I was lucky enough to pick up my first two wolves this year (both in snares). And am trying to pick one up with a foothold. Keeping my fingers crossed as the season wraps up. I have a handful of miscellaneous traps(Koro’s, #9’s, NO-B.S., Bridger #5 Alaskans, and 114’s) but I want to know what traps people use for different types of sets.

Also any further improvements that can be made to the Bridger Alaskans they seem a bit light…

Congrats and good luck.

Click on Teds Fur shed at the top of the page. He builds up the Bridger #5 if that is what you want. Okay beaver trap but that's about it in my opinion, even if it's all pumped up. Not a real wolf trap like the #9. Your other traps are good for wolves, the 114's, Koro's, NO BS (would like to try one of these but have not yet). 114's are too expensive to loose now but are a great trap.

I use #9's for everything. Pee posts, trail sets, sno-go trail sets, snow hole, blind in their tracks (my favorite).
Snares for the rest.

My Bridger #5 are used for beaver only. Nice beaver trap. I set one for wolverine one time. I caught him, trap did fine with no real damage. But it's not a great wolverine trap either.

Congratulations on getting your first two wolves!!

JR Pedersen has #9's for sale, he's on here if you need more.

Figure out if you need more wolf traps or you need more traps that can hold a wolf and catch a lot of other stuff too? If you just need more wolf traps, look somewhere else than the Bridger #5. If you need more traps, then the #5 might be right for you. I like real wolf traps and snares. I use all my smaller traps for the rest of the stuff up here in Alaska. But it took me years to buy enough real wolf traps to use on a regular basis. So I understand if you buy traps that will do both right now, wolves and smaller animals. Good luck in your trapping! Hope this helps.

I've not used the Bridger's although I know some guys who have caught wolves in them. I don't think they did further mods to them, but am not sure. The jawspread is not ideal for coming up through a lot of snow, and not much you can do about that.

I've got Alaska 9s, modified TS 85s, Duke 850s, Sleepy Creek 4 1/2s, MB 750s, one trap I made myself and I've a Bridger 5 longspring that I bought to check out, but will probably never set for a wolf. The Alaska 9s are the best deep snow traps, most powerful and largest jawspread to come up through crust and deep snow, however their pan is the highest point of the trap, which is a detriment if you are going to try and set them in a snowmachine track and drive over it. My TS 85s have been four coiled, offset, laminated, and had a tab welded to the bottom of the jaw for the pan to be set on, so the pan sets lower than the jaws, making them better to drive over for track sets. They are very comparable to your NOBS traps (I made mine before Kendall came out with his) and they are the next best deep snow traps I have. The Duke 850s are very affordable, and a good versatile trap that works well in snow or dirt, with cast jaws that are more foot friendly than the TS 85s or 9s, which are both good on wolf feet but can be rough on nontargets, coyotes, etc. The Sleepy Creeks and MBs are both a good early season wolf trap in dirt, but lack the jawspread and power to come up through crust and deep snow. Also the MB 750s are the worst trap I have dealt with for freezing down. They do bed very nicely however and take up a smaller footprint and are very flat if you have the opportunity to trap early season in dirt.

I had the opportunity to buy some 114s a while back, but ended up passing because I would be sick if I set them and had someone steal them.

No bs traps for southeast tidal sets

The #9 springs don’t like the salt water. They break after 6-7 season

It’s nice having a mixed bag of traps. They all seem to have some solid advantages. I’ve put in a few flat sets but that’s it so far. Haven’t set the 5’s. Worried about how they’ll hold up. I know some people use the 5’s in shallow water. Seems like bigger is better in all regards for wolf sets.

I’m hoping to make some blind sets. I’m thinking where they cross beaver dams.

I’m trying a mix of drags and solid anchoring. Would a drag help minimize how much a smaller foothold gets worked?

I use Bridger #5s. Usually catch 3-5 wolves in them a year. I rely mostly on snares. I have no complaints. The weather (mostly wind) we get that puts a #5 out of commission also puts a #9 out of commission.

Anything special you’ve done to the #5’s? I have most of my footholds pan tension set to right around 7.5lbs. Do you bed them any special way?

I use a piece of wax paper under and also on top. Then a dusting of snow unless it’s snowing I just leave it. I got the Bridger #5 Alaskan. So they come pretty well setup. I just weld the dog so it doesn’t come off and the plate that holds the 4 coiled springs on.

I have caught quite a few in the Bridger 5 Alaskan traps. Good trap once you fine tune them. No complaints. I stick with using them in their trails, nice smaller wolf trap for track sets.
You might look at the Duke 850 also. I have only caught 3 wolves in those so far but they held up just fine. The dog on them is kind of rinky dink though.

Like Dick says, I've found that the dog is often a very weak link in some alleged "wolf" traps. It doesn't take a determined wolf very long to chew/bend/mangle/remove a normally constructed dog!

Some manufacturers get pre-occupied with other components. Which is fine, but without a functioning dog, re-setting becomes problematic!

Pete

Right on! I’ll try to set them somewhere there won’t be too much snow accumulating! I have thought about setting 2 at each set when using the #5’s… is there a reason that would be a bad idea?

Sounds like some quick welds and they can be fine to set. I guess they’re not helping hanging in trees around my yard anyways. I do use wax paper and lots of hemlock tips to minimize freeze down.

Thanks for all the input. It’s awesome to have such a great resource!

#9's are the best, but it takes time (or a deep pocket) to build up a collection of them. I used MB 750's a lot when I was still in SE because snow and ice buildup wasn't a concern usually, I use mostly Duke 850's now with some #9's (AK and Koro) and some NO BS thrown in the mix.

The dog is the definite weak link in the Dukes, I've caught nine wolves in them and had to work on the dog on most of them to reset. I've always been able to bend and straighten it with the tools I had with me to manage to reset it, but some of them are pretty snaky looking now, especially with multiple catches. You can order more from Duke for a buck apiece, I am going to order a dozen and replace some during the off season and throw a couple in my trapping kit to take on the line next year so if necessary I can replace in the field. They are a stout looking rod dog, but bend fairly easily. I never thought I'd like dogless traps until I tried them, now I prefer them. I've yet to find a dog on trap that a wolf can't bend the dog up on, up to and including 9s.

If I had them, I would set those Bridger 5s, just as you said, choose your areas to set them. Two traps isn't generally a bad idea, you can just make half the sets with the same number of traps.

I haven't connected with a Duke yet, but I can second wolves bending the dog or pan (or both) on any dog on trap they get into. The #9 dogs bend easy (I think because of how long they have to be) but they bend back pretty easy too

I like the modified ts85 for the dog less factor.
Have caught them in 9s as well...in the saltwater... and i can now recommend any saltwater trap needs a weld on zinc.

AK OJ - We cuffed a douglas wolf in a Bridger 5 unmodified.....it still had factory oil on it.
Buried in sand...with gusto in the V of some logs. 10 ft heavy chain and drag. Didn't get past the beach alders.
I have a neat DVD of some old school wolf trappin here in SE.

Rosscoak

Right on. Well I’ll keep my fingers crossed that they hold up! Managed to get another in a snare on yesterday’s check. Now heading out into the rain to run the other side of that line.

What modifications are people making to TS85’s? Also anybody use livestock protection traps? They seem pretty solid

The Livestock Protection Traps are among the certified traps that John Heart recommend to us at his workshop last summer. I want one just to hang on the wall…lol. When I saw the one he brought it looked so nice, I thought it was some kind of award!

My bigger traps I try and use on the snowmobile trail sets and the small 750s in trail sets. But my last one was a 750 on the snowmobile trail, set very shallow and it was a nice high catch. Pan tension is pretty heavy…..guessing 10ish pounds of thumb pressure.

LPC makes good traps, for the money I'd buy #9's instead. Unless you're really into longsprings

Haha I’ll stick to the 9’s. Just trying to weigh all my options seems like there’s way more options than when I bought my first few! Which wasn’t that long ago!

Might try some smaller LPC traps for wolverine sets kinda dual purpose if a wolf decides to step into it.

I owned pretty much all the above-mentioned wolf traps at one time or another, (except the Duke). I never liked having a hodge-podge of traps of any size or style, as it was sometimes a goat rope with different boxes, conibears stabilizers, chain/cable, etc. If all my 120's were the same, so where my boxes. Easy in, easy out. One less thing.
Same with footholds. I would typically buy one of each brand, say beaver footholds, try each one out, pick what worked best for me, sell the others, then buy bulk in my favorite.
For wolf traps, I had done the same thing and fell in love with the KORO #9 immediately. It did take something serious for me to part with the others, but the KORO, with the dogless setup, is something else, and only the Alaska #9 can compare.
All that said, your traps will all catch wolves, OJ. Keep up the good work. Proud to see you still have GRIT!

SEAK sets are a dicey deal. I am sold on the Koros above the 22’ line. Anything under that gets a cheap trap.

What’s a SEAK set?

South east Alaska

gcs is correct. The land of freeze/thaw and setting for wolves on beaches. Our wolf sets basically fall into two categories. One is a tide set which is going to be under the ocean water for significant time. The benefit is that it might stay working by not becoming iced in. The second is a dry set. Those may be snowed/iced in with a quickness.

The freeze thaw is the major set killer. I have had 3 wolves step directly on frozen down traps that were set less than a week prior with the classic wax paper routine; over the last 2 years. Then I step all over them. Not a chance they’re going off…. Chip out with the hatchet and reset.

Yep, it can be an exercise in futility. But, it’s always a good day when those dry sets work.

Koro’s and #9’s are what I prefer for the dry sets. I had been using the Sleepy Creek 4.5 for the tide sets. The SC’s are about at end of life and I am up in the air on what to replace them with, kind of a creature of habit and wish I could find more. Whatever I end up with I will be trying Rosscoak’s sacrificial anode trick. It makes sense.

It's probably been done but would powder coating traps help with the corrosion?

When we ran galvanized crab pots a wired on zinc helped reduce the corrosion, the wired on zincs would work, no need to weld them on, or theres bolt on zincs, just need a good metal to metal contact.

I meant to edit earlier but want all to see. I am/was by NO MEANS a wolf trapper. What little experience and
knowledge I possess was learned by my own failures and other's successes.

How big of a Zinc are people using? Also as far as rebar drags go is there a better design for the big critters?

Big and heavy, there is a local guy who makes drags out of 1/2"x1 1/2" flat steel that weigh over 8# per drag, they are a really nice wolf grapple, as long as you don't have to pack many very far. I make mine out of 5/8" rebar and I don't remember the dimensions off the top of my head, but they are roughly twice the length of the MTP drags and a lot heavier.

I’m not sure if there’s different kinds of powder coating, but the stuff on the No BS wolf starts chipping off during the first set up in the garage. For us, the coating is $10 more. If I was buying a bunch at once, I’d just get the non coated ones.

I powder coated some this year with the cheap Harbor Freight powder coat gun. I was very impressed and all my white wolf traps will be powder coated, rather than painted next year. SJ, I noticed on a couple new NOBS traps that were sitting on the table at a convention that their powder coating was chipping off. Never had that problem with any of the traps I powder coated.

I wonder if either the recipe has changed, or is it just the white coating? The canine extremes I had for wolverine were pretty much indestructible.
They were the black coating.

The black coating on NOBS traps is not powder coating, I don't know exactly what it is, but it is pretty tough stuff. I was really impressed with the powder coat I put on my wolf traps this winter, but I seen the white powder coat on some new NOBS wolf traps chippng before they were ever used. Probably whoever they had powder coat them didn't clean them right or something.