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What is a good 330 for the price? Are Dukes and Bridgers decent or junk? I know Belisle is supposed to be the best but they are pricey. I've never done any beaver trapping but they are tearing up the backside of our farm. Good time to learn.
Canebrake, I use Duke 330's with no problems. I am by no means a professional beaver trapper but they work well for keeping the beavers in check on my farm. Eric
for 10 more dollars i'd go belisle. they are a magnum meaning they close all the way, have hooks that stay where you put them and a great trigger. That's all i use. tried others and they got sold. I can start a fire with flint and steel but I use a bic lighter. Not that extreme with bg's but you won' regret getting a better trap. snares might be a good option also
But with a beaver sized critter I don't see any advantage. Since the springs are only traveling as far as the critter will let them. I can see It If you were trapping frogs or snakes.
Magnums are good if you have muskrats tripping your traps. The rats will pay for the difference in price the first year you use them. And they are eliminated so they can't spring the trap before a beaver. I have caught lots of tail caught rats in 330 magnums.
^^^^^^^^^^^^ Right on, that's the prime advantage of full closure traps and well worth the extra money.
True, but if a person joins the 330 club by pinching themselves in such a set, the situation could turn out extra bad. I guess a trapper just has to evaluate if that increased hazard is worth the advantage they provide. I can see both sides.
Well where I trapped beaver they had no rats so It wasn't a issue for me. And with the price of rats I would rather push the triggers off to one side and not have them plugging my beaver traps.
^^^^^^^^^^^^ Right on, that's the prime advantage of full closure traps and well worth the extra money.
True, but if a person joins the 330 club by pinching themselves in such a set, the situation could turn out extra bad. I guess a trapper just has to evaluate if that increased hazard is worth the advantage they provide. I can see both sides.
There are these things called setters and rope, though if you join the more exclusive double handed 330 club, your in trouble unless you have a partner with you.
Do yourself a favor and buy an RTS setter and a safety device for holding the jaws from closing until you have the trap secured in place. Here's a pic of a simple safety device. All supply places sell them. Good luck.
This is why I like the magnum jaws of a Belisle. Caught and held this XL otter by three toes in this 330. He reached for the fishing lure I had on the trigger and would have been an empty, sprung trap if the jaws weren't magnum.
Real name Eric The sharpest hammer in the box of crayons.
Since you are just starting out, I would recommend something like Dukes. Not magnums. I have used Belisles, but I do not recommend them to folks new to 330 trapping, as it is a bear to get yourself out of when you join the 330 club.
Since you are just starting out, I would recommend something like Dukes. Not magnums. I have used Belisles, but I do not like them as the springs are a bear to set and they are a bigger bear to get yourself out of when you join the 330 club.
That's odd, I think they are the easiest compared to duke and bridgers to compress.
I find the Belisle to be pretty easy to set and place in the field. My 330 and 120 sized traps are all Belisle now because I went down the standardization path. Every time I pick up, set, or otherwise handle it is always the same. Same triggers and same safety’s. My indoctrination into the 330 club was beaver trapping using Belisle 330’s. Take your lumps and move on.
How do you tune the trigger john? I don't think I've ever tuned mine & they seem to work fine.
In the interim waiting for John to chime in. There's a tutorial in here somewhere showing how to round file the trigger so it makes complete contact with the jaw. There's another modification along that line in the same tutorial. Well worth doing. I wish I knew where to find it.
I have both standard and magnum dukes. Only difference is the magnums have retard strong springs. I order the standards the nags can be a struggle even with setters.
I use both duke and bridgers , they both are regular ,I get beaver and otter and rats with them. Just set the trigger right you will be ok. By the way I did got a brook trout in one last season. That is the first for me to get a trout. If that help how close the traps is .
Last edited by coydog2; 01/02/2012:03 PM.
Life member of DAV,NTA,NRA,ITA.Also member of FTA,CBA
Closing all the way? Most critters are at least 3" to 4" thick so what's the difference if the trap closes all the way.
Dukes work for me.
Agreed, dukes work good and for the price you cant beat em. Dont see the point in spending more $$ for a different trap that wil do the same job. just make sure you tune them up so the fire good!
I prefer not to catch critters by the feet because In most cases things don't go well for the critter since there Is no swiveling action And when they get tangled up It gets worse and things go south In hurry.
I guess if I were to be starting out buying traps why not buy the best traps for the money. Belisle . I too have caught otter and beaver by the tails and toes in Belisles. I am not setting to catch them that way but stuff happens. Would you rather be skinning a critter or looking at a empty snapped Duke ? Been there . Learned my lesson.
For references i have toe caught and missed a coyote with a MB-650 but have caught and held a coyote in a $7 wolf creek number two perfect pad catch. Beaver have pulled out of Mb-750's or TS-85s but been held dead in a duke #3. Belisles are great traps they aren't the second coming of Jesus though and the only conibear that should or could ever be used. It is possible to catch animals rather well with other brands. I believe this notion is lost on some. Trappers are respectfully brand loyal to a fault sometimes.
I have had empty 330s. Could be a number of things that can set one off. I witnessed a piece of ice float into one and set it off. Why would a toe catch be any more inhumane than catching one in a coilspring set for coon or rats ?
I dug this thread back up to make a correction. I was whining about the springs on a Belisle being a bear to set. I meant to say that about Bridger Magnums. Bridger Magnums are indeed whine-worthy in my opinion. I have one where both springs went all the way around the corners and met in the middle, jamming themselves against the dog. I was battling with it for about ten minutes without success. I figured that if I had to deal with that every time I have to set that trap, I will just hang it up on the wall and forget about it.
I dug this thread back up to make a correction. I was whining about the springs on a Belisle being a bear to set. I meant to say that about Bridger Magnums. Bridger Magnums are indeed whine-worthy in my opinion. I have one where both springs went all the way around the corners and met in the middle, jamming themselves against the dog. I was battling with it for about ten minutes without success. I figured that if I had to deal with that every time I have to set that trap, I will just hang it up on the wall and forget about it.
Yes...I've swore that the next time I have to use a Bridger mag on the line and it acts up, it will be lucky to make it back to the truck. Luckily I've got enough 330s that I'm not often digging the bottom of the trap barrel to get to the bridgers and don't really want to burden someone else with em
so your telling me you have NEVER had a sprung empty Belisle.
I have. I got some 330s just to try out. First one I set was submerged at a culvert where the beavers were going back and forth through the pipe. I checked it three days in a row and it was empty. I couldn't understand it, because I know beavers had gone through the pipe that last night. I pulled up the trap, and saw that both springs were broken.
Sometimes things do not go as planned. Here's a muskrat by the tail in a belisle 330 and a beaver by the tail in a belisle 330. I think the beaver either saw the trap and tried to turn around fast hitting the trigger with it's tail or maybe it didn't want to swim through and tried to climb over and flipped the trap up on itself. I would not have had either of these in a regular jawed trap.
Well where I trapped beaver they had no rats so It wasn't a issue for me. And with the price of rats I would rather push the triggers off to one side and not have them plugging my beaver traps.
Let's see, ten dollar beaver and five dollar rats...I'll take the rat! This doesn't happen much with the Dukes, I think the trigger are generally too stiff, but with it on the bottom in a V, sometimes it does. I don't care for the Belishe's myself. I just have one of them and it's been a problem trap.
Last edited by PAskinner; 01/29/2006:55 PM.
Right now I’m having amnesia and déjà vu at the same time. I think I’ve forgotten this before.
Belisles cannot be beat. Can’t load pics. But beavers by the feet and tail. And an otter by the tail. My dukes or sleepy creeks never would have held them.
Belisles need to be used as almost a trap category of their own. This is because they do hold anything....by any means possible. There are some ethics involved in this. New trappers should probably start with a lesser brand and work their way up. There are some nuances to Belisle trapping...they should not just be set everywhere. Just my opinion
Never could justify the cost of belisles so never really put my hands on them and really checked them out. Just bought 3 a few weeks ago for a good deal and I must say I was so impressed by them I contacted the guy I bought the 3 from and got 6 more at that same good price coming in the mail soon. I have already sold my duke and bridgers 330s and don't plan on buying another 330 that isn't a belisles .
If I’m specifically beavering I just want a 330, doesn’t have to be a belisle but I much prefer them. If I’m fur trapping and am just setting a pinch point I’ll go for a belisle every time. Now I will only run belisles I’m my coon boxes. I’m at a 95% rate of having the coon dead in the box and the trap not moved using them
for 10 more dollars i'd go belisle. they are a magnum meaning they close all the way, have hooks that stay where you put them and a great trigger. That's all i use. tried others and they got sold. I can start a fire with flint and steel but I use a bic lighter. Not that extreme with bg's but you won' regret getting a better trap. snares might be a good option also
$10.00 more dollars??? I can buy all the Duke 330s I want for $190.00 a Doz And that's with free shipping. A Doz 330 belise's will cost you $300.00 a Doz and I doubt you will get free shipping.
I'll put my otter numbers up against any ones and I was only using Dukes.I caught a few coon by the front leg In belise's and It wasn't a pretty site. I don't own any know.
Most misses In any 330 Is because the user didn't take the time to properly adjust the trigger.
I think a lot of misses that get attributed to target critters setting off the trap are from other things - fish, small turtles, random junk bumping the trigger. Lots of things can set off a 330 and not get caught in it. A well adjusted BG will fire with very little trigger movement - most catches will be right behind the head to right behind the front legs with the trigger set in a V. If you L the trigger or twist the wires together and push them to one side you will get more catches farther back. One thing about playing with the triggers to avoid otter, it may work OK where there aren't a ton of otter but my experience in the southeast where we have a ton of otter is that you will still catch a bunch of otter. If there are multiple otter going through that trap each night the law of averages says one will bump the trigger, and they do. I have hundreds of large body grips, they all get set some time during the season. Each and every one of them gets set and checked for proper adjustment before season and if one gets roughed up during season it gets swapped out and thrown into the repair pile. I like the Terminator replacement trigger as they are tension adjustable which comes in handy when setting a fast flowing stream and the trigger wires are stainless steel, super easy to bend if needed and next to indestructable. I hate the trigger on Belisles - the wires break way too easy. The trigger body is OK, but the wires are the worst. My arsenal of BG is a hodgepodge of things - Duke, Sleepy Creek, Victor, Belisle, Bridger - they all kill beaver and otter fine as long as the springs are strong and the trap is properly adjusted.
I think a lot of misses that get attributed to target critters setting off the trap are from other things - fish, small turtles, random junk bumping the trigger. Lots of things can set off a 330 and not get caught in it. A well adjusted BG will fire with very little trigger movement - most catches will be right behind the head to right behind the front legs with the trigger set in a V. If you L the trigger or twist the wires together and push them to one side you will get more catches farther back. One thing about playing with the triggers to avoid otter, it may work OK where there aren't a ton of otter but my experience in the southeast where we have a ton of otter is that you will still catch a bunch of otter. If there are multiple otter going through that trap each night the law of averages says one will bump the trigger, and they do. I have hundreds of large body grips, they all get set some time during the season. Each and every one of them gets set and checked for proper adjustment before season and if one gets roughed up during season it gets swapped out and thrown into the repair pile. I like the Terminator replacement trigger as they are tension adjustable which comes in handy when setting a fast flowing stream and the trigger wires are stainless steel, super easy to bend if needed and next to indestructable. I hate the trigger on Belisles - the wires break way too easy. The trigger body is OK, but the wires are the worst. My arsenal of BG is a hodgepodge of things - Duke, Sleepy Creek, Victor, Belisle, Bridger - they all kill beaver and otter fine as long as the springs are strong and the trap is properly adjusted.
How do you adjust your bridgers? I’ve tried filing the dogs but it doesn’t seem to make much of a difference.
File the dog and open up the yoke on the trigger up like Traprjohn posted above. That fixes most of them. Sometimes I find one that just will not do what I want it to and it gets a Terminator right off the bat.
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