I viewed a YouTube video of someone’s late season coon line. Anyway, they were running duke and the ground was froze leaving for a bad scenario after a catch. They had an interesting way of dealing with it. Simply just laid down the dp. Anyone else try that? I mainly run z traps, and with that stabilizer I can put them in trees and such. But also have dukes that I will just pull to avoid the problem

I have, many times in rocky ground, they work just as well. Gotta use a more solid bait, pellets and runny crap just runs out.

If I'm worried about the stabilizer freezing down, instead of just sticking the stabilizer in the ground I'll make the hole bigger than it needs to be and stuff some dead grass in it before sticking the trap in. That's enough to keep the trap fairly stable and let a coon pull it out of the hole.

^^^^^ this ^^^^^

I use Grizz, so just use a swing of the ax/ hatchet. Of course, frozen sand isn't all that solid.

I was tapping mine into a stump at a 45 angle…….turns out it’s good for skunks too….lol.
Used an old log to hammer the axe on to protect the trap. Trigger off to the side so I didn’t have to pull it out to reset.

I've laid it on the ground and that works, even hung it upside down, with an appropriate bait and that worked too...
You can also lay a rock or log over the stabilizer and prop the trap with another rock or log to get the angle you want...Don't go thinking there's only one way to use the trap...

Since you have to stake the trap, you can just zip tie the DP to the stake. Make sure It's a lightweight zip tie.

Great plan!

Or just drive in a separate piece of re bar.

Excellent solution, Beav!

I disagree. For DP's I don't like having the stake stuck up out of the ground. The coons get the traps caught up over the stake (through the lever/spring), the swiveling stops and bad things happen. It's the only times I ever had "twist/pullouts" of a DP.

I anchor mine with a 3/8" rebar stake, so I just make a 3/8" hole about 2-3" deep with the stake and set the DP (EZ-Traps) in that hole. You don't ever want the washer on the stabilizer underground anyway even in soft ground. If it was a Duke or some other type that requires a bigger hole for it to loosely set in the hole, use whatever you have to make an appropriate sized hole.

ADC Is right in his thinking.
But let's take a closer look at what I posted. If you leave the stake a couple of inches out of the ground once the zip tie is broken there Is a complete swiveling action around that stake. I don't see how that would give you an entanglement situation. The other thing you can do is zip tie the body of the trap to the stake and have it positioned at a 45-degree angle. This makes It easier for most critters to access the trigger. And you have a well stabilized trap.
The other thing you can do as I mentioned using a second stake to position the trap. Is to anchor your trap with your stake then streach out your DP and drive in the second stake where you will position your DP. Do the same thing zip tie the body of the DP to the short stake. Then you can position It at a 45. The second stake Is about 5" away from the end of the where the chain is attached to the staking system on the DP. There Is no way you will ever get the chain wrapped around the second stake.
And yes, you can dive in a second hole and wallow It out like ADC said and that will work. And you can lay the trap down on the ground and catch coon, but a well stabilized trap is going to get you a higher catch rate.
I've even used 1/2" conduit to position my DPs. Flaten out on end drive It in the ground and place the DP stake in the conduit. Black pipe works better since it's stronger.

I have Duke DPs so I have a mini stake at the bottom of my trap. I double stake using 2 3/8 inch by 17 inch rebars. I use the stake to tap a hole deep enough and wide enough to set a piece of PVC about 6 inches long in the hole. I set my DP inside the PVC and stake my trap as normal. I use butterfly stake holders for my stakes so there is no part of the stake high enough to zip tie to.

Bryce

Your double staking in frozen ground?

I lay it on the frozen ground and use a bush hog blade as a drag.

I still feel that a stabilized trap will get you more catches. But that's just me.

I agree.

As stated if stake is left above ground trap will be put over washer, nut and will have problems. If lay trap on side mice clean trap out. Best fix for me is enlarge hole with 1/2" rebar for duke. Hole will be hour glass shape and as freezes can still make trap not able to be pulled out easy. Might need to enlarge hole with big stick.