bait stations, coyotes

[JWarren]

What brings in the coyotes, smell or birds?

Does a bucket of rotten slime draw them in as good as carcasses that birds can feed on?

How far back do you set?

Thinking of substituting 5 gal buckets of rotten fish and stuff for my usual furbearer carcasses.

[billcat]

I know of one guy who used to buy old, gummer ewes at the auction for next to nothing. Took them out and killed them where he wanted to set, then hung a couple of dozen snares in every gap/ trail in the brush. Nothing closer than 30', 50 is better and out to 100 yds. Gotta give them something, to keep them coming back until you get them. Top man in the state, at the time, and he never set a trap.

Bill

[thebeav2]

Well I have dragged road killed deer all over different farms and have had no takers until late Dec and Jan

[edge]

Birds draw but dont necessarily hold coyotes.Keping snares and sets back a bit keeps most of the local mutts out of the snares;dogs will work a bait close right away,usually coyotes dont.

Edge

[ColdSteel]

I know some of you have good luck with bait stations I haven't. I have problems with hounds all season and bait stations only add to my problems.

[robertw]

I use BIG Bait, or whole carcasses, generally whole beaver (bit up with lots of Bite marks) and do very nicely with them.

I commonly trail set the drag marks going in under the tree to wear the bait is anchored. I do try to keep the bait out of sight from the birds (especially in the south) other wise your bait is gone in less than 24 hours. Keeping the bait hidden from the air will also keep you from catching these birds.

I do routinely catch coyotes on the first check using big baits.

[17HMR]

JWarren, I found that 5 gal of rotten fish does more good refreshing an old bone pile, more so than starting a new bait station. If you use it make sure its contained well, its a big mess if it tips over and the lid comes off.

[k9]

Some years bait is worth the trouble to haul itout there and some years it is not. If using lethal methods like snaring you will have more pelt damage as scavenger birds will feed off your coyotes as quickly as they come after the bait.

[Bob Jameson]

Predators key off of both odor and birds I have found.Meat substance will hold a longer interest for the canines where odor alone may only get you a brief visit and possibly no further returns if there is no solid matter to generate a reward at the bait site.

Big baits have produced much better in winter for the most part then summer and early fall for me but for a few exceptions. But this is also impacted by several factors such as food availability, competition and how old the bait is at the time they find it etc.

If close to a denning site of a fox or coyote I am sure they will make regular visits if it is convienent and taint is not real bad.I have found that many times in the East in the spring coyotes will work over a dead cow, horse or pig that has been there for some time.

The coyotes will gorge themselves and vomit the pre digested meat to the pups until they can handle more solid meat matter on their own. Have seen a heffer worked over very hard within 7-8 days. This usually means more then one family is sustaining or using this opportunity to the max.Also other animals will hit it also to a degree but the coyotes take the greater portion as relative to their size.

Then it is small game and fawns that sustain the pups around here.

[frenchman]

Bait stations are our main set here in eastern Canada. But the size of the bait depends. If I could get a road-killed moose in the righ location, I'd use it but most often, a single coon carcass is what I use.

Bait stations work, but TheBeav is right - they only improve as weather deteriorates.

Here, most coyotes start working these sets after Nov 15, when there is snow on the ground (or after deer season).

We do make catches on the first visit here, but typically, it is one of those sets that works well but that requires patience!

[trappnman]

The only bait pile I ever saw coyotes work during fall trapping and early winter was a pig farm pile. I have several other dairy farm dump piles on my routes, and never see sign of animals being fed on. I've heard where calves that are medicated aren't eaten- and that might be true or not- but I've seen many times where calves are tossed onto a pile and they stay there forever untouched.

But these areas are usually good coyote areas- in a large part because of the location of these bait piles- on the back forty, out of site, rough ground.... and the piles do attract small rodents and birds.

I think as mentioned, it comes down to food. Good areas that provide an ample and diverse amount of food, would logically have less action at bait piles.

these mild winters lately provide more food longer, so the piles are "needed".

Deer are strange. It seems many times I'll find a deer after hunting season, and watch it lay there untouched for many weeks- until one day the coyotes start to work it, then its all gone in a few days.

More hungry? just got around to it? Don't know.

[frenchman]

I've noticed the same thing with deer. Lay dead forever, then one day, they're gone - all eaten.

Maybe there is just so many of them laying around that coyotes simply can't eat them all at once!

[trappnman]

thats what I've often wondered. many of these dead deer will have an occasional track close to them, so I know the coyotes are aware the carcass is there.

I've often wondered about the effectiveness of tossing carcasses of coyotes next to coyote sets. Mine all go on the dairy dumps, and have never used them at the sets.

[frenchman]

hide a coon carcass in the bush, or toos it in the field for the ravens to find, and the coyotes will come near to check it out.

Set snares away from carcass. No good to set near when coyotes check it out from a distance (plus you avoid ravens, eagles, vultures, etc. )

[trappnman]

speaking of coon carcasses- in winter, I find where the birds- in my case here crows, hawks and eagles- will by far prefer coon, even yote to muskrat.

[rk660]

I think the birds go after coon carcasses because of the fat, just like a big suet ball with legs sticking out.

Haveing played w/ carcass piles and snaring the past 20 some years, one thing I have found that will help using a deer carcass in warmer weather, get it out in the open. Tucked away in brush in warm weather they lay there forever. Not sure how to explain this but a deer carcass in the bare open somehow i believe results in more a "use it or lose it" response from coyotes. They seem to check out more, urine mark next to etc, in bare open more than in tucked away in a good snare ditch or draw. Even start eating sooner.

I like to get deer 30-50 yards off the timber or grass line if snaring, and have a deceint trail to snare running the cover line, being elevated over the deer does help too. Not a snare by the dozens deal, but with right set up should do 1-2 per week at most locations once you get a feel for setting it up. Traps work well too in this setup, possibly better.

Was 20 years ago i thought i really had it all figured out, 87 coyotes in 14 days around carcasses with less than 200 snares. And this was the "wire rope" 3/32 cable, washer lock , droopy 11 gauge wire days. Could hardly tell a deer track from a coyote track going down the hiway back then, to tell the truth. Didnt even try that hard, like 6-7 hour days, was a "fun" deal as coyotes where being sold on carcass for 7 bucks. Just something to do. $2000 f-150 with 32's"s, 2 ft of snow, 2 degrees for weeks, 200 snares, 2 weeks off, 2 damn bored to stay in house and watch football, 20 hogs carcasses hauled out 2 weeks earlyer. Was a blast, even stood down some rifle hunters that shot, stole a coyote. 2 of us with a 22 pistol and a axe, 6 of them with high powers, but we stood our ground!

Furbuyer made mistake of bragging about $27 ave he did on those coyotes. We'll show him, 250 next year and he wont even see them, except the picture we were going to mail him along with our NAFA receipt!

Next year was gonna "really " get after it. New 5/64 snares, cam locks, 3x the ground 4 x the snares. Like 700-800. Warm weather, deer bunched up in creek bottoms, coyotes hardly moved, there was enough "bait' scatttered around it make me still go into a cold sweats thinking about it. Doubles triples, double digit days, hoof kicks, running out of 22 shells in a week...and this was if anyone remembers 22 remington 100 pacs in the yellow plastic boxes. A year I'd still soon forget....1987, some days it seems like a lifetime ago, some days seems like yesterday.

went from coyote "expert" in 86 to compleate moron in 87, LOL, 20 years later i figure Im somewhere in the middle of those two extremes, although which one Im closer to Ive yet to figure out.

[mac]

Joel recently made a post that really got me thinking. It was about a competitor he used to face. The competitor piled the bait up and set accordingly and as Joel put it, did real well.

I think he said if he were to coyote trap again he would create a situation that brought the coyotes to him.

I am not a big time any thing trapper. I am a hobby trapper and make my living doing other things. But I do love to trap as I can.
After reading Joel's post I thought back to some situations that I caught five or six coyotes in a few days and most of those situation involved a farmers calf dump. Hmmmmmmm,

I now have a freezer full of beavers for my small part time line.
I knew why the coyotes were there but due to trapping everything on my line I never thought much about pre-baiting in a big way with big baits. Back when I made the better catches coyotes might bring $25.00, and fisher around$150, mink much better than coyotes etc. so coyotes never really got much attention. Even now fisher prices kick our coyotes price all to heck. Don't trap to make a living but a little change never hurts, so coyotes still are not the main focus of many. But if a guy could get more with less over travel and work---------?
Mac

[JWarren]

Around here the coyotes rarely feed on the bait but they come around and check it out. Many times with snares I set up areas on sign and often throw out some bait in the vicinity to get them around. I purposefully throw the carcasses up in the trees and brush so they can't be reached. This strategy seems to work well for me and often cacasses make a dead location come alive.
I had coyotes circling all over my marten sets last winter and the only bait was 1/4 a jack up in a tree and call lure. I feel that I could have picked up those coyotes in footholds. I think with a smaller bait like a carcass or a bucket that you could get alot of coyotes in trail sets and pee sets in the area.
Maybe bait wouldn't be nessecary, maybe call lure and a flag would pull them in?

[trptyler]

trappnman said:

The only bait pile I ever saw coyotes work during fall trapping and early winter was a pig farm pile. I have several other dairy farm dump piles on my routes, and never see sign of animals being fed on. I've heard where calves that are medicated aren't eaten- and that might be true or not- but I've seen many times where calves are tossed onto a pile and they stay there forever untouched.

But these areas are usually good coyote areas- in a large part because of the location of these bait piles- on the back forty, out of site, rough ground.... and the piles do attract small rodents and birds.

I think as mentioned, it comes down to food. Good areas that provide an ample and diverse amount of food, would logically have less action at bait piles.

these mild winters lately provide more food longer, so the piles are "needed".

Deer are strange. It seems many times I'll find a deer after hunting season, and watch it lay there untouched for many weeks- until one day the coyotes start to work it, then its all gone in a few days.

More hungry? just got around to it? Don't know.

I saw something similar 2 winters ago. A deer processor dumped about a ton(literally) of bones in a remote area that I trap. Aha! says I, this should be a good draw! I checked the pile daily, from a distance, and it was not touched-except for an occasional possum track, and numerous crow/buzzard tracks. About the middle of March, shazaam-the whole pile was dragged off, and cleaned up, with the area literally littered with canine tracks(mainly coyote, with a very few fox tracks around the perimiter) There was plenty of meat left on the bones, whole rib cages, hides etc... They were all left alone until mid-March, after the bad weather was over. Never quite figured that one out. Oh, well, if it was easy, it wouldn't be any fun.

[garman]

trptyler I wonder if coming off of breeding season or being in breeding season brought up the greater need for an easy food source?