Guiding?

[trappnman]

if I have 2 sets at a two track, one is on either side and don't care avbout the wind.

but of ocurse wind is a factor. my thought is just use 2 sets so no mater how the wind is blowing, you ae covered.

wind is also a little different out west then in river valleys. One is fairly consistent, one is the exact opposite.

whellie I agree on some of those sets- but there is a vast difference from that, to using a weed stem, a corncob, a pebble, etc.

its just second nature.

[ohiyotee]

People tend to make trapping more complicated than it has to be. i for one guide with a few clumps of dirt but that's about it. i set most of the time for the left front foot and most of the time that's where i got him.

I use the natural lay of the set to make the animal do what i want it to do, In other words i build the set to match the ground or maybe it is second nature that i pick the right spot that will lend itself to the kind of set i am going to construct and 9 times out of ten it is a dirt hole .If i am trapping fresh coyotes i see no reason to stray away from the heavy use of dirt holes ,and the dirt hole set in itself guides an animal well.

Sure i guy could get fancy and use a lot of sets and cheek guides and foot guides , but id rather be making another set down the road.

I use the only if i have to approach to getting fancy. I would stress more emphasis on the right lure or smell in the right spot at the set . After all isn't it the lure the ultimate guide, i always say control the nose and you will control the feet of any animal... greg

[bobwendt]

[trappnman]

and 9 times out of 10 is why you don't use guides. As is Bob using 100% hole sets.

The lure guides the nose- and the feet halfarsed follow...... why not take .00324 secs and guide the foot also. As I've read here countless times- it might not matter most of the time, but if it gives you a few more coyotes each year, why not do it?

It adds zero expenses to the set.....

Wheelie- was browseing this morning, and see a lot of similar posts such as what you mentioneded....

[ohiyotee]

The lure guides the nose- and the feet halfarsed follow......

I can't believe you would make that statement. To me the smell is the ultimate guide if a coyote smells the lure , is really getting into it his foot will be about almost touching the back of his mouth.

Can you say with any kind of certainty with any guide you would use?

This is not a prediction it is a fact I'll go with facts.

[trappnman]

I bl;eive and advocate that the nose does indeed follow the feet- to a degree....

so the lure guide the nose- does the coyote always 100% of the time stick his nose into the hole? Does he stick it all the way down the hole, just the entrance or his is repsonse to smell and dig? Or does he smell it from the side? Or 3" in the air? Or ?

since there is no magic lure, that is one that works 100% of the time in100% the same way- his nose isn't always going to react the same.

Once again, I don't care if no one but me ever uses guides to ever catch another coyote. Once agian, it comes down to methods. And once again, it works for me. I'd no more set a flat set without a few local or imported guides, then I'd make one with the trap upside down.

[trappngreys]

trappnman said:

On flat sets, I find guiding to be a must. You usually have a larger area, ideally an infinite pattern, so a couple of dirt clumps, a broken corn cob, a weed stem- puts his foot where you want it.

I dissagree with that. I use "O" guiding on my flatsets and with gland lure my catch ratio is very high! My flatset are fully blended in.

As Mr. Wendt said where their nose goes their feet will follow.

[bobwendt]

I start 100% dirtholes. never said 100% dirtholes, but it is close. unless he has feet growing out his arse, they are indeed following his nose. I guess a guy could get a tape and mesure the distance from foot to nose, yep, they are definitly hooked togather. one can`t go without the other leads ,or follows, even sideways.

[trappnman]

trapping greys- funny, when we make the exact same sets in the exact same conditions and with the exact same baggage attached, that we have different ideas on guiding.

and I always get 100% right foot catches too.....

[trappngreys]

From my observations while using gland lure guiding is not needed I use very little other lures at flat sets.

Were I guide alot is in my cat sets. I use walk threw sets pinched down to where the cat has no other place to step unless it's on my pan if it wants to work the set. I have caught several coyotes in this set also.

I couldn't tell you what ratio of which foot I catch and don't care as long as he's there waiting on me in the morning.

T-Man I know this goes against everything you have probably been told and I know you catch plenty of critters but try this at one set next season........Make your flatset and place the jaw right up against the backing. Fully blend in the set and place a dab of gland lure with in an inch of the jaw, squirt a shot of urine on the backing and see if you don't have a yote waiting for you the next time he comes threw.

[trappnman]

me neither... (re foot)

trying to break this down so I understand it- you feel they follow their nose more on gland lures?

I love a 2 hole flat walkthrough set- its my favorite set (not the set I use all the time, but all things being equal...). .. and I use gland lures, curiosity lure indiscrimantly.

[trappngreys]

trappnman said:

trying to break this down so I understand it- you feel they follow their nose more on gland lures?

Yes...For some reason with curiosity lure they work the set different for me. they tend to not step as close to the backing and have a few more misses but not enough to matter.

[trappnman]

btw, the 100% right front foot was being facieous- I never know what foot a walkthrough will give me

interesting thought on the lure differences- I'll ponder on it a while. So do you put the trap different per lure?

[trappngreys]

Yes I set the trap at different distances for each lure. Now it's only a couple inches but I was have too many misses with the trap tight to the backing while using the curiosity lure now I still have some but very few and they usually come back to get caught later.

I will tell you how this came about. I had been a water trapper and I caught a good many greys. I had never even tried for coyotes or cats so I bought some coyote gland lure and made a couple flatsets like I did for greys. Well on the third day I caught a double on yotes in those flatsets I made and that's the way I have done it every since.

[trappnman]

trappinggrey.....

but I was have too many misses with the trap tight to the backing while using the curiosity lure now

I too set fairly tight to the backing. I have to be honest, I never thought about the curiouisty lures vs galnd lure scenerio, but I also had those misses. But rather than move the trap vis a vis the lure used, I used guides. So perhaps while he might not WANT to put his foot there, he WILL because of the guides?

I too agree on the next day, next trap theory.

good discussion grey......

[ohiyotee]

I will say it again control the nose control the feet. At different sets that means different placement of the trap. But if you succeed in controlling the nose you will indeed know where his feet will be. If the smell is laud it may be that his feet will be far away if the smell is coming from deep in a hole they will be close if the smell is at head height you can figure it out.

I can honestly say the biggest improvement in my trapping ability can when i realize that i should just take advantage of what an animal wants to do rather than trying to make him do some thing i wanted it to do. greg

[trappnman]

I guess the biggest thing I learned is that I don't HAVE to rely on the animal doing what is "natural" (how exactly does a coyote work a set?), that I can make him do what I WANT him to do.

if the smell is loud he stands back? if the smell is "good" and loud- he won't be able to stay away. And the depth of the hole really doesn't mean much to me, its the angle- in my opinion.

Obviously, to you its the depth and thats what your style shows you.

to each there own-

some coyotes mud have some very long noses- because snow on old sets it shows not all go right to the hole.