I am just starting out and I have 5 traps in the ground now and I have had some success atleast with the traps being tripped with some blood and some fur in them so I feel I am close. I feel confident that atleast 3 were coyotes(not coon or anything). The only thing I have caught is 2 cats. Any idea on what I may be doing that is allowing the dogs to get away. Setup is disposable stake with the quick attach ring to the chain and bridger off set number 2 s

I know I sound like a broken record, but.......Increase the pan tension. You are getting toe catches. Which means, they have not committed their foot on the pan. If they put their foot down, and it the pan gives immediately, they pull back, and you get toes. If they put their foot down, and it is solid feeling to them, they go ahead and put their weight on it, and they have committed. They cannot get their foot up fast enough then. If you are catching a 5 lb cat, then your pan is too light. Your pans need to be 3 to 4 lbs of tension, and CRISP. You do not want a lot of travel before the pan falls.

Here is an easy way to set the pan.

Set the trap

Make sure the pan is level, but the catch on the pan in on the very end of the dog. You can do this by bending the trap frame where the dog is attached.

Cut a section of 2x4 and make sure it weighed exactly what you want the tension at 3-3.5 is where I put mine.

Put the trap in a vise, or somewhere where it is stable so you can work on it.

Tighten the pan screw way up.

Gingerly set the 2x4 on the pan.

From UNDER the jaws, use a nut driver, and screw driver, and slowly loosen the screw, until the trap fires. Do this two or three times. Now your pan tension is set.

Make sure you set the dog/pan catch first, as it will change the travel if you set the tension first.

That is how I keep a lot of by-catch out of my coyotes sets, and still catches coyotes.

Hope that makes sense????

The first thing most people don't realize is the pan tension for yotes. You want it to be around 3 pounds or so. You want a yote to totally commit his foot and put his weight on that pan. If you set it light like most think it should be set a yote will barely touch it and it allows him to pull his foot right before it goes off. Also he may get barely caught and be able to pull out. Setting the pan tension light also allows smaller animals like rabbits, squirrels and cats to trip the pan. Think about it this way, say a yote weights 30lbs 3 pounds aint nothing for him to trip it and a squirrel or rabbit weights alot less than that.

Also make sure your trap is really bedded firmly. This was a mistake I made when I first started trapping too. If a yote steps on the levers and it moves he will either be gone or dig and trip the trap.

I am by no means a know it all but these are two biggest mistakes I made when I first started. I keep learning all the time.

Thanks guys for the quick response I will pull them and adjust and reset. That is what I was thinking but just wanted confirmation

Yaz has it right, We must have been typing at the same time. I am more better at snares than footholds.

If at ALL possible, I'd trap somewhere else for a couple weeks. Toe caught coyotes = diggers, and big frustrations!!!!

If not, change up the way your sets look, and set the trap back and offset a little more than the way you had them. Good luck. Hope to see a picture of one cuffed up!!!!

My mb550os traps dont have a pan adjustment, its factory set. We got 1/2 snow tonight so i might go look for yote tracks in the morning before it melts off. Maybe hang a snare or two. h.h.

Are those the cast jaws/spring levers??

Yes, cast jaws and 2 coil springs. I bought them at Hoosier Trapper. The store clerk said they were the best trap made. Since Im a novice at setting leg hold traps I figured I needed all the advantage I could get. h.h.

rub it in, you are using the BMW of coyote traps.

I use the old south korean junk... =)

A firmly bedded trap is often the cure to these pan tension problems.

A coyote is a pretty large animal and can trip a trap with some serious tension. I like my pan to almost fall under it's own weight, with no side to side wobble.

Just my preference, but I don't like pan covers. I only use poly fill UNDER the pan, nothing but dirt or peat moss on top.

76 thanks your way I will keep it in mind