Eye appeal for coyotes

[Rally Hess]

Good post Joel. I tend to do the same thing with snares.
Here in my country regrowth popple is as thick as hair on a dogs back. I hang beaver up in trees to keep the timbers from hauling off my baits. Activity at the baits is greatly increased when the birds find the bait and are raising a rucus during the day and flying squirrels working it at night. Something working it all the time adds a great deal of activity in the area and pieces of the beaver being hauled all over the general area when the Ravens get to pecking at it and fighting over it. I feel the more visuals in the area the better because I am competing with the million deer gutpiles left over from deer season. I don't set on the baits but away from them on established trails after the bait is being worked.

[z]

Wow......

So much for my book!

[mostinterestingmanintheworld]

Although I haven't purposely trapped coyotes since the electronics came out I know you could massacre them with snares and traps by setting back from the sound.

I have cat sets where I have used these things where it looked like a herd of coyotes came in and milled around.

You could have set a blind set anywhere and caught them just because they were milling around looking for the rabbit. Think what a gang set of snares would have done in high brush.

I think coyotes are one of the easiest animals there is to catch. They are pretty predictable and will put their feet down a lot if not spooked or suspicious.

I've got animals that don't get trapped much on purpose and dry country so I suppose the are a different animal in other parts of the world. I would hate trapping in wet sod.

Joel

[trappnman]

Joel- I found in my 1 season of western trapping, to find the ones I trapped ( hard hunted as being shoot at almost daily but not trapped before) lots less spooky then my home yotes and no fooling around at the set like digging, working from side, etc.

Granted, small sample but I trapped long enough to see a few things and make a few tenative conclusions. It wil be interesting to see if the same holds true this fall.

[trappincoyotes39]

You bet tman a big dirt pile or bones hold a very high attraction to most non tagrets as well as coyotes, to a skunk fresh dirt means a meal, same as for a badger, a jack rabbitt may think a denning hole and couple it with urine and you run higher rabbit catches.

Anthing that sticks out will be investigated by many critters besides coyotes. All I want is coyotes.

Tman as far as the west goes could be you where trapping durring the "high" time of the year alot of yoy coyotes, also did you notice your sets belnding better in the western terrain and not forcing sets? I have experianced in "sod" type situations unless you spend time really blending that many coyotes will dick with it a time or two before having the confidance to really work the set. The more natural and well blended the less messing around I find and quicker catch times. Less passer by's exspecialy by those that run the home range and find a new and unusal something in their area.

[bobwendt]

i never have the troubles others say they do, well rarely. and even then usually there is a quick fix 99% of the time. mine are all like joels, my biggest enemy is lack of coyotes to trap, from over trapping or other means of killing them, or disease. they are basically easy, old or young, all they need to do is be alive and there. same on most any species of animal.

[trappnman]

also did you notice your sets belnding better in the western terrain and not forcing sets?

Absolutely. Sand blends real well LOL, and all sets were exacty the same- some type of hole under a sage or greasewood.

Looking at teeth, I had a normal mix.

[mostinterestingmanintheworld]

Don't make your holes under to high of a bush or some of them will stand back.

Joel

[bobwendt]

joel, I never found that a problem( setting in thick cover). we even trap in tall sage brush to hide them from thieves, or back east here right in the standing corn. most trappers wait ill crops are out to trap. heck, I like them in as then I can trap 3 feet off the road and never get anything stole.

[mostinterestingmanintheworld]

I trap tall brush but I don't like to use a tall one for backing if I can help it.

I find that the taller the bush the further back I want to set the trap.

I prefer the trap up close to the bait rather than back.

Joel

[bobwendt]

skinny vs fat. I guess I do the same as I generally pick a lower bush to dig my hole into, and remember actually busting grass clumps, corn stalks, or tall bushes over to where they are about 6" or less hi. I do it sub consciously without even thinking about it anymore .

[trappnman]

tallest ones were only 2 feet or so high- very sparse country. I usually picked one that had one side worn away, creating a little depth and you could make the hole in under the plant, rather than down.

I liked that country. The MT country I'll be in is better grass- not near as much sage, yucca or greasewood- sets will be more like at home in some areas, others like WY

son in law is talking about buying and building.....I could easily retire there.... LOL

[mostinterestingmanintheworld]

To describe my thoughts on backing height I think of a side view of a 90 degree angle.

The higher the vertical line (bush) the longer the horizontal line (trap).

Then if you flip the 90 so you are standing on the horizontal line looking directly at the vertical line imagine a fan shape starting at the intersection of the lines widening as it comes out from the point of origin.

I prefer my trap in closer to the bottom of the fan rather than out in the wider part of the field.

Focus is what I'm getting at. Like a magnifying glass narrowing the beam to the exact spot where you want everything to meet.

Or I could just say I like a low bush so I can set my trap close. Ha ha!!

Joel

[bobwendt]

joel, you are trying to educate us beyond our capabilitys! ;D

[mostinterestingmanintheworld]

Sometimes we can make a helll of a lot more out of catching something than we need to huh?

lol

Joel

[bobwendt]

oh heck, it`s fun using the big words, like "increased clearance at new levels" that means the price went down.