Hey folks,
I have posted a few questions in the past and have tried to figure things out on my own...which isn't working. What I am after is some serious critiques of my sets (which I will try to post on Wednesday after my next check so I can get some photos...they may be in the dark so hopefully I can get enough light to see them in photo). Also any advice that will help me connect with a coyote would be awesome, a coyote is the animal that I have been after since I started trapping. Until three years ago I had never trapped anything more than the occasional house mouse and I don't know anyone that can show me the ropes. I never put up numbers and that doesn't bother me as I do this mostly for a hobby to keep me active. But I cannot seem to connect with a coyote, I don't know what I am doing wrong, I have tried p-post sets off the sides of roads, plain ol dirtholes, flat sets, and some modified sets that I thought would work. I'm open to suggestions and all advice and I have some pretty thick skin so really lay it on me. Sorry I don't have any pictures of my sets yet but if there is anything that you can tell me before I get them up I would really appreciate it.

Find where they are traveling, confirmed by seeing their tracks (set on sign).

Join your state association, and get to know a couple guys, maybe in your area.

Use good bait and lure, properly...and wear clean gloves when setting your traps.

Stare at youtube like a zombie...for countless hours...boning up on the particular subject you are trying to learn.

The rest you'll have to learn by experience. There are NO shortcuts to trapping yodel dogs.

Once joined, ask, thru their website contacts, some of the officers for a mentor in your area.
Attend EVERY meet, trappers ed class, conventions, and fur sales and DOORS WILL OPEN.
It sure helped me and shortened my learning curve by years.

Also, you must not have got the memo, to ask for a few trapping DVD's or gear/bait, etc, from loved ones for your birthday and Christmas gifts and ANY other time you'd get gifts.
Now would be the time to ask for EARLY Christmas gifts.
You should already have several catalogs from suppliers, just circle what you want/need and give to loved ones, explaining their money is better spent on something you would by for yourself, AND then their money is spent wisely, NOT on a gooby sweater that'll stay in your closet forever.

Thanks fellas. Ill do just that.

If this helps. I have been at it here in Maine off and on for many years and belive it or not I need to check over 60 traps per coyote. There are a lot of contributing factors like populations and accessibility that can increase those numbers greatly

Probably takes me about this many as well, whether its ten traps set and six days to connect, or if its 20 set and 2 to 3 days to connect.

Hobbs you are in perfect position to learn , plenty of guys in Wyoming that know how to get you on the right track.
Keep setting traps in the right spots and there will be a coyote there one morning.

Lol. I watched a few coyote videos on YouTube last night for the heck of it. I about cried.

You gotta weed thru about 50, to get a good one.

Mark June's coyote book helped me get started . Other than that keep setting steel and keep thinking about what's happening. Watch Ed Schneider's videos on YouTube. The step down dirt hole he makes is my favorite set if you aren't dealing with rain or snow.

I second mark June’s books and videos. That said, keep your head up. Took me two and a half years to connect on my first one, and after that it just got easier. Don’t give up, pay attention to sign. Don’t get mad when you miss one, study the situation and learn. Every missed coyote is a lesson, you gotta take the time to learn it

Pictures of my sets. A distance pic and a close up, I cant figure out how to rotate the pictures, sorry. Please tell me if you see anything wrong. I don't have all of them but all the others are more of the same.

There are probably as about many opinions as there are trappers. Eventually you will learn what works for you.
I would make those dirt holes 2 or more inches in diameter, 6-8 inches deep, and at about a 45 degree angle so coyote would work them from side trap is on. I would put about an egg sized or slightly smaller bait in bottom of hole lightly grass or leaf covered so it could be smelled but not seen. I might add a bean sized bit of lure to back of hole, and dribble about a teaspoon of urine behind the hole. I would use no more than 1/2" of trap covering. The idea for coyote (cats won't do it) is to get him to shuffle his feet around while investigating the odors and satisfying his curiosity as to what is in the hole. If available I would bring a coyote or fox dropping from another area and place it a foot or two from the set.

I really struggled myself, I bought Andy Weiser's western coyote trapping video and learned a lot. He really knows his stuff and his video has helped me catch 13 coyotes this season.

And sometimes it's about this
Just done setting traps on for the day,
Got to take the time to look at GODS canvas .

Amen!

Great point, Red mtn! And great pic!

Yes sir Rd Mt, very well put.

I agree there. I always enjoy the time spent outside... well maybe not when its blowing 50 MPH and running negative temps.