The rule of thumb is that there really isn’t a rule of thumb when it comes to bait amounts. Time of year, state/territorial conditions, concentrations of targets, abundance of other animals and so on. I get that. To each their own. Lately and in fact over the last couple of years, I’ve been reading about flagging and call lures. I guess you could equate one to the other as the intended purpose is the same: raise their curiosity to get them to come in close enough to work the set.

My question to those of you who use curiosity creations (things and call luring scents), does this affect the amount of odors at the actual set that you use?

Example: wind—>4 ft high anise scent—-> 10-20 ft away DP or dirt hole for coon. Do you use a tablespoon of bait or just a teaser?

In your experience/or from trail cam video, do coon stay keyed on the call scent or do they readily work the actual set?

I am a firm believer in effecting as many senses as I can coming to the set and at the set. I will always try to use sight and 3 odors and taste. But I do not use a lot of each. matter fact I most likely use less at the set combined than the average person uses in one that is reading this. I am not trying to pull animals long distance. I want to be as close to the spot they are going to step with out any thing then use the sight, smell and taste to aid in getting the animal to work the set. The flag or sight is to get the attention as they approach, a mound of grass in a flat field, or flag hanging from a flag wire or branch in the direction they are going. The animal most times will always move to the down wind side of the set even if it is only inches. so if I can I want the set up wind. Most folks here are thinking foot traps But I can't use them in my state, so my thinking goes to snares/ Cable restraints, DP traps and Cage traps. But I find that when I get the chance to set foot traps the thinking still works. My call lure I only want to reach 20/ 30 feet. and I want it to disappear at around 5 to 10 feet. (cone off the ground) same thinking as a deer stand 16 to 20 feet with a 5 to 10 mph steady wind with no obstructions, human scent will hit ground around the 30 yard mark give or take. so deer directly under is not in the cone. Where the animal walks under the call lure cone I want the second odor to pick up the attention. As the attention draws the animal closer I want the main attractor in the hole, under the cow chip, in the cage or in the DP to hit the animal for the final pull to get caught. I believe 3 or more odors segregated creates a excitement curiosity or investigation reaction which can help on the 20%. And I want taste there for the cages and DPs for the chocolate chip cookie mindset and even the foots traps incase they can get to the bait before getting caught. sounds like a lot of added time and thinking but So second nature to me that I do it as fast as anyone else setting the traps or snares. So yes I am over kill LOL Note I do not try to pull coon more than five feet most times, so all this is to start working on the coon as it is coming anyway. and I believe that a coons attention is that of a person flicking channels with the remote. Just my mindset that works for me does not mean it is for every one. .

I'm a believer in a stimulus being the cage or object in the cage, odor and wind as well, but I don't over complicate it and try not to make things harder than they have to be. Contrary to what many say about their eyesight, I believe coons see very well at night but their sense of touch and the need to feel around will do them in, so having a simple object at a set or in a cage adds a great benefit in tapping into their curiosity and firing them up. The bait/lure should have a variety of odors that get the attention of the animal, which would be for you to find out what works on the target where you're trapping. On the flip side, know big number cage guys who do a number on coon with a chunk of fish with the cage being the stimulus because the location and population is a healthy one. If you have to concoct some super elaborate bait or lure up then imo something isn't firing on all cylinders because coons aren't and shouldn't be that hard to attract, adc or in the field for fur.

I think you missed my point. I have done limited work with call lures meaning attempts really didn’t give me the results I was looking for. So, I’m reaching out to people who have had more success than I’ve had.

Anyway, I’m interested in how coon respond to call lures. Ron Jones touched on the cone of odor that carries on the wind and how coon follow it up to the trap. Then he incorporated multiple small sized bait and lure smells that will bring them into the trap. That’s the kind of information i was looking for. I’m hoping others chime in too. Clint Locklear suggests hanging some sort of stimulus a couple feet over his coon locations and if memory serves, he recommends a turkey wing. But this made me wonder, do coon stop looking up at the object when they get wind of the lure/bait at the trap site? That turkey wing is still fluttering above the trap. Do coon stop looking at that stimulus and pay 100% of their attention to the trap bait/lure?

Obviously wind direction plays a huge role. Because fall wind or wind around an object like a grove of trees, barn, hay bales, etc, is sometimes unpredictable. I can see the benefit of a scent a couple to say 5 feet above the ground and surrounding it with 4-6 DPs out far enough to avoid entanglement. That way, you wouldn’t have to get the wind direction correct each and every time.

Season is still out a couple months. Let’s see if others chime in.

Nah, I didn't miss ya point. Just because someone is utilizing a setup in a manner that is working for them, doesn't mean it will take just as many for you or have the same effect on coon in your area. If you're testing these theories in a terrible location with a low population how do you give any of these theories a true evaluation? Don't care how good someone claims to know an animal, they are unpredictable and will prove it to you out in the field.


How do you answer that^^^ if you aren't that animal? Like asking someone what is the animal thinking abut when its looking at your trap? Any idea? Nobody can give you an answer, opinion...but not an answer. You asked a question and only one responded so I gave my opinion based off of the coon I trap whether it be adc'n or in the field for fur. It's impossible for anyone to answer with 100% certainty what an animal is thinking about at any given time as it approaches your bait, lure or traps.

I keep very simple setups and place traps in areas where I know there are coon and If there is very little sign I take an educated guess based off of habitat and how it's presented to me in the field. I get what you're trying to do, but I believe you are putting to much energy into the whole bait and lure game instead of other areas. jmo


Simple setups with eye appeal take a lot of coon for me and I try to keep everything in the cage so it is forced to commit to the object and odor. I've seen coon B-line to an odor and I've seen them skirt around it and hit it on their way back through. You may think I missed ya point, and I get it. I believe you are giving coon too much credit and totally relying on bait schemes instead of trapping ability, knowledge of the animal and skill when it comes to presenting a setup. Sometimes you just have to get out there and do it and form your own opinion not just because so N so said so. Take a look around on these forums, how many people are struggling trying to catch these critters using "proven" bait and lures" and these instructions when it comes to bait schemes and setups? There is more to trapping these animals than just bait and lure and how high a call sent should be. There is no rule like you typed, so how does one figure out what it's thinking when it sees a wing or a trap? Then how does one know how to counter it when it changes its mind? How will you now if you're not a coon whisperer? Coons aren't hard to trap if you keep it simple <<< true statement. You shouldn't have to break out a notebook to setup for coon..jmo

Very simple setups that take many critters for me.


This setup alone in a cage is money all day long running coon. Elementary...simple but it works and works well.

I’m in a rut and looking for insights from people who do things differently. Been in this rut for a couple years. I went from 80+ coon to low 30s. Granted, spotty distemper patches in the area hasn’t helped any.

Monday I’ll start talking to farmers again about where they’ve seen coon in the past. By early September I’ll start establishing bait stations complete with trail cams to watch activities. A couple of my favorite locations are now subdivisions or have new houses on them. Living near a city of 100,000 has advantages for cages but skittish residents don’t want the animal killed, while the DNR wants them dead before you leave the site. It’s not a good mix.

I’ve gotten to the age where learning from experience isn’t as fruitful as asking for help. I’m not above asking so that’s why I’m here.
It’s always been location, location, location but sometimes those locations are hard to find.

The best way to get out of a rut is probably to understand the “rut” and do things differently. By picking your collective brains, I’m trying to do that.

I noticed, we've all had ruts, but I wouldn't be worried about bait and lure and making sure a "call" odor is 5 feet 2 inches off the ground. I'd worry more about my location and is there enough coon in the area to meet my expectations, and is the area depleted etc. Picking a brain is fine, and great progress could be achieved by it. Didn't you have instruction on coon trapping along with bait strategies? Filled up a whole notebook etc..they not work? Do any real testing with the knowledge obtained through the class? I'm not being facetious either. Kinda wondering why pay all types of money along with putting in travel time etc if the end results put you back on a forum asking the same things that were covered? Goes back to what's the money train for someone else doesn't mean it's going to perform the same for you.

Leads to the question..how are you testing all your creations on these super sophisticated coon out your way, or ghost coon? I've never seen a critter that is relatively easy to trap cause such a headache and become so elaborate in its process of trapping. I like to learn too but I believe in working smarter not harder. When I come to a crossing where something is a miss, I tend to hit the reset button and start at square one and review the steps I took to get where I stopped. I then dumb it down and simplify it and normally I find what I did or didn't do and correct the issue. I wouldn't start trying a hundred different things and start making x y and z because someone else said I needed that in my "toolbox".

You are 100% correct in that locations are hard to find, but bait and lure aren't pulling coon that aren't there. Good pair of boots and getting into the field putting in work will get you them locations. People can tell you what to look for, but is the terrain going to present itself in the same manner and have them critter goldmine runs and activity, and are you going to be able to decipher the difference? Are you trying what your asking in the field to form your own opinion and try to learn from the animals you target or just tossing stuff out there to fill up another notebook? To each their own, I do hope you figure it out so you can be on the coon this season. Good luck to yah!

TDHP all my set ups are simple. I don't work hard, I think hard on the animals and its behaviors and habits before, then when I learn something I do it the easy way. I have many ways to do things. Bill asked a question about call scents and flagging, not what I or anyone else does.

I will use both flagging and call in some cases, or maybe just use a flag or maybe a call or not use either it if the coon are right there and I don't need to. And yes when talking cages eye appeal in the cage is a money maker, and I won't set too many traps with out eye appeal in them, but when talking DP or foot trap or cable set ups flagging will be to draw them to, not in .

Bill I believe that a coon will keep focused on a flag as long as nothing takes it's attention from it. I have had coon climb the tree and out on the branch and take the feather of flag LOL So I like the flag to be right at the set if I can for coon, that is me. On coyotes and fox I have found for me to flag past the set., I flag with snares a lot for fox. I place the snare on the trail leading from the main travel way between the flag and the travel way. I find that many times the fox is caught coming out from the flag meaning it circled in checked the flag and then went out the easiest way which was where the snare was. or for you folk that are Politically correct my Cable Restraint LOL on coyotes I flag and set the trails around it. Again I do not do this all the time just when the method is based on the location.

There are many ways to skin a cat I like to know them all. But again I am not that good of a trapper so I need as much help as I can get LOL

Teacher after watching a friends pet coon once it identfys a smell it likes. Theres not a lot that will sway its attention! This coon would whip a rottweiler if it smelled a cheese curl! I tested a few homemade baits on it. But the cheese curl always trumped! After it ate the cheese curl it would revisIt the other smells, with renewed enthusasim. I know this really didn't answer your question on the ldc but it showed me how there focus on a food was! But if the ldc resembled a food they liked the possibilitys might be endless. My first pick on a food ldc for coons would be ripe sweet corn!

If we can find what I refer to as 100% locations it shouldn't matter to start. These locations can be made along the streams preseason if desired. Adding call lure will only add skins to the shed.

Later in the season call lure really shines for Adult boars. I will get a call from a young trapper whose catch has dwindled and is looking for answers. I tell them to add some call lure above thier dps and the boars come. Like majic, they report.

Trapped with a fella once and asked him if he wanted some call lure. No, he said. 54 coon in my sets that week, 17 in his. We ran same line after deer season. Again I asked him if he wanted some call lure. No he replied, " I have the Ultimate coon lure". 22 to his 4 that week. Some folks ya just can't reach.

If the location isn't a good one and the coon are far and few, how does a call lure solve the problem that the op is having and has been having for some time? I believe the op typed that this site got him in a rut in the past. I can believe it if you're going to continue to trap an area that isn't producing catches and believing that call lures and lures placed on limbs and wings fluttering in the wind will magically pull in coon that aren't there. By the time you're done waiting on coon the season will most likely wrap up and your numbers will stay low until you find them locations or identify what you are doing wrong..

Then the bait and lure are to blame and then the second guessing comes into play and the hits just keep on coming. I would agree that a call odor placed in an area where there are critters to attract and evaluate for the questions the op is asking is a different story. No two trapping areas are the same.





What works for most isn't going to work for everyone, hence as you can read the posts after a student has taken special instruction in the past on bait schemes, strategies, trapping etc. I'm sure the curriculum is a banger, but it's useless to the individual if they never comprehend it and can't decipher what the terrain is telling them.

Bait and lure along with a stimulus... yeah that's fire, but only if they understand how to use it and if it isn't giving them an advantage, how to adjust so it does take affect. Whether it be setup location etc. Picking a brain is good, but if you aren't out there putting in work grinding to set yourself up for success, how good are any of these responses to the op?

Archives filled with info on bait and strategies and yet coon still can't be found? More to trapping than a bait and lure scheme.

We’re getting to the crux of MY problem. Mine. I’ll admit it. I HAVE a PROBLEM with self confidence in finding good coon locations. A packed trail should be a good location yet 4, 5, 6, days later and I’m not connecting. Smart DP sets as taught by Jones, Bennett and Sterling, in person, should solve some of this.

Finding general vs specific locations seems to be my forte. Using flagging and call lures should make a difference. My questions on call lures aren’t associated with cages as much as they are for DPs. Cage losses happen. At $40-$60 apiece, I can’t afford to have them walk away. DPs aren’t bad but it hurts to lose them, too. A cage is a negative in that it wasn’t there the last time the coon came through. Multiple baits and scents in cages works for Jonesie and others at the school. It wasn’t my mind set to do this before the school. But seeing how it’s done gives me another tool for this coming season. I still use cages in and around buildings when the opportunities arise.

In keeping with call lures and flags, it should work regardless of wind direction if I surround the call with DPs or foot holds, (though I don’t use foot holds outside of drowning sets) anymore. Since lures have more reach than baits, being on general location should help pull them in to the DPs where multiple bait odors take over.

I learned a lot about prebaiting at the school. I also learned a lot about snaring, which I’ve done very little. Learning about playing the wind was an eye opener. I had no idea coon reacted the way they do in terms of wind direction. Who knew?? I certainly didn’t!!!

The school was worth it to me to be able to ask questions ad nauseum and not feel like my ignorance was being judged. And in fact, I still bombard Jonesie with questions, and he still isn’t judging me for that ignorance. As the saying goes, there are no dumb questions in the quest for knowledge.

This is a buddy I was trapping with some years back. We caught these on canned jack mackerel from the dollar store. We were not using any lure. Foot traps every one. 1 1/2 dukes and victors. I should have also taken a picture of the still needing skinned pile. Coon trapping makes you tired and no digital camera. Took this with a 35 millimeter film camera. The picture on the screen is a picture of that picture. After this ten day coon trip we stretched 40 at a time every Saturday for weeks. (only had 40 coon stretchers) The skins in the picture laid outside all night to get cold then were put in a freezer. every 3rd day our wives drove up and got the fur to take back home.

you cant catch what aint there. foot traps are hands down the most effective coon trap. where dp's shine is the speed in which they can be put out. coon per trap ratio is just not as high though.

coons are gluttens. use a bait with a lot of smell you don't need to waste money on lure.

best bait I ever used is crawdads ground up whole and fresh. allowed to sit out over night then froze. thawed as needed for bait.

I am going to try this one. I agree 100% on setting on sign. I feel sign is home area from bedding to feeding with all animals. I have learned though through the years that food habits can change overnight. A well worn path that was used last week nightly can change from a well worn path being used 1 time a week. Have seen this with other animal life over the years whether it is coons or bears. I see this especially with coyotes in my area. Finding tracks daily in certain areas then the deer hunting rifle season starts and this throws a wrench in the spokes over night. There are to many circumstances that can change a animal. Setting on sign is a learned beginning and using a call lure to help get a animal to that one spot is a plus. Then having the right bait there to keep them there is another plus. I don't use cages during the trapping season because to me that is just something that just wasn't there over the past year. I have never tried flagging even for cats. I try to rely on my knowledge to set where the animal is going to be. My opinion is lure first and bait second. Critters will smell it before they see it. If they are not interested in the smell I don't know if flagging will help in most situations. Maybe I have a lot to learn also but the last few years picking individual brains and listening to individuals has really helped. Every area is different and so are the animals. This is just my thought maybe being wrong or partially correct. Good Luck!

If we didn't have to use cages I'd do a whole lot more skinning. I just don't have the drive in me to lug them cages around if the price isn't right. Nice pic..classic

I believe you need to hit pause n the reading and start testing some of these theories before you 86 them, you are completely wrong. I use cages and have no problems getting coon to walk in them. Adc'n or out in the woods during trapping season.






Even setup around cats, don't go out of my way to avoid them like many do.




Just like testing bait and lure on canines. Many opinions out there but without doing testing and gathering your own information you're going to cntinue spnning your wheels and ot gettng to where you need to be.

Great posts and pictures Joneie, danny, tdhp and others.

Teacher, I am not a big time coon trapper and never expect to be from the state of Maine.
In my experience, which may be limited compared to others is as follows.
Looking at the big picture it is sometimes knowing how to turn a pretty good potential location into a super hot location is more valuable than being able to find "THE ULTIMATE" location. Kind of like the "Field of Dreams."

Good post gentlemen. Like Mac says- I have a lot of just so - so spots. Those dynamite spots are not always there from year to year. Look at your whole line and work the averages.

Here's what I have found and we have a lot of coon here. This is not exactly what you are asking but maybe it will give you an idea. Mackerel from the dollar store is great bait. Puts out a lot of smell and it's cheap. Coon are always looking to eat. When they find food they usually eat all they can. I have never used a call lure specifically for coon but have mixed corn oil and sometimes coon lure with juice from the smacker to make a trailing scent .I put the bait right under their noses where they already are traveling. Sets like pocket sets make them work the set from one spot. If you think you have 4 coon make 5 pocket sets in a row. All that smell blows down wind especially if I use a trailing scent on the bank along with the bait. If you mix in a little corn oil with the mackerel it will seep out of a pocket set and get out on the water and travel for you or the same with trailing scent that runs down a bank and hits the water. Sometimes the wind is going a different direction than the water so you get double directions from your scent. Coon travel with their noses about 5 or 7'' off the ground. I think they roam around looking for things they can dig or grab and eat. Sometimes II think they get ''tunnel vision''. The bait right in front of them grabs their attention.

For canines I have used call lure and gotten coon. I have gotten more coon at hole sets than flat sets. This makes me think they see the hole and want to see if anything edible is in the hole whereas with a flat set they don't see anything that interests them so they don't work it like a hole.

good stuff above, especially agree with Larry's advice

couple of don'ts:

1) do not load up the tube of a DP. Just give 'em enough to get started and want to dig at the bottom for more

2) do not use anything in the tube that would cause the 'coon to turn away. That includes fish oil and salmon oil. Good to bring 'em close, but not in the tube. You can't go wrong with jack mack and the above mentioned crushed crayfish.

Larry: Sets like pocket sets make them work the set from one spot. If you think you have 4 coon make 5 pocket sets in a row


Never set just one trap. Might as well set many, depending on sign. Another changeup to Larry's idea here would be three pockets with two blinds in between the pockets.

I make all water sets in pairs. Each pair has one terminal end. If running drowner cable, include a stop 30" up from the terminal end. This will keep 'em from tangling and/or using whatever to power out of the trap before expiring.

I’m experienced with water trapping. No problems there. Pockets work. So does almost every bait I’ve ever used at them. 1 1/2 coils on drowners work wonders on mink, coon, ‘rats, one fox so far, numerous beavers over the years and my first otter. Fish oil up the bank draws them in. Blind sets between pockets and along river banks are a favorite. Wet is fine but I’d prefer dry coon.

I’ve taken hundreds of coon in and around barns and old buildings with cages. Heck, I’ve used dry crust of pizza, chicken bones and skin, prepared baits and even a paper towel sprinkled with fish/shellfish oil. All work if the coon are there.

With DPs I never have bait over trigger, always under it. Also under the trigger is a bit of sheep wool or polyfil. Each location always gets 2-5 DPs. Trail cams before season show the coon at my bait stations. Sometimes it’s one or two. Otherwise it’s up to 7. Two weeks later, they’re gone!! The corn is still up, the mast crops they were feeding at are still there. Other than being cooler at night, nothing I can figure out has changed.

I start trapping coon about November 1st. Our season starts around October 20th but less than 50% are even a good unprime then. Since deer season starts around November 6th, I try to get the bulk of my dry coon before the orange army descends on my edge of woodland sets. Corn edges get a lot of my attention. It’s where the coon are in corn country. Trails near livestock areas get my attention too. I avoid being right under bridges. My experience is that they are trap exchanges (from me to the trap thrives). I’ll go up or down stream 50-100 yards to avoid this. I’m hoping call lures will pull them to my dry sets before they hit the water.

Thanks everybody. You’ve given me things to think about.