I want to get a dozen for beaver and coyotes/bobcats. I was thinking about Duke or Bridger No. 3s. Any suggestions? Also is fourcoils worth the money? I'm trying to spend as little as possible but don't want to skimp since I know they'll last a long time.

I'm not a beaver trapper but like the bridges for coyotes. The Duke 650 look like a sweet trap too. Dont know if the wider cast jaws work well for beaver or not. I personally run mostly four coiled but it's probably not necessary for coyotes most of the time but it doesn't hurt either. Some act like 4 coils turns a normal trap into something terrible but ive caught myself many times in same trap 2 coiled and 4 coiled and there's not a lot of difference.

That may be true but you weren't In the trap for 10 hours and trying to get out. LOL

First off, the very definition of skimping, "trying to spend as little as possible". That being said take a look above at F&T's site, they have #4 duke 4coiled for about $133 a dozen. They should work well enough for you and your intended target species. With some experience under your belt you should be able to refine your trap selection process to better fit your target species.

I run Duke #4's 4 coiled for lynx and beaver. For the beaver I always target the front foot and have a good drowning system. I originally got them for yotes, will they work, yes. I have a lot of fox and after catching a few in yote sets I decided I needed a different trap that was more friendly. Ended up getting a bunch of the Montana Specials, a lot less damage.

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How do you know?? Lol

Some one told me you screamed like a girl. LOL

Y’all can be big men if you want to, but when I got my middle finger snapped by a 2 coil 550, I felt it! It may not have been as bad if I hadn’t jumped and reached the end of the anchor, but I seriously felt it!!

Well it was only because I thought no one was around to hear

After one of the many demos I helped setup I talked with a guy who was from northern WI. He stated he use number 3s, and even 1.75 that he used for coyotes and fox for beaver. He specifically set shallow for a front foot catch and on a drowning rig. He stated he set the pan tension up to 4-5 lbs. He did bring a bunch of beaver pelts to one of the district 7-8 fur sales one year. He stated he caught about 1/3rd of them in his smaller foot holds, the rest in body grippers. Those were two coiled regular jaw traps.

Bryce

The biggest advantages of 4-coil traps that I see is a little faster closing and power to break through lightly frozen pan covering.

" ive caught myself many times in same trap 2 coiled and 4 coiled and there's not a lot of difference.[/quote]


Isn't it amazing what a good jolt of adrenaline will do to affect a person's perspective !

I caught mine in a Duke #3 4 coil trap . I tried to sling it off bad idea. Got the nail and meat. Not a smart move on my part.

I got nailed I'm several of my traps this year. The worst was my thumb on the joint in a 220. Believe it or not a 2 coiled bridge dogless hurt more than the bridge #5. But that was due to only catching one finger with the #2 vs all 4 with the #5 & the 5 was also under water.

I do think my 550 are better to get caught in than bridge #2s and even Duke 1.5s. The wide jaws seem to help.

If I were buying a new trap for beaver and coyote I’d grab some of the beaver xtreme that Kendall makes. They look like a good trap for both to me. I’d get the regular jaw without laminations. I don’t see why they wouldn’t be a good coyote trap too. I use the coyote xtreme traps and love them, but they are a bit too small for beaver.