in your guys opinion...........have they helped helped or hurt?? have they caused to much production of coon? does it take the art of trapping away?

Helped the industry. Lots of young boys and girls have been introduced to trapping since there inception. Maybe more coon on the market, but more trappers. That’s a plus in my books.

I agree with pawnee , its help with people trapping close to homes ,no cats or dogs getting caught ,

Helped.
They are just another tool, and are not the end all of coon traps in my arsenal for sure. I've had many coon go right past one only to end up in a 160 a short distance down same trail. Sometimes coon are not interested in food for whatever reason.
I still get a lot in footholds too.
But, dog proofs have helped me.get coon where I wouldn't have otherwise, and I have one farm where it's the only trap my landowners let me use on their property.
They have been around for a long, time too. These are not a new tool by any means. I have half a dozen original duffers DPs from early 90s that i am.still using, and some of the original coon cuff prototypes too. I remember buying some very expensive egg traps in early 90s and thinking we these are going to revolutionize the barn trapping scene. Well...loking back...maybe not so much but they were an innovative tool. Marketing and production may have moved the duke cylinder DPs and other models up the choice ladder in recent years for many, but certainly not a new tool by any stretch.
Lots of kids and new trappers using the DPs today too...which we need our future to grow and sustain...so that is a good thing for sure.
Have they caused coon to flood the market? No way. Lots of other factors their and mostly overpaying, weather, etc lead to overproduction.
DPs have a good PR surrounding them and that too is way important for all of us.
Jim

I think they are a great thing. My 5 year old son has a small pack basket with 3 dogproofs, a bag of marshmallows, a bottle of carmel syrup and some cavens moonshine. He hasnt put one in the ground yet but I find him looking at them and admiring his basket.

I believe they have helped, Dog Proofs help gain access to properties and farms and limit incidental catches. Trappers still need to understand the art of trapping in order to be productive- understanding animal movement, setting on sign, using different baits/lures at different times of the season , etc. With that said, yes- anyone can stick a DP in the woods with little effort or knowledge... they're also are not the ones piling up fur and creating an overproduction of coons.

Way back in the early 70's we would take a small square of plywood bore a hole in the center and bed a trap then lay the hole over the pan ,So DP's are noting new

I made a comment a few years ago to give a dozen away every year. If I hear of a kid even remotely interested I set them up with 3 ZTraps, stakes, and bait. Give them some pointers and tell them to have a good time.

They have gained me access to properties I otherwise wouldn't have trapped. More than once I've demonstrated one to a farmer and/or his wife, and once they are satisfied the barnyard dog is safe, they are happy to let me thin out the coon population.

Well, that depends on what you use for bait.

My only complaint with this trap is its name: Dog Proof. It is not. That was a marketing ploy. And it worked and the name gets you on the farm.

And I really don't care much for the title of Enclosed Trigger Trap. Too much.

Could have been simpler. Tube Trap comes to mind, probably better ones out there.

But DP it is. And they are a great addition to the 'coon line.

We aren't killing a tiny fraction of the number of coon we did in the 1980's. In 1987, there were 480,000 coons harvested in the state of Iowa alone. You cannot overtrap coons.

My thinking is that they're no simpler to catch coons with than any other trap. A raccoon basically has all of god's green earth to walk upon, and the goal of trapping is to get it to stick it's paw, out of all the places it could possibly stick it's paw, in to an area that's about 1-1 1/2" circle, whether that's inside a dog proof or on the pan of a duke 1 1/2 in front of a pocket set in a creek. Either way, you've got to be where the raccoon is and you've got to get it to stick it's paw where you need it to.

I suppose maybe they're easier to bait and maintain though.

im glad you guys all agree with me....I was into a conversation with a fella a few weeks ago who disagrees....blames them for the over production and decline of the price structure of coon and said dog proofs are just for lazy trappers......I tried to explain to him that its world economies that are dictating the crappy market and most hard working trappers including me......use them. although I prefer a 1.5 coil or #11 in a trail set they..... most cert have their place in the arsenal.

Thought the same thing when the conibear in a bucket set took off back in the day. Anybody can make that set, dump it anywhere, and catch coon. Just another method.

The Beav took the same kind of flak for suppressed 'rat prices due to an overabundance of harvested muskrats when he teamed up with Frank Conibear and came out with the first body grip traps. Got to a point where the Beav wanted no part of the publicity and therefore the trap became known as the Conibear trap.

Honest and accurate.
Mac

LOL

The only way I see DP's as a detriment is that they don't teach you things which help in trapping other critters. Such as bedding traps, or blind sets, or guiding foot placement, etc. In my experience the foothold is more effective in catching, but DP's make that up in the numbers that one is able to set compared to footholds.

I for one don't believe that DPs are that great of a coon trap or should I say coon set.

HELPED!!