Good Stuff Swamp!

I refresh my line in exactly the same manner, except for sets that are off the road.

When I get repeated mayhem with a pattern at a few sets close together I will make changes accordingly.



I always think about spiking urine during the season, but never seem to get around to it.

It sure would give you a lot more options when things get tough.

Thanks Tejas. Im trying to absorb the information and ideas in this thread. I apologise for so many questions. You are the only one I can recall mentioning refusals to backing, so I though I would pick your brain.

In the spirit of learning. I would put a trap where the coyote shuffled it's feet on the back side in your picture. If the trail is where I think it is, I would add a blind set where the trail narrowed down between the two bushes. Hard to tell from the photo, maybe 15 to 20 yards from the set?

I don’t think I would change a thing at that set . That coyote was already flirting with death and has no clue. He got lucky but he will be back . Some times a miss is just a miss.

Outstanding!

That is what I was hoping someone would come up with.


The Miss




The Adjustment

I agree GB. Sometimes it’s just a coyote being a coyote.

I’ll usually reserve adjustments for defeated sets and repeated misses.

There's no right or wrong answer of course.

I am just passing along a tactic that has worked very well for me on problem coyotes.

Good Saturday Morning Coyote Crew!


This old man had put a lot of dirt roads behind him in his day.

I would imagine he was responsible for many a fawn’s demise over the years.




He is a Boone & Crockett caliber coyote for in my book.

This is why I use mostly flats on pressured ground.

Adjustments made to the set as earlier shown helped reel in this old timer.


Male - Flat Set - MB Coyote Urine - Winter Wolf


Here is a look at the K9’s.



This fella was missing most of his incisors.



His molars were worn out as well.

Guys I really believe that one of the most common mistakes for novice coyote trappers is “messing around”
at the set. Leave those sets alone! Let the animal get comfortable working it. AND how does a trapper know for sure if a different coyote inspects the set? Even with cameras you don’t know for sure. Just my take...

B&C for sure 9 to 10 year old,he had caused trouble on that ranch's deer herd for sure.Agree with Mike make it and don't tinker with it,coyotes are not fox!

Yep, hard to do but leaving a set alone is better than tinkering with it all the time. I learned that here on TM.

Caught a coyote yesterday in a set that had been out for 18 days, only gave it a squirt of urine about 5 days ago after making the set.

Good work James on out manuvering that smart old coyote

In 30 years of coyote trapping I’ve only seen 3 or 4 coyote with gums like that ,lol. Definitely a booner, congratulations!

Spot on bud, that is an old girl. Bet she taught a lot of pups. I'm guessing over 10. Those are the ones that make ya feel like you're on the right track.

"The wind direction is the backing", forgot who told me that but it changed the way I trap.

do you not like peat moss inside the jaws?

I couldn’t agree more MChewk..

My intent was not to steer folks in the wrong direction leading them to think they should tinker with sets all the time.

Hopefully I made that clear when I said I reserve adjustments for defeated sets and repeated misses.

Good Question MC!

When I have a repeated pattern of working a single or string of sets multiple times I can get a pretty good idea if it’s a specific coyote.

When I counter the coyote’s moves and make a catch there is of course no way I can know for certain it was the same coyote.

It’s only after the catch when the remake and other sets in the immediate area that were being worked suddenly become a ghost town.

I can then say with some certainty the coyote caught was probably the culprit.

When it comes to reading sign we have a great canvas in the form of sand.

A small rain event can help provide some of the best recon you could ever ask for.

The road shows a deer on the left track and a big coyote on the right.

There is a set about a hundred yards up the road on the left.




The coyote is at his usual slow gait shown by the heavy tracks in the sand.




He remains in the right track for the most part until he's about ten yards from the set then makes a detour to the trail on the right..

Notice the shift to the right well before the set. He knows it is there.

The X marks the set.




You can tell that the coyote slows down to a walk just before the exit by how the tracks go from heavy to light.

He is most likely eyeing the set location as he goes by. The set is a cold remake.




The coyote goes thirty yards past the set then crosses back to the left side of the road following the game trail on the that side.

After another fifty yards or so the coyote merged back onto the road at cruising speed.



The next cold remake set on the same side of the road a few hundred yards away way was avoided as well.

This behavior is exactly the same as new object avoidance.

If you were to have put a hole, toy, or any other foreign object just off the two track a smart coyote will often times detour and avoid that stretch of road completely.

Think about what you present at your sets, especially along the road.

Do you ever set the center of the 2 track with a low key flat?

Rain can be your friend Tejas...except when it turns your trap covering into concrete...lol

Good question G.

That was tried several times early on this year where a subtle flat was made in the center of the road and one was made at the road’s edge only yards away.

Only one center road set hit and the rest were side catches. Similar looking sets were used in those cases.

The side sets were probably more productive because I usually set at the junction of a trail that crosses the road.

That trap placement does get a few more deer trips, but it adds up to more coyotes as well

I think it will work much better here on senderos that don’t see a lot of traffic.



Amen to that!

When I look at what or friends in Minnesota have to deal with, I thank my lucky stars I have a beach to trap on.

It's worth saying again great thread TEJAS! The way you are presenting this thread it's like we are riding the line with you.

Do you think this coyote witnessed the other coyotes in the sets, or do you think he is just avoiding the old catch circles due to the disturbance on his normal route?

What's your next move to put him in the buggy?

A fresh set along his route or a blind set on the trail where he left the road for a bit?

And yes that sand makes an awesome crime scene to learn from!

Keep sharing Tejas. Good stuff.
Mac