I picked up some Victor #2 square jaw coils yesterday that have the jaws on the ouside of the base. Are these any better than the other ones with the jaws on the inside? I don't care much for these as a fox and coyote trap but I was thinking I may baseplate 'em and have them ready in case I need them as a last resort. Anyone have much experience with these? Thanks.

Personally I would just use them as a mink trap, and put the money for modifiying them towards new traps. I just wouldn't want to take the chance destroying them or having pullouts by setting them for fox and coyote.

Nemo,

I boutght a couple dozen of them many years ago. They were OK for fox since the fox is not very strong but, with coyote being everywhere, you face a good possiblity of them pulling the jaws out of the frame (happened to me a couple of times). The ones I have left will only be used for coon, mink and rats in drowning sets.

I've never baseplated mine and that might help but I still don't like them.

Hope this helps,

Bob

I had a half dozen and sold em to a kid for $13 at the state convention. Told him not to set them if there was a chance of catching a coyote. Like the sgt. said they're probably ok for fox but I believe a coyote would pop the jaws out of em in about a minute or less, IMO. If there's a chance of coyote gettin in your fox set, probably don't want to set them, but that's my thoughts.

They make up the majority of my traps and I have used them to catched fox, coon and possum. This year I baseplated them, replaced the square jaws for new 1-3/4 victor round jaws. I also bubble tipped them. Im in the process of dying/waxing them now. I think that after my mods. to them they will make a dinomite fox,yote trap.
carl

I started out using them my first season last year.
Not knowing any better.
I had more yote pullouts then I can even remember.
They practically tore them all to pieces.
They were great for coon....I don't know about fox or cat.
But, all they do is educate anything bigger.

i've got eight #2's i've set on drowners strictly for coon. they work just fine for that. but, i'd be a little leary putting them out on dryland sets. just don't trust them that much.

the grump.

first traps that i owned .... caught alot of fox in em as well as quite a few yotes before i upgraded ..... the yotes do quite a bit of damage to em .... distorted jaws, bent frames, crushed dogs, etc .... i would think that if ya would mod em up they would work well for fox and yotes .... just a thought as i have never done such .... i use them now for mink and rats

I like them as mink traps.

By far the worst trap Woodstream ever made. They are weak and catch too high.

Crowkiller

i just put brand new #2 music wire springs, 2 swivels, an inline spring, and a double stake swivel on 6 of my #2 victors. they seem really strong to me. i dont see why they cant hold a yote.

they can/will hold yotes .... but the yotes will destroy them .... lol .... if ya would baseplate, laminate the jaws, and bubbletip the jaw ends i think they would work very well on em

do u have to do all that stuff for any kind of trap u want to catch yotes with? if not, y? whats the difference between a victor and bridger? i dont get it

FoxnCoon93
These guys are speaking from experience. I too have had Victor #2s destroyed by coyotes. Get a Bridger #2 and compare them. Those Victors are just not built heavy enough.

im not calling anyone wrong. i have no idea about coyote trapping. but i want to try and catch one this year, and was just wondering why one #2 trap and another #2 trap is that big of a difference.

the old style #2's like mentioned before werent put together very well .... there are 2 ways to look at this .... ya can go ahead and use em ... and run the risk of ya losin ya first yote to trap failure .... like i said i have held quite a few in em and ya may not run into any trouble ..... or ..... ya can use a trap that is a better choice for yotes .. its all up to you .... if ya tight on $$$ and thats all ya have .... by all means use em !!!

are #2 northwoods square jawed good traps for coyotes

I have 3 dozen #2 Victor Coils that I use for muskrat floats and for large rat feed beds or at houses with large flat ares where the rats are active. I did just the opposite as you, I bought cheaper #2s years ago during the fur market crash and looked for the weakest spring ones for rats. I have held one 39 lb. coyote in one and the trap was OK, but they are not what I want on my canine line but they really drown rats in the deeper water areas where coon are not as likely for me.


Bryce

I recall four-coiling one in the mid 90s and the pressure I used to set the trap bent the base. Needless to say, I took the second set of coils off.

I believe they were made predominantly as a fox trap and, at the time, coyote weren't as prevalent throughout the US (at least not in the east). The trap worked very well for fox but are just not strong enough for bigger animals. As for coon traps, there’s just way too much room under the jaw (unless you are using a drowning rig).

My .02.

S/F,

Bob

I have a dozen of the Victor #2's with the jaws on the inside tips pointing out. Seems like a good trap and I'm looking to use them on yotes. Am I going to have issues with them? I want to do it the right way. Thanks any input would be great. P.S. not trying to hi-jack you topic.

The oldstyle #2 Victor coilspring trap will hold an occational coyote, but it's not designed to. It has a weak baseplate and thin jaws which leads to problems once any critter stronger than a red fox is in them. As mentioned above, if you replace the jaws & baseplate it to strengthen the weak parts, it becomes an acceptable trap for an incidental coyote in my opinion. Why go to all that trouble when you can buy traps designed and built to catch & hold coyotes from the git go, i.e. Montgomery, Bridger/Northwoods, Sleepy Creek, new style Victor or the higher end coyote specific traps. Opinions are like, well you know what, everyone's got one, but please don't try to trap coyotes in unmodified old style #2 Victors.

old style #2


new style #2

Thanks that's all I needed. We have some big yotes here in the east. Thanks again.

i have never trapped coyote till this year. and i have a question. sorry to highjack this post like this but i think it will help you as well.

with the what i call reverse jaws where the jaws come from the outside in. wouldnt a coyote pulling on them actually tighten the jaws on the foot rather then pop them?

Coyotes are awfully strong, all their pulling can do some amazing things to traps that aren't quite up to snuff.

I sold some of my square jawed #2s to a guy who still catches plenty of coyotes with them, just double coiled. The only thing I did to them was weld a small glob to the ends of each jaw. It seemed to work fine enough, though I'm sure he's lost some because they're not as strong.

He might have 4-coiled them, I dunno, though.

The only time I had a coyote in one was an accident, but it held long enough to leave one heck of a trap circle, but my stake wasn't built for coyote, and I ended up losing that trap. Or it was stolen, it's hard to say, actually.

Matt,
I big coyote pulling on those jaws will actually bend the frame up unless it's baseplated and then it's a simple matter for him to give a couple good pulls and he's gone. There have been thousands of coyotes caught in these traps but there have also been thousands lost, your choice.

i have some #2 victor square jaw and the same only blake and lamb. but the ends go out of the trap, not in itrapny's pic will they be okay for coyotes?

I buy a lot of junked and broken traps. By far the #1 trap that I find damaged is the victor #2 coil. The bases and jaws are just to thin for strong animals and they get bent all to heck. When I first started trying to catch a coyote, that is what I used because that is what I had. I managed to connect a few times that year and was rewarded with catch circles and bent traps. I switched to REAL coyote traps and I haven't had a problem since. If you want to catch a coyote, spend the $6-10 and buy a trap designed for it.

Wouldn't even take the chance now attempting to catch a fox due to the probability of a yote. And they will destroy that trap. I use mine for rats and mink

sounds to me ya better off just usin em for mink and rats

yotes will rip that trap up , good for 'possums and if we had muskrats I would try them on a drowner. neil

how do u bubble tip the jaw ends. Just got some the other day

I just add a small glob of weld.