Categorizing Coyote Locations

[z]

I agree wholeheartedly about woods trapping.....

Farmland......

No brainer!

[MChewk]

Guys even in woods trapping ...you can SUCK that coyote in to carcass/bait pile areas. I use this method when "setting up" my calling areas. Don't have much problem with it trapping around AND away from development areas either.

[trappnman]

yes Z, I've heard that you have it tougher than most......

[terminator1]

I whole heatedly agree about mountain trapping, it,s been thirty years since I trapped. And around here you have a couple fellows that tie up all the farms but a few and then do'nt trap because its too wet no money for gas or just plain too lazy to trap. I quit trapping because I loved too coon hunt now getting too old to climb the rock piles I going to get back into trapping. I have never caught a coyote or bobcat because there wasn't any around then. I have caught lots of fox and the coyotes come next trapping season probaly from the mountains.

[martybaxter]

Here's what we need to do. Put yourself in the position of developing a Coyote trapping textbook for beginners. Wouldn't it be much simpler to say " There are really only 12 basic locations in this world" (for example) As a beginner you have to be able to recognize these locations , blah blah.

These locations are:

funnels
points
linear travelways
outstanding features or attractions
Floral attractions
Fauna attractions
intersections
etc.

example:
color lines in fields linear feature
weed draws that extend into fields point
soybean clumps that didn't get picked (a favorite) contrasting feature
corners on field roads point
high spots in flat land contrasting or outstanding feature
"ridge" points in contoured fields
crop changes linear feature
long connecting waterways (another favorite) intersection
sand pits contrasting or outstanding
quarries contrasting or outstanding

bald knobs overlooking flatter areas contrasting or outstanding

stock ponds contrasting or outstanding

snowmobile trails linear feature
CRP edges linear feature

plowed land next to short grass linear
edges of gopher areas fauna attraction
old badger diggings fauna attraction
carcass dumps fauna attraction
old round bales fauna attraction

these should be pretty universal from woods to farm to mountain

[trappnman]

in short, every feature can be and often is a coyote set. Silver bullet? know where he is and where he wants to be. Draw a line. Set there.

[SgtWal]

>>in short, every feature can be and often is a coyote set. Silver bullet? know where he is and where he wants to be. Draw a line. Set there.<<

Amen Brother.

Here abouts we have the Strip mine "Spill Piles". This is the spoil or overburden removed by open pit mines decades ago. All overgrown and brushy, with steep sides, multiple valleys, and tangled brush. Picture a plowed field with furrows 30 feet high and over grown in multifloral roses and stunted pines.
Back in there the yotes run the trails and hunt the small weed patches between the ridges. The saddles where the ridges dip, major deer and game trails, and old pit roads and RR spurs are the areas to look at when trapping. Food sources are scattered and mainly rabbits and ground squirrels, with the blackberries and persimmons in season. Any water hole with frogs is also a good place to look at.
I would think travel and habits in hilly and mountain areas would be fairly close to that. Drags work good with trash, scent post, and flat sets.

wayne

[z]

Thats Ok Moderator man.

Cuz I've heard you got it better then most.......

Like I have told others, Doors always open. And bring a good set of boots. Everybody knows.....

You don't know chit......Just like the others!

[Steve Gappa]

I've got what I got. So do you. You'd rather play on your snowmobile than make an effort to trap the tough conditions. Or- you could do like many and drive 30 to 50 miles away and trap good farmland. Everyone always thinks the grass is greener. If its so tough there- move. You have a job skill that can get you a job anywhere in the United States. Move here... where its so easy. I can give you the names of several printing big wigs- all old friends of my dads- A job would be ensured.

I know a little more about your area than you think I do.

[z]

Like I said......

I can see features on a farm a whole lot better then standing in front of a spruce laden razorback.

Cuz you just don't know whats on the other side of that razorback unless you hump it.......

Me, I'm a taking a liking to the truck seat.

And as an Old coyote trapper once said, If I can't knock em' out with the truck door I don't set it up.

Just the way I SEE things!

I need 4 weeks VACATION
Weekends off
I do things my way.....
I speak ENGLISH

My dogs almost getting ready to kick.......

Theres my application!

In the winter time I vanish from time to time.....Deal with it!

[k9]

Great information. I would like to throw another twist to this discussion.

Quiet areas.

By this I mean, as some of you have already heard me say before that I like quiet areas. Here the whole coyote world is a quiet area when the corn and beans are in the field. Cover and concealment is everywhere. These coyotes can ta dump de dump just about anyplace they want with little concern.

Then comes the harvest and the big machines take away that ample amount of cover. Big machines that scare the coyotes and push them from field to field, looking for cover. These coyotes go from a world of little human contact to almost daily interruptions by humans.

These coyotes still go through the fields, etc, but I feel many go to the CRP and other areas where the machinery is not bothering them.

Then comes opening day of pheasant season here in Iowa. Almost no grain field or CRP area goes unwalked on the first week of pheasant season. Those coyotes are getting kicked up and shot at all the time. They start to learn to stay low in the creek bottoms and hide thier travels or get shot at. Many start to spend more time in timber pasture and other areas that are not normally pheasant hunted.

Then comes deer season and the timber pastures get hit hard. No longer a quiet area. I see often during the deer season a tendancy for this areas coyotes to go into brush piles for the day, abandoned farmsteads, or areas just loaded with cover. These animals are experiencing major daily pressure and are hyper vigilant.

All the locations mentioned are true and good, and are used during these trying times for the coyote. However I think when the pressures on, the "quiet areas" become temporary home base for the coyotes, comfort zones if you will, and that's where I want my traps to be. I think those coyotes leave thier favorite quiet area at night to go hunting etc in all the other types of locations, but when the chips are down the revert back to safe areas where they are confident they are safe.

[SgtWal]

I hope this works. Here is the url to the satelite photo to one farm I'm trapping.

terraservice.net/image.aspx?T=1&S=13&Z=16&X=315&Y=2724&W=2

If you visit it you can see what I mean by travelways and safe areas.
In the center is a bright group of buildings that are a hog farm. Above and to the right is a dark area with lighter criss crosses. That is an abandoned christmas tree farm and the farm I'm trapping. The fence lines are fairly clear.
North of that across the county road is a cattle feed lot.
The cattle farmer has some big dogs and the coyotes avoid the house area. Above the buildings of the farm is a hay field.
The old tree farm is the safe area as no one is there on a regular area and it is for the most part dense and cluttered. There are some dozer piles from a clearing job done many years ago.
At the edge of the woods above the hog farm is the carcass dump.
If you zoom in you can see a shallow gully that runs north east from the hog lot to the pines.
If you draw a line from the hog lot to the pines, then along the trails to the north east, along the east side of the abandoned field, across the county road, along the field to the point on the south side that narrows the field, across the field then west along the gullies to the hay pasture you have one of the main routes for yotes on this farm.
All 14 yotes from this farm were along that route where it crosses the farm. From the safe area to one or the other feeding areas.

wayne