As for bait vs lure, ive yet to find a lure, that, when sets are frozen down, the hole place is dug out like a bomb hit it.

In my experiance, i like to use lures in sets where i control there foot movements (like a walk through) and use bait in open no blocking at all dirtholes.

The commercial baits made now, have the same if not more ingrediants in them than lures do. Its in my opinion, the bait allures to the coyote as an actuall parcel to eat, not just a odd smell in a hole on a stick (not that they know what a stick is)

if im using a t-bone, it gets a lure. if its a dirthole, it gets bait.

i wouldnt dare go out and set up for coyotes without bobcat meat based bait.

Well said Charles...you surprise me sometimes.Thats what I'm saying.There is no convincing me a canine can't tell the turkey from the drippings.

Ive dabbled with lures in a hole, and yes, caught coyotes that way.

however, ive seen far to many times, when theres just one track in the pattern, a one step and sniff and move on, IF the set isnt constructed as a walkthrough.

foot guiding is not my style, so, on dirtholes, using bait, i feel i get the necesasary foot movement from the bait as they are digging and scratching, to go ahead and make the catch.

i am curious to know if having an abundance of natural easy food in an area would make bait less or more effective? i also am curious if the number of yotes in an area can be a factor when using a lure?

let us hear it buzzard!

stackem up (coons with bait) and remake....around here coons are worth more then yotes

I do tend to agree with Charles, especially when our weather consistently gets below freezing - a chunk or spoon of bait in a hole tends to get the coyotes to stay longer - foxes, no idea - we dont have enough

coon are worth money to.

aint there aint a LURE out there that will NOT catch a coon anyway.

We do like buzz

NYfox asked...ASA ,what are your thoughts with what i mentioned above ?

If you go back up near the top of this thread you'll note that I stated that I can't speak for all lure brands as I don't know what is in thier formulations.
I note that the lure you used was a gland lure at a dirthole set. A dirthole set would not be a complete lure with just gland lure and no food/hunger element on down in the hole. A good call lure like Super All Call or Super Range All Call should already have a food/hunger element in the formulation so when a gob on a stick is at the bottom of the hole the animal will not only be curuious but think something to eat has been buried there by some other animal species and dig for it. Gland lures in my opinion are better served at scent post sets, flat sets, blind scent sets or any set where there is no hole to represent something edible buried there. So, I can only conclude that those who have better results using bait than lure aren't using an appropriately formulated lure for usage at hole sets. For example, I would never use one of my Nature's Call urine/gland/passion/curiosity formulated lures at a dirt hole set withou adding a food bait down the hole. With the Super All call and Super Range All Call lures that food element is already added to the formulation. Don't get me wrong, I've caught scores of fox, coyote and bobcat using just Nature's Call at a hole set for experimentation but as has been stated by others it didn't always offer a reason for the canine to tear into the hole to get the food out of the bottom. As I said, Nature's Call is something I use a lot of but reserve it for sets where there is no hole. Asa
PS- I think this could be a regional thing too, depending upon the animal population vs the available food supply. Around my area, Upper Michigan, the winters are many times severe but coyotes, fox and bobcats reside in the cedar swamps along with an abundant food supply of rabbits, ruffed grouse, starving weak deer and deer that died of starvation. For the most part they could care less about a chunk of bait at a set unless it offered some other attraction, curiosity, passion, territorial, gland, etc. I have the best results in my region using Nature's Call lures at post sets during the deep snow winter months, its the time of year when Nature's Call's passion ingredients shine and animals are thinking territories more so than eating when thier stomachs are always full and they always respond.

Man I like these posts; wealth of info!!

Buzzy, have you kept records on which set takes more animals?

Buzzard wrote...all locations have two sets bout 10 to 20 feet apart.......all of them, no matter what.
Lefthand set gets beaver meat bait soaked in Dobbins bait solution only........no urine or lure
Ritehand set gets a gland lure and urine.......no bait
All the bases are covered that way and there are NO what ifs

Well Buzz, are you going to leave us hanging on which sets generally produce the best results when compared side by side like that????? C'mon now Buzz! Asa

I rarely use bait and I think that helps cut down on possums and skunks.

I have not seen that using a gland lure or any other lure has cut down on the catch of possum or skunk.If they are there you will catch them imo.

Hence the reason to get out there and experiment and find out what works in your area

Asa, just wondering....do you know how to use the "quote" feature to answer someone's specific question. I have noticed that you do alot of extra re-typing rather than using this tool. Just trying to help you out as you do me.

You never know, NYfox. How do you know you wouldn't have caught twice as many non-targets if you'd been using bait?

As ASA wrote, it might be a regional thing, and a time of year thing.
Way too many variables to make a hard fast statement about lures, baits, and coyotes, or even fox or bobcats.

Over the many miles, and years, I have learned you never say never or always, as those two words just do not apply to trapping over any period of time or miles.

So what do I do and use? Sometimes everything, and now and again, nothing, just make a set in trails. Experiment in your area with your lures and baits, and see what works for YOU, then remember it may not be right for someone else making sets different on different kinds of location or under different weather or other extreme conditions.

One thing about trapping---the door is always open to learn something new, different, and more!

How do i know ?We have used both and the numbers of non targets have not changed ,skunks and possum are curious and will investigate a gland ,call,ect lure if they smell it as much as a bait and you will catch them ,ask any fox trapper who uses lure and i guarentee they catch loads of possum and skunks .They are scavengers looking for any kind of food and even a smell of fox anals will bring them in

I AM a fox trapper. I'm not saying that possums and skunks won't get caught on lure but I really do believe that my count is lower on them when I don't use bait..or maybe there are just less around these days?

Nice picture, Buzzard. I happen to like eating crow.lol