Haha My machete takes care of them just fine

I bet you guys are a hoot to go hunting with.

What do you bait yours with?

went an sat ta try get a hog last night that showed up on cam. seen top of grass moving when first set chair down realized it was a raccoon scrounging on the corn threw out ta try take hog. held off shooting. no hogs showed up. could have done some in & chillen rac. they taste better than antlers

an i got told by credit adviser that spending $200.00 a year on a lease, 1 buck & 1 doe or 2 does had three days for doe, an reason got on lease 24-7-365 for hog hunting was a bad investment

In winter when ants aren't a problem I'll use sardine because I think even if it freezes it will smell, if its in or around a feeder I just use whatever is in the feeder be it protein or corn but marshmallows have prolly caught more for me than corn but some times ants will eat them too. I've used everything and marshmallows are the cleanest and easiest but will attract some ants.

I was curious as to what you put in the caulk gun.

Freedoms are garbage, z traps are by far the best dp trap on the market

Why do you say that? What are the issues with them?

Looking at getting a ztrap. Whats the best method for deployment? Sticking straight up out of the ground? Sticking up at an angle? Near tree? Thanks for any info gents

I have never used any of the freedom brand traps but I'm just kind of relaying what I've heard about them, problems with trigger mechanism, most all traps need to be tuned or adjusted before use. Just over all a poor trap. I have quite a few of the z traps and have never had a complaint.

As far as trap placement, they should be earth anchored in an open area away from anything that they can get tangled in. You will learn that when you tie off to a tree or set your trap near a bunch of debris you will come to a tangled up empty trap. This is because the coon will roll around and fight the trap and get leverage on a branch and depress the spring enough to pull out. Set your trap right in the middle of the trail to where the coon has to walk over it. Straight up and down, not angled. If your under a feeder just gang set em, put 6 to 10 out all spaced out to where they can't reach each other and see what happens. A coon in a trap is an excellent way to bring other coons to the area. Just need to have traps waitin for them

metal milk crate they cant chew thru

Caught this fella this weekend with a Duke's DP. It took three days, but we finally got one. I had two duke's baited with sardines and marshmellos which the ants really had fun with. Finally I filled one up with deer corn and this guy took the bait. I used a lag bolt and ratcheted the trap to the post you see in the picture. On a side note.......ouch! I would not want to get my finger caught in that. That coon's hand was bent in two places and not going anywhere.

and they are cheap if you can find I use to buy for a buck each at flea markets

If the trap was bolted to the post as described, no chain or cable to facilitate movement of the trap, your lucky that coon was still there at all.

If you're intention was to catch and get in hand a raccoon, this would not be a preferred method.

Problem with the FB dog proofs is the spring cover, made for wussies that can't handle setting traps with their hands, it creates a dam for debris and mud to catch abd gum up the trap. Definitely harder to clean than the exposed holding spring Ztraps, coon daggers, or the only raccoon trap that exists to most guys on this forum the Duke ( which is a BRAND of traps). Ztraps are king because of price and performance. If you want made in USA then go coon daggers.

The trap has a 12" chain which I lag bolted to the post. Would it be better to run a longer cable through the chain to allow more movement once the trap is sprung? If so, how long would u want the cable?

I think what he means is that you want to enable the trap to swivel so that the rascal can twist and turn without torquing on the trap and twist himself out. As far as chain length, I've been taught not to make it too long so that the animal cannot get much of a "running start" and pull itself out when reaching the end of the slack. I would think 12" is fine assuming you had enough swivels.