I never hear of anyone putting out bait for coyote snares. would you just put some bait on either on both sides of the snare? if so how far from the snare?

That would be 50 feet away in Virginia.

Bait piles with snares are commonly use for coyotes and wolves in many areas. Generally, large baits (road kill deer, moose, etc.) are placed in areas surrounded by thick cover shrubs or trees in an accessible location. The junction area where roads or trails meet is usually a good spot as coyotes and wolves often travel these systems. Snares should be set back at least 25 yards from the bait and as far out as conditions allow.
The stations will vary in size due to conditions encountered, with success increasing with the number of snares set out on probable access routes. For a small area 5 or 6 snares may be all you need while a larger area you may be able to get 20 or more snares in.
Baits in the open, will out produce baits in thick cover. Coyotes/wolves want to see, both approaching and while they're on it, if there’s danger from other predators, thus the best sites are in the open and ringed by heavy cover to hang snares in. All you basically need, for the ideal station, is an opening large enough for “large birds of prey” to land directly into, thus generally no birds walking in on trails with snares, and coyotes/wolves have the protective cover going to the bait. Opening of 20X30 feet or slightly larger should be sufficient.

We call em Jackpots.
They are the best way to take lots of fur(canines and cats) in winter.Especially when set with lethal snares and extended checktime.
We use them for fox lynx and wolves(no coyote here).
I set 8 snares at every cat and fox jackpot and between 12 and 20 if I decide to set for wolf.
You can set fairly close to the bait for cats-(10 feet) but its better to set farther away for canines-at least 20 feet for fox and 50 feet at least for wolves.
Like Tomcat said set in a small opening surrounded with thick smaller growth.
Most jackpots will snare several animals on some checks.

Very good point here. If you have eagles and set it up wrong you can catch them walking into the bait. You can get around this by setting your snares back from the bait farther, which is what I prefer to do. The coyotes tend to be less wary 60-100 yards from the bait then when they are right on top of it. Another good spot in Agricultural property is the islands in fields left from areas farmers cannot work.

Also depending on the area your setting snares in I'd suggest putting snares on the trails further out from the bait also .
The reason being is once the magpie's , hawks , eagles find it the coyotes and fox will be attracted to it as well the bigger the bait the better it's going to require a lot of snares also but the rewards can be worth the extra effort .

Allan

you want the animals moving when they approach your snare. Not stopping and checking out any bait or lure.
The closer a animal gets to the bait pile or jack pot the more wary It gets. Once the critters establish trails to that cascaras dump that's when you hang those snares. 100 yards away Isn't to far.

The Beav gives very good advice.

I like to use wild hog carcasses. They are considered nuisance as are the coyote. I find a thicket usually a briar patch and keep puting them in there. At some point there will be well defined trais going in and out. There will usually be ALOT of scat where they are going and coming. I saw this method on a Canadian video using power snares. I use power snares most of the time. Regular snares work well but the animal causes more disturbance so I lean toward the power snares. I snare most of my hogs with Wolfmaster power snares.

A lot of good advice here. Baits work well here especially in the winter. I save what remains from our butchered deer every fall. When the baits get active I even look for road kill. Set the trails going to the baits but stay off the bait a good distance.

I'm glad I asked the question. I learned a lot. thanks.

Good thread with lots of information. Thanks to all that shared.

mac

I agree with almost everything stated. Here it works best bait pile in very open area-short cover and snares 50 to 75 yards away at pinch points in cover. When you are placing the bait you can pick the "perfect" site.

My local CO calls when a road killed deer is called in my area and even helps me load it into the truck. I have no problems getting bait for snaring.

Same In my area.

I have placed deer carcasses In heavy cover and they never get touched. But place them out 50 yards Out In the open and just about always get worked. I feel That coyotes just feel more comfortable out In the open when working a carcass.

To further my above mentioned suggestion , I'm covering every trail that is accessible quickly even if you check it with a pair of binoculars from a hill top with snares covering a section including fence crawl unders after the coyotes discover the bait station .
On the trails if a coyote takes it once it will again so set on sign it can take some time for a return trip through but it will happen.

Then you maybe surprised by the number of coyotes in a area .

When setting and checking snares leave things as natural as possible. The more time you spend at the set the more sign you leave especially when there is snow on the ground. Set up snares from the side of trail. Do not walk around or make set and turn around and go back. Either follow thru on the trail or cross over and depart the area in a different location than your entry point. When checking snares walk thru the same route each check, checking snares from a distance.

I'm not much of a snare man but but visiting with a few and reading what gets posted on here, an extended check on snares is a big advantage for the guys that can legally. Here's its 24 hrs and so far back from road ways which means a lot of spots I would snare here would require me to get really close to snares to check daily which can and does have an effect on the coyotes. Wonder what some of you more experienced snare men think of this. If you had to check every 24 hours and had to get off the beaten path so to speak Especially if you had to walk up to snare to check daily would it have an effect on the efficiency of your snaring in your opinion? Fairly open here and a lot of the snaring spots are in the thicker cover that the coyotes like to bed up in during the day which means you would run a high risk of bumping them out of their beds on a daily bases.

Getting the birds to work a bait pile is like ringing a dinner bell! A bait pile in the open will draw the bird in faster than one in heavy cover.