Coyotes have become one of my favorite things to catch mainly because they seem to hold a stigma of being one of the harder animals to trap. I’ve found the opposite to be true.

I use stock MB550/No BS extreme juniors around 50/50. I have things I like about both and things I dislike about both. Out of all of the traps I’ve tried they seem to be the two with the least amount of adjustments and they both are built solid (I am not a modifier type guy).

I simply hook a j-hook onto the stock chain with 12 inches of 1/8 cable wolffangs. I don’t add any extra chain. I’ve ran Tom Stalkers driver for four seasons and I have a backup in the truck for when I break it. That’s one thing I always have is two of everything sometimes three. Stuff happens.

I run minimal lure. I’ve caught coyotes on lure. I’ve found some I really like. However, simple is best for me and you’ll never see more than one lure or bait in my bag anymore. I don’t waste time reading labels or figuring out what type of lure I have making a set. I just grab and go. Bait is king for me and at times it’s almost a lure. Any of the current baits in the market work but preferably one they’ll dig for. I also give each set a shot of quality urine.

The set itself is muscle memory. It’s almost boring at times. I find myself enjoying chasing what limited bobcats we have because they are cats and they aren’t as easy to predict their reactions here. This is 90% of my sets over and over again. Nothing fancy. Dirthole and go.



I don’t worry about scent control at all. Wear the same boots at the gas station. Wear gloves if my hands are beat up or cold, otherwise I don’t. Spray paint my traps. Really absolutely zero attention to scent control. I focus on speed. In and out.

There really are no secrets to coyote trapping in my opinion. Just comes down to putting in the work. I’ve read a number of books and watched DVD’s mainly for entertainment purposes. I do enjoy seeing how other people make things work. In agriculture territory Combines and Coyotes was a pretty descent DVD. It’s pretty no nonsense. I also learned quite a bit from the Indiana Vets fox dvd. I haven’t got around to watching his coyote dvd yet.

Really after all the sets, lures, baits, locations, traps etc. In my opinion if you want to catch a bunch they have to be there, you have to cover some miles, and you have to work.

Red, why you have to post those coyotes with fur?! Makes some of mine look like those shaved dogs that look like lions. Walleye I agree that is probably scent control. I watch the guys switching gloves and wonder how much longer their scent hangs around while they fumble around. I make plenty of first night catches. Enough that I have really lost interest in anything other than speed. When Phil Brown was still posting his videos a number of years back I was always amazed how fast he dropped in a set and how simple it was. I've tried to re-create his video a number of times in my head.

I have been focused on a solid bed at times for the fact that if we don't have a solid bed the coons seem to really like to dig at our traps. Interestingly, I've been reading from that guy that catches hundreds in a few weeks over the last couple years that he pays zero attention to solid bedding. His usual response to solid beds is how coyotes attack a plowed field shortly after it's tilled to catch the rodents turned up and that's the most unstable footing you could imagine. With the fur market how it is this year I plan to increase my speed even more, dig a smaller trap bed, and pay no attention to solid bedding. I'm curious to see how it plays out. Gives me something to look forward to.

other than my dirt holes most people would have a hard time seeing or finding my coyote sets. On my dirt holes you wouldn't know were my trap is by looking at it with the exception of my step downs. And my dirtholes most people couldn't tell if they were man made or natural.

How many natural looking dirt holes have you ever found In nature. I bet I could spend 2 weeks looking for a animal made dirt hole that resembled a man made dirt hole and wouldn't find one. Just saying.

Red, why you have to post those coyotes with fur?! Makes some of mine look like those shaved dogs that look like lions. Walleye I agree that is probably scent control. I watch the guys switching gloves and wonder how much longer their scent hangs around while they fumble around. I make plenty of first night catches. Enough that I have really lost interest in anything other than speed. When Phil Brown was still posting his videos a number of years back I was always amazed how fast he dropped in a set and how simple it was. I've tried to re-create his video a number of times in my head.

I have been focused on a solid bed at times for the fact that if we don't have a solid bed the coons seem to really like to dig at our traps. Interestingly, I've been reading from that guy that catches hundreds in a few weeks over the last couple years that he pays zero attention to solid bedding. His usual response to solid beds is how coyotes attack a plowed field shortly after it's tilled to catch the rodents turned up and that's the most unstable footing you could imagine. With the fur market how it is this year I plan to increase my speed even more, dig a smaller trap bed, and pay no attention to solid bedding. I'm curious to see how it plays out. Gives me something to look forward to.

No one has mentioned about whether they just bed on sign in one area or blanket an entire property. For those of us with not a lot of coyotes (manager saw one or two on a camera a few weeks ago) and very few tracks, I’ll cover the entire property with traps at every road/intersection or if I find a track. I have only trapped one piece of property that actually had a “predator” trail and caught two right off the bat.