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Post by Jeffrey on May 29, 2007 8:51:56 GMT -6
My out of the box set is when I catch loose dogs, I reset the trap and usually within a few days bang, got a yote. My be I should be using dog pee instead of coyote or fox pee!
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Post by trappnman on May 29, 2007 9:06:22 GMT -6
I really do wonder about that old advice- that if you caught a dog or a possum, you had to change out the trap to catch a coyote.
First of all- the location area would reek- second, we all know that its obviously false.
so I always wonder- were some of these trappers trapping in areas where this IS true? I can't wrap my mind around it to be sure- but could it be?
the other alternative is those writng the books, didn't trap enough coyotes to make a coat.
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Post by mustelameister on May 29, 2007 10:05:14 GMT -6
Maybe there weren't that many loose dogs running around back then. I'm no canine trapper, but there's a guess. Could be the scent of a domesticated dog alerted 'yotes to "danger" at the time.
Today the scent of a domesticated dog probably causes a coyote to think . . . . "Well, there goes the neighborhood."
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Post by mostinterestingmanintheworld on May 29, 2007 11:09:56 GMT -6
This is the point that I'm making, lure alerts the animal.
So if you aren't using it right is it a detriment?
I've caught plenty of cats by using lure at the walkthrough but I've had some do what Bill said and turn around and walk off.
I think that lure has it's place but there are instances where it's better left in the truck.
Joel
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Post by Freak( Jim V.) on May 29, 2007 17:23:49 GMT -6
I can see where blind setting works out midwest and west , but brother here in the east , you wouldnt be catching much fur without lure.Too many nondistinguishable travelways.Very few hard pinchpoints on my line like in the west. And very few cattlepaths and draws with good trails in them. Blindsetting is its own reward though.
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Post by lynxcat on May 29, 2007 18:26:16 GMT -6
I can see where blind setting works out midwest and west , but brother here in the east , you wouldnt be catching much fur without lure.Too many nondistinguishable travelways.Very few hard pinchpoints on my line like in the west. And very few cattlepaths and draws with good trails in them. Blindsetting is its own reward though. Jim need to OPEN THE GAP... you're seeing tunnel vision.. as said think "outside" the box...it COULD just open a TON of new avenues for you... and we're NOT talking about gender.. ;D
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Post by trappnman on May 29, 2007 18:30:11 GMT -6
I have to agree with jim- while a blind set or two might present itself- the field pattern layout, the various waterways, etc- really provide no pinchpoints, and real cattle trials very rare- most cows paddocked here (rotated).
I'll stick with lure.....
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Post by lynxcat on May 29, 2007 18:46:12 GMT -6
IMPROVISE...block..guide.. MAKE YOUR OWN!!! (OUTSIDE the box...NOT in..)
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Post by Freak( Jim V.) on May 29, 2007 18:46:50 GMT -6
Lynxie , ahhh the possiblities. LMAO. there are always a few places where a blended blind set will pick a couple up around here , but for the most part , they are few and far between unless i get on the powerlines and thickets, and they are just low percentage sets til later when i am already elsewhere.. the bulk of the animals I see when checking predawn are in the middle of fields running slight swales or messing around in the barnyards where they are safe.Ifn I set a lane , that trap would be scrap metal and FAST. Way too much vehicle traffic with all the other yahoos checking their gear and the farmer and the dude just nosing around. And setting cutthoughs early is just an invitation to catch rabbit/skunk/possum , etc.Trick here is staying out from edges a bit. And most farmers here do fall tilling which turns everything into flatland. Just is what it is , that is why I love the dry open country where animals are a bit more predictable As far as blocking and guiding , i improvise ALOT , you should see me otter trapping! Can you say fence?
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Post by k9 on May 29, 2007 19:09:43 GMT -6
Asa and I recently had a "discussion" about setting up in or against cover, which I think probably resulted in him getting offended. Fact is I do it all the time. Around here you better get up into cover, or the anhydrous knife or chisel plow will take your trap. Just when you think you got a farmer figured out, he gets a wild hair and your trap is gone. Also around here the heater hunters drive the edges of the fields right about where you might put a set, weekends are the worst. Lot's of snapped traps when you set out say 8 or 10 feet into the field. Most of my cropland coyotes are right up into the edge of knee to waist high cover. I like to set little weedy fingers here and there in the middle of fields but it is always a gamble, as the farmers will just plow right through them and the trap is gone.
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Post by trappnman on May 29, 2007 19:35:21 GMT -6
you can surely set the cover, and I do- but you are still pulling those yotes INTO the cover......
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Post by k9 on May 29, 2007 20:14:31 GMT -6
Agreed. I would prefer to be out where they are walking, but especially in bean ground I can see tracks of walkbys or refusals and just have not had noteworthy incident of that happening, with the exception of some experimental bait I tried a while back.
I have trapped too many against high banks, tall weeds, etc to have strong feelings that they are hesitant to approach such situations. I am kicking the weeds down into the cover, so the coyote can see the set as he passes by. I just need to be beyond that edge where the farmer will miss my gear.
Isn't a coyote walking along, focused on the weed line, looking and smelling for game? I have always assumed that a partial reason for the edge travel, in other words, the coyote walking in the bean stubble, is so that the coyote himself is not making noise. Noise that his prey can hear, and noise that can keep him from hearing a rustling mouse or rabbit in the weeds.
If we agree that the weeds are a source of food/focus for the passing by coyote, then a set there is not a bad place to be. I prefer it under his nose, but not in farm country.
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Post by Freak( Jim V.) on May 29, 2007 20:26:09 GMT -6
Apples to oranges. Blind sets in heavy cover vs lured sest in heavy cover. I have and will trap em there too , but they are lured there to get em out of the field , not vice versa.
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Post by trappnman on May 29, 2007 20:42:33 GMT -6
one thing alos about beans- they walk in them because it feels good.
LOL- but I believe that.
I think the soft dirt, the lack of stubble, etc- just makes for pleasant walking. I see here where a bean field edge, is the walking aside no matter what the other obundary- corn, hay, plowed.
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Post by billcat on May 29, 2007 21:31:17 GMT -6
I've often wondered just how much time a critter actually spends at the so-called "hot spot". Yes, they are, for the most part (in OUR minds), a chokepoint, but are they just passing through or do they make an effort to spend a lot of time there? Is it a good hunting spot, a good scratching spot or just the easy way through? If there are scratchings there, it's evidence they spend more time than if they just traveled through. But what is the mindset of the critter? Are they new to the area or an old timer? Are they just scratching in passing through, or do they check out the entire area? Are they going to spook at your offering or are they going to check it out or ignore it? As far as strange urine goes, is it a big boy going to kick their butt or is it a lesser critter or a different spieces? I'd guess that on the way in, they have a one track mind to put the turd where they want it, but will they check things out before they do or just do it? Will they check out the area after they're done or just leave. When you come down to the nitty-gritty, there's only three things they HAVE to do at any "hot-spot" - come and go; or not.
Bill
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Post by mostinterestingmanintheworld on May 29, 2007 22:12:06 GMT -6
As far as the no walkthrough areas of the East, can you find a spot to set a snare?
If so you can make a walkthrough there as well.
Joel
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Post by trappnman on May 29, 2007 22:18:09 GMT -6
As far as the no walkthrough areas of the East, can you find a spot to set a snare?
me personally- I'm finding it hard to do.
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Post by bobwendt on May 30, 2007 3:53:50 GMT -6
youi guys sure make a no brainer easy job seem to have multiple hard to understand factors. they are dumb animals, we are humans. even ther dullest human is way way brainier than a coyote. ansd cats, they are embarassingly easy if you just get where he is. I concur 100% with k9 on the high or tight cover trapping. asa is in the stone age if he still buys into that seeing all over theory, at least in ks, wyoming and indiana where I`ve trapped thousands in tight and high cover with no problems. my favorite LOCATION is into a cut bank, like a pocket set rather than a dirthole , lol, "50 variations of the dirthole". I always figured one variation is the dirthole without the hole, hmmm. possibly there are other factors that might make it so easy for me to succeed in high and thick cover, but not for others, but I doubt it.
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Post by shagnasty on May 30, 2007 6:18:03 GMT -6
agree bob, such a simple task is analyzed in so many ways. agree also that the big hole in the cut bank is a killer set.
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Post by johnthomas on May 30, 2007 7:15:55 GMT -6
im not a good enough cat trapper to say, but on coyotes i set according to where i have seen his tracks in the past or the present, as that tells one where he will and wont go, water sets are a poor producer on yotes for the most part for me, but i can catch one easy in a water set right at a beaver dam if coyotes are crossing, he will wade right out like a coon does, heavy tree cover and over the head weeds are a snap if he has tracks thru it as he has been there before and even a large tree branch can be used to get him to step in the trap in a trail set there, but the ease of setting dirtholes with open unblended patterns is always the fastest and easiest for me and just plain gets the job done, and any more lol thats about all i do.
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