This old girl from the 2022 season had a good run compared to most. She had seen many a sunrise in her day.

Even with the relentless pressure of trapping, aerial gunning, calling, snaring, and random “Hail Mary” shots,
she still managed to put tracks behind her on those same senderos year after year.




Coyotes don’t get this old by making bad decisions and throwing caution to the wind.

She lived longer than most pressured coyotes because she reacted a little different than the others.

Her longevity was due in part to the education she received along the way.

Coyotes are a lot like wolfers in many aspects. Some apply their schooling a bit more than others.




That education comes in the form of repetition.

A trapper that continually repeats looks and smells along with dismissing scent control will catch fewer educated coyotes.

They will inadvertently continue tutoring the upperclassmen while at the same time introduce the first-year students to the game.

This trapping mindset creates and breeds a lot of problem coyotes. Over time this leads to multiple generations that have masters in avoidance and mayhem.

Many of her pups have probably gone on to join that elite group.




In the end, reducing your scent and avoiding repetition kills more problem coyotes and educates less of them.




A shout out goes to my good friend in MT.
Hey old timer, that male coyote gland reeled her in !

Here is a question for the Coyote Crew.

Any amount of trapping pressure creates education to some extent. That fact is unavoidable.

Aside from trying to catch every coyote that works your sets, what measures do you take if any to prevent further education and stay one step ahead of Wile E.?

Nice,she had seen a few sunrises,by the looks of her teeth,guessing her at 10 to 12 years old did you cross section her canine to age her?Bet you didn't catch her in a dirt hole set,unless she was on the verge of straving to death,Good job killing her.

Those older females in most species keep their bloodline going for many many years. Collectively, those older, wiser gals all contribute to re seeding and ensure their species survival for the future generations.

Their ability to survive, adapt and learn is what makes them such a challenge at times. Even with all the pressure they receive in some areas they find a way to move forward and thrive. Their diversity and continued expansion into new areas is big part of their life's' cycle to continue their species as well.

Question for you Tejas, how do you reduce human scent in that South Texas heat. I would say it’s probably comparable to South Georgia. I can’t step out of the truck before I start dripping sweat.

Rick, South Texas would freeze over before that old gal would hit a hole set.

I’ve never had a set of choppers aged, but I need to collect some of the older specimens and see if I can get that done.

She was in poor shape partly due to her age, but mainly from what looked to be a bullet graze across her lower sternum.

She was a tall-stationed coyote, which is not something I see in females too often. With her big frame I bet she would have tipped the scales just shy of thirty pounds in her prime. I have no doubt she kicked some tail in her day. I can go back and look, but I don’t believe I have ever had a female make it past the thirty pound mark.

The old lady had plenty of game left right up until the end. There were two sets about eight yards apart, and the first had caught a male coyote on female gland lure the prior day. The second set had not made a catch up to that point. She entered the hot remake and dug a 360 around the attractant until the trap was located. She then went to the second set expecting to do the exact same thing. What she didn’t expect was the trap placement on the second set was not remotely close to where the first one was.

WB, the arid desert environment I’m in will typically start out at high humidity in the early morning, but will quickly drop after about 10 am.

The temperature for the second and third week of May had daily max temps from 100-106°.

We don't sustain the kind of humidity levels you folks probably do during the daylight hours.


The tarp is my first line of defense.

I use clean gloves and a tarp on every new set

Boots that have been in the catch circle are on a tarp at new sets. The same goes for the kneeling pad.

On remakes I use dirty gloves & a kneeling pad only.

I'll just throw something out for discussion. Who's to say that those boots that were in a previous catch circle with all the coyote smells on them won't be an attractant or at least lower the coyotes caution at a set. I say this because I read an article by Major Boddicker a few years back. He wrote about wearing the same coveralls he formulated lures in on the trapline. He had great success and even when around domestic dogs in those clothes they would all approach him and try to ride his leg.

I haven't tried a tarp but have used a kneeling pad in the past. Went to knee pads which I still wear if setting all day, but got tired of putting them on for a set or two. So I set quite a few new sets just kneeling down without anything, with previous catch circle smells on my boots and haven't noticed a difference here.

I do something that may seem a little odd though. Not sure if it works to my advantage or I just think it does. Probably be a good study with a camera. I walk past the set I made both directions about 20 yards and kick a smooth spot in the dirt like my active set. I don't just want my smell and disturbance going directly from vehicle to set and right back into vehicle.

You make some good points Silky.

I think the smell of another coyote could be just what the Dr. ordered in a lot of cases. That might be just enough to get him to let his guard down a bit. Not just that, but I believe it would definitely get them to mill around the set area and follow the scent to see what’s going on. I was discussing a similar topic of coyote scent on location with a good friend and trapper just a few days back.

Here is a little something to ponder. I’ve noticed that my male Catahoula is much more interested in fresh coyote smells than he is with any one lure. That is probably in part because no two coyotes smell exactly the same.

I guess I should have phrased my previous post a little differently. My main concern is not so much the rubber boots, but the porous foam kneeling pad that was just pulled out of a fresh catch circle that stinks to high heaven. That would concentrate a lot of stank right in front of a new set if I didn’t use a tarp. I can certainly see a coyote digging right at the foot of my set to investigate the smell.

I don’t feel that waking around the location hurts a thing. Where the set is to be made I am much more careful. The tarp’s primary purpose for me is to keep as much of my smell off the dirt as I possibly can at the set site.

I like your last idea a lot. I bet you could play some good tricks on coyotes with a little thought behind it.

I thought folks might find it interesting to see what kind of patterns coyotes tend to have before pressure is applied.

We will fast forward to November when activity is just beginning to ramp up and temps are starting to fall.

Aside from restricted movement due to pup rearing and high temps, the summertime routine is about the same.

The essentials never change no matter what month it is.

Sometimes you just have to look a little beyond the road being driven on.


As you would expect, young of the year are usually the first up and at it. (4:23 pm.)

This coyote like most comes directly off the bed and goes straight to the water cooler.




A lot of coyotes pass back by to drink before heading home to their bedding area with a full belly. (7:37 am.)

There’s little doubt the younger coyote in the front is shadowing its parent. There’s a good chance this is a mother daughter team.




This is the normal time pattern. Two adults with a juvenile in tow roll in about an hour or so after dark to top off the tank. (7:34 pm.)




Things start to pick up a little as temps continue to fall.

These five stop by right at daybreak before they retire for the day. (6:39 am.)

Notice that the moon is almost full.




A pup that doesn’t know better soon will.(8:34 am.)




You know there is no pressure when you see adults out this late in the morning.(10:00 am.)

This is exactly why I don’t run the line right at sunrise. I believe a lot of coyotes are picked up in the first hour of light.




The ground and aerial cleanup crew talking shop.

TEJAS
Thanks again for starting this thread and thanks for sharing.

Mac

You’re Welcome Mac.

Every day on the line presents a learning opportunity if we just look a little closer.

It’s a given that most road trappers will set for predominate wind direction on the line they're taking.

To hedge in case of a wind shift they will usually set both sides of the trail or road.

If your time is limited on a certain property, putting in more sets certainly fits the bill.

If you're not on a time schedule, have whittled down the population, or have low numbers to start with, doubling the number of traps you have out might not be what you want in that particular situation.

Gang setting certainly has its time and place, but there are certain circumstances where fewer traps spread over a wider area will catch more and spook less than a line with more traps concentrated in a smaller area.


This scruffy male had a nasty disposition to go along with his unkempt appearance.

He was picked up on a very subtle flat set that was downwind of his travel path.




Here is a little trick that might help you pick up a few more coyotes.

You could call it the "Hedge Your Bet Set".

When a single set is made for the current wind and later a shift is expected, I want to try and prevent a possible drive-by where the coyote never gets a whiff of the goodies.

All that's really needed is to catch the coyote’s nose getting him to break stride and start milling around the set area. The trick is to get him to hang around just long enough to find the landmine.

The photo shows current wind direction along with an “X” for trap location. The three arrows in the road show options where you might place a very small amount of attractant to catch the coyote’s attention in the event of a 180°+ - wind change. I will re-emphasize to put just enough attractant to make him check-up, not hold him there . Secondary attractant placement will vary depending on wind, situation, and available features. Make adjustments to the original set if needed.



Variations of this technique reeled in several adult coyotes this year that passed upwind of the set.

I'm a little different. I always set the predominate wind for the the certain time of the year. A waste of my time setting a spot in case of a wind change. In a pinched down area like that with trees/bushes on both sides, one would think the wind would be a limiting factor unless you're dealing with strong winds.

From my perspective, in that scenario if you're worried about wind shift, a set in the center with urine sprinkled from center of track towards set on both sides would be a killer. I trap in the wide open prairie. If I want a little more attention to my set, in case of wind change, I just give a sprinkle of urine from center of two track towards set. That's all it takes.

Not saying what you do doesn't work. It's basically the same concept of getting them to stall for a moment. Just throwing out observations and what has been successful for me.

Silky, I always set for predominate wind as well, but we get some major temperature swings in the winter. Temps in the high eighties are not uncommon. The drastic fluctuation seems to change wind direction quite a bit. No matter what time of the year we always seem to revert back to the South.

The hedge is strictly a temporary fix for a major wind shift until it changes back.

The road set that caught the coyote above had the wind in its favor when it was made, but it had briefly changed. In order to keep that set alive I put out an olfactory stop sign on the now upwind side of the two-track.

Most of the time I put the attractant on something I can move so it can be pulled when the wind switches back.

The winds can get going pretty good at times. Depending on a road’s orientation, several inches of sand can drift over a line of sets overnight. That makes or a long morning.

Around here, center of the road sets don’t seem to hit near as well as the sides for some reason.

Maybe it’s because lingering in the middle of the road will get a coyote killed quick in the brush country.

I'm with you on the center, Tejas. I just seen a few other south trappers setting the center a lot and thought it might be a productive one in those areas. I rarely set center anymore. Never seemed to have as many connections around here by setting the center. I have the best success setting the edge of the predominate wind.

I have seen others set the middle of a two track road. Maybe I haven’t stuck with us enough, but I haven’t seemed to have luck doing it.

I’ve had better luck setting just off the road to the upwind side. But then I usually set another set on the other side of the road also. I hope to catch the circling coyote. Or possibly the second coyote who circles the caught one.

I like the ideas Tejas made of simply adding some scent on the other side of the road. I’ll try that also.

We don’t have a large population of coyotes on any of the properties I trap, but center of the two tracks work well for me. It seems to put the scent right there where they’re walking regardless of wind direction. Granted they may have to sit for a week or four before something walks by, but they usually catch when they do.

Something that has worked for me when the wind gets contrary on these scenarios is a shot of used cooking oil and smoker drippings sprinkled across the road from the trap will usually get them slowed down enough to work the set.

I have used trailing scents for over 30 years for locations such as described and in wide open harvested bean and corn fields. It doesn't take much scent if you have a good blend of odors. I make a set and hop on my ATV and leave small squirts along the way to a determined stopping point and put in another set.

Gets their attention and creates more curiosity interest that may not have been there alone with a couple of sets. I have run some scent lines quite a distance and placed sets on each end of the scent trail.

I usually put some LDC on a higher object like a bent corn stalk or take in a long weed stem like golden rod and scent the top with LDC. I have caught lots of predators at these set ups over the years. They are effective set ups and I always anticipate checking them.