I don't prefer one over the other. I prefer to have both.

Every location is different and it's good to have the best trap for the job at your disposal.

When I first started out I thought standardizing my equipment was the way to go but that soon lead to compromising. I've found a variety of sizes and types suits me far better.

Throw Back, sorry about that "dumb question" thing. I was thinking of something entirely different when I wrote it. Lord knows I've

asked more than my share of questions!

sqs answer was the best one I've read so far. That part about "standardizing equipment leading to compromising" sure hit home for me.

Paul - its the dumb answers that really throw me for a loop.

everyone could shoot a few more ducks.

Threadjacking here.... but you mean to tell me teal season ended here in georgia in September and the teal are still 900 miles north of me?

I think the important thing is add your 2 cents without subtracting others 2 cents or the total is zero. We can't learn from others experiences if we don't listen (read). You can't listen if your concentrating on talking (typing)

Double door traps seem to be best when using live bait. The responses have been the most in testing. Here it is not legal to use live bait, but if you lock the doors open it is legal to see how the animals respond. The presentation is the key and having the holding cage to best make the bait comfortable and still give maximum attraction.

With a double door trap, to get the animals to lose it, is to use a very active bait such as a pigeon. I chose white ones cause the grower said the hawks always kill the white ones first. I used two females and a male so the male was constantly after the females to keep movement. I tried various types of bait cages and configurations. One of the best ones was to place a bait cage the same length of the trap next to a round existing hay bale and place the trap next to it and cover all with loose hay. When set the approaching animal flushes the birds causing them to fly to the other side, leading the predator right into the trap. This will work with a pan trigger or a conventional pan trigger. If the doors are not powered the trap must be longer. I set a critter collector on the hay to attract predators to the set. The camera showed much activity and every predator that was in the camera field went in the trap. The difference was when the trap was set in the woods off of a field. I still got activity , but not as much. The predators were also not quite as aggressive about going in. I believe it was the presentation. I was using a wire trigger trap. In the woods I placed a smaller bait cage in width on the floor next to the side on the inside wall of the trap. I believe the hay set just looked more natural than a new object set in the woods with brush on it. Even had snakes come in looking.

By using a standard double door design it was easy to take a bait cage with live bait and place on one end. This worked well but, not as well as the above description with a big bait cage next to a hay bale. Bobcats seemed to react best to having the bird in the back in a standard cage, as a single door set. The other animals entered but not in a run. The single door set would probably be the best set for gravity door cages.

The cage I used also had access doors on the sides (in the middle) for a regular bait cage. This allowed for an animal depending on the trigger used to enter with a feeling of more security and allow for a shorter trap. For example: If a wire trigger is used the trigger is set to where the animal will set off when working or stick its head in the bait cage. This forces the animal to turn allowing for a shorter distance the animal has to be in the trap to get caught when the trap fires. By having a center bait or access door it also makes it easier to adjust trigger, whether a pan or not. If you use a 4 way wire trigger set 14" or more above the floor it reduces the chances of catching a small animal such as a coon or grey fox.

There was an advantage here in using live bait. We don,t have harsh winters. Water and food easily keeps the birds fed for 7 to 10 days without having to disturb or leave human scent. They are constantly messing, making attractant. Depending on the set up, the birds are comfortable as if they were In a coop. Trap can be checked from a long distance.

Something else I did, I made a slot 2" wide in the center of the trap. This allowed me to make a dirt hole in the center of the trap and fill with lure or bait. The animal has to turn working the slot to be able to dig, firing the trap.

Something also that can be done ,depending on the size of the trap and the construction of the trigger, a pee post can be placed in the center of the trap. If a pan trigger is used you just make the pan a little narrower to set the post when using a standard pan type trigger.

Probably the best presentation Would be to have a live bait cage placed between two double doored cages. Cover with grass and hay. The only way the predator could get to the bait would be to go in the trap. The caught animal would help catch the next one in the trap on the other side.

I know of a man that is suppose to be trying that this month.

I have shot ducks in my native Wisconsin whose slogan is, "Wait until the northern ducks get here!" So I went north and hunted in

Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba and the locals in all three provinces said and I quote, "Wait until the northern ducks get here!"

So I finally went to Alaska for big game but while I was there, I managed to get in a lot of duck hunting and I shot some really

trophy mallards. So we're taking pictures ( I actually guided two guys from California on the King Salmon river ) when this native

Alaskan Indian comes up and says, "Nice mallards, but you should see the size of the northern birds!" I am not making this up.

lol yeah Jeremy. The blue wings went through back in Sept, there are a few of them still here, but the green wings are like flies. Saturday was our opening day for the southern zone. we have flocks buzzing us from every direction. the green wings will be here until ice around mid Dec as with the woodies. We have a year round black duck population but Dec, they will really be here, those northern birds with the red legs. lol that is when our mallards and pintail come in hard also along with the widg, blue bills and broadies, ruddies, buffys, cans and redheads. and if there is limited ice they will be here the whole season. Then just 50 mins drive east to the coast I can get I can get sea ducks, I really love the long tails. First migration of Canada's are coming in right now along with our res, and the snows will be here to stay in another few weeks along with the brant. so you can see why I want to hunt ducks, this is what I wait for LOL








and to keep the post on track

Tis that time of year that most of us look forward too. Most of us old timers were hunters,fishermen and trappers long before the early nuisance wildlife era came to pass.

The outdoors called to me at a very early age. So much so that I lived in a tent in our cow pasture on our farm every summer for many years until my late teens.My dad had no outdoors interests, he just worked alot on the road as a salesman for many years until he retired.Mom was a teacher until her retirement. They humored their son the best they could.

I guess we can blame it on the milk man.

Then there was this young man with all these off the wall interests in bugs, birds and animals. Now look where it took me. Its been a good ride and I can honestly say I walked my own path in this world. I dont really think I would change too much if I had a choice.

Trapping season is almost here again and I am ready to roll shortly. Nothing more enjoyable then being out in fields and along the waterways.Seeing, smelling and hearing nature in motion is what keeps me going.

I agree with the whole standardized scenario. However trying to keep every tool at your disposal is near impossible, unless maybe your service vehicle is a W900 with a 53 foot van lol. The key is finding a handful of good quality traps you can multi task with. The only honest way to determine what those traps will be is experience in your area. So I agree with the whole standardized quote almost, I'm more of a semi standardized kinda guy. If you guys are carrying one of everything then I see why the sprinter van's are so popular on here.

Travis, your absolutely right. That why I like to use equipment that packs as many options as possible into one package.

Not to keep beating the same drum but that's the main reason I like two doors on my traps and of the many two door options I prefer one spring bar door and one guillotine on the same trap.

You can accomplish the same thing with a two door trap with a flush mount at one end. Add the power doors, and you can set upside down too. There is a chimney adapter too. Good trap to standardize with.

I am going to buy me a bunch of double doors what the best one to get LOL

very nicely wrote Bob and so true, the old dogs on here long for the outdoors and you can see it in them. hey by the way got 2 wood duck this morning.

Heading out to pack and ship some orders, set up and check a mole job, come back and mix a bunch of dry dirt/peat in the cement mixer then meet with my accountant early this evening for 3rd Qtr. payroll tax prep. All in a days work.

Good deal on the wood ducks Ron. I wish I lived closer to a good fly way as I use to really enjoy duck and goose hunting when I use to have the time. Only thing better then hunting waterfowl is eating them.

So far I haven't come up with an all purpose trap for our two most popular species, squirrels and raccoons. The squirrels seem to hop

right over the pan on the raccoon traps but even more difficult is squeezing the raccoons into those 5 inch squirrel cages.

Fields development has a very good system for squirrels and the one we use most of the time along with a small excluder.Squirrels in my experience need to be forced or squeezed into the smallest area if possible. If trying to single catch a bit larger is best.

Never used a coon sized trap for squirrels but have caught some as incidentials on occasion when set for other animals on the ground.

Your post made me think how inefficient it would be to trap a squirrel in a $100 coon trap. Leading to the thought....that squirrel trapping is more profitable than coon. Hmmm. Off in a new direction of thought....

But...yeah....we use smaller traps for sq.

As long as Mr. Jameson is on here, I need to tell him how correct he is about setting raccoon cages on the ground. Our guys probably

average 10 hours a day in the field. I don't have near as many customers and I probably average 2 or 3 hours a day in the field.

( Some of the guys claim it's more like 2 or 3 minutes but that's not true ) Anyway, all of my raccoon cages are on the ground and

just for kicks I added up everyone's raccoon total for the last 6 months. The other 6 guys averaged a little over 100 raccoons for

those 6 months, while I caught over 200. Thanks Mr. Jameson; lesson learned!