Big Number Coyote Guys?.....................................

[turkeyfanatic]

What are some key factors that took you from........... hoping you caught a coyote to wondering how many you caught in one day?

Thanks

[trappnman]

that's a good question, and it is accurate at least for me- I remember thinking that very thing- that I've gone from hoping to have a coyote, to knowing I had coyotes, now the question was how many.

the answer is a little harder though. Not definitive by any means.

I think my first real breakthrough came from WileyE- although I did understand, to a degree, habits of coyotes- he got me to understand that the nature of coyotes was just as, or even more so, important that knowing their habits-

perhaps one thing that helped mechanically, was (and I stumbled on to this on my own) realizing that not only doesn't more than a few drops spook a coyote, that using considerably more than a few drops really increased the coyotes working at a set. Hand and hand with that, was using speed dip , and finding out that (for me) it was nothing but trouble in wet conditions, and in a desperate attempt to stop that, I started spraying sets with urine and found that for whatever reason, digging/avoidance dropped dramatically.

by doing those things- multiple lures AND baits at a set, and lots of urine- I found that most of my coyote problems at the set, became a non issue overall. sure, I still have occasional digging, etc- but its now rare, whereas with a Q tip of lure and 10 drops of urine, it occurred more than I liked.

I think the toughest thing for new coyote trappers, is that they can't get past thinking a coyote is just a big fox- and that's far from the truth- a coyotes actions aren't fox like- so if you make coyote sets: big holes, big patterns, big everything- your success rate goes up.

I also believe, that visuals are very important- that most sets are seen, before smelled and that without a good visual you miss coyotes.

[trappincoyotes39]

Knowing coyotes year round and what they seek out and look for during changing seasons or their life cycle so to speak.

Coyotes in numbers? Well lots has to play into that.

To maximize your catch be it 150 traps out or 50 traps out, look for those area that will have multiple family groups "needing? To be there.

Finding a few sets of tracks going down a section line or 2 track, field corner etc, is one thing finding the areas where you have multiple sets of tracks from varying age of coyotes is another.

setting travel lanes will catch those coyote traveling such, setting the area where multiple groups converge is even better for maximizing catch to time and equipment placed.

This time of year right now cattle are money calving to take place and coyotes will congregate in large numbers around these cattle, even though we are looking at in many areas the lowest portion of a given population, there will be a large number in and around those cattle as we speak.

Knowing what those coyotes need is more important than knowing how to set up a travel lane used by a few coyotes IMO.

I Have had areas where I have trapped/snared double digits numbers out of many times as my knowledge increased. Figuring out why those coyotes come to these areas so I could try and locate more of them was very important to me. So many different factors go into it, fur trapping or ADC work different objectives and goals, fur trapping getting in and out as quickly as possible if one has the ground to keep setting up new or ADC work trying to keep a sheep ranchers loss below 3 percent.

The township approach so to speak.

I had one rancher who was skeptical of traps for effectiveness, but was an airplane guy, thought the only way to control coyotes was with the plane, well problem being the plane used so much in years past they wised up to it,easy to see. trapping and calling was what I decided on and in a years time I took 53 coyotes off of him, yep in a year but his loss rate was less than 3 percent. He was a long a major drainage that sifted those coyotes into his ranch and by placing traps and snares where those coyotes need to get to I would pick them off before they had a chance to get to the sheep. Removed dens in the spring and kept those numbers down to a bare minimum. He was surprised at how effective other things could be. Bottom line is what he brought to the sale barn.

So again a different approach than run and gun fur trapping. But still placing equipment where it needed to be to maximize the goal of less depredation.

Take a large photo and keep zooming in until you find the places of overlap these are the key areas to me.

Even out west with far less roads one gets to looking at denning locations and the importance the fewer roads plays into their selection is an eye opener for sure.

But then again I am no Bob Wendt.........

[trappnman]

good advice- but I think he was asking more what was the moment when yo uwent from- hoping for a coyote on the day's check, to knowing you had coyotes/

as I said, hard to answer, but I did have just that monment at one time

[Deleted]

Well I'm certainly not the "big numbers guys" that was asked to reply to this thread but screw it, I do have my own insight.

It came to me when I quit hoping I'd catch a coyote at a location and being suprised when I did, to when I anticipated catching a coyote at a specific location and did so REPEATEDLY!

From an advice point of view I'd have to say that a person needs to learn to see rather then look and learn rather then assume.  In addition, understand that it's the coyote's mindset you need to get into rather then trying to force the coyote into yours!!!

Take it for what's worth or not from a "small numbers guy" who doesn't have enough time left to find the Holy Grail! LOL

[exmatador]

For me it was after 10 or so years after finding great locations, solid set construction and good bait, lure usage.. And going back to the same spots and "generally" catching coyotes.. Kind of repetitive once spots are found.. Not a big numbers guy here but can catch them..

[turkeyfanatic]

Great responses and thank you. I guess I could change the title to "one who catches coyotes consistently" I'm sure big numbers can be different depending on the area in which you live. 100 may be big in some places where as other places 7 coyotes could be a big number. I know personally I have to learn or study their habits and behavior. Coyotes are exploding in NC and I am obsessed with trying to figure them out to the point where I can be consistent at it. Once again thanks for the information.

I probably need to switch from being a fox trapper to a coyote trapper but I'll leave that discussion up for another thread soon.

Thanks

[trappnman]

I think one thing that is important, is once you start having success to understand why you were successful. and build on that. Too often we attmept to change multiple things, and by doing that, we are unable to pinpoint the worth of each new or different thing we try. for example- if you have a set type that does catch coyotes- stay with that set, and modify one thing at a time. lets say you are catching the coyotes you do catch in a set where you lure it a certain way. Try luring the set different- use 2 lures instead of one, use louder lures (skunky) if you are using milder lures, put some lure higher up, etc. In time, oyu wil lsee the results either the new method works better, or it does not. Once you have at least semi made up your mind that THIS type of luring works best, then look to mechanics. Should I try a deeper lure hole? bigger? bigger pattern? bigger backing, etc.

do I do better setting high? or low?

experiment, experiment

[trappincoyotes39]

Deep holes are a given for me provided I can get into the ground

[Deleted]

This is an observation I've been seeing for years on certain trapping forums, not this board nor am I making a demeaning comment about turkeyfantic's question at all.  Reading Steve's last reply is directed toward coaching trappers to step out/forward and try something different, make adjustments, etc. using a thought process and making observations of what works and what doesn't.  It's my observation that too few trappers appear not to have the wherewithal or desire without needing to garner a consensus from a mass of trappers before attempting any change in what they've been doing.

[trappincoyotes39]

You never learn unless you either make mistakes or are willing to fail.

So many times I have done things outside of the norm and when they paid off I really paid attention as to why.

So much written in books and told,by people that coyotes won't so this,that or the other and then I try things that go 360 in another direction and they work and worked well.

been told coyotes can't be called towards roads, coyotes won't work sets with larger backings, scent free is a must, etc,etc.

Don't be afraid to try new things some them pan out really well and when one figures out why then you learn some very valuable things.

[Deleted]

Feb 1, 2015 13:53:09 GMT -6 trappincoyotes39 said:

You never learn unless you either make mistakes or are willing to fail.

So many times I have done things outside of the norm and when they paid off I really paid attention as to why..

The answer is always found in the WHY!!

[TRay]

Confidence comes with numbers, the more you catch the more confident you become. For me running large numbers of traps was the key to developing confidence in what I was doing. Even if my catch rate was low I was still catching coyotes, by analyzing the situations where I was having success and repeating I was able to continually increase success. It's hard to learn as much with 10 traps on 2 locations as when running 150 traps on 50 locations.

Big change for me was when I figured out there is no secret to coyote trapping just hard work.

[trappincoyotes39]

Tray a lot of what you state makes good sense. I always liked to and tried to figure out thoug how to maximize catch percentage. maybe your stating that in what you said?

if I have out 35 traps or 75 traps out I want to keep a high catch percentage, and a feel some think by just setting out a lot of traps specially for coyotes and such that they will hammer them, problem is though they set too many traps on the same coyotes, things click for a few days then done. Setting 12 traps on a family group which at some point many of us have done and then we wonder why 2-3 traps catch what is there?

The learning process tells us not to set too many traps on the same group. We had to learn that and maybe that is what your saying?

I Have had days of 20 some traps out and 7 coyotes, and days with less knowledge where I had double that amount and was catching 3-4 per day. Increasing catch percentage tells one your learning more about coyotes when you can go from location to location and keep a good catch percentage.

I had a ranch south of HWY 34 where a I had 6 traps out and 3 checks had netted me 10 coyotes. others have done the that or more, these are days when you feel,good and your knowledge is on setting only the best locations and feeling confident in those locations. The guy told me I think you caught enough you can get your traps I'm good.
he was a different dude. I think he thought I was going to make them extinct He saw coyotes and wanted them thinned down, if he only knew he was on a great location and a never ending influx of coyotes coming through his place.

One thing I have taught my son in trapping better to set good trap sets on the best locations than just putting traps here,there and everywhere. No matter the species.

We get there by knowing what ground to X off the so called map from the get go, that is learned through trial and error and asking ourselves why did they pan out and why didn't these pan out? Patterns start to evolve in our minds and on paper. I used to mark on a map locations of dens and then one can stand back look at the map and figure out why they pick the areas they do.

[turkeyfanatic]

Thanks for the great responses.