I've never used drags, but have some areas where I'd like to set wolf traps closer to some roads than I have been, but where I'd also prefer a catch gets out of sight a bit. For those who've used drags, do you find there are typical behaviors when a canine is trapped as far as where it heads first? Head downhill? Head to dense cover? etc?

Some of my line hugs some property borders and I'd like avoid them heading in the wrong direction, or decide against using drags if there's a low chance of predicting their initial travel direction. I'm sure there are no guarantees but curious if there are fairly typical patterns with where they usually head first when caught.

You can force the initial direction when needed by driving a rod that is angled towards where you want the animal to go and hooking the drag to it.

So if you want him to go to the right, the stake looks like this slash.../...
Left is ....\...

How far is this stake from your trap be for the animal gets in your trap.

I have yet to catch a wolf on a steel drag but have had other canines stopped by the drag,too close to a road,causing loss of the animal and trap.I think each situation might just be a judgement call.In Montana,we have a 50 yd setback rule on public land(wolf sets) and it makes trapping some canyons very difficult.

You might also ask this on the Idaho Chat forum and possibly even the Wilderness forum.The guys in Alaska often use log drags and a few use steel grapples

Good luck this season.

I max out the chain.

Sniper,I've heard of people using that method but have yet to try it.So do you see fairly consistent results?Thanks.

Kinda but on my ground, the coyotes don't get far on drags

Thanks for mentioning the Idaho Chat, I have been on these forums for years and never realized that existed.

Mike Laughlin feels that wolf/coyote will jump back from the trap/trap bed the way he approached, like when you stick your finger in fire. So you might want to control approach.

I enjoy going there myself.I'm sure you will be welcomed.Nice bunch of guys.

I lost my first wolf caught On a drag. It ran out Into the logging road and never left any sign and as far as I went It never left the road.

Never trapped a wolf. But a bunch of coyotes and fox using drags. They always head for the brush 99% of the time.

Robert Waddell showed the angled rod with a drag pre hooked last year at the national. Said he uses it when he wants a coyote off the road and into the brush .

Stickbowhunter from here showed me that trick years ago.
I saw him over the weekend. He looked well and was in good spirits.

Never caught a wolf but like Beav says if they hit the road it will be a tough act to follow. I caught this coyote along a sod field one time that ran across the field with the drag. It went into some tall grass and got a bunch of grass wadded around the drag times then it took off. This is the drag when I finally found it.


The only thing I could see was the individual grass blades bent over in a line when I got the sun just right. I was not even sure it was the trail until I found it over 1/2 mile away. This was with one of those big O'Gorman drag and 10' of pretty heavy chain.




Most coyotes and fox go right down hill or to the closest thick brush. Every once in a while you get one that does exactly what you do not want it to do. Not sure abound a wolf. I bet they can really go with a drag if they got on open ground.

i have a theory I've developed over the years of trapping coyotes in the desert, so a couple different variables right off than what you're looking to do but it has helped me find a few coyotes. Every year outwest I experience some bad windstorms, normally good tracking ground until you get 70 mph winds that wipe out drag marks. I use 3 tools, to find a coyote. Sight, hearing and last but not least my dog. Checking traps while the wind is still blowing like that is miserable but needs to be done. On one of these days even my dog didn't want to be sand blasted in the face looking for a coyote. Can't blame he didn't have sun glasses on like I did. I put him back in the truck tied a sweatshirt around my face and started walking. A couple broken pieces of mesquite revealed the coyote started off sort of making a half circle until he came back to the prevailing wind direction than a nervous animal continued traveling with the wind in his face. I thought that made a lot of sense to me. And it has helped me find quite a few coyotes with no trail to follow an awful long ways sometimes. I don't think it's a guarantee but a good place to start when you've got nothing, point your nose or your dogs nose into the wind!

Great to see you posting JP. Did not get a chance to talk to you at Olson's, you always seemed busy.
Take care

Over the past several years in Idaho, I've caught dozens of wolves in MB750s or LPCs on drags. Much prefer drags to staking or cabling. Wolves, surprisingly, generally don't go ballistic like coyotes when the trap fires. Based on several videos and series of still images from trail cameras, they generally walk off from the trap site rather than bolt. Probably 95% of the time, they go down hill and toward the thickest cover they can find. The only time I will ever use hard-wiring (staking or cabling) for wolves is if I'm expecting a big blow or an imminent snow event, or if I'm in grizzly country. Chances of them tearing up a foot or having a trap mark (reducing the value for taxidermy) is much greater with a hard-wired trap than with a drag. If you're in thick cover, use shorter chains (6-7'). In more open country, use a full 10' of chain. Longer the chain, quicker the hang-up. If you can't follow the drag mark, use a dog (even my old Brittany was great at it, my current Hangin' Tree is a master). In Idaho, must have the tracking dog on a leash, as wolves are classified as big game.

Hope this helps.

Jack

Hangin tree ? Pictures please .

Hangin' Tree Cow Dogs. Google them. Only picture I can find is with my dog (Gusto) on his first wolf when he was in training. Since that time, he's recovered several wolves, coyotes, and a couple of foxes for me. Wouldn't be without him.



Jack