Still found your cage trap damage interesting. Should have returned it to store. They would have thought you where trapping grizz.

I’ve caught hundreds of Wisconsin and MN coon using a single strand of 14 gauge wire. Both in the water and in dry sets. All before I knew it wasn’t supposed to work.

Today, I still use wire but make it 11 or 14 gauge when I’m doing drowning sets. Also today, I use a standard Berkshire disposable stakes on the deep end.

Something to consider. Coon differ in size around the country. A 27 pound coon is big in Minnesota but absolutely gargantuan in Mississippi. Northern Iowa has big coon but southern Iowa and Missouri coon are a bit smaller and if memory serves, the fur density isn’t as great. Florida has raccoons but 10 or 12 pounds might be average with an 18 pounder being huge.

That all being said I use 3/332 cable for disposable stakes for dry sets because I’ve never found a coon, skunk or coyote muscular enough to break the cable.