap and I don't see any rust . How big is that advanced trap . How big is that multiy catch safe guard trap .

Pesky - You asked?-

The trap pictured is 10" wide and 12" tall and 30" long.

I will explain why it is made to the size and design it is by using Qoutes.



Jim Comstock
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When I put my mechanism in a lockbar design, I wanted to reduce the chance of a coon pulling the lock bar and releasing himself, so I made a longer throw on the door than what I saw on a Comstock. There were other features which essentially make our traps (Comstock and Advanced trap) of different design except for the common door on each end like other traps and the use of a lock bar made of heavier material due to the pressure on the doors that our trigger systems allow.

I had reservations as to trap size in relation to refusals to enter base on actual experience. I decided a 12" Tall x 10" wide trap was best. The trap would be more expensive to build and be larger than a Comstock, but I thought it would make the trapper more successful and have a broader use. The taller wider trap also reduces the wear on the trap the animal expends while waiting to be released. There are exceptions depending on the animal and trap design.

I found in previous years through experience, the 30" or 36" was the most universal to most situations. Those are the sizes I built and have stuck with except in the knew side door designs I have.

Now, having said that, the smaller traps in a ADC setting use are good to have. So since Comstock traps are available in the smaller size with the economy the way it is, I have not offered a smaller designed lock bar trap. I have 8"x 8" guillotine but not the lockbar design.