Observation #1
This morning while hiking in the hills with my dog before daylight, he came running up the trail from behind me, full speed, flat out running as fast as he could go. He passed me, flinging rocks and sand in my face. When he got about 20 feet ahead of me, he suddenly slammed on the brakes, skidded to a halt, and turned around with his nose to the ground. He trailed back to me, sniffing and snuffling as he came. He stopped at a spot ten feet in front of me, and gave the characteristic "birdy" sign that he had found something of particular interest. I bent down with my headlamp and saw a half inch piece of old, grey-white coyote dropping that had been run over by passing trucks and quads, ground to a powder and baked by the sun. How my dog, with a nose probably inferior to that of most wild canines, could smell that old pulverized bit of dropping while running full speed is a testament to the canine's sense of smell. We use too much lure.

Observation #2
Frequently when I scout for bobcats in the summer or early fall, I come across my old sets, or the old sets of other trappers, that have FRESH cat droppings, indicating the cat was still smelling left over lure from 5-8 months ago from the past trapping season. My trail cameras set up on such locations confirm this same observation. We use too much lure.

Observation #3

Many times in the snow I have seen where a coyote veered off its path dozens of yards to stop and dig in the snow to unearth a bit of bone or dried fur that I could not smell when I held it under my own nose. Small amounts of odor typically demand great attention and cause intrigue. On the other hand, I have frequently observed an entire cow or deer carcass where the coyotes responded by rolling all over the remnants and perhaps giving a few kick backs. Apparently small amounts of odor cause interest and intrigue, while large quantities of odor often cause rolling. We use too much lure.

I have been preaching that for many years. Some listen others not so much. If on location and near any sort of predator activity they will find the scent. It seems this is many years of trapping learned behavior situation for those that take heed with respects to the amount of "lure" used. Bait use is different where more can be beneficial. Some must see for themselves the truth or the effects of these statements.

Of course, there are those that will always feel more is better and the skunkier is the best to use.

How much is a Small amount? Pea sized glob? Or less? Just so we are all on the same page.

For me the exception would be Food type lures and baits. I believe animals can measure the amount of food placed in the dirt hole or under a rock!
In this situation, I believe more can be better.

I will say that with some lures/baits and ingredients larger quantities positively equate to greater intrest with most coyotes. I think the sheer volume when natural baits are used is one positive for them as normally more is used with them compared to a prepared bait or lure. With some coyotes you are using the lure/ bait to get them to over come their cautions they have about the set.

With some lures/baits and ingredients the opposite will happen. It's not always just about them smelling it, sometimes it's about creating enough intrest they will work the set. Obviously with some odors and some sets too much odor can cause reactions you don't want too.

I've seen it hundreds of times while testing that the more I use of certain products the harder the coyotes will dig for it. The more attraction I can create the less walk byes and one step in pattern misses I'll have.
With that said I don't go to extremes with amounts I use while trapping, rather I just want to share what I've seen while testing.

I believe the coyotes nose works in ways that helps them understand to a degree how much of a bait is down there and sometimes they may just decide its not worth the hassle. That's why you see a lot of big number coyote guys using bait only. The larger volume create its own intrest in itself.

Just my 2 cents from a few observations here

I'm no expert on this, but I used to take Q-Tips and dunk them in a lure jar- dunk, not scoop... there may not seem like much different, but I bet you'd find you extract 100% more product by scooping rather than dipping... I'm confident that even that dip is too much when using gland lure. I agree with what Tracy and Bob said, and think that using too much lure and making a set too 'hot' extends the amount of time a set will remain untouched before it gets worked for the first time. There are also other contributing factors, such as density and being on location that matter also, but I've seen first hand where coyotes have stayed back from a set and scratched the ground as if they just urinated- but it wasn't to mark the actual set, it was well off.

When I use bait, I use a pretty big spoonful down the hole. with gland lures I have started buying in 1-ounce bottles and mixing 3 to 1 with Glycerin. This was something that an older trapper showed me when I was young. I quit doing it for a while and started pouring straight liquid lure from bottle and the only thing I noticed was I was buying more lure. As for amount doing it my way, I try to use what Herb Lenon said and use an amount the size of a small bean. This is what works for me, but I have read a lot of trapping articles and watched plenty of videos where very successful trappers used much more lure than I do.

Right on, need to pull the hide or bone also.

Rub lure leave behind. Keep working it.

I learned a lot from a guy I was helping start out a few years back. He had one eight ounce jar of Carman’s Bushwhacker bait and he’d just dip a small dry stick in it per set. It lasted him all season and he caught a bunch of coyotes.

Quote from Beartooth Trapper>



Rub lure leave behind. Keep working it. As with any scent posts you may establish along your lines. You get them started the animals will keep them active.

Several years ago I saw where a coyote had dug down after about 8 inches of snow to a set I had pulled a month earlier.

If they can train a dog to detect cancer cells in the human body, that should give you some idea as to what animals can detect in the wild. I think we all underestimate what they can smell and what they are interested in.

I've got a spot where I had a set last fall for coyote (a q-tip dipped in gland lure) that gets dug up by something every 2 or 3 weeks since. There was fresh digging this weekend after the rain we got late last week.

"If a little bit helps, a whole lot has gotta do more."

I recall a guy who used at least an ounce of lure at every set if I recall correctly. You couldn't argue with his results.

I'm not promoting one way over another, just an observation.

It’s subjective based on conditions as well.

Under ideal scenting conditions a small amount probably works fine. Under inclement conditions, more may be needed.

60-70 degrees and 90% humidity is not the same as 90 degrees and 20% humidity, or -20.

I probably use “too much” bait and lure at sets according to many.

Certainly bait, I use a LOT of bait at a set. Heaping tablespoon. As much as I can get on a table knife.

You know what happened when I started using more bait at a set? I started catching more coyotes. I used to be able to stretch a pint a looooong ways. When I started making my own, I started “pouring it on”. Like yes sir already said, I firmly believe canines will work harder and longer for more, or what they perceive as more. More is also easier detectable under less than ideal, or downright poor conditions.

Most smells we use in baits and lures (and let’s be honest, most commercial smells have varying amounts and combinations of the same dozen or so ingredients) will illicit a rolling response in a certain percentage of canines regardless of amounts. It’s a common response to fresh, tainted, and even non-food smells. Just that MOST of the time we’ve caught them before they get that far. Many times I’ve seen where they dont even roll on the smell. They investigate it, then go off 10-20 feet and roll. There’s more to the rolling response than just getting the odor on them. I think it’s as much them getting their smell on the item or in the immediate area. Just like urine/turd marking.

Interesting observations Boone Liane. I am in the big gob of bait camp also

This is how I use lure also. Piece of stick or whistle dipped in the lure is it. Used with about a table spoon of bait when at dirt holes.

As a lure maker I'd think you'd wanna promote that train of thought Bob. lol

Anyone remember Andy Skwait? He was the guy I was thinking of that used so much lure per set.

There is a difference between lure and bait. With bait, more is usually better, they are looking to eat it (or possibly roll in it if it is rank bait, or possibly both) and an all you can eat buffet has a greater attraction than a little sample cup.

With lure, more is often not better, I have noticed that when I lure lightly I get more first and second check catches than if I lure heavier. Seems like it needs to "cool down" if you use too much of a lot of lures.

Of course it depends on the lure and the target animal. Marten for example I've never seen shy from a lure no matter how loud or how much you use, and I've often seen the catch pick up noticeably when I refresh with a loud lure that you can smell when driving by fifty feet away.

He barely got any of the bait on the stick…..I couldn’t argue with his success. Would he have caught more or less with a different amount, who knows.

I don’t use much lure at all these days but when I do it’s just a little dip in the jar with a weed stem. When I do use lure at my coyote sets it’s something like beaver caster or mink gland lure.
Post sets get either a squirt of pee or a caster smear.
Buying commercial lure to me is expensive for even a little one ounce bottle. I try to select something attractive to more than one species like beaver caster or mink gland lure. Muskrat gland is another good option for me. Everything can be caught one one of those three. I can pull out the bottle on water or land line with confidence. I can’t always claim that with cat or coyote gland lures. Some cat and coyote gland lures I can confidently say I’ve never had good luck with at all.
When I first started trapping I bought a lot of lure and hauled lots of bottles in my bucket to every stop. I probably used way too much.
Bait though I do use a decent amount at each dirt hole set maybe a heaping table spoon or so. Commercial predator bait is getting expensive too and many all claim to have same ingredients.
When I can I am using chopped rat carcasses it’s about a quarter of a rat down the hole. Same with rabbit or other carcasses I accumulate in my freezer for bait. A neighbor saves some deer scraps for me from his butchering and I use chunks of that down holes too.

First we have to agree as to what is “a lot”, or “too much”.

Is a pea sized glob perfect but a navy bean sized glob “too much”.

Trace amounts on a dipped stick perfect but the pea sized gob “too much”.

It is subjective.


Someone made a comment about lure being expensive. It is, I agree, and getting more expensive. But in the grand scheme of trapping expenses, bait and lure is pretty darn cheap in the long run, even if you use “too much”.

My post was focused on lure (although we could debate the difference between bait and lure, I admit). But edible bait is different. For coyotes, I love draw stations -- entire beef cows, an elk carcass, multiple deer, a pile of dead sheep. The more, the better.

I remember Big O saying his best success was loading all the bait he could get on his digging trowel and tossing it down the hole. As Boone Laine said, there are a number of variables (time of year, type of bait, weather, temperature, etc.) that will factor into the equation but in my mind, bait is different than lure.

No doubt baits and lure are in different categories. Not only in physical characteristics but the amounts that can or should be used. Some only use a marginal amount of bait while others seem to like to load up with the big dose down a hole. I have done all of it over the years.

I still come back to using slight lure amounts and moderate bait amounts. Each will find his preference as to the results they get. If your system works for you, keep it up.

If not, you may need to keep experimenting with amounts. There are variables that are all over the place and always will be. I only know what has worked well for me.
Likely in some cases it may not really matter what you do. If conditions of good animal populations and moderate trapping pressure are the norm, the sky is the limit.

Coyote density and coyote paranoia also play a factor in lite amounts.

In Central Texas, nearly everyone shoots, helicopter hunts, calls, and traps coyotes. I trap 10 months a year doing private Predator control. My county has two full time government trappers. Our coyotes have seen it all.

I’m always looking for something different. Something mild. And I use just a little bit of lure. Like the head of a match stick. Or at most a Q tip with only the top half dipped into the lure.

Laz mentioned edible baits.

What percentage of commercial prepared baits (and lures for that matter) do you suppose are “edible”?

I know I know, they’re all technically edible, but how many are actually palatable to the point where once something gets a taste of it they still want to ingest it?

I know more than a few that are NOT. And they must taste REALLY bad for a canine that routinely eats cow crap and half rotten stuff to shake its head and say “nope!”. Haha

I agree with bait usage that more is better. The only time really practice this is in this area during the winter. Seems like the bigger pile in certain areas works very well. I will often use lure in more amounts to get critters to that area. Once they are there the fun begins.

Decided since everyone has weighted in on the topic it was time to quiz the coyotes. So today I took two lures, not my own, but lures from long time respected, well known lure makers and made two test sets with each.

Two punch holes about a foot and a half apart.
One with just a small twig dipped in the lure.


One with as much as I could get on a knife


All on spots with recent coyote activities where I've got coyotes to work test lures in the last month.

One lure I use to trap with put have never really tested. Be interesting to see if they dig for it. I believe it's this particular makers top seller.

One I bought a year ago at the advise of another trapper I respect to test against my own formulations. It has consistently got dug in the past.

The small amount went in the hole on the left and large amount in hole on right at all the sets.

If anyone else wanted to run same tests it would be interesting to compare results.

My $$ is on the knife full for the win?
For me the knife full would be about a average gland lure application, but 3/4 of it is going under a rock or cow chip.
Home made lure so not too worried about the cost.

To me those are both small amounts Yes Sir. Try the little stick on one hole and 1/2 to 3/4+ of an ounce in the other.

Somewhere around here I’ve got a letter I saved from many, many years ago I got from Carrol Black.
I had asked him a few questions in a letter I sent to him, and he replied with some of his thought. One was on lure usage at predator sets.
He told me when he was pursuing cats and wanted to avoid coyotes he would really load up the set with lure. And when coyotes were high he would use a small amount of lure. These were in dirthole sets, same sets, same locations. He was purposefully changing amount of lure he used to target a species pursued.
He did note that for coon…you can never have enough bait or lure in the truck.
Jim

I got another lure from another maker I was going to test along with a single lure ingredient or two. I'll up the game to at least a half Oz on them

I like those trappers that use 1/2 an ounce to an ounce of lure per set. I bet you could use that dirt hole for a couple of years and not have to worry about re luring that set for a while. That might be the new trend in the trapping industry.

JabNE, I have seen that in my own anecdotal experiences.

Last year I was testing a new commercial bait on the line. I didnt have time to test it prior to using to see how it stacked up. I was initially using a big glob (3-4tbs maybe) and noticed that my sets werent producing until they had sat for a week or more. When I started using less (maybe .5-1 tbs) my sets started getting hit quicker and more often. Now, I dont know that the commercial bait I was using was a highly desireable one, but I know that using smaller amounts of it got more and quicker action. It did get more interest than one sniff and leave when it got hit as well.

Im wondering if certain ingredients lend themselves better to larger quantities than others

What does it mean when your German Shepherd chews the lid off a five gallon bucket of bait and eats half of it? Edible?

Definitely should have used less

Yep^ my dog is worthless to test on as far as edibility. She likes to eat everything I put in front of her and will happily gobble up ingredients that other animals say are useless from a taste perspective

do population levels make a difference to the reaction of coyotes to the amount of lure applied?

1/2 an ounce!?!?! You told me 1 ounce was a SERVING SIZE!!! Did I use too much or is a bigger glob better?

Did the 3 night check. 2 test sets got dug, one each for each lure. Both set the hole with most lure clearly got dug hard which equates to me more attraction too me. Other two sets had some activity but no clear digging. Might have been deer as I've seen them regularly paw and walk all over test sets before. I'll check them again after 7 nights.

Seldom did a ton of testing with low populations I believe he thought if it was a good lure more got more attraction. I know another guy that makes his living trapping coyotes in a very low population area posted on here and said more works better for him.

When I do a demo I hold up a pint jar of bait and state I use half of one of these at a set......then give A BIG TOOTHY GRIN...!!!! then pause and state actually use 1/2 teaspoon and increase amount as temps drop. Seems to get a lot of SMILES!!!!!

Thanks for your thoughts.