no real tricks on using the lure- I just squirt a mix of fish oil and lure into the pocket or pipe.
I set a new location Tues with 4 pipes- pipes lured only with what was left in them from last year. Reason for that was, found I forget the lure mix at home. Yesterday, 3 coon out of the 4 pipes-
sure, the pipe itself is an attractant- but those pipes only had last years procoon mix in them, and were sitting out behind shed all summer in wind, sun and rain. That tells you something, about the staying power of the lure.
the real trick in cold weather coon, is knowing your area. In areas where coon hibernate, sometimes for weeks at a time, their behavior when they do come out, is what I call "cold weather coon".
We can debate this all day, and everyone is entitled to their own opinion based on their own experiences, but in 20 or so years, every since our water season was extended into Jan and Feb I've come to some very definite and set in stone opinions on #1 what attracts coon and #2 what coon do when they are out and about for a few days here, a few days there during the heart of winter.
if you have old barns, houses, other den areas where coon come out briefly and go back in, trial sets are the way to go- I'd pick snares, then 220s.
but i have , for all practical purposes, zero of those opportunities that exist. Most of the denning in my area, is hardwoods and rocks- and you just do not see enough CONCENTRATIONS of coon, at denning sites- simply because there is no need for such, because unlimited denning opportunities are there.
so #2 from above, is my priority- what are coon doing at that time of year, in my area?
and the key to that, was learned by following coon tracks in snow, for literally miles and miles over the years (during this period of time, winter with snow) and that is this- those coon HAVE NO PATTERN in their wandering. They wandered endlessly it seems....but I found one pattern, that was a consistent-
and that was, certain locations along creeks, got touched more often than not, consistently, by multiple coon. Some of these type locations would be obvious by bank cover, location vis a vis distance denning locations, etc. But others were not as obvious, and the coon showed me, that for whatever reason, this was a "touch point".
so over the 20 some years, I've been able to pinpoint such locations, and once found, find them to be good year after year.
and for me of course with a 3 day check on drowning sets I also need deep water- and despite those claiming a foot of water is going to be enough to drown the majority of coon, I find that to be utterly FALSE. For me, with the size of coon we have here
so I set the deep water, closest to the "touch point"
Now we come to #1 from above- and thats what do coon want, those coon that have been denning up for a week or two, or more when they come out- often coming out and wandering for a day or two.
let me digress to bear- when bear come out of hibernation, they don't start eating right away. it takes a few days, and then they start with grasses and vegetation, before they get that "eat everything they find" mode. After hibernation, they need to get everything working again, so to speak. This is not my info btw, it comes from my cousin, who was the head bear biologist in WI until he retired a few years ago.
I personally believe, based on what I've seen over the past 20 years of cold weather coon trapping, that coon react the same way, in their short activity bursts during winter between hibernation periods.
While I'm for sure not stating that you cannot catch coon on pure food baits or twinkies, I am for sure stating that based on my experiences in MN during winter, that food baits are not going to produce a fraction of the coon that a good LOUD curiosity lure will give you.
I've not only seen it year after year on my own lines, but many years I see it when the "bucket boys" think they can get some "easy" winter coon by setting buckets with bait under bridges. and I see where those buckets are ignored, while 50, 100, 150 yards (up)downstream, I'm consistently taking coon.
A real tip is this- DO NOT BE BEHIND THE COON
most people, in a short warm up- do it like this-
you get a couple of days of warm- so you think- better put out coon traps. you do, there is a day or two more of warm, then back into the freezer and you find, even though you set up in the warm time, your success is low. And thats because, I find that many times, the coon really only move (not speaking of extended warm ups, speaking of brief thaws) early in the period, often the first or second night- by the time you decide to go set traps, its too late.
you must be there, before they are............
so I DEMAND a coon lure, that is ALWAYS ready when the coon are ready. That means one that does not freeze, and one that reaches out. Personally, I have found that if a coon lure is not obvious to me close to the set, that its not going to produce much in my type of conditions- I want a lure that reaches out and smacks them along side the head- saying COME CHECK ME OUT
I've often said this, for cold weather coon: lure as much as you think it needs then double that- now, double THAT.
its got to be loud, and its got to be ready.
like any type of trapping, you need to know your areas- and this year, should be your goal to find those areas, for next year. Get out on the creeks, during fresh snows, during deep snow, during "walking snow" (despite what I read, if coon can walk on the top of snow, they will more than one thinks), the days before a small warm up (if temps are in low teens for a few weeks, then up to mid 20s for a few days, coon MOVE- not in droves, but they do travel),during the warm up, etc. At the same time, see what part of the creeks stay open longer, which freeze at the drop of a hat, etc.
