I’m a new trapper. My goal is to someday trap coyote but I want to start out trapping coons. Should I start with footholds or DP’s??? I was thinking about getting MB 550’s so I could eventually use them for coyote also?? What do you recommend???

#11 longsprings

1.5's and DP's
Here’s what helped shorten my learning curve by decades. Join your state trapping assn, Google it. And contact officers AND district reps off their site and ask for a mentor to ride along with. Rookie mistakes can often educate critters, thus making them harder to trap next time they come by. MANY states have their own forums. Like here in NC. And TN has 2 and Va has 2 also and KY too. A mentor helps Learn trap prep and techniques and tricks and the laws in YOUR state regarding jaw spreads, shock springs, etc, etc. (( Laws vary a lot from state to state so BEWARE of FB and utube. You can be shown things that are illegal in your state!.)) This gets you in the info loop of FREE trappers ed classes and meets and fur sales/pick ups, and conventions. Then attend ALL YOU CAN, this shows folks you are serious and will be a good student. It sure helped open many doors for me and it could for you as well. ALSO, get several different trapping supply catalogs, like MTP, Murrays, Sterling Fur, FandT, PCS, Flemings, Northern Outdoors, Trap Shack, Schmitt enterprises, Southeastern outdoor supplies, JR & Sons, Grawes, rpoutdoors, etc etc, THEN circle gear you need, and give the catalogs to loved ones to buy your Birthday and Christmas and July 4 and Easter and Anniversary gifts. Explain to them, you want their money to go towards what you will use and need, as opposed to another sweater hanging in your closet. WORKS GREAT in our family.

here ya go... http://www.illinoistrappersassociation.com/Officers.html

1.5's and dp's. I like my mb 450's they're 1.5 size and hold coyotes fine

I would say DP's will be the easiest for starting out. If you put them right in the middle of a good coon trail, or right on the creek bank, you'll catch coons.
Then when you want to take a crack at coyotes later on, get some 550s.
I'm sure you'll get guys here soon that will tell you to use footholds, which is certainly not the "wrong" way or anything, but I think you'll have easier, and more immediate success with DP's.
But if you really want to take a crack at footholds for coon, go ahead and give it a shot! Theres absolutely nothing stopping you!
Thats my 2 cents, take it for what it's worth.

I'd get 1.5 sized traps if just for coon/ fox etc.

550's for Yotes

Are you going to be trapping coon In water sets?

If your long term goal is to catch coyotes I would not start coon trapping with DPs. Using footholds for coon will help you learn the basics of making set, bedding traps, and so on. DPs are great for catching coon but not great for a beginner to learn from.

This is good advice!

The MB-550, in my opinion, is not a suitable coon trap. I catch several coons in yote sets and the feet are almost always a mess. Coons just have too much room to chew under the jaws.

I believe raccoon and coyote feet are too different for one trap to work well for both. Yes, 550's will hold coon and 1.5s will hold coyotes, but neither are the best, or even a good, option.

That said, 1.5s are a far more versatile trap than a DP.

Best to buy a few of each so you have all your bases covered.

DPs are extremely effective coon killers. I’ve never had one get out, if there’s a catch circle there, there will be a coon in the middle of it.

Are we skinning the coon or releasing them?

Start out with DP’s, after a few catches you’ll be in debt buying more DP’s and footholds. I like 550’s and they do hold coon and possums fine. I have better luck with regular jaw vs the offset jaws.

NO BS 1.5 the best

I am also new, but here is my limited experience. I started with a half dozen Duke 550s that I bought from a trap shed not far from my family's camp upstate where I started trapping. The guy recommended the 550s because in that part of the state, that's what everyone was using for coyotes which are very common. I brought them home and started doing some trapping down the road where coyotes are not as common. I caught one coon so far in one of the Duke 550 traps and it's leg was tore up. By the time I got to the animal in the morning, the bone was completely broken and the leg was about a quarter torn off. I'm not sure if the trap broke the bone or if that was from the animal chewing on it, but a little while longer and I probably would have lost the animal. Now that's only one incident and anything can and does happen, but what I learned from this is that yes the 550 will hold a coon, but is not the best trap if coon is the intended target.

I am not targeting coyotes specifically but they are out there, so my thinking was to get some traps that were better suited to the more common animals where I am trapping like fox, coon, and opossum but could also hold the occasional coyote. I settled on 1.75 size for this purpose. If I didn't have to worry about coyotes, I probably would have gone with 1.5. I'm sure some guys will say the 1.75 is too big but I know of one trapper who uses them for a one-size-fits-all approach and they work well. I almost went with Bridger 1.65 but found a deal on some used Oneida Victor 1.75s.

DPs will catch you coons. 1.5s will catch you coons and other incidentals such as mink and depending on the trap could hold a fox and if you're really lucky a yote.

I read, it held a 60 lb beaver for one trapper.

1 3/4 is a good all around trap IMO

This is the advice you need, right here.