I put my first line out in Bedford for a couple of days over the weekend. Here's some pics.

2 dozen lil griz dog proof coon traps, cleaned up from last year and with a fresh coat of white paint (eye appeal and easier for me to spot). I only ran a little more than a dozen traps this weekend.



The bait goes down in the hole under the trigger, when the coon reaches down and pulls it out, he pulls the trigger and fires the trap. You can see the trigger highlighted in the darkness. I use jack mack for bait.



Here I'm pushing down on the jaw, which is powered by a coil spring....it's surprisingly strong. The dog is laying up against the jaw. Once the jaw is compressed into the trap, the dog will fit into the trigger holding the jaw in place.



This what it looks like after the trap is set.



This is a split ring attached to the swivel at the end of the chain. This what I use to attached the trap to the cable I anchor it with.


Here's a pic of the cable. I loop around a sapling, deadfall or root. I have not yet had a pullout with this simple setup.



This 17 lber, 3-4XL boar is as large as any coon I've caught in Va or NC. He also fought the trap hard, and was plain wore out when I walked up. The Lil Griz held him firm!



First check, 5 coon.



Second check, I had 2, including this beautiful sow.


Fleshed and boarded them last night.



This afternoon I put out my second line, in coastal NC....a dozen lil griz. It's hard to switch back to these coastal flat coated coon after catching the nice well furred Blue Ridge coon!

That is some great ratios there Neill, congrats!! Nice job with the pictorial too. Good luck with the rest of your season.

Man that last picture takes me back.. Stretching Coon hides.. good stuff.. of course my dad never did trap much.. we used the old Bluetick Hound method

How much do you get for a good hide these days? I remember when it was a lucritive enterprise to catch coons getting up to $30 a hide for a good one back in the 80's which was good money back then, but then it got to where it was not paying much and a lot of people quit doing it.

The money is up and down.....it cost a lot to run a line so I don't make anything. Last year coon sold well.....just like everything else in the economy I'm sure fur will be down this year.

Here's my season pic:

I am impressed. Good job.

I agree with WVB. I like the fur on the stretchers picture.

nell , how much are these and where can i get them, thanks

They are usally about $22 apeice. I looked around and several places are out right now. This link does not say if it is in stock or not....

http://www.rpoutdoors.com/lilgrlicotr.html

$22 OUCH!!! I could get two good leghold traps for coon for less than that. And could use them for bobcats, coyotes, etc.

They're not cheap but they're quality traps and they have their advantages. And good footholds are only a couple bucks cheaper if you buy them with modifications like baseplating, offset jaws, laminated etc. Cheaper immitations from Duke are now available for a lot cheaper....as with anything you get what you pay for.

The lil griz are fast to set and remake....much faster than digging a dirthole, bedding etc.

They hold raccoon very well and you won't have pullouts.

And most obviously, you don't have to worry about non target dogs or other k9s. This is huge for me because I trap near residential areas. And in NC where I live there is no fox trapping, but there are oodles of foxes. If I was running footholds I would probably catch more fox than coons. With these I don't have to bother with them. I have caught two feral cats when using fish bait, but they can be released easy enough with a catch pole. If you don't want to cat cats, use sweet bait like marsh mellows.

I read where Duke has come out with a coon trap very similiar to this for around $14. When I read that I thought of this post. Not sure if they are any good or not but a bit cheaper if someone wanted to try this type of trap.

Epler Fur has Duke Dog Proofs that are written up as good as Little Griz for 12 for $125.


http://www.eplerfur.com/trap1.html