Midwest coyotes

[tripleex]

Are coyote carcasses valuable in locations that you are baiting up or enhancing, or would they be counterproductive?

[Zagman]

the Ski-Doo is just for dicking around the house and not necessarily coyote trapping.

My point was that IN GENERAL, obviously here in the East/Midwest, there are enough good "spots" to set near our trucks, i.e., no one is covering 100-200-300 miles a day and NOT driving to the bulk of their locations.

Certainly, there are other locations, maybe even BETTER locations (THE SPOT/SPOTS that the average, productive, high-mileage trapper ain't gonna walk to.....not on a fur line. ADC? Sure, I see why perhaps you'd have to.

50 yards or even 100 yards is far different than 1/2 mile or more on a fall fur line/vacation line.

90% of the pics or videos of caught coyotes we see on these sites usually shows a farm lane or two-track. Certainly my pics and videos do.

MZ

[trappnman]

ok- a flurry of pms back and forth and we kissed and made up...

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I know there is more to it than what is being debated about "the spot", but to me, with the knowledge I have at present, the spot comes down to this:

there is going to be a "spot"(s) in an area, that gets multiple use, on a regular basis, by different groups of coyotes.

and because of the innate nature of a coyote, his behavior is different in various scenarios-

therefore, I'm looking for a "spot" that not only gives you multiple group usage, but allows the behaviors of the coyotes to be in a mindset, to be caught easier.

how to determine that spot?

thats the crux of the issue.

I bring up the sand road again, because it IS, at least to me, very revealing.

#1- I had a sand road, showing daily use with tracks coming and going in both directions.

#2- setting on that road, produced very little. Coyotes were there, passing within feet of the set- and zip

#3 3rd year, found "a spot" if not "the" spot- and it became a "hotspot"

Why? to me, the answer was clear- those coyotes, on that road, had NO interest in working sets or doing much of anything, but going to and fro

finding "a" spot, where their behaviors ALLOWED them to be caught, made all the difference in the world.

thats my goal- to have all locations, being on or near the spot.

multiple coyotes, proper mindset......

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What I've done the past 2 years, is to be more productive, with far less traps in the ground.

I've been asked why less traps, and the reason is simple experimentation. I wanted to cover as many of "the spots" I had chosen as I could, and simply decided to set 2 traps, at each location.

now this year, thats going to change in that places I felt from last year were "the spots" will be set up with far more traps. And I'll try to take whats common in those locations, to choose new or better ones on less productive locations.

Sometimes the spot I "know" is right, is indeed unaccessable by truck, and thus, I pass by them. I might be setting in a lesser spot, but generally, my farmers tell me "rules don't apply" and I have free rein to go and do as I please, and on small farms, only coulees and wide plowed fields limit my mobility.

lots of my pics don't show roads or two tracks, even though they might show the truck- so I do get off the field roads etc more than it might look.

God knows I love setting off roads- quick and easy all away around. but that sand road convinced me, that roads might or might not be the place to set, despite the amount of sign present.

I'm convinced, that the answer to the puzzle is indeed as M Scott says...work.

And that means time on the ground. Frankly, unless on gopher farms (and even then, i don't have that time, or rather will say I have multiple demands on my time) and while I think and observe coyote activities daily, I could be doing more.

But in any case I no longer just pull into a field road, and set the intersection as a matter of course, but use that road as a starting point vis a vis WHY they are there (and i just might set up that intersection anyways, if thats the best I can find)

so is the spot a lay up area, a stall out location, a boundary? Is it at the attraction point? It could be all or part of that, but its more as well- and that "more" is the purpose of these discussions- can we, as a collective group of coyote trappers, define in a more definitive way, "the spot"- that place where it all comes together.

Cause I don't know the answer, but I DO know the answer exists.

for me, based on what I know, based on what I think it comes down to where is the biggest, smelliest most intriging attraction point -one that as per the 30 cow study will "pull in" multiple coyote groups....

and then find the location, where for lack of a better grasp of the concept,(but it helps in my evaluation of an area) coyotes feel safe, and have more of a mindset TO work a set.

I know I'm not hititng it exactly right, but I'm getting ......"warm"

after skinning coyotes in the field the last 2 years, I believe that a coyote carcass makes a good location better, and can improve most locations IF locations are set with coyote behaviors in mind.

[bogio]

Steve,

I don't remember all the details so will start from the beginning.

Does your sand road have or lead to a biggest,smelliest, most intrigueing attraction point?

After 2 relatively unproductive years setting the text book locations, what led you to and made you decide to set the big bale location? If the bales were not there, do you feel it still would have been the spot?

[trappnman]

I trapped it once, 7-8 years ago and caught the one

I kept gopher trapping it, but at the time didn't have a line into that aea, so hadn't coyote trapped it until 2 years ago

it was the literally first spot I set up after 1080s hey bob posts, etc and once i had decided to change my line management in so many ways

So after seeing tracks there all summe,r and fresh tracks when setting up, I set there again.

but as the results of the new methods were showing themselves, I began, as I said, thinking with a different mindset beyond tracks.

those bales, or similar were usually there- cows in pastures both sides of the road and behind bales and it runs between 2 farms with cows at each. the occasional dead cow went in woods parraell road and near bales. but for its area, its the biggest/smelliest- just the smell of cows gewts coyotes going I think

to me, I started looking for- again, my terms- a safe location, where they could observe, lay up, stall out etc and sign at the bales, showed me it might be the place (beyond tracks)

it was a guess, more or less, that panned out

[tripleex]

As a true Greenhorn here is what I learned, or think I learned from this post, and feel free to smack me around if Im wrong or on the wrong track.

Look for locations with multiple tracks, different sizes, maybe some turds, different age tracks (fresh and old), along travelways (the more the better) , on or near what could be a territory boundary (road, crick, brushy fenceline etc..)

Judging by what is found above, I could assume a higher percentage that I "might" be on a location that possibly could be overlapping coyotes/groups visiting. The spot? Maybe yes, maybe no.

Assuming by what I have found above, if not already a stall out location, I could hide carcasses in preferably heavy cover nearby, using the wind patterns to my advantage, and enhance the location. And if not already, possibly put the coyotes that are frequenting the area into a mental state to mill the area/hunt harder, making them more apt to work sets I have pounded in.

Dead piles/carcasses in the right locations are good.
Dead piles/carcasses thrown wherever, more than likely not.
Large dead piles in the right location could draw multiple coyotes/groups from surrounding areas and be a goldmine.

OK, am I warm? Cold? Windowlicker?

I will keep reading and hopefully you guys will keep writing.
Im going to beat my 12 coyote year this year (yeah, may not sound huge to you guys, but thats my best, LOL)

[braveheart]

Hansen always had me throw the coyote carcass out in places.He said they love to visit the dead.I have 45 5 gal. buckets of rotted Bobcat meat a guy tried to sell me going to poor that out as draw stations.The guy never could tell me why it smell different than mine.I went out in the Spring to find my coyotes just like Bud Hall told me to do for mink and Fox.All the hot spots.

[foxman]

Just finished reading this whole thread. Definitely another full of information. Thanks to all who contributed.

[Griz]

Jul 30, 2012 18:08:46 GMT -6 foxman said:

Definitely another full of information. Thanks to all who contributed.

I agree.

[B.Evans]

The territorial boundaries of the coyote are established by howl points,scent posts,and coyote-to-coyote contacts.In late fall and winter,,the tolerated coyote are usually forced to leave the home territory.This causes a continual movement of the young coyote as it searches for its own home range.This movement can be used to good advantage by the trapper,as these young are traveling in country they do not know well and will usually stick to the trails and sand washes.When the home-range coyote have been totally eliminated from an area, new coyote move into claim the territory.This homesteading takes place within a few days, or at the most a few weeks.
The home territory of a breeding female coyote varies somewhat depending upon the type of country and the availability of food.
A study of radio-collard breeders in northern Arizona indicated a typical range of 8.1 square miles.The studies also established that the coyote moved within the total range seasonally that is,the winter and summer ranges were separate portions of the total territory.
Hope this info helps.