I find myself setting to traps at my dirt hole sets to center and to close to the hole. I had several misses this year by mere inches. Isn't the old standby 9" back 4" to the side, from edge of hole to center of pan ? What about on a urine post set ? -Thanks

I am far from an expert on urine post sets but I put a couple out each year. I set mine up just like my pipe dream about 8 inches back and offset to the side of the pan so roughly an inch from center. Plus my post are low only about 3-4 inches high.
J

You would rather have them step pass your trap, then not to get to it at all.

"Remember the 45". reading Mark Junes book and others is a coyote will approach and leave at a 45 degree angle most times. It seems to work for me and others.

I get lucky and catch one now again ,,, if you miss one you miss one they will be back or check out another set.
Where you set and how you set a trap at a set imo should be based on the amount of coyotes you got. Example more coyotes or high population high competition for food. You can get away with alot on trap placement not as important as proper bedding Up close will work with proper coyote size trap . A 1 1/2 or 450 is not it imo ,,,,, count on missing alot or using a set that ensures foot placement.
So back to the question if using a traditional size coyote trap. Using standardize set 8-12back 2-3 right or left is what has been given out for years.
When building a set try this ,,, when I was younger many years ago going threw all this info learning how. I started bedding the trap first WHERE I thought he was going to step then I built the set to ensure they did step there. Tip a coyote does not normally come straight in to a set he will come at 45 degree angle or even a sharper angle.
Only when when a coyote sticks his nose to the hole is there feet are as wide as there chest .
So after all this,,, years ago I went to simple nothing complex simpler the better. A clump of grass a smear of bait lure, mouse hole,,, smear bait or lure urine whatever. Old bone shot urine , and I started to see these strangle animals in my trap a coyote on a more consistent bases.
I hope there was something in there that can help.

Yes, very informative. I got in the habit of making trench type dirt hole sets with the trap centered in the trench 9" back from the hole. It worked well when the yotes would work the set but this year I had a lot come in at that 45* angle and turn and walk away, and my trench were not as deep as I use to make them. Been a warmer winter so maybe they are just more picky. Seasons about done for me, but will apply new lessons learned next year. -Thanks

Just a thought . . . is it your trap placement or your lure/bait placement? Kind of approaching the problem from the other direction.

One of my mentors was a guru at making trench sets, and each of them had a couple of small droppings placed between the trap jaw and the bait. He then applied urine to the droppings. It gave the coyote a focus point, encouraging him to approach the set from the "correct" angle instead of the 45 degree angle (not that some of them won't still do that). Anyway, after I saw that, it made me think I should worry less about trap placement and more about set construction/attraction placement. I think Zag's set has an aspect of that to it, although I'm no expert at it.

I'm been having the same problem lately. Come up to look and smell it and walk everywhere but the pan. But I don't have that problem on my pipe sets for whatever reason. Obviously not on step down sets either.

That is why Ray Milligan famously wrote " the art of the two inch circle" and why I continue to admire using footholds over all other methods of taking coyotes!

Good points made there ...

Agreed
Footholds just plain fun