Brand new to trapping, I have been interested for some time and I have been learning what I can from this forum and YouTube. Anyway I purchase a couple 1.75 Bridgers from a local hardware and a few baits and lures and made a couple sets over Christmas in 3 days I caught 3 coyotes and am now hooked. I am wanting to purchase several traps and get serious about this but my question is Ohio law states 5-3/8” inside spread or up to 6” with 5/16 jaw surface and 3 swivel joints what are my best trap options? I have been beating my brain over this because to me the 1.75 Bridger is not ideal for coyotes. But to move up to a #2 Bridger I have to get laminated jaws which puts me in the $17-18 range For that price you can buy the mb550. Anyway I’m at a loss with our laws what would you all recommend for mainly coyotes and occasional fox if they happen along my set? Sorry for the long post just wanting experienced opinions thanks

I've taken lots of coyotes her in Michigan with Duke's 1 3/4 offset 4x4s

The 550 is a great trap for yotes or foxes , is a lot of trap and you can't hurt them they are a tank

Montana #2's

Trap shed: guy there has 50 #3 longsprings for $8 ea if u buy all.($9 ea otherwise)
One of the best yote traps imho. Never lost a yote in one.

I believe the No BS K9 Extreme Jrs meet those regulations. They are also one tank of a trap and I actually prefer them over the 550. I have a bunch of both but I will be replacing 550s with Extreme Jrs when I need more traps.

I believe the No BS K9 Extreme Jrs meet those regulations. They are also one tank of a trap and I actually prefer them over the 550. I have a bunch of both but I will be replacing 550s with Extreme Jrs when I need more traps.

#3 long at work. Caught this AM. How i attach chain to bottom(run em like that for 20 yrs now)

Long springs will work just fine but I hate to have to dig those huge trap beds In frozen or In heavy clay ground.
I'm not sure what the jaw spread Is on a Duke #2 square jawed trap. But for the money they make a decent fox or coyote trap.

I would buy #2 dogless bridgers or mb 550.If you buy other traps,by the time you modify them and fix the chains you will have the price of the traps you should of bought in them.

Thanks for the input, I was kind of long winded in my question, but that was my point I’m looking hard at the mb550 but have read some on here that some say it’s to small the #2 Bridger has a larger jaw spread but in order to be legal I need to either buy them laminated or laminate them. I think I will buy a dozen mb’s And give them a try. They seem to be the best bang for the $ without needing to many modifications to run them.

I bought two dozen of the Duke square jaw in offset (5 7/8") and have found them to be a good trap for the money. I use a lot of the Bridger #2 dogless and have no complaints

Brad, what part of Ohio are you located? I'm in NW . I've got some Montana #2s , not the predator pros but they work great on yotes. They come with bubble tipped jaws and other than the dogs are weak on them, they are a good budget trap. I've caught many coyotes in them and the dog is the only thing I've had to bend back in shape. If you're not too far away I'll let you take a few and see if you like them or not.

If you aren't in a hurry.....watch the trap shed here.


I run fully modified Bridger #2s and love them. The MBs have a great reputation and obviously take fur....but the jaw shape/spread is just not for me. Just not a fan of oval shaped or round jaws. Seems like a waste of space to me lol.

As recommended, maybe pick up a couple different traps and see what YOU like.

I like owning 1 land trap so I have 1 trap bed to learn. I've tried a few and decided I liked the Bridgers.


Everyone has their different likes and dislikes. But a mostly coyote trap, I'd like something a little bigger than a 550.....though they work for other guys... trapping is a game of fractions of an inch. One way to change the odds is a bigger trap. I don't wanna see a 45 pound coyote caught by a toe or 2. I wanna see him wearing a trap above his pad.

We have way more coyote than fox, and I run mostly MB550s other than the couple dozen KOs that I have. No complaints here, and I have very few toe catches. I’m trapping big eastern dogs, and if I could get my pictures to post, I could show you all kinds of pictures of MB550s with full pad catches on big dogs. Bigger traps give you more room for mistakes as far as target area is concerned, but when the ground freezes solid, I still run footholds, and that bigger trap bed can be a lot tougher to dig. I can bed 3 smaller traps in frozen ground to every 2 bigger traps. That’s one extra set per stop in the same amount of time. More sets will get you more animals than bigger traps in my opinion, but you know what they say about opinions. There’s a pretty accomplished trapper here that has his own TV show. He runs nothing but 1.75 Dukes with no modifications, and holds our big eastern dogs no problem. You just have to get better at guiding and knowing where the animal wants to step with a smaller trap, but I wouldn’t worry much about a smaller trap giving you toe catches. If you are getting toe catches, that’s either a commitment problem or a pan tension problem. Either make them step down and commit, or raise your pan tension so the trap doesn’t fire until the animal has committed. I think you will be happy with the 550s, and if you don’t like them, they are one of the easiest traps other than Jakes or MJs to get rid of in the shed.

I’m not sure I would change anything if I could catch 3 dogs in a couple traps over 3 days. I’m jealous. The mb550 is one heckuva trap

Victor Montgomery dogless , offset,#2 should fit the bill.