duke traps???

[D84]

Are duke traps any count? They are cheaper than bridgers and all the rest. I want to get more traps but don't want to ease my money. Thanks

 

[Trapper]

What are you setting for?

 

[D84]

Coyote bobcat fox. I thought about getting some duke #2 or #3 offsets

 

[TnHoss]

IMHO only, the Dukes have to be tinkered with more than the others. Not saying they won't catch anything as is but in my experience they have to be tuned more so than other brands. MB's on the other hand are ready right out of the box. I prefer Bridger # 2 and 3's myself but even they have to be tuned a little.

 

[TN Song Dog]

Have you considered the Duke #4's also?

 

[Trapper]

I have a mixture of bridger an MB slowing weeding out the bridger and going with the MB .I would go with the MB if you can. Time you get done building a duke so it will hold a coyote or a cat so it won't destroy it you will have just about as much in them as the MB ,that you can get straight out of the box and use. The only thing I did to the MB is add another swivel .If you was going after water critters I would say go for it and use the dukes .I know guys that use them with out any problems but I never cared for them on the predator line I had a supplier that tried to sell me 4 dozen of the #4 rubber jaw that he said was the best trap that they had ever built said thats all he used them and never had any problems with them.

 

[fishboy1]

Skip the dukes and go with bridger or MB.

I have dukes and they have to go to the shop to get tuned back up after a catch. They have to be tuned out of the box, they have to be tuned because they got a little rusty...

Buy fewer, higher quality traps with the money you have. You will be MUCH happier.

 

[pass-thru]

There are guys that stack up a lot of fur with duke traps. If you don't already know how to tune a trap, the learning curve can be steep with a duke. You can lose a lot of catches trying to learn to tune traps.

MB traps require very little tuning. Much of this is due to the fact that they come with a PIT pan system. This has the pan tension already set and you won't need to adjust that. Also don't need to fool with the dog. I have only ever had to replace one dog on an MB 550, and that was after a grey fox chewed it, believe it or not. The dogs on 450's will get ruined from time to time.

 

[CATCHDAWG]

I had a couple dozen Dukes I used for water and coon trapping. Gave them away a long time ago. Cheap made junk imo.

 

[Farm manager]

For cats and coyote the #4 Duke is a really good trap. Quite a bit heavier built than the #3's. They can be used straight out of the box but yes, a little tuning will help them. Just a piece of advice especially for folks new to trapping: Do not put too much emphasis on brand names! Learn to use what you have or can afford and make it work for you. A fellow running a big trapline on the farm I take care of is running around a gross of Victor #3 Softcatch and they are doing fine. Other than being night latched and the pan tensioned adjusted what else would they need. The Duke #3 isn't much different. If you want to spend a hundred dollars or more per doz to get a product that you are more comfortable with or have more confidence in by all means go for it. It always tickles me to see a buddy of mine take his 30+ year old Rem 1100 and out shoot folks with $10,000+ fancy O/U shotguns. Skill and confidence will always out perform the fanciest highest dollar equip.