As I said in my introduction post, I am slowly buying a few traps to start trapping again
When I retire in a couple years. But I have always kept a few 110 conibears for pest
I got a couple of #150 sized traps the other day. I grabbed one out of the box and tried to set it
I don’t remember #110conibears being that hard to set ! I didn’t think they are that much bigger to be
That much stronger springs. Surely I’ve not lost that much hand strength. So I went down stairs and grabbed a 110 trap set it easily. I didn’t expect the 150 trap to be that much stronger. I sat down and thought for a minute, then made a setter with a piece of paracord, small D-ring and a piece of wood from a handle

Core is life……

I have carried a chunk of medium strength nylon rope in my vest pocket for years. I use it to set conibears and drag or carry beaver. It has a loop in one end that goes around your boot. Feed the rope from the bottom up through the springs eyes, and then again from the bottom. Pull the top end of the rope to compress the spring. It has gotten me out of a bind or two before.

I need to do that. I've always been real cautious about where my fingers go once I pop the safeties off, but there's been at least once that would have been nicer than thanking God it wasn't a belisle and that I had big mittens on, and wriggling my fingers out of my mitten to escape. The only other time I got myself nothing would have helped me, I was feeling around with my foot standing in water almost to the top of my waders in a hole I chopped trying to find a 330 I had in front of a deep lodge entrance (stupid lol) and I found my 330 lol so I had to yard the pole out that I tied it to and get on the ice to get free. I did not reset that run lol

Sometimes the critters are in the trap in just a strange position for the setter and the rope solves that. The loop at the bottom of the rope goes around a hind leg of a beaver and a couple overhand half hitches around a front leg and beaver carry pretty good. In snow you can manny them up head to tail and drag a string of them out at a time. That rope never leaves my right hand vest pocket and I can compress a 330 spring using it with one hand. I have done it twice when needed.