How to set up with deep snow

[Jason Cox]

Been out calling without much luck.We have about 26 inches of snow on the ground and places we normally call a coyote in we are not getting any action.We are calling big Fields with some small draws.What I am going to do next is go to the swamps and see if I can call them out onto the ice.What do you guys think? Need some help..
Jason

[lb]

I would dig a bunker in the snow not in the middle of the open area but within decent range of the cover. Put your machine fifty yards in front of you and watch the edges, upwind. They might not leave the woods, but you can spot them and kill them while they are checking things out. LB

[northof50]

They are on the skidoo trails for easy travel, select these for travel routes and set up locations

[LKVL]

If you want to increase your success in calling coyotes........ spend less time calling open fields and head to the areas with cover. Also with the snow on the ground it should be easy to get a pattern on when the coyotes are in those areas. Also watch the snowmobile trails or use a snowmobile to create trails along the edges of the areas you plan to hunt.

[trappnman]

just a note on snowmobiles- here, its almost 100% trial use- that is, marked permanent trials-

[lb]

Jeeze, that's kind of depressing? I was just up in Canada, last week. SkiDoo tracks lots of places. Why not?

[Jason Cox]

lb,Here the land owners get mad when people get off the trails.

[trappnman]

used to be a free for all- the old joke was standard snowmobile equipment included wire cutters-

so it was a constant battle of trespassers, damge, animals being spooked, tree plantings ran over, etc-

so we now have a good series of snowmobile clubs that work hard with landowners to have right of ways and trials, but landowners are very strict about keeping on trials- and much state land is off limits to all motorized vehicles as well.

one of those things where bad apples ruined it for the rest.

[lb]

Isn't that the truth? We have retards that chat in the fast lane doing fifty miles per hour and the control freaks pass a law to save us all. Why they never thought of chewing gum or eating a candy bar, is beyond me? Logically, it is next. There is always somebody doing something and they, (authorities) are forced to criminalize behavior that is mostly reasonable and safe. So, the land owners don't want anybody getting out of line, subject to fines and worse, right?

Frankly, I did not see anything wrong with cutting across a cut field, but I'm not a control freak so the reasoning escapes me?

[lb]

PS

Understand, these were places that we didn't see another human all day long, in most cases. I am reasonable sure most of the land was deeded, but I did not see evidence of running over saplings and most of the stock was already yarded.

[trappnman]

I think if you ask a landowner, to go here or there for a reson, most would say sure.

for example, I have no doubt that i could have all the access one wanted to check traps or snares. its not the individuals they are that concerned with, but the hordes- 1 snow track soon becomes a trial.

so one can go on private land with permission- but you aren't going to get established trials

I'm not a snowmobile guy, so don't know about fines, etc- but the control is that unhappy landowners, cease trail access-

so the question would be- how much value would it be ot make your own lanes with a snomobile?

[makete]

I had 16 apples trees that I had planted that were "ALL" run over by someone on a snow machine. This was on my property. Broke them off at ground level.

[lb]

That's a shame, for sure. Did you have fences and were the trees staked? Might have helped, a lot. But you are right to be bitter, it was your land that was disrespected. I'm with you on that issue.

[makete]

I shouldnt have to fence or stake trees that are on "my" property.
It appeared to me that it was done on purpose. They were not all in the same place but were in two different places around my 10 acre feild. Which was on my 40 acre parcle. Surrounded by other private properties, mostly wooded. But they came down my dirt road and onto the field to joy ride.

[lb]

Don't misunderstand me. I wasn't shifting responsibility to you, just asking a question. Many people, including me, stake trees so that they have support and grow straight. The vast majority of land owners fence their property, and as they say, good fences make good neighbors. Michigan isn't the only place where they have jerks. Out here, they ride trail bikes, but the damage is similar. Only difference, tearing up the desert lasts for a hundred years, or more.

[makete]

No problem LB. Just reliving the bitter memories of a costly moment.

[trappnman]

I remember trapping out west- and i was told one thing- take a different path into the sets every check- was told that if I drove somewhere same path twice- the idiots would think its new road............

so lb- do you think it would pay, to make your own trials on private land?

and if so- would more better? that is, would you be better off in an X pattern, circular, etc?

does anyone create their own "shooting lanes" so to speak?

[lb]

I'm not clear on the questions.

#1 are you asking about driving off road, on private land? I don't hunt ANY private land, it's all BLM or National Forest.

#2 still don't get it because I don't make a stand in the same location from one year to the next.

#3 I always make an attempt to have as much visibility as the terrain allows, especially downwind. In some places, there will always be almost unlimited visibility and the reverse comes into play, how much am I exposing myself? I prefer to hunt when the moon is down, or during a new moon since there is less chance of being detected.

Best I can do

[trappnman]

I was wondering this-

in good habitat areas, assuming permissions, would it pay to go in days before, and make snomobile trials- that then when calling these areas, the coyotes would use the made travel lanes to respond

still don't get it because I don't make a stand in the same location from one year to the next.


now this confuses me- from what I understand of your "normal" terrian, wouldn't the best spots, be continous from year to year?

which brings me to anothre question- starting to see "coyote stands" here and there- evlevated tree houses to hunt over bait.

my thoguhht was always- what use are they in that I would think, that any regular use, would keep the coyotes out of that area, and at the very least stop the movements to the bait piles on any substained basis.

false assumption or not?.

[lb]

I think it only confuses you because you are not getting the vast scale of what's available and possible.

There are roads I have not driven for years, and it is hard to remember a location, other than recognizing what makes a location "a good location".

It would be counterproductive to muck around in an area trying to herd coyotes by building roads for them. I never use bait, but if I stumble on a dead horse, it is worth a stand. However, I do the opposite of what many would do. I would not attempt to call animals TO a dead critter. I would call them away from a dead critter since the hunger factor doesn't work in this situation, but the territorial and curiosity factor would work, if there is an animal very near the carcass. Besides, if he is about, he is very likely to notice your presence way before you utter a note. But, since they do not possess logic, you can drive by and set up a quarter mile away with a good chance that a target animal is within earshot, and not a bit suspicious.

I don't know about assumptions, false or otherwise, but a coyote, for instance, is able to determine how recent was the human presence. They also have eyes, and if they don't see a human, it may be okay to disregard the scent of human. No, coyotes are perfectly capable of approaching your exact stand location an hour after you leave it and sniffing all over it, most assuredly picking up strong human scent. If they smell human and they can see that there are no humans about, they don't worry about it. I think they are very curious about human scent, maybe to reinforce their data banks for the next encounter?

I don't think, as I said above, that you appreciate the amount of land available and our willingness to drive 500 miles in any direction, just to hunt predators. The sign may change, tracks and scat may indicate a shift in where they might be living, and that's where we go because out west, the population is kinda dynamic. They go to a source of water. They leave places where the water has dried up. They seek out places where there are a lot of jackrabbits and leave places where they have thinned out the rabbit population. They may be located 25 miles from where they were last month and I don't think twice about going where they are today, rather than wasting my time calling areas they left. This issue of permissions and land owners doesn't exist, out here. I have never in my life asked for permission to hunt land. It's a freedom I hope we never lose but there are efforts afoot to change all of that. Control freaks can't sleep at night because these freedoms exist. I'm sure it was a control freak that thought up the word, "trials"? Just personal opinion, okay?