I don't think those will grade western heavy, hahaha.

Whether or not to move the trap after a coyote catch is based on whether the coyote appears to be an alpha. If the coyote is a male then I make my decision off of that coyote's size and demeanor. If the coyote is larger and barks or refuses to submit to my presence then I assume it is an alpha. By submit I mean as you walk up close he lays down and puts his head on the ground. If he submits I remake trap in same spot..sometimes a dirthole..sometimes a flat set.

If the coyote appears to be an alpha male I pull trap and reset just on edge of catch circle. If the coyote is a female I always remake in same spot. If the coyote is a yearling I remake same spot.

This has worked well over the years....as the subordinate coyotes are reluctant to get in the middle of that dominant male's scent....but will spend time walking around the edge of it. Subordinates dont seem to mind walking all over the catch circle of females.

Btw,
The 2 coyotes on page 4 of this thread were an adult female and a yearling female. Both sets remade same spot.

Just my 2 cents. I'm sure some will disagree. And I realize this dont mean much until a series of second coyote catches are made. Sometime it happens...sometimes not.

Trap moved to edge of circle after an older male coyote that never layed down until I dispatched him. Original set was a dh and new set is a dh.

Yeah...those graded "carcass dump section"...

I dont comply with any set distance from hole or scent to trap pan center. I bed my trap first, pan exposed, then auger hole., using auger's dirt to cover pan. Most sets are about 5" or 6" from hole lip or scent to pan center. Most of my sets have a slight pan offset from straight back....but some are straight back.

I've missed 2 coyotes that I know of in past 8 checks and they worked set from the side. Do I go thru a stretch occassionally where I seem to have more misses? Yep and so does every other truthful coyote trapper.

Those Bridger 2 dogless traps sure are flat. They bed solid very easy and fast. Hard to beat that trap for $137/dozen.

love them bridger 2's

Testing coyote set locations somewhat on this trip. I made an effort to set on single road or fire break edges as opposed to making the set at the intersection of two or more roads or breaks. I wanted to see if using the road/break as a natural funnel made a difference. I am a firm believer in not depending on your lure or bait to pull a coyote more than a few feet so I try to make all sets within inches or only feet from where I see tracks, scat, or kick scratches. Plus everyone always try to trap/hunt all critters in funnel/pinchpoints. I wanted to see if setting the intersections was more productive or setting the single road/break edge was better due to the coyote almost certainly passing within inches or feet from the set...whereas in the intersection the coyote could pass by and miss the set by several yards (I know wind direction is a factor here..but bear with me.) I bypassed several good intersection locations and made sets down the road/break several yards....leaving the intersection trap free.

I have picked off a few of these coyotes on this trip because of setting like this, but have caught a few at intersections too. Coyotes on this trip are readily working sets and I havent seen a single instance where they have bypassed a set along the edge of a road/break without either getting caught or stepping on trap pattern. I can track them easily on these sandy roads and have followed their tracks right to the set past several days.


Not rocket science and I had got into a rut of always setting only intersections over the years. Hard to make changes....but this only makes sense.

Most trappers, me included, will only set the intersections (red)...

But, the sign shows the road the coyotes are using then you can "funnel" them closer to your set by setting here(yellow)....



Takes more traps....not necessarily...set only on sign..

Just food for thought....

Wow I wouldn't know how to act with no Rock's,Mud,or Ice. Keep it coming

Really enjoying this thread!

Love my Bridger 2 dog less traps. Things are tanks! Good catchin Swamp.

heck, just in the yellow areas, I see at least a dozen traps being set.
Is that a power line I see also? More traps I see being planted. And not to mention that open field. Sarge

Could be done, but would be overkill for the amount of predators on this property. The pic is just a small part of the property. Its 3500 acres.

I got lucky when I arrived on day 1 and was able to find sign on top of last rain that showed me primary travel patterns...

Enjoying the thread. Gonna give those Bridgers a try.

I think you will be happy with them. 15 minutes per trap with a flat file and wrenches turns those traps into a fantastic coyote and cat trap.

If you are ilve marketing coyotes you will need to laminate jaws. They are a tad too big for grey foxes and coons can get their mouth under the jaws.

Also, out of 9 dozen new Bridger 2 dogless there were 4 that had weak springs right out of the box. I put Bridger 4 coil springs on those. Perfect.

2 or 4 coiled??

Thanks for the ride along

2 coiled...except for the 4 traps that were weak out of the box. They are now 4 coiled.

Only coyote I had this morning but what a rarity it is. She is a beauty! Had her sold b4 I got back to camp..

I have been following this since you started and it has been fun to see how you make out from day to day .However the info you added about the remakes adds to my knowledge about how to remake sets .And that picture you added most recently is a beauty. Congrats on making a catch on what you call a rarity

Glad your enjoying the thread. Looks like my rare red coyote isnt that rare in the NE. I guess I should add that this coyote is rare that it has nearly all of its guard hairs...lol. I've caught several red ones..just not that pretty and well furred..... and with the very white face too.