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Post by JWarren on Nov 21, 2004 21:39:48 GMT -6
I usually always set my coyote snares in tight cover. My best spots are in heavy sage where dogs are crossing a draw. I set about halfway down the drop so a coyote can't see the snare until it is going down a steep grade. I have good luck this way.
I have tried setting trails in more open areas lots of times but I never had much luck. Almost every time I checked in snow I would see the tracks follow the trail the go off the trail around the snare and back onto the trail again. I've heard talk of folks snaring them in tire tracks and such. Whats the secret? I use 5/64 cable and 12" loops.
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Post by foxcatcher1 on Nov 22, 2004 4:41:54 GMT -6
The thing about snaring is this. You have to KEEP them to go a direction they already want to with out them knowing you are doing it. Let me explain. In the scenario you just discribed they see ANY obstrution in the trail as something that is just easier to walk around than to fool with. If you put say a fair sized rock or even a small weed on the out side of the trail they then think stay on the trail rather then go around the weeds. It don't have to be tight to the snare loop either. just close enough to make them stay on the trail. Any obstruction will work as long as it looks natural and not too big. If they were on the trail to begin with don't give them a reason to get off the trail. Are there any obstructions to work with?? Land features. One place I do good is on a ditch were the coytes are crossing a very narrow culvert. the snare is as bare as a baby's butt but they still pass through. Also on the same ditch they follow it REAL close in areas were the farmers chisel plow (rough) the adjacent field. Again the snare is out in the wide open but they would rather stay on the trail then hump across that rough field. Anything you can use to your advantage use it. Set your snare in between even the smallest tufts of grass. Also If you just can't connect there its time to look at the big picture ....... Were are they going and were are they coming from? ? Start laying cable there. These are the only things that I can help with as I don't have alot of plain flat land. Some, but not alot. Don
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Post by bobwendt on Nov 22, 2004 5:01:35 GMT -6
that is a real good answer don. I snare a lot in almost bare ground, having even hung a snare on top of a 54" farm fence just by eyeballing where the tracks leave the ground and where they land on the other side, in the snow. I mean a woven fence as clean as a whisle. A mile of fence with nothing but a support wire and a snare above it. Jwarreren, I use 1/8th cable- huge by mosrt folks standards, but we are snaring coyotes often twice the size of westerns and we keep them alive, so chew outs is a major major problem with any smaller. I see only one refusal in all the years I`ve done it. The trick, a giant loop. I meant 30" tall if need be. Remember , it only matters where the bottom of the snare is, not the top or sides. As long as you have a fast lock and his chest or necl hits the bottom, it will close perfect as he drags it out. You would laugh at my snares and locks(beaver drowner "L`s") , but by golly no chew outs. The last year (about `85) I used 3/32 I lost 7 out of the first 14 on 24 hr. runs. Cured that!
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Post by JWarren on Nov 22, 2004 19:38:03 GMT -6
Just a few hours ago I was checking a set where I had a 12" loop 2" off the ground in a spot where they where crossing under a 4 strand barb wire fence. Coyote tracks in snow went right up to the snare then turned around and backtracked 10 feet before veering off and crossing 30 yards away in a new spot. These coyotes are going way out of their way, I mean like back-tracking and then going way around the snare only to get back on the same trail. I will try an even larger loop like you use Bob. Also today, in another spot, the coyotes abandoned the trails with the snares in them and actually busted brush to go around the snares. This leads me to believe it's not merely the snares causing an obstruction and the coyotes following the path of least resistance type deal.
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Post by bobwendt on Nov 23, 2004 0:13:25 GMT -6
It is hard for me to believe a whole race or population of coyotes has become snare shy, but it sure sounds like that is what`s up. Are your snares stinky with oil or human b.o. or still bright and shiny? Are you beating a trail to them or leaving unusual am`tas of sign or anything that might spook them that bad?
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Post by foxcatcher1 on Nov 23, 2004 3:40:24 GMT -6
I was thinking about the smell thing too Bob. Sounds closer to what it might be. I have seen were I beat a path checking snares and the coyotes started to follow the trail i was walking instead of original trail. I catch alot of coyotes in shiney snares but have had a very scant few avoid them and thats the only thing I could think would have do it in that situation. He definatly has a problem somewere in HIS system I find it really far fetched that even YOY have not hit his snares. Sometimes I think they would walk into a cattle lasso.
Don
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Post by Edge on Nov 23, 2004 8:06:26 GMT -6
There is a lot of funky press about snares.I have heard mention that snares dont need to be dulled or clean to catch coyotes;my experience is that the more you can do the better.
Also I have heard about a htousand times that snares dont spook coyotes;true,BUT;having a gaudy hunk of uncamoflaged cable and or lock stuck where a coyote has been traveling can and will get their attention;attention to a snare is the last thing you want.
When I ran out of 3/.32 cable I really thought I was screwed;had to use 1/8.But apparently the minimal efforts I make in using a dull,somewhat camo'd snare,with the lock to the side(say11 or 1 oclock as apposed to the 12 O Clock position,worked in my favor as the only refusal I had for sure was a set where I tripped and made a gorilla face in the snow right at the set;they did veer around that one pretty good;but quite honestly,no species really considers me eye-candy.
One of the things that I LOVE about the Reichart lock,is that it can be put quite a bit out of the top dead center position and will still slam home when its time.There is very little I dont love about that lock.
Edge
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Post by trappincoyotes39 on Nov 23, 2004 11:29:25 GMT -6
By having that loop 2" off the ground the lock is dead in there eye site as they travel the trail, use some drops of lure, about 15ft on each side of the snare a few drops is all that needed here and there on the trail, this will keep there nose to the ground and there eyes off your lock. I camo all my locks and the last 24" off the cable, I use 5/64 1x19 cable makes a nice round loop.
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Post by JWarren on Nov 23, 2004 11:32:01 GMT -6
My snares aren't shiny as I thought that may have been the problem so I boiled them extra dull this year. I was thinking scent issues also. I don't wear gloves when setting them but I also don't wear gloves when setting traps and I can catch them in traps fine. I do snare quite a few but not in open trails. It seems like every time it snows I see a ton of avoidance. I'll try using gloves and larger loop and see what happens.
I wonder if I put a strip of fur or something way beyond the snare if they would focus on that and not notice the snare. On the other hand that might make them even more cautious.
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Post by Edge on Nov 23, 2004 12:06:31 GMT -6
I dont envy setting in the wide open spaces,but it can be done;if you decide to use visuals,make them subtle.
Edge
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Post by bobwendt on Nov 23, 2004 13:10:13 GMT -6
unless you don`t mind those danged $400 wyoming cats messing up your coyote snares! That snow has humbled many a man, me included, when you think you are doing pretty good and missing hardly any, then it snows and man o man does it shrink a guys head back to normal size fast. There is indeed merit in just doing nothing on those coyote snares and let the coyote decide when he wants to get caught, and he will, eventually.
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Post by Edge on Nov 23, 2004 15:08:36 GMT -6
Well, I would mind the cat,Bob,but I think the commute from Wyoming is a bit much to ask..............
You are right as rain on leaving the snares alone;same with untouched sets........but man......its hard not to monkey...............you know...."tweak" stuff............
Edge
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Post by JWarren on Nov 23, 2004 15:52:44 GMT -6
Haha, I can snare the cats without a hitch. I'm just going after the coyotes for pure entertainment value. Next time around I'll just go set more snares instead of messing with the ones already out.
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Post by musher on Nov 23, 2004 16:00:17 GMT -6
Interesting stuff.
I always care where the top of the loop is. I use it to make them duck into the snare.
Loop size also seems to determine whether I catch a neck or a neck and a front leg when it comes to lynx.
The snow humbled me today (again!). What I think happens is that the snow bends down a twig, branch, whatever, and changes the trail just enough to make you miss.
My headache now is combo sets where I'm trying to catch, or not trying to catch two different species traveling the same route such as fox/lynx or deer/wolf.
F.C. that is an excellent description of blind sets.
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Post by bobwendt on Nov 23, 2004 16:49:02 GMT -6
edge, wyoming doesn`t have a 24 hr.ck. law , so the commute shouldn`t be rush rush at least. Heck, I have made her straight thru in 22 hrs. with a good tail wind and no coppers out and about. !,550 miles. All of nebraska and wyoming is 80mph.
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Post by Sage Dog on Nov 23, 2004 19:07:25 GMT -6
I would take exception to the idea that coyotes don't sometimes recognize a snare as being something dangerous.
I had 2 snares about 50ft apart on the same trail. One snare caught and dispatched a yote. Tracks in snow showed that other coyotes (a group of 3, it appeared), checked out the dead yote, circled past the other snare, came back (just off the trail) to within 10ft of it, then backed away and left the area.
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Post by JWarren on Nov 23, 2004 19:50:28 GMT -6
Maybe the avoidance is worse in snow? The same principle that allows me to call in the middle of the night without a light if there is a blanket of snow?
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Post by rk660 on Nov 23, 2004 20:07:12 GMT -6
Snare avoidence, that is the no 1 reason so many guys keep trying to go with smaller dia cable, to reduce the visability of the snare for greater catch %'s. I'm pretty much down to 1/16th painted dark tan these days, with the proper lock and dispatch spring setup, losses are minumal. After you use 1/16 a while, looking at a 3/32 loop will about make ya puke! (borrowed from Marty Senneker).
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Post by 17HMR on Nov 23, 2004 20:45:59 GMT -6
Rich, Did you get some stingers? If so how do you like them? Mine look good in the trails, but have only connected on my others so far and I thought I put the stingers in the best spots. Jeff
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Post by bobwendt on Nov 24, 2004 5:53:29 GMT -6
rk, you ought to see my 1/8th cable- looks like that cable on big cranes or the manilla rope they tie oceon liners to the dock with. This live biz requires some real ingenuity.
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