Trapping Coyotes

We have coyotes really bad around our place. They have already killed a calf. The other day our damily was outside and one came out in a pasture 15-200 yards away from the house and was milling around while are whole family was outside making noise. I didn't get a gun in time to shoot him. Anyway the back of our property and pasture kind of funnels down between fences and that is where they seem to travel I have a few traps I got from a buddy but does anyone have any advice on how to set them.
 
There are a lot of great videos on utube.
Here is one




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I've never done much trapping but my friends who do say coyotes are tough to trap. Scent control is everythng. They are very cautious coming into a trap set. Talk with anybody and everybody you know who has any experience with trapping yodel dogs.
 
Greg is correct,many good videos on u-tube.
Try to watch the ones related to your general area.The coyotes out here in the west react to different sets than the eastern coyote.
Trap preparation,cleaneness,and bedding the trap correctly are the most important parts in my opinion
 
That would never work here in Mn. You can't get them to work a set that is confined that way. Also he is leaving too much scent by kneeling without a pad & handling things bare-handed. Also a pan that big will trip with part of the foot on a jaw which will throw his foot out when it fires. A small pan will have its foot inside the jaws.
 
Pete is absolutely right. Once the trap is set and placed the only thing that should move is the pan. Do a little file work on the pan catch. You want a nice crisp release with NO creep. Use the adjustment screw to set the correct tension.

Larry
 
I carry a gun on the tractor when cutting hay, seems like
I always see them when cutting away their cover. Yes they are hard to trap. Put a add on craigslist looking of people to hunt and trap them. Good luck
 
Forgot to tell you, typically if you have coyotes around in good numbers you don't have any timber wolves like up here in wisconsin, those S.O.B. Can really put a dent in your calf copy.
 
Get a couple of donkeys and your coyote problem goes away. If you trap and kill them, then you'll be complaining about to many rabbits ,mice, skunks, racoons, ground hogs and deer.
 
I have found out that a yote is far easier to snare than trap. Just look for places they crawl under a fence or the such. Set a snare with a stop on it that will not hold a deers foot but will hold a coyote. Have 3-4' of tail on snare and wire it to a post or drive a good stake. Coyotes fear human scent but they react to a snare as if was a piece of wire that they see several times each day.
 
It's been a long time since I did any trapping, but everyone is right about the sense of smell. I do have coyotes yipping in the CRP along my crick but I also have a lot of neighbors who hunt coyotes so they haven't become too bad-yet. When one of those neighbors drives up the lane to ask if he can hunt I always tell them they can hunt under one condition-they have to get all of them. LOL
 
I use 4, number 3N traps (offset jaws), but they are impossible to find now days. So go with # 4 double spring traps. Join all 4 traps to a three or four prong drag. (looks like a grappeling hook) We made some of ours, I think you can buy them though.

Then, this is the hard part, find someone who raises pigs and still uses wheat staw for bedding. Prefferably put a dead pig in it or some afterbirth.

Lay your traps out in the middle of the field where you have seen signs. Lay the 4 traps and drag on the ground in an X shape, cover the traps with at least two burlap bags full of pig bedding. You want the coyotes to see it and smell it.

Curiosity gets the best of them. Set the traps carefully, making sure they set flat on the ground and are solid. We use to even run some fresh wheat straw through the feed grinder to make it finer, we used the fine stuff to actually cover the trap and the pan area. You want the traps covered and solid if a coyote steps anywhere besides the pan. Wind can be a problem, as can rain and freezing weather. Check the traps daily. Best twice a day. You can drive by and tell from a long ways off if the set has been disturbed as the mound of straw will be strung out and flattened.

Follow the straw trail to the first fence or brush pile and your coyote will generally be hung up there. My dad and I caught hundreds of coyotes this way. He started in the 50's and we set them out every year till up into the 90's when he passed away/

Regular wheat straw can be used in a pinch, but pig bedding is best. You need some type of smell to draw em in. I guess even mix in cow piles, or any type of animal waste for smell if you can't find pig bedding.

If you do catch a dog, throw a blanket over their head, hold em down and release their foot from the trap. We caught most of our own dogs over the years with no lasting foot damage. This is why it is best to check twice a day, and dont go to bed in cold weather if your dogs are not accounted for.

Good luck, Gene
 
I got bored watching deer eating corn on my trail cam/feeder area so I tried a few different feeds. I found when using dog food I would get coyotes often, along with racoons, skunks, opposums and a fox. Im not sure if they are too bothered with human scent around here but there is plenty around. The coyotes usually arer found early morning 2-4 AM, but sometimes 6-7 AM when the sun is up.

Im not sure how alarmed deer are around coyotes but there is usually deer pics within 30 minutes before/after the coyote pics. Also deer will eat with fox, racoons, skunks, possums, squirrels etc.
 
I guess I should have noted from my observations it would be pretty easy to trap the coyotes I have seen but the risk of getting another critter or deer might be likely too.
 
I set three traps today at the back part of our property on the fence line. We tried the donkey thing but it kept running the cattle so we got rid of him. I don't really wanna open it up for a bunch of people to come in as deer season is right around the corner and we hunt our property. One thing I have noticed is that we primarily hear the coyotes and see them at the back of our property. On all my trail cams for deer we have no pics of does on the back half its all bucks. I dont know if the does steer clear of the back due to the coyotes or not.
 
#1 Don't get discouraged,it takes time and you are getting a lot of good advise here.It took me along time to get it right and I still question my skills at these yotes.
 
Lots of other good advice on here but I will add just a little- DO NOT set foothold or any other kinds of non-kill traps unless you know for a fact that you'll be able to go out and check them every single day.

I trapped as a kid in the 70's and there's no worse feeling than finding a chewed-off foot in a trap. I checked every morning before school but still found some. Them you have a 3-legged coyote running around that'll be much more likely to take advantage of what he thinks will be an easy meal.

And checking every day also helps in case you catch the neighbors dog...lots of domestic dogs will just sit and wait to be rescued if they get a foot in a trap.
 
Trapping eastern coyotes is Masters if not doctorate level trapping. It's not something you'll do well first time out. I trapped for a lot of years before I caught a coyote. There's a pretty steep learning curve to it.
 

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