thanks, what bait and set do you use for footholds?

Always wire of your body grips. I know this is not the topic but Jeb's post made me think about other traps I use.

Knowing your a young new trapper you can learn from my mistakes and close calls. I had an otter get into a 330 body caught and got its head un the spring. It was 12' out of the trap location dead on a sand bar at the end od a half hearted single strand of 16g tie wire. Probably would have lost that trap had i not had it tied off.

I also had a 220 on a trail along the top of a 25' cliff above the creek. Didn't tie it off trap was gone. I believe it flopped enough to end up down the cliff and into the creek. I dont use many body grips but always tie them off now and dont take it for granted I will always get a perfect catch that is dead and right whare I set it.

Edit.

For coon I typically have used cheaper duke 1.5 coils dirt hole or pocket sets with jack mackerel. Its cheap and requires no work to open the can buying it from the store.

For the terrain I trap in here in the mountains of VA I prefer DP's for Coon trapping.

thanks!

I have started using DP's. This last fall they worked pretty good. But like conibears in boxes they still have to commit. Foothold in my opinion would be a better trap to use.

A dirthole just catches everything. From trail cameras, I've noticed if I had multiple coon at once, they swarm all over a smell, but one coon alone might just sniff and go. I want to catch the sniffers, not just the aggressive ones.
But a trail set is the best. Still like a dab of lure, because it slows em down.

thanks

I can set 4 DPs in the time it takes to set one foothold.
Time is money.
If I set 100 DPs and connect on 25% of them I'll catch 25 raccoons.
If I set 25 footholds, I'd have to connect on 100% of them to match that 25 raccoon number.

Footholds blind set in trails work great. If I use bait just a dirthole made for coon. If water trapping pockets sets are good bet.

TTS time to set is very low with DP's

non targets very low with DP's

bait simple , I run kibble and corn , with fish oil and a touch of smoke oil , I mix it up in gallon jugs and pour it in so my hands stay clean well at least of bait.

I run almost exclusively around farms and there are almost always barn cats around

I did have a non target this year I caught a 35 year old farmer , he saw the trap as he was parking grain carts near where I was trapping around the poultry pens he even had been warned we were trapping that area , he stuck his thumb in the DP , he got lucky I had only single staked that with a 24 inch rebar so he was able to pull it out , he was on the phone calling his friend for help when he figured out if he squeezed it would let his thumb go.

it was my buddies cousin and he was staging carts at my buddies place and going to harvest the next field over the next day.

he said it was sore a few days but otherwise it was mostly just the shock of it.

when he sees anything metal around he is thinking tire hazard , he has picked up a few pieces of metal in that field before , I just wasn't sure why he would stick his thumb in rather than grab around the outside , seems like even a peice of rusty pipe could have a sharp edge and cut you.

Do DPs not "hold" them by the "foot" too? Anyway, I would think the main benefit to DPs would be to lower the risk of non-target catches. If your goal is to catch as many critters as you can, then "jaw-type" traps are probably better. DPs are also really easy to set, so that's something, too.



Cap'n Crunch

Both DP and footholds will catch coon. If using footholds either coil or ls, double jaw traps help prevent chewing of the foot.

Aren't dps just a dirthole without the dirt?
Fruit loops work well. I quit using wet bait in my dps because when dry it is hard to clean.
just

Dp can use it anywhere but my go to is a 160 or 220 connibear

I use both, but footholds in a pocket set will out perform DPs.

Blind sets are king for raccoon trapping here. Especially if you are around crawfish ponds.

thanks everyone!!