Matt if u catch enough coyotes on drags like that u will lose some. For numerous reasons. Yeah it worked this time and maybe the next 10 times but it's just not a good setup for coyotes. Can u use limbs for coyotes yes. But they better be strong enough u can't break or bend them and heavy enough they can't get out of sight with them. Especially if there isn't 8 feet of chain or cable to wrap up on trees or brush. Money or no money u owe it to any animal and the trapping comunity to do your nest at making sure u recover it.

Thank you for defining privilege to all of us elitist millionaires on trapperman running around with our diamond encrusted rebar stakes and platinum drags. Yes, you can catch coyotes with a natural drag, eventually it will cost you a trap and a coyote will be running around with a trap.

I have used 8 ft of cable extension before on = supper hot holes under high fence when snaring . Drag logs have their place,but I would rather use chain and good drag IF I can

I get what you are saying MattLA about privilege.

Tip. I you are going to use a natural drag ( which is cheap), use a green limb. It will bend by not break. Keep it at least as thick as your arm so the coyote won’t be able to chew though it. Make sure the trap is cabled off or wired off securely.

Sure, you might lose one every once in a while. But if using a natural drag allows you to buy a few more traps, then use natural drags. Then buy some good drags later when you can.

I continually upgrade equipment as money allows. I save, I upgrade. Repeat.

Matt, I don't think using rebar stakes makes me privileged. They can be had for nothing when picking up scraps from jobsites. Nuts to hammer on the top only cost a few cents.

God forbid this post be archived, please no beginners try to use paracord for anchoring anything other than a mouse trap and never cut down saplings to use as drags for a coyote. Also never put animal fat on your traps

"Privilege is where you generally have an advantage due to many circumstances and only look at situations through that privileged lens"

From what I understand you do not have a full time job, do not tell me I am privileged because I work and can afford to buy things that allow for my success on the trapline to be greater. If you feel like people have it better than you it's because they are working harder than you. Do better and you won't have to use coon fat on your traps or paracord to tie them off. I can promise you privilege has never written a paycheck for me

I guess I'm a "privileged " trapper because I learned to use what consistently works and ensures I dont lose expensive gear trying to go too cheap.

You inexperienced trappers need to consider the what-ifs every time you set a trap.

BTW,
I know of only one privileged trapper on here driving an electric F150.

Good thread Matt. Generally speaking just buy good used equipment to get started trapping or almost anything else in life. Unless it is a safety issue? like good tires on the Family Car buy the best!!
When it comes to Coyote Trapping you just cannot cut very many corners or you will start losing coyotes. IMHO, You are far better off having just a few good traps, rebar stakes, earth anchors, cable extensions, drags of any kind would be my last choice for coyotes.

I just prefer coyotes to be staked down whenever possible?

For metal the scrap yard is your friend! Used rebar is pretty cheep for making trap stakes. If a person does enough trapping you can make snares, earth anchors, baits, etc. etc.

This thread is crazy!

Don’t sugar coat it.

A couple of his “tips” aren’t good for anyone!

Thank you, that is exactly the point of this thread. I can easily afford any of the things you listed, but I am coming from the mindset of a low income trapper. I do have a love for drags, but I completely understand what you are saying.



Coondagger, I stopped working at age 32 because I did so well before that I don't have to work for the rest of my life. I can easily afford anything that exists in the form of trapping supplies. Not everybody can afford to have a 2022 F150 Lightning, It would be so incredibly out of touch for me to expect that the majority of trappers could live the lifestyle I do. We all have different situations and when the thread is specifically meant for low income trapper tips, it's expected that anybody reading this fully understands that the methods here may not be ideal, they may not be the best, they might not even be preferred. But guess what coondagger? For some trappers, these tips might be all they can do to try to trap. For some trappers, there is no "affording" anything, they got bottom of the barrel everything for a lot of different reasons and I find it to be part of one's moral responsibility to help those who are not as fortunate as others. If you have a good job that you work hard at and it pays you well enough for you to take care of your family, I am more than happy for you. It's just not realistic to think that everybody has that same situation, because once again there are a lot of factors that you don't know, I don't know, that all play a role. So when I am talking about using beaver sticks, raccoon grease, bone yards, bone broth, etc, I am coming from the mindset of " If I was the legitimately worlds poorest trapper, how would I do this?" For the natural drag thing, I accept the comments as they were given that the setup for a lot more experienced coyote trappers and trappers in general natural drags or drags are not preferred, but short of you guys shelling out money for all the low income trappers, what is your recommendation? One guy was talking about the scrap yard which is an excellent tip and one that is very much appreciated. There was a good point about the raccoon grease, no issues but what is our low cost alternative? What is a either low cost or free method that will help keep the traps lubricated and not seize from rust? Is used motor oil preferred? You see what I'm saying? When we just criticize especially on the low income trapper tip thread from the position of "it's not whats best or preferred" you are assuming that every other trapper can afford the things you can, can live the life you can and i'm here to tell you if you don't already know, there is a huge group of trappers that cannot afford normal trapping supplies. This thread is for them, this thread is for anybody who wants to live a low cost life and to try to maximize the value in everything they get. The $10 bucks that might buy enough trapping supplies is what gets them to the job they do work, they simply cannot afford to use it on trapping supplies.



The tip about getting them from scraps at jobsites is a good one. Lets make sure you understand what I said and if not I will change my phrasing next time to better reflect what I am talking about with the 550 cord. I would NOT use 550 cord as my primary anchoring system, but I would use it to tie my ring onto the natural drag. I would use 550 cord as a tie off when I use conibears, but I have 2-4 beaver sticks pounded 4-5 feet into the ground to ensure the trap is solid, and likely will not go anywhere if a beaver, otter, nutria or anything else goes through it. Remember it's not about you or me, it's about the trapper that cannot afford the things that you or I can. I just use it because I have it, and so far I have no had any issues when using it in those situations. The sapling method also works more than fine and I use it everyday and this year it worked swell on 2 coyotes with zero issues. How many sapling drags have you set in your life that you've trapped? I do want to know because I am quite sure there are many who have never done it and are openly critical because it's not their way and they cannot fathom it working. It does work.

Paracord by the foot is basically the same price as as cable. You can get galvanized 11 or 14guage wire for a bit less.

I use a lot of 550 but never for anything that takes stress. I know a lot of so called survivalists are in love with 550 cord for numerous things but its garbage and most of em couldn't last a week if they ever got into a true survival situation with their 550 cord methods.

I just can't get over being called privileged by you MattLA, a person that claims to not "have to work" at 32 years old.

Peace out!

I think there should be a minimum amount of years trapped or minimum animals caught before you can offer “advice.” You see it all the time on social media or YouTube where someone feels the need to give everyone advice about something they know very little about. Take a few years Matt and catch as many critters animals as you can. Become one of the “legends,” figure out what works the best for you to trap as efficiently as you can on your budget, and then come back and show what you can do. People will probably line up to to ask for advice if you catch enough. Anything can work out a couple times. If you catch 300 coyotes a year on your sapling drags then you can speak with more authority on the matter. I think your heart is in the right place, but get a few more years experience before you try to change the game

I didn't call you out specifically, but you are obviously offended by the fact that I used privileged. When you make a comment that x, y, z is not applicable to the fast trappers or commercial trappers, ok I totally understand what you are saying, but we are on a low income trapper tip thread though, so by default that means low income trappers 99% cannot buy what you and I are able to buy. It's simply not possible for them at this moment and time. Situations do change, but thats a different conversation. That is what I mean by privilege, it was not a slant against your character by any means, I think most of us do it and never intend for it to be that way. Let me put it this way, if we remove the "low income trapper tips", I wouldn't have said privileged at all and would have asked more in depth questions in relation to your comments, does that make sense? Don't be offended, just leave a tip for the low income trapper man, they need us more than ever.

@SniperB, I appreciate that, but you can buy 550 cord from amazon for .07 a foot. Do you have a link for the same cost wire? All the ones I could find were higher price by double, but I don't use amazon a lot nor do I buy a lot of wire.



It's a low income tip thread, not a how to be a great trapper thread. Did you read the thread title? All of the pictures on here are quite literally not "the best methods" but methods that are free, cheap, simple and that get the job done. I completely disagree that people who are low income will ask for advice, because just as many people are showing, privilege prevents people from getting answers that work for people who are indeed.....low income trappers.

Until COVID, 3/32 7x7 was 8 cents a foot for a 100 ft roll. If you buy. In bulk you can get it back down to about 9. FnT has 500 foot for $49. Again 11-14 guage wire local hardware is still a better bet if you're pinching pennies. Paracord has no place around trapping other than for hanging flags or setting up a tent.

Matt, you are right, I should give my tips to low income trappers. Here goes. If you do not have the funds to purchase the proper equipment to ethically and effectively trap the critter you are after, get off your bum and go to work so that you can afford to do so. Until you can afford to purchase a $5 block of wax or a $10 stick of rebar stay at home and do not risk tarnishing the reputation of ethical trappers by attempting to use subpar equipment. I am all for saving a Buck, but I will not cut corners on things that directly relate to how humane my catches are treated. Just think, all those emails you have sent to legislators are null and void when a coyote runs across Karen’s front yard with your tagged trap on its foot dragging a little sapling behind it.

I have caught many raccoons on sapling toggles, I would not call them drags. I have never set a coyote trap with a sapling drag because I do not cut corners on the ethics of my trapping practices. Your statement that it works just fine because you caught 2 coyotes that way is all I need to know. Please stop promoting this method when you have less trapping experience in your life than 70% of members here have in the past week.

I am not against doing things with a money conscience approach, but stop pretending like we have to compromise our ethics as trappers in order to afford to participate in trapping practices. It is not a large investment to properly stake and prepare your equipment to be effective. My advice to low income trappers is to understand the ethics of trapping and never sacrifice that for a savings of less than 1 hours pay of minimum wage. We have too much to lose to be promoting this

I would be curious to know how many truly low income trappers are out there in the current fur market where the only consistent ways to make money are charging for your services or selling live coyotes. If someone is too low income to buy basic equipment they probably should focus their efforts on something that can help them get out of that situation. If you can afford the gas to check your traps then you may want to sit out a season, save that gas money, and buy decent equipment. Yes I read the thread title. I just don’t believe there are a whole lot of people who truly can’t afford equipment but are still trapping. It’s a luxury hobby in my opinion if you are like you and don’t need to charge or do anything to break even

I've used log drags, note I said log... not sapling. Minimum 5-6" diameter and 6+ feet long, the longer the better, unless you specifically want them to go far enough to be out of sight. You use something this size or bigger and it will leave a trail you can track, and no worries about breaking it regardless of what you manage to snag in the trap. Now drags of this size are not handy to pack around, so you will want to cut them close to the site. Time consuming and a lot more work than using a quick link to hook a grapple and eight feet of chain to a trap. (I recommend at least eight feet of chain with a log drag also) But when you don't have a drag with you and find a hot site where you can't stake or chain off to a tree, well you can do it and feel comfortable your quarry will be there when you come back. Also if you are walking in you can do this rather than carry half a dozen grapple drags (mine weigh over 8 lbs with chain attached) or trapping out of a snowmachine or fourwheeler where space to carry stuff is limited.
For the majority of situations a grapple drag, or chaining off to a tree is much more efficient than cutting a log drag, if you can't or it is inadvisable to stake solid.

Obviously I don't know all yalls laws, but snares or cable restraints are the absolute cheapest way to trap animals! Mic drop!

Some of us can’t afford snares…oh wait, some of us aren’t allowed to use snares!!
I’ll be honest, out of all my endeavors, trapping is NOT the cheapest. Buy quality up front and it lasts. Now with that said, my screen name represents me, lol. I trapped as a kid then 35+ years later I started again. I read the archive’s probably twice before ever joining and then read and listened. I’ve PM’ed several on here and got quality advice and instruction.
Matt, no offense, but you joined last year and now 1 year later have learned all this random stuff (probably read) and at 32 live off the grid and have enough money to last you for life. I think a lot of folks wonder why you would use the bare minimum’s to get by if you’re “set” for life?
Now as far as using bare minimum’s, why would you? Trapping unfortunately is not a bare minimum type of hobbie/sport/lifestyle that’s cheap. I’m by no means “rich” I don’t drive a 22 Raptor, I drive a 2000 F150. People laugh in good nature about my truck but I spend “good” money for my “hobbies.” Yes I could by cheaper traps, I could also buy more expensive traps. Same with everything else. All these guys doing mods have to have the equipment and money to do it, I just don’t have equipment so I buy what works for me. I’ve only got 6 years in this but haven’t had an issue with anything I’ve bought yet, besides huge tractors and logging trucks. I spend money on everything quality right down to anchors. I want the best I can afford. I’m my opinion, to trap properly, if you can’t afford quality, then you shouldn’t be trapping.
Same with hunting. People generally buy a nice gun and scope or bow, then they buy the cheapest bullets or shells or broadheads. Heck the gun or bow is only a mechanical device that doesn’t actually kill anything…it’s that projectile that kills. Don’t skimp on the stuff that matters.
Baits, lures, heck even urine can be where you skimp. Plenty of road killed animals to make bait. Skin out save urine and glands from you catches and make your own lures. I’m an opportunist beaver catcher. When I catch one I’m saving meat, oil, and castor.
I could imagine a coyote running around and being seen dragging a stick or worse just a trap, that wouldn’t be good for anyone. Worse yet, what if it’s someone’s pet? That then sheds a real bad light on all these regulations you’re changing in the US.

Lesson here is don’t be cheap on the parts that holds that critter in place. I’ve never beaver trapped before this past year, and spent money on good traps and even how I anchor. I’d be willing to bet good money I could take the most experienced water trappers on here to one of my sets and after they laughed a little or a lot, they’d ask was I planning on holding a tank. I prefer to be safe than sorry.
Things from the past were good, but technology and methods evolve for a reason, to better ourselves and our practice.