Walked past 2 DP traps and then to add insult to injury robbed a pocket set after flipping the trap.

Going to add a few 1 1/2# blind set on the trail. Any other ideas to catch a crafty coon?

I had one I couldn't catch. Put in multiple traps sets ect. One day I saw a single track going under some vines. I hung a snare and had a 3 footed coon in a few days.

Wire a wooden stake, with notches cut into it, on a tree limb just high enough that the coon can’t reach it when it stands. Smear your favorite bait into the notches. Bed the trap below the stake. Perfect back foot catch. Fast, simple, very effective...

Matt

Bed thst trap solid. Pin the bait in bscknof the hole so they have tonwork for it. Dig your pocket deeper too so they really have to put weight on hind feet and reach in with front to grap bait. Can also add a second trap at thst pocket. He will be back....nothing snapped there to scare him off.
DPs are really hit and miss at times late season for me..good early here, not so much later though.

You named it... Blind set

The shiny color o f your trap in the water may have been an attractant for the coon and the coon just flipped it out of the way. Aluminum foil has been used by trappers as an attractant for coon in water sets. You could work on some ways to camo that trap a bit in my opinion. As to walking by DPs that is not an uncommon thing, especially if they have been out for a few days or more, or other coons have seen animals in catches.

Bryce

I put DP’s near flat sets and dirt hole sets to try and get coons and possums before they find my coyote sets. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t. Caught one recently that pulled the DP and dumped the food and ate it, then investigated the dirt hole where he got caught.

Hold the trap with your fingers holding up the pan, grab a pile of that clay and smear it over the trap and pan to camo it, then twist the trap solid in the bottom and bury the chain in the mud so they don't grab it. You'll catch them next time through.

I knew a guy that would drill 3-4, 1/2” holes into a tree and stuff bait into them to make that set.

I can’t take ANY credit for this set. It came from this site many years ago. But I can’t believe it’s not more popular. It’s lightning fast, especially if you just run a longer chain to the tree itself, and it’s absolutely lethal. You can set up a whole woods in half an hour and completely remove all the coons from it. I don’t even worry about bedding the traps. Just kinda press it into the ground, maybe or maybe not throw some leaves over it. That coon isn’t looking at the trap. He’s standing on his hind legs trying to reach the baited stick. The scent is well above ground so carries well. How long does it take to drill a hole in a dozen wooden stakes and attach a wire to them? Then they’re done for the whole season. Even several seasons. They’re not smart animals. But if you give them some fresh dirt to play in with a scent/bait next to it, they’re gonna play in it. It’s what they do. Just don’t do that! Some coons walk past a dog proof, but they can’t resist trying to get that smelly stick that’s just out of their reach.

Got to the creek this morning and found tracks right next to my first DP. Followed the tracks past a blind set and another DP. But this is what I found at the pocket set. I made the pocket deeper and really made sure the trap was bedded and covered in silt.

Nice job!

Nice job.