So I was prepping traps and came across some of my old DLS #4's. After doing some reading I came across some old timers talking about wolf trapping using #3 & #4 DLS's. All the ones I have seen are normal single layer closed jaw, good heavy chain with good sized ring.
I was wondering as the animal hasn't changed, why have the traps changed so much? (Excluding more "humane") Everything now a days is laminated once or twice, beefier springs, rubber jaws, so on & so forth... anything wrong with using the old DLS's as they use to do back in the day?

Have you ever actually seen a wolf paw? They are HUGE! The reason a lot of those guys that might have caught a few wolves likely both lost a lot more than they held and there were few true wolf traps available back then. And they were expensive. Think Newhouse traps, mostly.

I think you answered your own question. "More humane". Trap lockup isn't the same a pressure against the leg. Laminations increase the area of contact on the leg., same as rubber. Laminations and rubber increase mass (weight), thus the move to heavier springs to maintain/ increase trap closure speed. Offset allows the levers to come up higher which based on geometry should provide a sturdier trap lockup.

Using the old #3 or #4, they will catch wolves, sure. Will they do it as humanely as new BMI cert. traps, probably not. I do catch and hold wolves in my 'new' coyote traps; size #3, offset, laminated or cast jaw, heavy springs, base plated, center chained with multi-layer swivels in chain and drag, on a 24 hour mandatory trap check, ... Yes, sure do without foot damage. I don't like finding a wolf in my traps; it's extra work to release the animal! It's not the size of the trap. It's what respect we as trappers have for the animals we trap.

The Great Lakes Wolf is a bit smaller than it's Alaskan cousin, so I guess size may have some bearing, In Wisconsin, we can't use the large traps of Alaska.

Bergmans rule applies.
Northern Moose killing wolves are a different animal than the southern deer killers.

The big Northern wolves if pinched in a victor no4 will leave behind a pile of twisted junk.

The old time actual wolf trappers (not the coyote trappers that call themselves wolfers) used 4 1/2 newhouse traps to trap the big wolves.
When I was young I caught a big timber wolf in a 14 jump trap.It had only been in the trap an hour or so (checked the trap on my backtrack) and that trap was bent so bad it was unuseable,

Still would have to rework the older traps, montana dry land sets now
have to be center baseplate and swivel.
Like others said above, can use but just as well try to hold them if
you catch them.

Like others mentioned,
Without mentioning the humane thing, just general improvements. Wolves are fast learners and it’s already tough for wolfers in high pressure areas to pinch one, they don’t want to educate them more by losing one.
But with all the knowledge and improvements, there’s still some brand new junk being sold as wolf traps. A good trap should be ready to rock right out of the box and not need a machinist to turn it into a wolf trap.
I see new wolf trappers buying boxes of the cheapest (certified for us) trap they find, and quit after a season or two because of poor success rates. They get a few misses and now they’re dealing with a pack of smarty pants wolves. The whole pack learns off one bad miss. That’s when it gets real fun though.

A few reasons for that. As others have mentioned, it is what they had. Also, wolves in the southwest and northeast of the US were considerably smaller than the Canadian/Alaska wolves, which are what we have here in Montana and Idaho. Also a lot of those old timers in certain areas called coyotes wolves or brush wolves and that can get confusing. You can still hold wolves in those traps, but you aren't going to hold them all and that is going to educate wolves and make them a lot harder to catch. Also, those old traps won't come up through the snow and crust like the new ones (no laminations will help some in that regard), don't have the jawspread to reach up through deep snow if they will close fast enough, and are going to provide mostly toe catches when they do connect.

If your going to trap them get traps built for them. I have caught a few incidentals in tricked out #3 Bridger coils. They held them but the traps needed repairs later.

Have any of you used the fully modified TS85 for wolves? How did they work?

Yes. They work great for wolves. Their weakness is that their jaws are weak. If large ungulates step in them they will bend the jaws and self release, which is good. But trying to straighten them out to reset can be a pain.

How about the modified Bridger #5?

The Bridger #5 Alaskan, already modified from the factory, has caught a lot of wolves.

have you tried the newer TS85's with the hardened jaws?

When did those come out? I have some 85's that are 8 - 10 years old.

i believe they came out about 2 years back.

Thanks viking. I was hoping to hear that

I think why people use these beefed up traps is because of availability, not just availability of materials, but also information. Way back they just knew they could hold a wolf with standard #3 and #4 traps. There wasn’t much experimenting with different modifications, or real ways to collect data on modifications.

Very true Cat Trapper.
In the old days, they didn’t get together at Wolfer Summits and the like discussing ideas and tips.
In some cases dam near tried to make sure any new trapper got into the bush and never came out.
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