My grandpa always had buckets full of dried stake’s like that for his fox traps.

I sure used to use ones like that as a kid a loooong time ago. I still use wooden stakes on most of my 330's. They are a lot longer and thicker and sure do hold once pounded in wet dirt or sand.

I did when I was a kid just starting to trap. Trapping muskrats in local ditches.

Me too. Couldn't afford anything else. They sure do hold great, sometimes so well I couldn't pull them. I always used them green, just had to be sure they were all under water so they didn't get chewed off.

Yes sir, all dad ever used when I was younger why because he was born in 1922 the greatest generation

Yep, used them when I first started, then switched over to the steel fence posts that were laying over the place.

I used them when I started as a kid. Even cut enough of them to sell to other trappers. Back in the late 60's, two of the biggest coon trappers in NE used that stake and a no.1 LS with a booster spring.

All I used in the later seventies muskrat trapping. The little streams I trapped were lined with slash and brush. Cut them as I needed them. Also used a lot of tie wire back then

Interesting stuff fellas. Just the type responses I was hoping for. I could go back to those stakes if I had to with just a little tie wire like Turtledale mentioned. I used some that were just straight sticks with a hole through the end for the tie wire too, they were easier to come by here in the land of few trees.

That's all I could afford as a youngster.

I still have some in back corner of fur shed. Haven't used them in a long time. Good thread ADC and lots of memories.

I used to have 10" oak wedge type stakes pounded thru my end trap rings when I first got started in the late 50's. We had no coyotes in those days only fox, coon, mink and rats to stake and hold. I used some stakes similar to adc's back then. Dad had an old tin bucket I carried them in, then it was used for egg gathering when I got back each day from checking my little trap line.

I used the straw one day that was in the bottom of the bucket to cushion the eggs when we gathered them. I got in a little trouble when dad found out I used the straw to cover my 1-1/2 long spring traps with the straw.

Just think of how out of date our current staking methods will be in another 50 years. Many of us will not be around to look back on these times to see how innovative we have become. That is if we will still be able to trap in that new era.

Used them and bamboo. My great-grandfather planted bamboo at his house when he built it in 1938. He planted it for staking traps in the marsh. Up to last year I used to go to the old homestead and cut a bunch for traps and setting alligator lines. The land was sold and the stand of bamboo was bulldozed. Makes me kind of sad as everyone used to go cut the bamboo for trap stakes, alligator bait hangers and bank lines for catfish. When he was alive all you had to do was go ask permission and he would let you cut poles. If you asked in French you usually got invited in the house to have a cup of cafe' au lait, buttermilk and cornbread.

I still use stakes cut on site for water trapping. Often times you can find beaver sticks that will fit the bill, but otherwise I just whack one off with an ax. Sure beats packing stakes. I do usually sharpen the end.

Back in the day I used a lot of fence staples because I didn't know any better

Used a lot of them when I was 8 years old trapper.......

I use them all the time. Cut them from dogwood and allow them to dry in a shed or barn for several months. You won't break dogwood. I also cut them in 10 to 14'' lengths and drill a hole in the top for wire then wrap wire around the top a few wraps. You'll never pull them out of the ground if you have good dirt. I use them for almost everything accept canines. They make great stakes for staked hide sets too.

That's great Larry. I never intentionally dried mine but the second year for some they were dry. I don't know one tree from the next unless its got fruit on it or pine cones, lol. I just cut whatever I could find in the road ditches.

Dogwood is a small woodland tree. They rarely get over 15' tall. Their bark is tight and looks like small flakes. They will have small green leaves and small white flowers soon. I have never used the decorative dogwoods for stakes. I cut them for rat trap stakes too. The wood is very hard and tough to break. I also use it in the end of a fence to stretch the wire. A 1 1/2'' diameter pole 4' long will never break if use to stretch wire. I have some that have to be 20 years old. I have some wood staked 12'' long and about 1'' thick with wire wrapped tops and a hole drilled 2'' below the head that have to be 20 years old also. It's very light and holds very well. I cut them now and toss them in the top of the barn till fall when I start making stakes. I make rat trapping stakes at least 5' long and 1/2 '' diameter on the small end.

You have them in Iowa. Once you find and use it for wood stakes you'll be hunting it out wherever you are.

https://mdc.mo.gov/discover-nature/field-guide/dogwoods

Thanks for the info Larry. I think I used mostly birch and mulberry wood like the one in the picture. They just seem to grow in right shape and they were in handy locations.

Fence staples still have a place in my arsenal of trap anchoring

I used a few many years ago. I bet with a metal detector at the right trees you could still find a few I wasn't able to pull without breaking the chain. lol

Man that stake brought back a lot of memories. My grandfather showed me how to make stakes just like that. Staking a 1 1/2 long spring in dry mink trails around the slough. They worked perfect.

Me on muskrat mink

Yep, it was all in prepping for trapping season. Boil traps, check them for tags and adjust em. Build snares.... and go cut stakes. The good ol days.

yes indeed, and you didn't need a pickup full of stuff

There are very few spots on my line where that would work. Either too rocky or too sandy. Not to mention I’d have to cut down every tree within ten miles of my house to get enough of them lol

Traps, hammer, trowel, bait and of course the stakes we cut, maybe splurge on a bottle of fish oil, lol.

Caught my first coyote in a fox tap with woodn stake. Course he pulled it out but got tangled up in tree roots. Just north of of otter ck. marsh in Tama Ia.

Those are the brand I used for years first stating out.

I just cut a half dozen of those stakes from our willow sapling forest. Planning on using them this season for staking muskrat/coon traps in the river

Dad cut firewood down to that size because he always liked having some small wood for a hot fire on occasion. I got all my trap stakes from the firewood pile.

I held lots of fox and coyotes with those stakes. It was what we did back then. I don’t recall anyone using rebar or metal stakes though they were available through trap supply outfits.

My biggest coyote ever, 52 pounds, was with a Blake and Lamb #3 double under spring and a maple stake just like that. Northern NY had some big coyotes.

Started trapping rats around 76, or so. Cut wild cherry branches just like original picture. Wild cherry has lots of branches with forks like that in them. Cut branches early so they would dry and harden. Don't waste time cutting stakes when you should be setting traps and moving. Dip heads of branches in your dye bucket so they look aged and don't stand out for trap theives.

Late 70's was excellent time to learn how to trap. Everybody was trapping, tons of competition. You were learning a lot, whether you realized it or not.

My coon catches in those years were nothing to brag about. What I didn't understand until later was how much the heavy competition from other trappers and coon hunters, was affecting my numbers. To me the competition level has never been that high since those late 70's.

Me too. I cut a lot of drags on site too for wolf sets

I still occasionally use wood stakes water trapping. It gives my kids something trapping related to do in the summer. We mostly cut popple, when the bark slips off easily. My eight year old runs the hatchet and my six year old runs the hand saw. They can make me a couple dozen stakes in pretty short order.