I have a newfound respect

Yep, I’ve read for years about y’all northern and western guys frozen ground and rocky ground.
Well, we are experiencing a serious drought and driving an anchor is like driving it through a solid block of cement! About 6-8” is all I’m getting before my shirt and shorts are soaked!! So far it’s held everything caught, but I couldn’t imagine an entire trapping season of doing that.
My hats off to y’all!!!

I’m seriously thinking of getting a 5# or larger hammer. My 3# is killing me!

Look at a pulaski/firemans axe. Been meaning to get one forever and finally got one literally an hoir ago on my way home from our last meeting before the NTA convention. Only time our ground isn't concrete is late winter to june thrn it softens uo for November. Clay turns to cement when dry or frozen.

I am with you on that I use the 12 in wolf fang earth cable anchors. I bought some 15 inchers I found on sale and after driving the first couple I said never again.

I’m slowly swapping all mine out to chain. It’s much easier to coil up the excess below the trap. With cable I’m having to drive it in outside the bed and stretch it across so the end doesn’t poke up. And yes, the South seems to be either clay or sand. I trap mainly clay.

I may look into the chain style I have to anchor outside also due to using shock springs. The clay and gravel are my biggest headaches here..

Round here I have some spots that I can drive a super stake 15”. But there’s a lot of country I trap that you just flat can’t use stakes of any kind. Couple inches of duff and then bedrock. Some places you get sand for 6 inches and then hard pan, might as well be rock for the purposes of driving a stake. I use mostly drags, or if there’s a sturdy juniper nearby I’ll tie off to that.

Pre-drilling is your friend.

I pack the rotary hammer and a 7/8x12” bit year round.

Guessing a masonry bit?

I use a 1 in wood boring bit. I am pre drilling holes. Using Wolf Fangs in some of the hardest dirt I have ever seen. On NoN discloser job no catching coyotes. Will take pics of it latter. And post up what I use

Driving is bad enough but recovery of driven stakes is a be-atch. I'm breaking equipment putting the puller to it.

If I had access to water I'd try soaking things first.

Yeah, I may trip sets if needed, but pull after a rain or carrying a few jugs of water. Supposedly we are about to get in our Summer time pattern of afternoon thunderstorms. I really hope it happens!!!

Be careful. After a good rain, that shallow stake can pull out on you.

And you can always go back to cross staked rebar and a bigger hammer.

Yup.

Saves me, saves my drivers, money well spent.

7/8” works good for fangs. Makes a big enough hole they drive like butter but not so big they won’t grab. Tried 1/2-3/4 which were still awful hard driving in hard ground. Used to burn up a driver in a month, now one will last me a year or two!

But, most of my ground, most of the year, a single piece of 24” rebar will hold any coyote alive.

X2

Can you use drags?

Drags.
Bent many a stake driving them into rocky ground, well the spouse does anyway.
Waiting til you try pulling stakes from frozen ground, ugh....

I could use drags, but I’m a part time trapper, lol. I check before work and don’t have time chasing critters through the brush. I just don’t have confidence in a drag on hard ground either.

Prehook your drags, you won’t have to chase em down very often. Or use very heavy drags or “clogs”. Many times my “drag” is just a 30 or 40 pound rock that I find at the set and attach to my chain with wire, or a big juniper bough. In fact probably half my traps just have 8 feet of chain and no stake ring or anything, I only use them that way, saves me having to pack stakes or drags with me. Not even the toughest coyote is gonna drag one of those very far. Usually within sight of the original set

Load that cable so it coils up, works for me anyway.

Ok, I’m man enough, what does that mean? I bought a roll of 1/8” cable to make some anchors for DP’s. Explain load please?

To load cable you run it over a nail in line with it's natural lay or curve to impart more curve.

If you remember your mama or missus making the little curly bows with ribbon and the edge of a pair of scissors, same concept.

Go to you tube look up meat trapper. He has some good videos on how to load snares.

I use the handle on my bench vise.

HAMMER DRILL WITH MASONRY BIT, AND THEN A 2 INCH CHISEL FOR HAMMER DRILL FOR DIGGING THE BED