Non-Beckerhead Traps

[paperairplane]

Don't have a BH# - will probably get there - and didn't want to hijack the other Figure 4 thread, so I'll share a few pics here. (plus it's an excuse to post a pic)

Get a few Beckers, take a big stick of wild cherry and make it into littler sticks, find some cordage and get to it.

In progress, note serrations on bottom of spring trap to hold in ground:

This one works - tension is being held by the remains of a failed self-bow from the summer. Big elbow and bad carving ruined the bow, but it has a good 15#'s on the trap line:

Overly ornate figure 4 set (the extra notch in the top stick was the first try / fail):

 

[paperairplane]

I forgot to mention my very custom batoning tool in the first pic... someday I will make a proper mallet - this one is sycamore and is splitting / checking pretty bad. Few of the other sticks were made into a paiute trap which was a complete failure. Was trying to be cute and make a small / delicate setup. Which was good, except you could not set it. FAIL.

Time for some try, try again...

 

[Moosez45]

Very well done, if you get your number before the contest ends, feel free to let me know, I'll move this in there for you.

Good job, very pretty. But can you dance?

Moose

 

[Md 25v]

Nice job, they look good!
I hope this comes out the way it is intended, to help your traps be successful.

There are some things you might want to adjust for future traps.
On you Fig-4: The baitstick is way to short. It needs to stick as far as possible under the deadfall and at the very minimum needs to extend well beyond where the trap support stick (the one on the 45deg angle) ends.
The trap support stick is to long for that trap and would be much faster cut off at the length where the extra notch is. The shorter the support stick is the less distance the deadfall has to fall. That minimizes the chance the squirrel will jump out of the way.
You will also (when you set it for real) want to set it on the edge of the deadfall, not in the middle. Otherwise, the deadfall will drop onto the vertical stick and not onto the target animal.
The trigger is way to deep to be sensitive. You would be surprised how delicate and animal can be while slipping the bait off the stick.

Good luck!

 

[Bladite]

mmm, sweet sweet traps. stain them and display them