When trapping for coyote and fox what size hole are you using?

Mostly I use a 2" auger on my Milwaukee drill. As deep as I can get it.

Other times I'll make a hole with my 1/2" rebar and wallow it around making a conical hole

I use either tiny or big.

If going subtle I'll push in a trap stake and wallow it just a bit. Or I use my 3" auger if I want some flash.
Sometimes I'll do two with the stake.

In my area you don’t see a lot of large holes as we don’t have gofers or badgers. We do have a few armadillo but not many. Most natural holes here are from mice,rates or crayfish and are 1” to 2”. A 1-1/2” hole works really well. It has a natural look and not out of place. We have a lot of coons so I auger it down 12” or more and they can’t get to the bait.

On my property I have a low area that has a ton of crawfish holes. After i mow them over it’s just a hole about 1” across straight down. I have watched many a fox go from hole to hole working them looking for crawfish. They put both front feet about a 1/2” from the hole and almost stick their nose in it looking down it. Just my observation through my thermal scope.

I use two size holes.

Big ones, and little ones.

With the drill I use a 1-1/2" auger. When using a hand crank auger I use 2" because it spins slower and more dirt falls back in the hole. Very rarely will I spend the time to to dig a big hole. If their is a Badger hole in the Right place? I will use it.

When I was young and had more ambition I made lots of holes with a tile spade, 4-6”. Caught lots of coyotes

A big hole, especially up in a bank has a lot of appeal.

My auger now is 3”. It keeps breaking so I don’t use it much anymore.

Use a lot of wobble holes, 1-2”. Hard ground, not conducive to making a “proper” hole.

They all work. Use your imagination, play around, use a little of everything.

Use multiple holes sometimes. Opposing holes on each side of the trap each with a different smell really helps dial them on to the trap.

Mostly depends on where i'm trapping. If trapping game lands or public lands i like to use small holes or flat sets just to keep less obvious to people. Private lands i generally use bigger dirt holes early in season & latter on more flat sets & post sets

I mix it up but not sure it matters. Location matters more than look of the set, in my opinion.
I make single dirt holes, double dirt holes, one big, one small, two small, two big, change angles so one is straight down other is more shallow angle. Sometimes I use my auger, sometimes a trowel, sometimes a spade, sometimes a rebar stake pounded in and wriggled around a bit. Options are endless. Variety is probably a good thing, but location is more important to me.
I like eye appeal, but a natural flat set or post set works too.
Jim

Fastest set out there to make is the “dirt depression”.

Which is what most of my holes morph in to lol. The best laid plans.

I tend to lean to little holes because our ground can get pretty hard. If I had loose ground big holes can add some eye appeal and can actually help some with positioning where they step. The advantage of my 2 inch auger is I can get my bait deep. The wobble hole is fast and easy in hard ground. How much attraction what u put down it is more important to me than the size of what u put it down.

I use a 3 inch auger to make the occasional dirt hole for = fall pups. Pick ul some juvenile too her from Sept to Oct 10 th or so. Then i head to Texas to trap coyotes. At one time. Years ago. I ran a = BT 45 augee with 4 inch bit. Would dig hole 20 inch deep wallow out to bout 6 inch at top. IF a coyote want to get bait. It would have to have = another coyote hold it by rhe tail. Seldon ever had dirthole. Robbed of bait

1 1/2' - got a dirt hole punch, works great

I use a 4" gas auger and I make my holes 15 to 18" deep and a spoon full of bait down the hole and that make them work for it tell they step onto my trap.

Some guys are so scent cautious I bet they shuttered when they read GAS AUGER

Some trap areas that see a constant tractor/UTV/human presence, gas nor diesel means nothing to them.

I never got that ? NO to gas auger. BUT you park a truck or ATV 4 ft from set? Where does truck or ATV carbon Minoxide go? LoL! If it ant Sheep Killing coyotes. I ant that worried

My guess would be the 4" gas auger is going to leave more odor with it more than likely being a 2 stoke

Around here you have farm equipment that leaves a lot more oder than a small gas powered auger and it doesn't seem to bother coyotes.

Gas base odor is odor. Same as carbon dioxide is a forgein odor Weather it be from a truck or ATV