Hey everyone, I’ve been messing around with all my trapping supplies trying to get everything in order for when coyote trapping rolls back around. I’m planning on making a supply order but have been torn on what kind of urine to use. Last fall I had excellent luck using pee post/ territory based sets for coyotes, so I’m planning on using more of those this coming season. For most of the time I’ve been coyote trapping I have trapped areas that have coyote and red fox. Some areas are almost exclusively coyote but at least some fox in the area. I have also trapped areas with just as much or more fox than coyote. And I have switched back and forth between coyote and fox urine. If I am exclusively targeting fox I will not use coyote urine as I am pretty sure they shy away from it a lot of times. But as far as coyote trapping goes I have used both with success on both but never have kept tabs on which I m using on any given day. My question is, for exclusively coyote trapping, which do you guys prefer? And if I plan on trapping an area with almost no red fox, is fox urine still viable? Or would it’s not work as well if those coyotes are not familiar with the scent of fox? Does fox urine work better regardless? Or maybe does coyotes urine elicit a more territorial response on coyotes than fox urine might? I know there’s is a lot to unpack here but any opinions are greatly appreciated.

I see no difference.

I've used coyote urine more than wolf urine for wolves. Sometimes they are attracted to it, sometimes they pass it by without breaking stride. But I've seen them do the same with wolf urine. Never tried fox urine, because we don't have fox here. I've not used domestic dog urine but know people have with good success, and I've seen where both coyotes and wolves have peed all over where my dogs have been and marked. I think any canine urine will work.

When I trap places with actual predators I can’t tell a difference between bobcat, fox, or coyote urines.
When I trap a place with very little predators I seem to do better with fox urine.

It probably doesn't matter and may not work at all but I always use red fox urine. My thoughts is i might miss a timid fox that is scared of coyotes if it smells coyote urine. Like I said probably doesn't make a difference but I'm sure foxes don't try to eat full grown coyotes but a coyote will eat a full grown fox.

I try to mix it up but haven't taken notes.I know some have had success with Red fox smells on coyotes,where no reds exist.I also of people using wolf smells for coyotes where wolves don't exist.

Here,I see no sign of fox being afraid of coyote smells and no sign of coyotes being afraid of wolf smells.I rarely can get a coyote to go inside another coyote's catch circle but have seen where a couple coyotes went through a relatively fresh wolf circle.Some years ago,I got a picture of a wolf going up a trail and 45 minutes later,a coyote went up the same trail,the same direction and looked oblivious.I don't understand any of it but I am not sure any of them are too skittish of a more dominant animal's odor to not work a set.

I mix up the urine a bit,even to include mountain lion and wolf.

Great input guys thanks!

Probably right,Leftlane.Do you use red or gray fox urine?

Interesting question. I’ve always just used red fox urine, but we mainly have greys here. I have seen a few bottles of grey for sale, but I read somewhere that grey wasn’t as potent.
So does anyone use Grey urine exclusively?

Seems I get a more aggressive response early from red fox urine with yotes. I figure their the low man on the totem pole. I use both for the intended purpose, but not at every set. Late season it swings to more response from coyote urine. Actually at some locations both at the same set gets more all season. For me Grey fox has never been a game changer, I use red fox for both reds, and greys. Grey's are so aggressive I don't think it matters. I trapped the first grey this past season for the first since 2011. The yotes would not commit to that remake or the other 2 fresh sets close by. Not even a scratch kick, don't know why. Thoughts??

it seems i have better luck with red fox urine for fox and coyotes

It has been many years since I trapped gray fox.I made my own gland lure for both species of fox.The same parts and aging etc was used to make red and gray gland lure.There were no coyotes then.I got consistently better luck with Red smells on both species,than gray smells.Don't understand why.

Do you think a canine can tell what it was that peed on some grass? Fox or coyote or dog? Or they just know another predator is in there territory?

I really do.I know they say pee is pee but I can easily tell the difference between red,gray,coyote and wolf and I have a poor sense is smell.None of those animals smell remotely alike.Even bobcat and mountain lion smell different.Coyotes have a nose far better than we can fathom.Also,so many trappers report on different results with different species urines.Yes,I believe they can smell the difference.

Now down here that’s different. I caught a coyote, remade the set and caught a grey, remade the set and put another right outside the catch circle and caught another coyote, then another grey in the original. But, this was virgin property that had never been trapped. Most grey fox catches produced a coyote within a few days. First place I’d trapped where remakes were guaranteed catches.

Use either red fox or coyote and you will catch both, I prefer the smell of red fox and think it might be slightly better, as Taximan said they sure smell different to me, they must smell different to the critters. Grey fox I used to catch had very little urine in them and over time I found that it would mix with red fox with no known problem. Best urine to use is the one you have.

Do you guys think a coyote that has never smelled red fox before would react differently than a coyote that smells fox all the time?

Probably for the better. I would think another predator in the woods would draw his attention.