Hey all, looking for your thoughts regarding human scent at a set location. If a set is contaminated with sweat during construction is there a time when the smell wears off, or that the lure or bait overpowers the human scent? Or is the location no good anymore?

It'll cool off. No matter what they know you were there. Even if you construct your set in a plastic bubble the k9s nose will pick up every odor there human or unnatural scents from gear used it all gives of a stink there little noses can pick up. I've sweated alot making sets this year when it got 67 degrees for 3 days beginning of season. Caught coyotes in them sets. I would it sweat it haha. Best of luck to you.

No matter what they will know you have been there. Just have confidence; get in, set and get out as quickly as possible and you will have little problem. Coyotes are generally quite familiar with human scent.

IMO, some you will catch right away regardless. The spooky ones you will catch after the set has aged in and your scent has worn off. Some animals are bold and some are shy, just like some humans are one or the other.

No way to put down a cover scent for a K9 either. Their noses can separate smells. For example a human can smell a bowl of soup, maybe one main powerful aroma from it. But K9s can smell the carrots, peas, broth, meat, thyme, garlic, etc, as all separate ingredients. One reason why a car full of air fresheners and potpourri wont keep a drug dog from finding dope.

If sweat bothered them we wouldn’t catch any down South. Had some first night or two catches and some that’s set weeks, but that’s mainly due to low population rather than scent.

Don't worry too much about human odor at set location in general. Important thing is to keep traps clean & odor free as poss. I always use a kneeling pad & cotton gloves & get in & out as quickly as poss.

Thanks for the replies. Put in a couple sets the other day in mild weather and gloves were damp by the time I was done. Snow was wet but I got warm digging through the frost. Will give it some time and hopefully it works out.

As for gloves buy a bag of 6-12 cheap ones & put a dry pair on as ya need them. Wet ones put near heater so to rotate them

Will do. Any benefit to having trapping coveralls/boots?

I sweat a lot in the early season making coyote sets, and I had two coyotes out of five sets on the first night this year. The human scent thing is overblown a lot of the time in my opinion.

Only that you can take them off outside so your wife doesn’t gripe about the smell in her house lol

I set traps in what I walk out of the house in, that varies with the weather obviously. Anything that's on my shoes, coats, or pants the coyotes have smelled already. I'm not saying you should go roll around in 90 weight gear oil and go set by any means, but there's no need for a full latex suit either. Like stated above by many, get in get out and bravery varies from coyote to coyote.

Kind of a long article but I found it interesting. It references wolves' abilities to detect odor that would probably be similar to coyotes.
I think canines (and deer) can age human scent and react accordingly. I've watched both red fox and coyotes hit my trail a few minutes after I passed on my way into deer stands turn inside out but several hours later hit that same trail with a quick sniff but no real reaction.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4859551/

Yes dont over think or get too paranoid about it.

Paranoia and super clean is a waste of time. Dirty traps....bury them deeper. Traps in the ground will pay, ones riding around in the truck don't. Most of the trapper prep, is trapper fewferaw. Most is unneeded, but still most think they have to jump through the hoops. You can take a rusty trap out and catch a coyote in it as easliy as a beautiful dyed and waxed or dipped trap. Key thing is to keep food or lure smells off of traps. I like to wax because it makes traps last many more years, and haven't colored a trap in thirty years. Just a lot of busy work I don't have time for!

Well I had company this fall, his stance on human scent before coming to rual North Dakota and after have changed how he looks at coyotes, so much ground why stay where that stinky human is?

I read an article one time about a fox's nose. It stated a fox smelling another fox's urine can tell if that other fox was male/female, what it may have eating, among other things that we cannot. When it comes to lures it is surely the same also. At far as how long ago someone has been there probably so

It seems that once I stopped being so concerned of the whole scent thing. Is when I started catching alot more. I've set some this year with my bare hands (so I can pack dirt better) and caught them. I think braskayoter said it very well when he stated "bravery varies coyote to coyote." I'm finding that out more all the time.