So I bought 36 of these Duke 155 Body Grips last fall for skunk trapping-thinking they would be an ideal kill trap for skunks. Obviously they are not a magnum style trap-so my question is-are there any guys out there that have done mods to these traps to make them more lethal. I caught a bunch of skunks in them but had to dispatch a lot of the skunks upon arrival rather than find skunks that had been dead right there. Of course 50% or more of the dispatches sprayed so that wasn't great.Don't really want to just hear buy different traps-I have other traps etc..and am looking for someone who may have done some small mods to make them a better trap is all. Thanks

Can you weld on a kill bar?

Replace the trigger with a belisle style (flat) to allow a tighter closure, if the springs will hold it closed tighter.

Every Duke bg that I’ve bought over the years had pretty darn stout springs so maybe it’s a simple matter of where the jaws are striking! Possibly tuning the trigger will make for a more lethal strike behind the ears?

That's my guess, a trigger adjustment, very little trigger travel

Thanks-yes changed the triggers last week to the bolt on style which really helps it fire. Guess what I was asking is if anyone has welded on extra bars etc.. I was quite disappointed in their killing strength honestly.

Adding anything to the jaws will just slow down the trap.

The stock triggers on the Duke 155's can be tuned to fire right, but curious did swapping to new triggers help do a better job on the skunks? If not, I guess a guy could try welding a 2nd 3/16" bar on the side of the two bottom wires. Try a couple and see if that helps. I have half a dozen or so and was going to try them on coon as they are legal in MO for that use......but just can't do it for same reason. Look too small to me for coon but would have thought they would handle a skunk. I did a search and only other 155 trap I could find was Bridger......and not going there. My 155's are going to work on a muskrats on a neighbor's lake.

Next step would be to try a couple Duke 160's to see if they have more pop. If not, the Bridger 160's are real hammers, but will need to swap out the triggers on those for sure and for certain. Do that and they would get the job done. So would a Belisle 160 but I say a price of $26 or $28 for one of those.

K snow’s got your answer, the factory dog is holding your jaw open. Put on a Belisle dog.

Thanks everyone-anyone have any pics of the kill bars if they have done this? The belisle dog will help as well

MB, RBG owner Nick Erny modifies 155 traps into what he calls The Bulldog. Kill bars on the jaws and added swiveling...might be worth it to contact him.

If it's this trap, I have one without the kill bars. Wire size is about 1/4" (heavy) and springs so stout it creates so much friction of dog on the bars it takes a lot of pressure on the trigger wires to get them to move enough to fire. If he can set it off, that trap would snuff a skunk.

https://www.wildlifecontrolsupplies.com/animal/WCSBG55.html

I use the 155 on skunks with good results. Adjust the trigger for limited movement and add a belly wire (Seldom has a very good utube video on this). No need to buy new triggers or add kill bars etc. Adjust your triggers for the strike you want

At one time there was a tutorial on adjusting BG triggers here on the web site , can't remember where

I use 155 Dukes on my Fisher line. I put the coni pan on the trigger of all mine . I also do the trigger adjustment that TS Trapping shows on a very good video on Duke BG with a nail to bend the trigger so it fires sooner . Check to see how far your trigger travels before it will fire . With these modifications I get good results on Fisher Coon Skunks and Gray Fox.

This is the Todd S method, using the finish nail to put a small V in the clip. For historical reference, I have some old square jaw Victor's that came with the V in the clip from the factory.





Have used Todd's method and yes it does work. But what I prefer is method shown below........which is used if the slack is in the clip.....it rotates or gets loose and floppy with lots of travel. The fault is the dog is deeply seated on the jaws and as clip starts to rotate.......it starts to pry the dog up, but has to go so far before it lets go. By tapping on top of clip it raises the notch....so dog does not seat as deep on the jaws. It is set......and will stay set, but is always right on the edge of letting go. If you go to far, tap on side of clip to go from round to oblong.....to get it back.....lower it.. Option B is to file down the bottom of the dog's first notch to point where it is barely hanging on..... so any travel of the clip wires pries it up. As a side note, look at fore and aft radius of the clip.....the distance it has to rotate to pry dog up. Then look at distance side to side and it will be 2X to 4X more radius......point being trap is much more sensitive with 4 way trigger with wire set slightly off to one side......so animal pushes clip wires to the side vs rotate fore and aft.

Replace the stock chain that comes on all Duke traps with real chain. And add a swivel. If you don't it will eventually cost you an animal and there will be something running around with a trap on it. And yes, even for bodygrips. Stuff doesn't go as planned 100% of the time regardless of what folks say.

I'd say the same for the cables that come on Belisle traps. I don't know if its the cable or the water here, but they fail the first or second season. Trigger wires too.

I agree with seldom always thought the duke 155s had 160 springs on them and since i use them in boxes not trails i made pans out of wood, screen and aluminum siding slipped them onto wires and tried bolting them on everthing worked some of the time what i noticed was the pan took out the slop and lessened the trigger weight I'm sure there are those out there who noticed what to heavy a pan accomplished

Ther is a diagram somewhere on this site showing how to file the dog, so you remove all trigger play.

I did that easily enough…2 power reading glasses helped me dial things in

This may be it..............he puts a slight bevel on front dog to reduce travel distant clip must pry dog up. Tapping on top of the clip with a hammer does the same thing to raise the bottom of the notch to remove all travel. Dog will sit firmly in and on the notch.......and right on the edge of letting go. Probably trap size and use specific. A 330 set for beaver or otter in water probably needs to be less sensitive than a smaller trap set for smaller animals.

http://www.trapperman.com/trapperman/Basic_Sets_Bodygrip_Adj.html