* Check the laws in your state, since some areas have spacing requirements between traps. And when it comes to coyote trapping, building confidence in your own system is about the closest thing I can give you to expert advice. Whatever the case, I know I catch a lot of coyotes like that. Maybe the blood inside the catch circle spooks coyotes, or maybe it’s just in my head. That’s certainly true - but I’ve personally had way better luck pulling the trap, washing it off, and moving it 5 to 10 yards outside the catch circle. The scent left behind in the “catch circle” draws in new coyotes. Lots of trappers say that if you catch a coyote, you should always reset that trap where it sits. I always like to inspect my traps for activity, especially if I can drive up to them and look them over from the seat of my pickup or UTV. I’ve bedded secondary “blind traps” a few feet downwind of the primary trap* and caught coyotes the next morning. Maybe so … except that on multiple occasions now, I’ve cut coyote tracks around my sets that didn’t make it onto the trap. Many insist, for example, on not getting near the trap area if you can’t see a coyote, for fear of contaminating the set with your own scent. But don’t ignore the cues you see on your own line. I learned the basics from those resources, and by talking to buddies who were more experienced trappers. There’s a lot of good information on YouTube, and in various online trapping forums. I’ve yet to catch a coyote on a set with logs, large rocks, bones, or other elaborate guiding to steer a coyote into the trap. I might blend in leaves or bits of grass to make it disappear completely. I want the trap to be level with the ground around it, and not a shallow depression. I like to camouflage my sets with dirt from the immediate area over the top of the waxed dirt. If he likes what he smells, he’ll dig - and odds are you’ll catch him. Set that way, a coyote will naturally approach the bait in the dirt hole from the trap side, and when he drops his nose for a sniff, his front paw will be positioned right atop the trap pan. I like the dirt hole to be about an inch outside the trap jaw nearest the backing, and offset just a bit from the trap pan. My dirt hole is angled 45 degrees from the pan, underneath the backing, and about 6 inches deep. Backing is usually just a tuft of grass, and guiding is nothing more than a few clumps of dirt around the trap to give the coyote a convenient place to step. I used YouTube as a guide for learning the basics but have refined what works for me. ![]() Other advice calls for arranging sticks or rocks around the trap, so as to guide the coyote’s foot to the trap pan. When the coyote stops to investigate the goodies in the hole, it hopefully steps on the trap pan.ĭepending on the advice you read or watch, dirt hole sets call for a “backing,” which is some obstruction behind the dirt hole that forces the coyote to dig for the bait from the trap side. The trap is buried just under the ground, in front of that hole. ![]() This do-it-all set has a hole in the ground with bait or scent inside. It’s obviously irresponsible - and probably illegal - to put traps where people and domestic animals commonly travel. * It goes without saying to be mindful of where you set traps, particularly if you’re not trapping your own property. Walk or drive those routes, find fresh coyote tracks and scat, and set traps right on the sign. ![]() Areas where two or three trails join are best. On our farms, those routes are mostly the dirt access roads that we travel by ATV and tractor.* Secondary options include fire breaks, heavy deer trails, and convenient creek crossings. Use coyote sightings to narrow down general areas, but within those areas, identify the major travel routes coyotes use over and again. So, setting a random trap on a ridge near your deer stand because you saw a coyote there in October is low odds. It needs to step on a 5-square-inch trap pan. It doesn’t do any good for a coyote to walk within bow range of your trap. But a trapper’s ambush must be even more carefully chosen. Just like a deer hunter setting up in a hot pinch point during the rut, trappers must learn how to read the land and sign to put together a good ambush. Instead, envision scents as a tool to stop a coyote and hold its interest on a route it’s already traveling. For a beginner trapper, it’s tempting to think of baits and lures as something that will draw coyotes in like deer coming to a feeder.
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