Not to be a pessimist Mark, but one out of the eight I have caught also had mange. I have not caught or shot any with mange in my area for over five years, hope its just a fluke. Time will tell..

Well geez.
Hope mange isn't rearing its head again and coming back into the coyotes in a big way.
We need you all to catch the dickens outta them and keep 'em thinned back good and healthy.
Good luck!

Blessings,
Mark

I can’t say I’ve ever seen the mange completely leave this hog unit. Same thing every year. The compost pile makes for an easy meal for the sick ones. I caught one last year a 1/2 mile over that was pure bald by the end of November. I’m only trapping the three locations right now because dad will have cows on the stalks this year. If I don’t trap them now I won’t.

For what it’s worth I’ve caught all 10 within three miles. I’m hoping it’s just an isolated thing as it has been in the past. Friday I’ll spread out to some new country and see if I can get into some worth keeping.

dang wade 10 with in 3 miles that's a lot of coyote 's in a small area

There’s many more than that. Why the mange is so prevalent. There’s a 25x50 “compost” pile over the hill from the mangiest ones. Full of dead hogs and soil. I find the coyotes wherever the big production is.

Last time Matt was here we started on a heifer feedlot that’s full of breeding milk cows. The first day we got there we counted 7 sets of tracks in the snow. By the end of the week it looked like a deer trail coming to the feedlot. I’m lazy I prefer the coyotes come to me.

Wade, good thread. Enjoy the work you have done your Youtube. It is fun to see different country.

silkyplainscoyot

"I've been doing the pre-digging and driving a pilot hole for anchor for quite a few years so I can still set the spot when everything freezes up. I've had the pre dug spot wreak of coyote urine or have a dropping by it. It's almost a guaranteed set. I believe you precondition the coyote. They have smelled you there once before and haven't encountered any danger so it feels relatively safe the next time when it encounters an active set."

Good to see you posting. Your advice is good solid old school advice.

Mac

Nice work wade!

always a good plan

You're learn'in,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, You will catch a lot more coyotes near (w/i 2-4 miles of) confinements or feedlots (hog, cattle, chickens). But a very high percentage will be infected with either sarcoptic or dermodectic (red) mange. Its much easier for them to make a living there....... especially pups (check their teeth)............. the mike

The last mangy male from the hog unit had nothing but gums a couple worn teeth and three legs. He’s been around the block a time or two.

Finally, a keeper from the hog unit. Looked good and cleaned up well (it didn’t freeze last night).



I have a fair amount of people ask me what I do for sets. So I figured I’d snap a shot. Dirtholes over and over. Nothing special. Bait or at times a change up lure down the hole. Urine on the back. In and out. This is the remake from this morning.

That is one sneaky dirt hole remake!

Walkin the dog, kickin the cat- trappin dry land is where it's at!

You’re not going to find me in the water! Unless it’s coming over the bank onto the cropland! Even the beaver I kill get snared when they hit dry land.

I know coyotes still have to eat but man as usual that full moon has put the breaks on the line. I had one check with absolutely nothing. No sets worked. Just empty. I set two more locations since I’ve caught what I would say is most of the local coyotes in three miles. Still some to stumble in I’m sure.

Even with highs in the 60’s and the moon I was able to catch a couple raccoons and one good looking pup on the first night. Today was the last get out of jail free ticket I’ll give out this year. Unless I stumble on another cat everything will be going to sleep here on out.

Lookin good wade thanks for sharing, I’m enjoying reading your post and seeing your pics

Like

Good job on the coyotes.
Too bad about the mange but at least you're doing them a favor whacking them.

Mac, thanks on the youtube. I really have no clue what I am doing. I made a joke if my wife bought me a go-pro I'd strap it to my head and go toe to toe with a raccoon. She bought me one for my birthday this year but I haven't got the gumption to enter the circle just yet. I do enjoy recording some things I think it will be neat to have something my kids can watch as they get a little older. My five year old is really starting to show some interest in the animal aspect...I have waited on him I had my daughter out on the line since she was two. She's about to turn nine this year...the time flies. I named it Workingtrapper and that's about to apply. I have a run here of about 7 days straight....two providers in our urgent care have tested positive for Covid...so it's slim pickings. I've been told I'm up. I was really hoping to hold off until the 14th so I'd have a month straight off work.

Michael thanks I will try to keep it updated as time allows. It's nice to look back at these posts as the year goes by and look at what I've done. I'll admit the nice thing about working night shift is I am able to take better pictures than I usually could. Up until about three years ago I was straight days and often ran the trapline at 2-3 a.m. before work. Now I usually get off at 0700 so it's the perfect time to take some nice pictures as the sun comes up. I have had to run the line a couple times in the very early morning on my days off due to things I had to get done so there's no pictures or videos of those couple days (there's just something not as fitting when you have to take a pic or vid in the headlights). It never does the coyotes justice.

My body definitely felt the first week back in the game. I workout daily but there's no workout you can do that prepares you to swing a hammer that much, walk those miles in the uneven ground, or just carry all the gear around. I'm eating like a horse and still losing weight. It's a great problem to have. I've noticed the last few years I don't want to kill too many coyotes in a day. I don't have my machine set up to pull the coyotes very well and I often would tear the flanks (I know this can be avoided I just haven't had ambition to change the machine) so I still pull all my coyotes by hand. The blisters have turned to callouses already so it's good to go.

I'm patiently awaiting the sun to come up today. I only added two farms and the movement is pretty slow here but even a slow morning on the small line is better than a day at work. I can see about 200 yards out into the horizon right now that moon sure is bright. Today is the day I won't have to spend time letting every raccoon, possum, or skunk (yes I had to let one out alive and it was a good time) anymore. That should speed up the process. My forecast looks like about 6-8 days of no rain and it might be time to get out and move a bit more despite the lack of sleep.

Boco, yes it's too bad I agree though. I'm actually doing them a favor. I've caught plenty of them in December/Early January that looked as though they were begging me to put them out of their misery. Mother nature sure can be cruel. I'm taking care of them before they have to go down that road.

Good luck on the check, wade. Heading out in couple hours to run my 26th marathon. I'd rather run traps but hey, whatever. Its actually only a half today in Lincoln, my 2nd this year. Today is official trapping opener, always a special day. I had some coffee on the deck...moon is really bright! Heard a dog yip yapping in distance...between sounds like that and your posts...man...can't hardly wait. Im not setting until after thanksgiving though. Wow thats a ways off yet. Going to wear out the garage floor pacing.
Go get em wade...but save me a couple dogs, ha ha.
Jim