Wolf traps

I'm curious, what is the preferred wolf trap and setup for you all. Please and thanks

I have and like my Alaskan #9's, but my go-to trap has always been the 114 NH.

Pete

Alaskan No# 9, blind trail sets, and pee/wolf turds sets.

My favorite is a #9 in the trail near a pee post but a 600 Sterling on the way into a cubby has nailed a few too. Snare's everywhere is the ticket!

Thanks guys, couple more ?.. Long chains staked solid or drags? Are 4 coils absolutely necessary and why? Do any of you use Lure or mainly urine?

If you can stake a wolf trap solid in Interior Alaska in January, you don't even need a trap.

You are obviously capable of running down a wolf and killing it with a Buck knife and your teeth.....

LOL, I kinda figured that Pete .. Thanks Don't know if you all realize but Sleepy Creek is going back in business. From what I understand they are going to work on wolf size double longs possibly with cast jaws.

Pete, do you still use 114s? I have a few and think it would be cool to catch a wolf in one for the sake of nostalgia. Just haven't brought myself to the point of setting one. I may have to do it one of these days in a place where I know there's no chance of theft.

I do still use my 114's. I've had them for the better part of 50 years. They are more difficult to conceal than a 9, but they bed solidly and hold magnificently!

Each one has 10 feet of extension chain; I use metal hook-type drags.

.
Mb750, Alaskan #9, Koro, NoBs wolf trap

I love the TS85 traps for beaver, but my personal opinion is, they need a lot more than adding 2 springs to make them a bonified wolf trap, compared to the other 3.
The Koro and Alaskan 9 are in a league of their own, and the MB750, along with the Bridger Alaskan #5, and Sleepy Creek 4.5 fills the niche below them.

Thanks S.E. great pics for comparison. The Coro , Alaskan 9 have beefy levers. as well as the KOs. Which one performs best in snow ? Are dogless better than dog on?

Hard to beat the Alaskan #9s. #9s give me the most confidence in a set. Missed too many wolves on mb750s and SC 4 1/2.
Nothing more frustrating than waiting 3-4 weeks for the pack to arrive just to have them dance all over the cheap traps without catching any.

I agree with missing too many with the SC 4.5’s. They aren’t quite a wolf trap, but I have heartburn with putting a #9 or Koro in a set that will be submerged by the tide.

SC did previously make their #5 Which are apparently still available to add to the cart on MTP’s site. I want to add a few to my trapping arsenal.

I bought a bunch of the MB750 Wolfers, couldn’t ditch them fast enough. Not only are they S L O W to fire in our freeze/thaw conditions, like the SC 4.5’s, but they are scary to be in a hurry with in trapping areas you are under the gun fighting tides. At least the SC 4.5 is somewhat corrosion tolerant, for a acceptable service life.

Currently, for me, the #9 is king, followed very closely with the Koro. I have taken more with the Kroro, because I have more of them. The #9 works in more adverse conditions, hands down.

Not familiar with the Koro, Alaska 9's are nice no doubt, but their price tag hurts. Down here the majority of the wolves are caught in MB750s, because that is what most of the trappers have. No doubt due to price, advertising, and the fact that the guys teaching the required wolf trapping class recommend them. Personally while I own a dozen of them and have caught a couple wolves in them, I don't like them. They'd be alright for dry ground wolf trapping, but for freeze/thaw and snow trapping they are one of the worst traps I've dealt with to keep operating. On the plus side, if they grab a wolf they will hold it. I have some SC 4 1/2s that I like quite a lot better (of course I am partial to longsprings) and their price point isn't much higher. I know some guys down here who are catching quite a few wolves are using the NOBS traps or some TS85s modified by a local guy in Montana. I've no experience with them however. I've made a couple prototype traps using Bridger #9 springs and 8" inside spread round jaws, that I like quite well, but haven't caught anything in them. So they are still in the basically untested phase, but I'm going to make a dozen or two this summer to try next trapping season. They worked well in the freeze/thaw, come up better through the snow than the SC 4 1/2s (and obviously the 750s) and don't take up as much room to bed as the longsprings, considerably more than the mb750s though, and I've found longsprings easier to bed solidly than any coilsprings.

For my use I love being able to set a 9” coil spring with a loose jaw. For coming up out of crusty conditions the pan on dog is superior than the dogless. If I am setting in the tide flats I prefer the long spring. If not where the ocean can get to it then it is the big coils going in to the sets. For my needs a 9” trap is where wolf trapping starts.

Very interesting and informative conversation guys, thanks. What do you all use for attraction at sets?

I had approx. 40 snares out and 20 traps for wolves out..This year I trapped 8, of which 2 were caught in traps...both tidal area sets..the attractant for one was Gusto and seal oil up in the V of 2 logs, with a factory new shiny Bridger 5 on drag...plopped down in fresh snow on frozen sand, was a messy set I hurriedly threw in because of tide, boat , wx issues...didn't really think it'd catch but it did.
The other set was a TS 85 modified, on a rebar homemade drag. It was a small freshwater pool set with 3 whole herring under a rockpile by son helped me make...he was confident it would catch and it did...on the last check of the season as we pulled gear.
I am a believer in location, location, location and having the trap where they step versus the type of trap. Sold all but 2 750s recently.
Bought more TS 85s after seeing how they perform in my conditions and fire thru sand and concrete. We also use #9s in the saltwater...I'm gonna play with zinc coating here soon.
We set lots of snares, gotta cork every hole they can get thru.

Thanks rosscoak...great pics and info.

Thanks, great info. I used too get the spray zinc galvanizer from Low's but it's not in stock any more. It is very tough and might be a big help in saltwater environments. All I did to prep new traps is clean the grease off then spray. Very durable.

Sleepy Creek is back in production thru southern snares.

Nice work

Just looked at Southern Snares site. That is kind of funny.

Yep I saw that bet they wouldn't be trapwise LOL

I like a trap called the Wolf Gotcha Trap built in Montana. They are wicked fast and tough

Hey Sabertooth, I typed Wolf Gotcha Trap into my search bar and it came up with a bunch of anti BS. When I searched the images it was worse yet....

Do you have a link to search those traps you mention?

I’ll second that....link?