how do you make wood stakes and attach traps to them?

Depends on what you are planning to trap. I made all my wood stakes out of hard wood like oak or ash. The end going into the ground should be pointed or sharpened. I drilled a hole near the top of the stake and wired the trap ring onto it. Most of my stakes were about 18 inches long.

What y’all catching on wooden stakes? Or what are you trusting to hold with a wooden stake?

Beaver?

Foothold? The only water I’ve done I consulted you about and just found the closest stick and shoved it in the mud. With a coni, they didn’t even move it off the stand.

Get some re- rod make some good stakes

Some of the best wood stakes you can get for free are from old abandoned beaver lodges… those things are seasoned and tough…
I cut them into different lengths 20 inches on average… then I drill a hole in them. When I’m making my drowners… I run one end. Of the 14 gauge wire wrap and tie off and push into the mud…then cut my wire to length,, slide on my drowner lock.. slide the end of the wire through another stack,, wrap,, and push into the mud…
You’ll be suprised at the holding power of them…
I can’t even tell you how many critters I’ve caught like this.

Yeah...anchoring the bank end of a drowner or a good wood stake to hold a snare in a soft spot.

I cut 1'' or less thick dogwood into about 12'' lengths, sharpen the smaller end and toss them in the barn to season. When they are dry I drill a 1/4'' hole about 1 1/2'' down from the top of the stake and put doubled over tie wires through the hole so there is a 6'' pigtail sticking out and up from the top to wire to. I wrap tie wire around the head 3 or 4 times and make it tight about 1/2'' down from the top so it doesn't split. I drive this in the ground for the top drowner stake. Most never will come out and the wire will stay till it rots off. I get 3 or 4 years out of some of them and I cannot get them out of the creek bottoms because they will swell up in the hole and they really hold. Make sure you test the wire each year though. If they go in hard or into firm creek bottom you'll never get them out unless you dig them up. If you get them out- toss them somewhere to dry again and put new wire on them for next year. This will hold a coyote or beaver or a trap thief will get a hernia trying to get them out if it is driven into a good creek bottom.

Dogwood is the best wood for this. Oak is not as good. This holds better and is lighter than steel. A whole bucket full of these is light.

Find good hardwood tomato/tobacco stakes. That's what I used a lot of starting out. Still do use them, mainly for snares though

Silt fence stakes like used for construction barrier fencing.

Hard wood flooring scraps from dumpster where they are building a house. We have rocky ground here, drive in a 12 inch long piece of hardwood flooring and it will hold any coyote.

Ditto on the dogwood. I have a bucket full I use season after season in my garden. Made them years ago when water trapped a little more. I made mine about two foot long each and while green sharpened one end and left other end cut flat. Drill a hole about 2” down from top (flat end) and put them somewhere dry to season. Garage works great. Once dried and season you could hammer them in pretty hard ground. Tough as nails.
The hole is good for wire if you need to use it.
Dogwood here grows along creeks and ditches. Free, light, awesome stake material.
Jim