I'm from the old school of trapping canines, and that is being scent free as possible, down to wearing fresh gloves, never wear the same boots, while setting traps that I drive in, and even wearing a bandana , so I don't breath on the trap set.
Yesterday, I put a pine squirrel down a hole in a sand hill, that I dug with my gloved hand, gloves that I wear everyday to work in, wearing the same work boots, even kneeling to dig the hole as far as I could reach. Then put up a trail cam just to see. That same night. Results: 1 yote dug the heck out of the hole to get the squirrel, 3 fox checked the hole out, 1 bear even stuck his snout in the hole.
I'm not proposing to be a slob while setting traps, but is being scent-free being pushed to much?

I've brought this subject up mainly from my reading of books and articles from Daily, Thorpe, Lennon, Dobbins and others years ago, just kinda sprung into the brain.

This bait was placed in the middle of a National Forrest, where there is very little human contact.

I don't get caught up on the whole scent free kick to a k9 nothing is scent free. I paint all my traps never any problems. I wear gloves to just to prevent wear and tare on my hands. Boots to keep my feet dry. I wear the same boots in and out the vehicle from the house. I just make my sets as quick as I can and keep moving along. Good location, well bedded trap, rest is up to the animals. I agree on don't be a slob about it but no need to put your self in a plastic bubble.

Pretty much no matter what you do the animal knows you were there at some point in time. So being comfortable and confident in what you are doing is most important just my opinion on it.

I don't use gloves of any kind setting coyote/wolf snares or traps. As long as you are relatively clean you will leave very little scent from your hands. Most of the scent will be from your body. Just get in, set and get out as quickly as possible and you will have little problem. Coyotes are generally quite familiar with human scent and will know that you were there; you just don't want to leave a bunch at the set.

I agree.

I wear Dans hip boots to protect my legs from briers and getting wet. I wear gloves when its cold. But take them off to set my snares. Foot holds get set and bedded with out gloves.

Getting in and out fast in more inportant. Dont to leave a big scent pool.

Ed Schneider of Kansas Trapline Products catches more coyotes than most of us dream to. In one of his videos he uses his baseball cap to blend in the dirt at his set just to prove a point.

In all seriousness though look at any reports of what a search k9 is capable of and then think about a coyotes nose being better than that. They'll always know you were there.

Yes, and lets not forget where he traps.
Mac

Back in the late 70s' we had a guy in our County Trappers Association took a brand new trap, untreated, set with bare hands for red fox. He wanted to prove it to everybody that it can be done, actually he did well. I still did and do my sets with all the scent-control precautions. but I never did or heard of the the bandana thing though...

Lots of the old timers wore bandana's Setting Sets If you read some of the old Wolf Trapper books. You can read about - great details the ol timers went threw on scent free. Example ? They buried their tools in horse manure They used tarps made of calf skins. They wore Indian style moccassins. They rode un shoed horses. Because they believed in not have the = iron smell of horse shoes around Sets the list goes on

The old timers would have done just as well setting with bare hands and not wallowing in poop.

The area I trap is a true wilderness area with zero human activity except some minor activity during rifle season. I've watched coyotes hit my scent where I hiked into my deer stand. They turn inside out. I've watched them cross in the pasture near the house where I had just been and they ignore the scent. Are coyotes less wary of human scent where there is regular human activity such as small farms? I find the same thing with deer. If I'm hunting the orchard 50 yards from the house they tolerate human odor much more than say when I'm on a high wooded ridge a long way from any human activity. They will not tolerate even the slighted human odor.

I agree. But concider the learning curve? They didn't have books,DVD, or YouTube. They had to learn from their OWN mistakes. So scent was over done. They had to do it all by trial and era. No 1 told the trappers of the 1880 = Hey , just try Formula 1 or logwood dye LOL!!

Most of the areas I trap have a lot of human presence around. All the animals are used to seeing (and smelling people), hearing farm equipment, 4 wheelers, trucks etc. I don't think they sense as much danger as animals that are living in areas with few people.

I don't get too hung up on it but I also don't set traps with gasoline on my hands either.

Brian

For sure I agree. I think even with all of the information out there there’s still a learning curve. There’s still people that won’t set a trap without wax, dye, different gloves, different boots, etc. Information is more readily available but even some of it talked about now seems overdone.

There’s guys with coyote trapping DVD’s that haven’t caught over a hundred, ever. If a new trapper were to watch some of these DVD’s, YouTube etc. they’d still think they had to play in poop.

I admit I was more cautious when I started trapping. Now I’m focused on one thing. More traps in the ground and the least amount of time to get it done.

I don’t trap in the vast wilderness. Coyotes encounter human scent daily here there’s at least a farm house on most square miles. I’m also not trying to kill the last coyote. So for me scent means little to nothing.

The less scent I leave at the set the faster it will dissipate to a point where it will be undetectable or so faint it is not considered an immediate threat.
For me, that equates to faster response times and more first night catches.

A few years back I did a little experiment. On my first 30 coyotes of the season I pulled around 30% on first night catches.
Rubber boots, gloves, and a kneepad were used to reduce scent.

The next season my location, lures, baits, & sets all remained a constant with the only variable being that I started using a tarp.
My first night catches jumped to 50%, catching 15 of my first 30 coyotes on the first night. That increase was enough to make me sit up a take notice.

I believe using a tarp can knock the smell down enough where the scent is so faint it is not seen as a present danger like a stronger smell would be.

When I have an old timer tell me to use a tarp and he’s caught well over 1000 coyotes in year, I pay attention.

This is a really good topic!!! I agree with you WadeRyan. Always a learning curve. Lots of stuff and info on the internet BUT also a lot of crap! Guys that have caught that many. Acting like they know everything! Holly Wood guys everywhere! LoL! I also agree with Tejas. I started with the tarp about 3 years and near 1000 coyotes ago. I can honestly say = I have Sean an increase on first night catches !! The tarp also makes for MUCH cleaner flat sets. But on the flip side. To play devils advocate = I often set traps Bear handed and make lots of dirthole I wear tennis shoes sometimes in stead of rubber boots. It depends on how long I am at a place and weather sometimes

Anyone ever think about the bait your using a a scent concern. And I mean not talking about contamination I mean just the smells of lure down the hole or what ever. Like some of these are extremely exotic smells, seems something too unnatural could pose a possible problem

Wolfdog91. I have thought some on it. Muskrat VS a real rat? I'd say coyote can't tell a difference Most of my coyote contract jobs are in hot weather So I Set very few dirtholes. Mainly flat sets. I do set lots of dirtholes In Wet weather. But with flat sets. Ogormans and many other lure makers have = Exotic stuff in them. Wiley E. Has mint? In it. I have caught 100s of coyotes with this lure of Mr Ogorman's Lure. So my view is = exotic can catch you lots of coyotes at Flat sets

Excellent responses from everyone. New experiment today. Made another mock dirthole about 20 feet away, this time rub my ungloved hands, all over the squirrel, hole about 18 inches deep, lite dirt covering. About 2 feet away, I took a leak, to see what happens. Tomorrow the same type mock set, but I borrowed some of the wife's perfume, just to see the response from any critter.

Back long ago I used to use a tarp to kneel on when making a set
A few first night catches.
Then my knees cried out so I started using knee pads and dropped the tarp.
About the same first night catches.
I really don’t like adding a step or a piece of gear, but I am considering using both?
Does anyone do this? Results?