Hang cable!
God Bless
Dustin

Since you mentioned dirt holes, I'll comment on the one pictured in the Hammer's post. First, there is nothing wrong with it. You may notice the absence of backing behind the hole. Slanting the hole at an angle serves the same purpose as backing, that is, to guide animal approach direction to the hole. I prefer to use both slant and backing. For coyote and fox backing if used needs to look natural and be low enough for them to easily see over. Presumably, though not proven as far as I know, they would feel less safe if they could not see over the backing.

Bad practices take a few animals, good practices take more. So just because something worked a time or two does not mean it is ideal.

Good luck!

As a new trapper myself with only 4 coyotes under my belt here's what I have learned:

-Ravens are smart
-If you have dogs and get them outside, watch how they behave. Especially how they orient their bodies to go pee.
-A tiny bit of lure goes a long way
-Pee posts are underrated
-Bed your trap solidly
-If possible make waxed dirt the solar method
-Listen to the guys and gals who have been doing this for a long time. I have learned a LOT from very brief conversations with guys who've been trapping 40 or 50 years.
-Plan on a lot of disappointment if targeting canines in the beginning, and don't be afraid to start on rats, mink, coon and beaver and then when you are solid on those move up to coyote.

I would definitely heed Furvor's advice. I would venture to guess he has more trapping experience than 90% of the people on here.

I am not the most experienced trapper but the simple most important thing you can do this season is have FUN. If this isn't fun for you then quit before you start. It is a huge bit to learn and if you don't make it fun it will be a long season of disappointment. Trapping is much like hunting and you have to figure out the animal or you might as well have dirt holes set in the black top . This is the most fun I have every year and it lasts for almost 5 months for me. Good luck and find a local trapper to take you on his or her line and ride along and take many notes and ask questions.

Use basic sets like dirt hole, walk through (if a great location presents itself) and urine post. If you get a set knocked off and no catch... don't think of it as a loss. Think of it as an opportunity to learn something about the animal you are trapping. Study the scene like a good forensic person would do. Where did they put their feet (from tracks left). Was the corner of your trap showing now? Your scent or some other scent on the trap. Did you lack a back stop or was it too small and the animal came in from behind. There are hundred things that could cause a miss. Sometimes it is your fault and other times the animal has already been educated by having their toes pinched.

Read all you can about trapping your prey. Don't take everything you read as gospel, because your situation or environment might be totally different from the person that wrote the story.

Just take your time, don't be in a hurry to make your set or to leave you set after you catch or don't catch. READ THE SIGNS. Most books teach you to make a set but many of them don't tell you what to do if you don't make the catch.

I know there will be people that disagree with me and what I have said, and that is fine with me. Each person needs to develop their own style and techniques according to their potential, their equipment and their environment. Good luck and have a prosperous season.

Garry-

Pay attention to detail. Good advice above!

welcome , location ,location ,location , lots of good advice here

my no. 1 piece of advice--2 words,patience.

KISS

When you find a spot you want to set a trap, set a couple more

Be prepared to catch things you will need to release.(badgers, wolf, bobcat)
logging roads are perfect highways for animals( I try to not go more than 30yrds from the truck)
Gang set areas, if I set a cross road area, I try to get 1 or 2 more sets within that area( I have notice there tends to be 2 or more coyotes traveling together)
Buy or make some waxed dirt
Store some dry dirt now, bedding is tuff in some of the loose composted dirt in the big woods, bringing some dirt with you gives you something to dump in your trap bed to make bedding your trap way easier

Thanks for all the info guys I'm glad I got so many replies. After reading everything you've all said I'm more excited than ever to start putting my MB 550s in the dirt and I'm looking forward to the challenge. I don't expect to become very good at it being it's only my first year but if I can catch just 1 coyote this season I'll be happy. Thanks again everyone

i wanna catch just 1 too,the 1 that was howlin in my backyard last night.

good luck to ya.

Keep your eyes open to themes that present themselves. A few things here or there start to fall into place once you get enough experience.

One thing that helped me immensely was the knowledge that " you will never fool a dogs nose -- you just have to give it other things to think about" . Do not think about outsmarting a coyote because their vision, hearing and sense of smell are unbelievable. Just give them something they want in an area that they are. Definately listen to the experts -- experience on animal behavior is a huge advantage, but like was said in an earlier post don't take everything as gospel -- every area is different.

New Mexico lure maker Wayne Derrick (wayne52 on this forum) has said he loves to get inside a coyote's head. I don't know if he has published his findings.

http://www.derricks-nm.com/