By Dave Morelli
Photography by Sara Morelli
As I was pulling the massive beaver from the water I started looking around for a chew-off stump nearby. I had left my 330 Conibear setter at the shop that morning and I wanted to reset the trap the beaver was in. I have started the habit of setting my conibears at the shop before I head out and hold them with their safeties. Then it is just a matter of setting the trap when I make the set. I usually set the trap by putting the eye of the spring on a pointy stump and push the other end down using my weight, then latch the safety. Ditto on the other side, and the trap is set. I started using setters on conibears several years ago when my hands decided to revolt against me, squeezing the spring with one hand and flipping the safety with the other.
Back in the day, trappers used sticks to set the big beaver traps similar to this. I replaced the rawhide with trap wire. Photo credit Sara Morelli.
Since there wasn’t a stump nearby to use, I pushed the spring against the ground and removed the beaver to remake the set. Fast-forward 20 years; nowadays even pushing the spring into a pointy stump or the ball hitch on the truck doesn’t work for me. As anyone with aging hands that have been abused through a lifetime of hard work will attest, it isn’t a strength issue. I have discovered that the spring pressure of the wire of the conibear spring against a hand that is infested with arthritis causes unbearable pain, which after setting a day’s worth of traps equates to hands that continue to hurt into the evening. I have resigned to tong-style setters for 330s.
So, this setting problem has always been present with the 330 conibear. About 30 or so years ago, foot traps started a metamorphosis, partially from the Best Management Practices to make the traps more humane, and from trap makers looking to make better traps with stronger springs for holding power and speed for breaking through hard or frozen ground. Some traps started coming with levers that were part of the spring that wrapped up around the jaws, and the wire was the lever to push down to set the trap. With the four-coil modification, that wire lever pushed right on one of the worse spots of my hands, and I had trouble setting those traps.
Some trap setters that the author uses. The bright orange paint makes them easier to find. Photo credit Sara Morelli.
Apparently, so did other trappers, as they also came out with setters for the traps that extended the lever and made setting easier. As time went on, trap makers started building setters for their traps, similar to wire-lever setters, only they fit the standard lever traps. Some of them are specific to a certain trap. If you are like me, I have several different makes and sizes of traps, so having a setter for each type of trap would get annoying and I would most likely lose them or not have the right one when making a set. Over the past few years, rather than not trapping, I have started to rely on trap setters to get my sets in the ground. It’s hell to get old, but supposedly we should get wiser, so setting tools are now a vital part of my set bucket.
One thing that I like to do is consolidate tools to do multiple functions. Some of the setters I use will work on other traps in addition to the one they were intended for, and some will not. One of the traps I use that is hard to set without a setter is the MB 750 wolf trap. I would imagine the MB 750 beaver trap would be included in this if you are using them for beavers, as they are almost the same. Minnesota Brand Products has a setter just for the 750 and I use it every time I set one. The 750 is designed so that you have to place your hand between the jaws to pull the pan up. I would rather do that with the length of the setter under my boot or knee, not just the small section of lever. Plus, the length of the setter gives the user some leverage to depress the four coil springs.
The 750 setter will work on the larger coilspring traps (Number 3 and 4) and makes it easier to set the heavy four-coil traps. It depends on the size of the lever, #2s will slip through but it is not as big of an issue because once I have the jaw and frame between my fingers, it isn’t hard to hold while I set the dog. This setter is a two-piece affair and that is one problem I have with it. I can easily forget and leave one item at a set — let alone being responsible for two more things to remember. So every season I give them a coat of fluorescent orange paint so it’s easier to see if you are about to leave them behind. I also solved the two-piece problem by keeping them together with a carabiner.
The author displays the massive Harris Trap in the setter. Photo credit Sara Morelli.
Like I said, some setters are species specific. I bought a Harris Center Fire wolf trap at a convention a few years back. It’s a massive trap and has its own setter that you buy separately. It is a two-piece setter with one part much like the setter for the MB 750 and the other is a flat bar with a hook on it. The beauty of this setter is that the flat bar wraps around the base of the trap while pulling down one lever, and the other part pulls down the other lever, and they both come together and a hook holds them so that it can be set. MTP (Minnesota Trapline Products) makes a similar setter for the 650 that operates on their MB-650.
Setting the MB 750 wolf trap with setters designed for them. Using a foot or knee to hold one side down frees a hand to set the pan. Photo credit Sara Morelli.
Longspring traps can also present a challenge to set. The #2 size and larger can be set over the knee, and the long spring adds some leverage that’s not available with a coil-spring lever. I remember the good old days when I could break the #5 Bridger over my knee and set the pan. These days I resort to setters. Even the mountain men had trouble setting those big traps and they made makeshift setters from a couple of stout sticks and some rawhide. They would tie the two sticks together on one end and pinch the spring down and hold it down with another loop of rawhide. Then they would do the other spring with another two sticks and set the trap.
The longspring traps can have a tool to set them that is also useful with the 330 conibear. I have had the same set of setting tongs for my conibear 330 traps for years. About the only way you have to buy another one is if you lose it. It‘s made of thick steel and has two half circles cut out of one end to facilitate holding the conibear spring wire. I have used mine to set the larger longspring traps by pinching the spring down and holding with a U-shaped piece of heavy wire, while I do the other spring. As for the issue of losing it; painting them orange helps, as well.
Using the RTS setter on the Sleepy Creek #4½ wolf trap. The springs are really strong on this trap. Photo credit Sara Morelli.
Years ago a setter for longspring traps was created and called the Jiffy. It was a cam-type outfit that slipped over the spring and had a handle that cammed the spring down so that a clip could be put on it to hold it, and the tool removed to do the other spring. They do work but are little awkward. In the days of the longsprings they would be a good tool in the bucket since they were light and compact. I have used them, but ran into problems with the springs not being the same on longspring traps of the same number size. Sometimes the spring is wider at the knuckle than on others and the tool will not slip over to compress it.
I recently acquired a pair of setter tongs made by Sleepy Creek. They are made out of aluminum, which makes them a lot lighter, and they added a flat spot on the ends next to the half-circle cuts for the flat spring to rest in. This keeps it from slipping off of the spring, which happens occasionally with the old tongs. They are supported at the axis point several inches either side of the rivet with a steel bracket for added strength. These tongs come with two locking U’s to hold the longsprings and they are kept in a handy spot. There is a plastic handle on each of the squeeze end of the tongs and the locks slip in there and have a place other than lost. These tongs are shiny and bright when new so it would be hard to leave them at the set, but aluminum does tarnish, and because I could forget a full-size shovel at a set, I also give them a shot with the orange paint.
In this quest for setters that can multitask, I also started to think about getting one of these big traps off of myself. I had a wolf trap snap on my hand last season and with the heavy glove I had on I was able to slide that part of my hand out of the glove. Did it hurt? Oh yeah, for a couple days with a black fingernail, but it didn’t stop me from running the rest of my line. I could have stepped on the spring levers and opened it enough to pull out my hand, but what if it was one of the 330s on an arm. It would be tough to use the tongs with one hand tied up in the trap.
The RTS setter on a conibear. The author will often demonstrate getting one off of his arm. He has never had one on his hand in 40 years of trapping, and he wasn’t going to start now! Photo credit Sara Morelli.
There is another setter for conibears called the Gem Setter. I have never used this setter, but my friend Muskrat has one and he said it works OK. It looks like an old-time bicycle tire pump and it’s designed for conibear setting with one end on the ground secured with a foot, and the handle for compressing the springs, which are caught in hooks on the side of the contraption. This could be used to get it off of yourself if it accidentally fired.
I have also started using the RTS Setter and really like it. This is the one that looks like a caulking gun. It actually works in a similar fashion. What is nice about it is that I can compress a 330 conibear with one hand again. That would be handy to get the trap off of myself if it went off inadvertently. I have also used it to compress longspring traps of any size and just need a U-shape lock to hold one of the double longsprings. It is made of aluminum, so it’s very light and compact, and would fit easily in a bucket or pack basket. Care must be taken when releasing a spring, though, as it comes all at once. If you hook it on your belt make sure that you can get to it with either arm, you know, in case the biggest dog you catch is you. This is the setter I pack in my basket now.
As I write this I realize that a book could be written on traps setters, so it’s impossible to include them all. I stuck with the ones that I have the most experience with and I’m sure there are others that are just as good out there. I never really knew there were so many setters on the market because until my friend Arthur (arthritis) moved in, I didn’t need a setter to set any of my traps. Maybe I should’ve used the setters more when I was younger.
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