Micros, slim, mini cams

thanks

Cam locks are not legal in KY. Slim locks work well.

In order of preference micro, Amberg and cam locks(with teeth) .

Anthony

I dont trap in just KY.

mini cam locks are by far my favorite, toothed or not for everything I snare.

Slim for yotes and beaver
Bmi mini and low pro for mink

ADC

I am looking at the black dog mini cams on dakotaline snares. I likethe fact they are very small but I can still see the lock at a distance to know if my snare is down or not. But the slims I have off a few snares from Newt vanish

Adams for fox and cats and Amberg or Thompson(with kill spring) for wolf.

stainless steel slim locks from Newt.

Gregerson

NEWT'S MASTER LOCK

Which is Stainless Steel

ACP super relax when in eastern dog areas or Newts Master lock. But they all work if the snaremen knows how to load a cable to the lock.

Those are good locks.

If I had to choose a one piece lock it would be a BMI mini lock. If I had to choose a "relaxing" lock it would be the Newt's lock.

I've been using death blow cam locks and I'm happy with them. A guy a few miles away is using over sized cam locks on 5/64 1x19 cable and I snare at least one a year wearing one of his around their neck after they chew out! They are always full of hair and loose.

Not sure what brand he uses but I have a pic.

micro lock and lo pro for foxes

DS80, it could be that he's using the wrong size lock but they usually lock down even on 5/64 pretty well. The troubles I think are more likely than a bad lock is a non-loaded snare with too big of a loop so they are getting the snare low on the neck and then lack of sufficient entanglement to wrap them up tight and dispatch them.



Those are ok if you don't have a deer stop or want live caught foxes.

I love entaglement.
I don't want live caught anything.

Entanglement is not needed if you use a good lock along WITH a kill/dispatch spring and the proper anchor/tie off.

i have and want neither haha,,thou both locks are sold as relaxing locks........brilliant for me as we cant use locking locks

Almost never had a dead, full-winter caught coyote in slim-locks. Heavy northern neck hair + slim lock +/- entanglement= live coyote for me in 1x19 or 7x7 5/64

Slim loc's are my go to for my area. We get a lot of wet snow and freezing rain that puts most loc's out of commission. The slim loc cuts through the hore frost and ice build up on the snare pretty easy and I have yet to have a critter back out of a snare with them. Can not say the same with cam or micro loc's.

In my experience the slim lock will not always lock up tight. The problem I have occasionally experienced is that the short protrusion on it catches up in the thick coyote neck fur and does not lock up on the cable as it's designed to do. Whereas with micro locks with a 50# compression spring I get quick dispatches even without entanglement.

Had too many live catches with the death blows , switched to Bridgers and have less than half now . A bigger lock for sure but closes quick and holds tight on 1/16 1x19 cable . Any lock that catches down deep on heavy furred coyotes is gonna have trouble dispatching them .

Both are good locks but any lock used for coyote should be used in conjunction with a kill or dispatch compression spring. It's my experience when such is used and set up and tied off properly the dispatch will be very quick with very few, if any, live catches or water heads, but shyte does occasionally happen.

The lock does not dispatch,lock just prevents the loop from opening.Constant force on the wire(gravity,or spring) against a lock that wont slip dispatches.

This works best for me

I gave up on camlocs also. Rain and freeze cost me a couple coyotes again this year. I also like the slim lock.

Do you use springs with them? I run 1x19 5/64 with a compression spring. I have 6-8' of extension and about 5' snare. It's rare for me to have any alive on a check. I even hip caught a big male last year and he wasn't alive the next morning. They get so tight I have a hard time cutting the snare at the end of the spring when it's compressed.

I have tried a lot of different locks over the years. I have not tried the slim lock. I have gone to the mini death blow cam lock. I snare open country with very little entanglement. I make my snares long (13 feet) of 1/16 1x19 cable with a seneker type kill spring. I do not use the trigger.
This year I had 3 live coyotes out of 49. It happens when the cable tangles short and they can't hit the end of the snare hard and set the spring. No water heads and no chew outs this year. Most of them are just DRT with no entanglement.

I like the slims because they disappear on a set.

For you senneker spring set users, I tried some of the magnums this on a 13ft snare with a 6ft extension. 1/16 1x19, 3 coyotes caught using that snare. All 3 alive. Not by a lot but alive. And really seemed to make the loop sett weird bc of the weight of the spring. Compression springs however....I don't think Ihave ever caught anything alive with it combined with entanglement and cams.
Here we don't get a lot of snow or freezing rain. But the mini death blows even without a dispatch spring, ball game. No live catches. Engagement and they are done. Thinking next year it will be deathblow minis and compression spring for a try.

I was hesitant to try the seneker style springs because it seem like a lot of stuff hanging out there. I can't see a difference in refusals. I really don't see the need for the magnum springs. Most of my coyotes only manage to compress the standard springs half way and they are dead. I try to lay out my excess cable so it will free spool when the coyote takes off. I want them to hit the end hard. My live ones this year fouled the cable and shortened their run. Probably my fault for not laying it out properly.

Good info MT

Yes , I run practically the same setup as you but use 1/16" cable and M artys springs , some magnums some regs. . Ive gone to 5/64 locks on the small cable and had much less trouble this year . All my caught dogs have to be cut out . I know the big locks dont plug like the small ones . I had deathblows that gripped tight but plugged and wouldnt slide down far enough to cinch up tight .

I believe a person can get a setup that is too long ..a shorter length , 10- 12 ft makes them panic and fight snare harder in my experience. Key is whatever works for you keep doing it .. not a fail proof system out there that works 100% of the time for anyone .

whats every ones thoughts on adding a slight bent to a micro lock? to make it bite slightly more, I recently done a few in a vice with a tap from a hammer for slider cables

My opinion,,, waste of time on a snare. Those type locks require a bur on the hole to bite into the cable and make them lock solid, after one or MAYBE 2 uses that bur is gone and you have a lock that will never again lock down and stay there tightly. Just use them once and throw them away or use them knowing you'll likely not quickly dispatch anything with them short of in great entanglement. They are marketed as relaxing locks for this reason IMO. On a drowner cable on the other hand the extra bend makes them very similar to the "L locks that are common to drowners and certainly couldn't hurt a thing. It won't matter if there's a little play at the end of the drowner.

Just to clarify the issue concerning micro locks. In my experience micro locks are a great lock for quick and efficient dispatches under the timbered conditions I have trapped in when the snare is constructed and set up properly.

My preferred and most efficient coyote/wolf snare:
--6 ft of 1X19 5/64 cable with end swivel for attaching +/- 6 ft extension to it.
--using a 3/32 micro lock on 5/64 loaded cable.
--50 lb compression spring



The reason for using a 3/32 micro lock on 5/64 cable is the tighter the bite (angle) the tighter the pinch. Another thing to maybe consider is that a slightly larger lock size than cable size will close faster due to less friction than with a matched cable to lock size.

In wooded areas tie off high and SOLID in most situations to a tree or something that does not bend. A solid tie allows for solid locking and tying high keeps the snare and lock high up on the back of the neck by forming an angle of about 45 degree from the animal to the snare tie/anchor point. This will make the snare set up on the neck just behind the ears where the carotid arteries are most exposed, which is the desired kill zone for a snare. Also, if the coyote pulls backwards the snare will be over top of its head and it won’t be able to chew and the snare will pull up to the base of the skull. If unable to tie high and solid, use SHORTER snare, SMALLER loop and tie off low and SOLID still providing about a 45 degree cable catch angle.

With this snare set up and method of setting I get quick dispatches with little site disturbance and little,if any, head edema. I have also occasionally had coyotes DOA at the end of the snare without entanglement.

Good info tomcat

Agreed!

Tt

When I started years ago I bought Thompson snares. So I am still using their locks. Just replacing the cable after catches.

I’ve been using the senneker shock lock for about a year now and have had fantastic results with 5/64 1x19 with standard kill springs both coil and mini torq. I honestly can not think of a single chew out or live coyote this winter.

I snare a lot of open, no entanglement trails and they are pretty much just stretched out dead most of the time able to just hook up another snare to previous location on trail. I guess I’m pretty sold on this setup for the time being.

Where legal, the Ram is still my favorite (with my design trigger). I have set and run 85 Rams/yr when coyotes are worth the effort. The first ones I bought were 12.00 from the manufacturer back in 1999 -2000 and they came with 3/32" snares. You can put a lock on but I don't. Some of these catch circle (if you look at the previous photos) is bigger when compared to any Ram catch. The Ram circle is smaller and death seems quicker from "my side of the fence". I have been fortunate enough to see 2 coyotes hit my regular snares at a run with 10' of cable and different (regular/commonly sold) locks and kill springs. Both dogs got flipped but were still plenty alive when I got there - too big of a catch circle for the time they were there I thought. Have used kill springs on reg. snares for as long as they have been popular (8-10 yrs). I can use Rams by road crossings without the concern that someone will see a live coyote jumping or dashing around until he hits all the other lock types hard enough to succumb. With a/my re-designed trigger I have caught rabbits, squirrels, badgers, tons of coons, skunks and a few pheasants to show the sensitivity over the original manufacturer's trigger. Grab a stake with the small metal plate welded to it and a hammer and you are ready to plant it. No need to to have a #9 wire support (I use a 6 "-16 ga. piece wired to the spring), no driver or extra cable to tie off to a tree. Unfortunately the costs are always a consideration when fur trapping so these smaller setups fit better if NEEDING 50-200 sets. ... My experience....................... the mike