To Lennitrapper, As for my comment about being half-arsed,it was about ME. No one else. Facts are facts, the more fox,coon,possums,rats, ect. you have the more you will catch. I like to think of myself as a decent trapper that can catch a few critters. I'm no pro by any means. I'm a hobby trapper that does it on his vacation time from work. I trap predators from Nov.1 till the deer season opens. From there I work the water. John and Phil are good trappers in my book with a great work ethic. They also have two things I don't: Fox and Time to trap them in numbers.

Thanks big brad..and I agree...we are blessed down ehre...BUT NOT like some may think. Its not a massive stock pile like some think..it just isnt..

Good stuff ehre guys...keep it going.

Caught a HUGE male and female today...will post pics later. Breed is on and they're really agressive...

Some should give zagger more credit than having a high population. Central ny is not a hotspot for coyotes , their are far better places in the country to trap coyotes.

TTT

ok i only took a few pictures. i always forget i have my camera.

this is a location. i have a set where my bag is and one across from it. where i am standing is a huge power break and there are two trails meeting up with it.woods behind me tall weed type things there at 11oclock to 2 oclock than more woods.

The Sets.
this one is kinda step down but it has taken liek 4 fox already so gettin a flat DH would be hard

this one has a huge hole due to fox diggin at it and due to 6 fox fallen prey to it already

O BTW the set near the bag has bait and the other set has lure


next location is along a creek i thought it was a deer trail when i set but have yet to see deer tracks in my circles.
far set has bait middle set has lure near set is pee(hay)



ask away about the pictures if you have questions

TTT for Bic

This is a VERY interesting theory..and i think there's something to it. I also think that some people may give off a human odor that WE can't smell..but THEY can...and it repels them.

For years, i'd set 40-50 or more traps on the first day of trapping...usually Nov 1 or therabouts...only to have ONE fox the next day. Only in the past 2 yrs has that changed..and it makes no sense. Perhaps I stink...no jokes please.

There's all kinds of weird and unknown things that happen in the animal kingdom...and among us humans. Ever have 3-4 women living in a house together? 99% of the time thier cycles line up...and why? I dont think anyone knows. Happens with dogs too...

We'll see how lures and baits work here in the east this weekend...they say below zero nights here on fri/sat...

Lennitrapper, I saw the pics. Thanks

I dunno but going from personal experience I think there may be something to it.I've had my worst season in years and I attribute it to having a health scare and taking meds (herbal and otherwise)that I normally wouldn't take.It also caused me some worry that I'm not prone too that I think also had an affect.Late in the season I got things figured out(after numerous tests)and it appears I'm going to live even if I haven't completely given up smoking,I know.Well,I quit taking most everything and quit worrying and my catch started to improve after a few days.I could mark it off as sheer coincidence or a bad run but I think theres more to it.

I also have what I consider to be an icebreaker at the beginning of every season.It seems that I can't really hammer them until I get 4-5 and that foxy smell starts getting into my pores,then I really start to hammer them,call me crazy.You ever noticed how your sweat or farts start to smell after handling numerous animals??

Size and Depth of dirtholes:

Ive noticed a lot of trappers who have bought drill augers have reported that their catch % have gone up and they see more digging/working at their sets.

I think what this is attributed to is before, they where digging a 4-8" dirthole,due to speed of getting more sets in and/or just hard digging ground, which when a critter sticks his snout down the hole, gets his curiousity satisfied very quickely as he can put his nose right on the bait/lure, and is on his way with less steps taken.

Once they start drilling holes, they pretty much run a deeper hole, 10-12" deep with nice straight sides and not as tapered as you many times get with a trowel, as its just that easy to drill a deeper hole compared to digging it.

Now, with a deeper hole most of the time, and a fox/coyote cant put his nose right on the bait/lure, they take a few more steps over the pattern, resulting in higher catch % per set to some degree.

Ive found that to be true some years ago trapping coyotes, once I started drilling deeper holes, I started catching more.

If you watch, really how many sets that approached but no catch is made, you really dont see just a ton of dug out holes, especially in warmer weather. Then, that one night before a front moves in, or the day after, especially with a snow on the ground, you get a large amount of dug out holes, I mean really worked over hard. With a crust of snow, or substandard anitfreeze used, and frozen in traps, you see a doz or more hard dug holes right after a snow, out of 50 or so sets. I see this especially on coyotes.

Think these coyotes all found those sets on that one day or 2 after a snow? Na, they knew where they where at all along, just the weather put them into "feeding" mode. They moved hard trying to clean up all potential meals they knew about when the weather changed.

So I tend to believe a deeper hole does get more coyotes/fox on those indifferent days they just kinda check your stuff out, they will sniff/dig just a little harder at a deeper hole they cant get their nose right on your attractor, and on average, take more steps over the pattern.

Not saying a deep hole is gonna double your catch, but deeper holes with catch you more fur over a seasons time.

RK

afterthought: In what reduced coyote/fox steel trapping Ive done in last 10 years, I seem to see less catchable coyotes till later in year compared to 10-12 years ago. I attribute this to our expanded deer seasons and numbers of permits, along with an higher deer populations. Many more novice hunters in the field, and one heck of a lot more dead deer laying around from wounding from at times seems an army of newbie deer hunters running around. All those deer carcasses laying around keep the predators well fed and many times camped out on deer carcasses thru most of December any more, w/o the need for a lot of traveling to scroung up a meal, hence less catchable fur due to minimul movement.

Cats will sometimes camp out real hard on a deer carcass, couple years ago on a nice cedar pasture, I had 8-10 sets on all the good cat travelways covered, on a good section that usually does 2-4 cats, and about always get 1-2 with in first week, or less. After 10-12 days and no cats, I poked around on a fresh snow, and found 2 cat tracks camped out on deer carcasses in this section. They werent moving out of an area as big as a city block. I stuck 2 sets on each right in their small A.O., and had them both the next check. They just sat on their meal and didnt move enough to hit sets on their usuall travelways. I had to get right in amonsnt them to catch them.

TTT

One could also come to the conclusion that with the faster holes and less hand work on them would also lower the human scent left at the set. which would also increase the chance of the set being worked.

Note about me: I am no expert by no means!!

I'll go with both ideas, deeper holes cause more mystery and set working like Rich stated, I always make holes 3" to 4" in diameter and at least 10" to 12" deep and believe that contributes to maximum harvesting.
I also agree with KYCountry, the less time spent at a set the less scent left at the set and the sooner the set will likely be committed to.
Paying attention to all such details is the big secret that adds up maximum set response and maximum harvesting one by one by one. Asa

Asa, how do you dig a hole so deep? By hand or with auger?

One of my favorite trick sets is to auger out a DH with a 40" auger...make the DH 18-24" and put soemthing at the bottom of the hole...then switch lures. You'll have your culprit the next day...

No problem digging holes in my country at 95% of locations Nightwish. Most of the country is Lake Superior and Lake Michigan sand and normally I just use a trowell or a long handles bread mixing spoon. There are a few places where there is hard, gravely ground that takes some effort but what I do is chop the ground with a hatchet until I get through the hard stuff and then take the hammer side of the hatchet and pound a good sturdy trowell on down deeper into the ground. Asa

ha, I need to move there...my arms kill me from pounding stakes and digging...

I do everything with a steel handled spade, then dig with the trowel. Guys in our Mtns have it rougher than I...

Mtns in Pa HA Ha Ha. Come to the rockies and you will see boulders. Some place will only allow you to drive a stake into the ground 6 inches. Best then to anchor to a tree and make a flat set.

ttt

TTT...