Herters 121 Single Spring Traps

Here is some pictures of my



models of the Herters No 121 High wall and Low wall with chains. The Low wall has the kinkless chain oval welded starter ring and welded chain ring with swivel at spring, you can see the teeth looking thru the double jaw. The high wall model has no swivel welded oval ring for starter wire eight chain with welded ring at end of chain made from a piece of cut pipe, you can't see the teeth looking thru double jaws but has small teeth you can see looking down on trap.

Hi Don, Were both of these traps made during the same time period. Thanks for the information. Greg

Those are some real beauties right there.
Thanks for showing us your traps.

Were these the traps Herters claimed were marketed at one time as a deer trap?

No the deer trap was a No 2 size trap called a No 87 Custom deer trap

The high jaw 121s with inbedded teeth seem to often have the twin loop chain with the rings made of cut off pipe--I know of two more like it for sure and possibly a third although the owner removed that chain set up because it seemed so cheesy. The nice twist link chain on the low jaw model with a simple ring for attachment to the spring also seems right for some traps(both high and low jaws) although quite a few are found with no chains. There is a third chain/ring pictured in the other 121 thread(different ring at least) My Herters catalogs are not helpful about the chains provided(or not provided as the case may be). The subject of single and double springs is often debated with the 121s. Would be very helpful if anyone had solid written documentation that this trap was offered with double long springs and/ or several different chain setups.

Were the Herters traps made in the U.S.A.?

Japan and USA

Who made the U.S. version?

I couldn't say for sure about them being made double spring,but I remember the catalogs from the mid to late '70's listing only the single spring models.

While we are on the subject of herters,does anyone know which trap they claimed had the strongest set of springs?It was a single spring trap with teeth with I think a 9 inch spread made for beaver and I think it was stamped"Hudson Bay".It list for $19.87 in their '76-'77 catalogue.The size no. escapes me.

So, the U.S. made traps must have different markings than the foreign ones. Is the value higher on the U.S. made ones?

The low jaw single spring model with kinkless chain just sold on Ebay for 515.00

That sure sounds crazy to me. I am a beginner at this, so bear with me. It looks like the pan is marked "Made In USA" Is that USA of the orient? Or made in The U.S.A.? According to people that I have talked to, Herters never manufactured a trap. Assembled? Possibly. Maybe one of you experienced collectors have the answers? Thanks, Tom

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Herters Hudson Bay Single Spring Trap See original listing


Item condition:--
“Herters Hudson Bay, 7.75" Jaws app. with teeth, Made in U.S.A., Reg. Pat. 121, U.S. Office, Signed. ” ... Read more
Ended: Dec 03, 2014 , 2:25AM
Winning bid:US $515.00
[ 26 bids ]
Shipping: $57.10 Expedited Shipping
Item location:Chattanooga, Tennessee, United States
Seller:

The Herters traps No 41AX, No 121, No 87, etc ( Made in USA) were made by a guy in Mitchell,South Dakota. He even made some of the Cabelas traps for them.

Thanks for that info, ddfen2. Does anyone know his name?

With that high of shipping cost, the bidders must have figured it was a bear size trap.
I gave 200 for a double spring 121 in Eska-naba last summer at the nationals and figured I overpaid.

Nobody can think of this famous trap maker who made these high priced traps?

Both models on eBay now

That is a different guy not the one that made Herters traps in us

so there were 2 trap makers in vermillion s. d.

sorry i will delete my post

The Herter's bear traps made in SD were made by a man named Harold Hagen. He was a Herter's employee who moved to Mitchell SD when Herters moved there. Dates of this exact sequence are murky, but the various Herter's models marked Made in USA were either made by Herters in Waseca MN(or perhaps by some MN manufacturer?) or by Harold Hagen in Mitchell. Following closure of Herters, Harold Hagen purchased the molds etc from Herters and subsequently made bear traps for Cabela's using the same parts molds but with a different pan. Kevin Hagen(son of Harold) is the owner of Hagen Manuf in Mitchell,SD and they still retain the ability to manufacture the bear traps. Kevin Hagen told me that he has been there from day one and that Hagen did NOT make the 121.

Further on Herters traps. Published information states that the earliest bear traps were made in Japan, perhaps as early as the late 1950s. Between those traps and the ones made in South Dakota by Harold Hagen in the early 1970s, some traps were made by or for Herters. I hope someone has information on the location of manufacture. Was it done by Herters themselves? Did Harold Hagen make them for Herters in Waseca(his son does not know) or did Herters job out the manufacture in MN? And who DID make the 121s? It seems likely that if Herters had molds to make bear traps themselves(they did) that they also might have had molds for the cast jaw 121s.