6 Best Coyote Trap Stakes for Livestock Protection
Protect your goats with the right gear. We explore 6 coyote trap stakes trusted by seasoned trappers for their superior holding power and reliability.
Hearing a pack of coyotes light up the valley at dusk is a sound that puts any goat owner on edge. You’ve done the hard work of setting a good trap on a trail leading to your pasture, but that’s only half the job. A trapped coyote is a force of nature, and if your stake doesn’t hold, you’ve not only lost your trap but also educated a predator that will be twice as hard to catch again.
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Why Proper Staking Protects Your Goat Herd
A coyote trap is useless if it doesn’t stay put. A big male coyote is pure, panicked muscle, and he will lunge, pull, and dig relentlessly to get free. An inadequate stake—like a thin piece of rebar just pushed into the ground—will be pulled out in minutes.
When a coyote pulls a stake, two bad things happen. First, you’ve lost an expensive trap and chain. Second, and far more importantly, you now have a trap-shy coyote running around with your gear attached to its leg. This animal is now educated, dangerous, and will be nearly impossible to catch in the future, all while still posing a threat to your herd.
The goal isn’t just to catch the coyote; it’s to hold it. A secure stake ensures the predator is there when you check your trapline. It’s the critical link between a set trap and a removed threat, providing real security for your goats.
Homemade Rebar Stakes: The Old-Timer’s Go-To
Secure tents, tarps, and garden structures with these durable 15" steel rebar stakes. Featuring a chisel point for easy hammering into hard soil and a black powder coating for rust resistance, this 16-piece set provides reliable anchoring.
For generations, the go-to anchor for farmers has been a simple piece of rebar. They are cheap, brutally effective in the right soil, and you can make them yourself with a grinder and a welder. Most old-timers use 1/2-inch rebar cut into 24- to 30-inch lengths, with a nut or a heavy washer welded onto the top to keep the chain from sliding off.
The key to using rebar is getting enough of it in the ground. You need to drive it nearly flush with a small sledgehammer, ensuring it has maximum contact with undisturbed soil. In hardpan clay or decent rocky soil, a 24-inch rebar stake driven properly is incredibly difficult to pull.
However, rebar has its limits. In soft, sandy, or wet ground, a determined coyote can "wallow" out a hole around the stake, eventually working it loose. They are also heavy to carry if you’re setting a long trapline far from the truck.
Wolf Fang Earth Anchors for Superior Holding Power
When you move beyond basic rebar, you enter the world of earth anchors. The Wolf Fang is a classic design: a flat piece of steel attached to a length of cable that you drive into the ground with a special driver rod. Once you pull the driver out, a tug on the cable causes the anchor to flip sideways, lodging it firmly beneath the soil.
These anchors offer incredible holding power for their weight. Because they get locked horizontally deep underground, they use the weight and compaction of the earth itself to hold fast. A coyote pulling straight up is fighting a massive, inverted cone of dirt.
The main tradeoff is that most cable-style earth anchors are considered disposable. You’ll need a special driver to set them, and if you hit a big rock, you might lose the anchor head. But for their lightweight convenience and sheer holding power in deep, consistent soils, they are tough to beat.
Berkshire Cable Stakes for Soft and Loamy Soils
Berkshire stakes operate on the same principle as Wolf Fangs but are often favored for softer ground conditions. Their anchor head is typically a bit wider or shaped differently to give it more surface area. This design helps it grab and hold in loamy, sandy, or even muddy soil where a narrower stake might eventually pull through.
Think of it like snowshoes for your trap stake. The wider profile distributes the pulling force over a larger area of soil, preventing it from slicing through loose dirt. This makes them a fantastic choice for bottomland, creek-side sets, or pastures with deep, rich topsoil.
Like other cable anchors, they are lightweight and easy to carry a dozen at a time. They provide a bit of "give" from the cable, which can help absorb the initial shock of a coyote hitting the end of the chain. Just be sure your driver can pass through the stake head easily before you head out to the field.
Fox Hollow Super Stakes for Heavy-Duty Anchoring
If you want a reusable earth anchor system that’s built like a tank, the Fox Hollow Super Stake is the standard. These feature a heavy-duty, cast-metal anchor head and are often paired with chain instead of cable. The system is designed for repeated use and extreme holding power.
You drive the Super Stake in with a specialized driver, and to retrieve it, you drive it a few inches deeper to flip the anchor vertically, allowing you to pull it straight out. This reusability makes them more economical over the long run, especially if you do a lot of trapping.
These are the stakes you use when failure is not an option. They excel in tough, mixed soils where you might encounter rocks, roots, and clay all in the same spot. Their robust construction can handle the abuse of being driven into challenging ground day after day.
Double-Staking with Chain for Tough Ground
Sometimes, one stake just isn’t enough. In ground that’s either very hard, gravelly, or prone to cracking when dry, double-staking is an old-timer’s trick that creates an immovable anchor point. This method is all about physics.
You use two rebar stakes, typically 18 to 24 inches long. Drive the first stake at a 45-degree angle. Then, drive the second stake a few inches away, angled at 45 degrees in the opposite direction, creating an "X" pattern underground. Connect the heads of the two stakes with a short length of heavy chain, and attach your trap to the center of that chain.
A coyote pulling on this system isn’t just pulling against one stake—it’s pulling against both stakes at once, in opposite directions. This setup is rock-solid in almost any soil type and is a great way to get a secure hold in ground that’s too rocky for earth anchors but too loose for a single rebar stake.
Using Coyote Drags When Staking Isn’t an Option
What do you do when the ground is frozen solid, solid rock, or just a few inches of soil over a ledge? You can’t stake it, so you use a drag. A coyote drag is essentially a heavy, multi-pronged grappling hook attached to the end of the trap chain.
Instead of holding the coyote in one place, the drag allows it to run. As the coyote pulls the trap and drag away, the drag quickly gets tangled in the first thick brush, downed log, or fence line it encounters. The more the animal struggles, the more entangled the drag becomes.
Using a drag requires a different mindset. You won’t find the coyote at the trap site; you’ll have to follow the trail of disturbed ground to find where it tangled up, usually within 50 to 100 yards. Drags are an essential tool for winter trapping or in terrain where staking is simply impossible.
Matching Your Stake System to Local Soil Types
There is no single "best" stake; there is only the best stake for your specific conditions. Wasting time and energy trying to pound rebar into a rock shelf is as foolish as expecting a short stake to hold in sand. Before you buy anything, take a shovel or a digging bar and test the ground where you plan to set traps.
Here’s a simple framework for making a decision:
- Deep, consistent clay or loam: Any system will work, but earth anchors like Wolf Fangs or Super Stakes offer the best combination of holding power and portability.
- Hard, rocky, or compacted soil: Homemade rebar stakes or a double-staking system are your most reliable options.
- Soft, sandy, or wet soil: Use a wide-profile earth anchor like a Berkshire stake to prevent pull-outs.
- Frozen or very shallow ground: A coyote drag is your only practical choice.
Most properties have a mix of soil types. The smart move is to have a few different systems on hand. That way, whether you’re setting a trap on a rocky ridge or down in a sandy wash, you have the right tool to ensure that what you catch, you hold.
Ultimately, your staking system is the anchor of your entire predator control strategy. Choosing the right one for your land isn’t just about trapping; it’s about providing consistent, reliable protection for your goat herd. A well-held trap is peace of mind in steel form.
