I have just started using Victor out of site mole trap along with Steve L. traps. I was on the forum and was listening to a talk group and they were talking about mole trapping and the subject came up about fine tuneing Out of site mole trap. They were talking about using can lids, bending the pans etc. Any help down this line would be helpfull. Pic. also alway help. Once in a while there is alway a mole or two and know the game and digs under the trap or around the trap.
Thanks
Ev.

If you get dig outs or dig unders of your mole trap typically you have compressed the tunnel too solidly causing the mole to make a routeing adjustment.A user error in most cases. Many dont understand the tunnel restriction when setting these traps and create their own problems.I never fully block the tunnel. I always leave a finger size passage at the bottom of the tunnel when creating the depression under the pan to encourage the reopening of the run.

I do very little adjustment on my O/S traps. Most are ready to go out of the box except for checking for any machineing shear off burrs that may need attention and keeping the points of contact lubricated with vaseline or some such lubricant to reduce friction.

What Bob said x2

How do you leave a finger size passage under the OOS?

Rickey

I always hit the end of the bail with a file to eliminate that paint booger and slightly round off the edge, and no OOS goes into the ground before I pinch the pan pivot incrementally with a ViseGrips to reduce all that slop. A tuned trap without much friction usually shouldn't require an enlarged pan. Bud's mods eliminate these steps.

I use a dandelion tool to penetrate the run and inspect with my finger to determine direction of the run,feel for traffic use and to determine depth. Once this has been done I lay down my tool parallel to the direction of the run. This is a surface reminder of where the run is going and in which direction allowing me to position the trap in the correct and most effective positive way.

I then insert my index finger into the small pilot hole made with the tool. I pull and tear the sod using my index finger and thumb in a downward direction until my index finger hits the bottom of the tunnel.Once this small area has been pulled down to below surface grade, just about the width of the trap pan there is only about a finger diameter passage left open on the bottom of this depression due to the surface area having been pulled down to create approximately a 3/4 blockage in the tunnel.

This leaves a small suggestive pilot opening just large enough for the moles nose to easily detect the connecting tunnel and air flow coming from the opposite side of the blockage. This type of setting method encourages the natural mole behavior of opening the tunnel with its upward pushing action of its forehead and skull along with a swimming/digging action to reopen the tunnel with its claw like front feet.

We all know of course the result of the moles digging action with the type of trigger firing action of the out of site trap.

Bob,, I catch lots and lots of moles but I cannot catch them in OOS traps. I can catch them quickly and quite easily with spears, eliminators, and Albano traps. Apparently I am doing something wrong while setting the OOS. I even bought one of those stainless steel ones just to try,,,, it got pushed out of the ground time and time again. It got thrown several times with nothing in it.I finally pulled it and set an eliminator and caught the mole in just a few hours. I could have done the same with a spear trap or with an Albano trap. I don't know what I am doing wrong with the OOS. I know those OOS must work or yall wouldn't be using them.Do you not dig a plug for the trap nor make a hump in the tunnel. Are you just pressing it into the ground like an eliminator trap?
Thanks again,
Rickey

I create a hump in the tunnel, I have had very good luck with these traps. I did very little filing out of box before setting. Also, I tore the safetys off as some suggested on here.

Why would you want to remove the saftey latch on the out-of-site traps?
I see some just put soft sand back in the hole. Is this ok or should I replace
the sod? I use Albano traps 100% of the time and need to use something different
in the real dry & sandy soil.
Ev.
MI.

After a time or two of finding sprung traps with the safety inadvertantly left on ( missed capture = lost money) you'll start taking them off. Also, I do carry some sand to back fill holes on occasion. I don't open every tunnel and dig a hole each time I set but if I find a lot of clay that will harden around the trap I build a dam and back fill it with sand.

We use the OOS almost exclusivly now. I have used the Nash and others but always come back to the OOS.
Like discribed above I use a finger to get the depth of the run. It is vital that the trap set deep enough to sweep the bottom of the run as it closes. I use a small spade or trowel to cut the sod on each side of the site to keep the jaws from clogging with sod, and removed the extra dirt if needed to get the trap deep enough.
I then just push the mat of sod down to the bottom and set the trap. The sod acts like a mat to push up against the trigger.
The biggest cause of push outs is dry loose soil that offers no resistance to hold the trap in place. I have used a rebar stake laid through the trap to add weight, but most often just look for a more solid footing for the trap.
When setting I use a finger inside the jaws to hold the trigger down in place so the safety catch has come in handy many times.

When using the OOS trap does anyone ever use a bean can lid under the trap pan and on top of the
dirt bridge?
Ev
MI.

Has anyone ever filed down the upper angle of the pan on a out-of -site trap to give
it a hair trigger. That way you could hold the pan down on the bridge without triggering
the trap and still have a air trigger. Also, doesn't the bridge between the mole openings
have to be as high as the top of the run's the mole makes? I purches some oos traps the
other day and have only set a couple but got one mole on the first set.
Thanks for all the help with using these trap, I am sure I will be using them more this comeing year.
Ev
Mi.

One of the important facts about setting an O/S trap is to make sure the trap jaws are set in a manner to fully fire thru the tunnel upon triggering by the mole. Some set too shallow and by the moles upward motion exerted to open the run it can actually push the trap up high enough that when the trap fires it wont catch the mole.Or the trap is too hard to fire thus allowing it to be pushed up and out of the catch area.

Always make sure your have the end tips of the traps jaws seated firmly in undisturbed soil. This anchoring will ensure a good solid set up. If you are unsure of the traps stability you can push a stake or rod of sorts angled down across the top of the trap to hold the trap firmly in place.This will prevent the trap from being pushed up without firing in the right position.

Like any tool, we all have to master the correct mechanical use for the best end result. Some modifications are needed at times to help facilitate a traps successful function.

Ttt