Got the first coyote of the season today. Unintentional catch. The sets are made for less discriminating customers like bobcats and fishers. Because we have so many bears in central Pennsylvania, and because I have had trouble with them raiding my trapline in the past, I now only start setting steel in mid December. Most of the hunters are out of the woods, our bobcat and fisher seasons start then, bears are hibernating, predators are getting hungry and ready to make mistakes etc. So far this week the count is one possum, one coon, one lucky fox, and this coyote. Has mange, so it was dispatched and left lay. The set is a small dirt hole backed by a rock and a tiny jack pine, baited with a small piece of smoked salmon skin, with bobcat gland lure, skunk essence, and strong fox pee as lures. It has two MB550s attached to an 8’ chain with a strong grapple. One trap guards the dirt hole, the other is offset away so if an animal is trying to look into the hole but not commit, it’s still snapped. It was the second trap that got him.

Good high catch

Good catch.

Great catch!

nice job, thanks for sharing

nice work

Good job

Got a hold of plenty to keep in there! Great job!

Very cool! Wish I could catch one of those.

Thank you, gentlemen! The pack was waiting with him when I showed up, and they scattered when he was dispatched. I think it was Rod Zullinger here in central PA who turned me on to this setup, and it has worked every time I use it. Rod is THE coyote master around here, and those of us who have learned from him are lucky. Good luck to you, BeLiesie330, just stay on it. For coyotes obviously everything has to be just right.

Shouldn't the animals with mange be buried or disposed of, would think any other animals coming in contact with this coyote could get mange also?

Ohh he wants to get far away from you!! That’s one thing that always makes me feel bad. Walking up on them and they just wanna be gone. I hate seeing them scared. But I’m glad he didn’t suffer with mange!

The last time I posted a photo of me "disposing" of a mangy coyote on this site, it was removed and I was asked to not discuss the method. Which of course I followed, as I am just a guest here like everyone else. The truth is that there is no easy way to "dispose" of a mangy animal. Once you move it from its death site, you are spreading the mange mites around. If you put the carcass in the back of your truck, you are depositing the mange mites there, where they will infest everything else you have there or that you will place there. Don't know how you manage your trap line, but I do not carry a fifty gallon heavy duty contractor grade plastic trash bag with me when I run my line. Usually I carry some lure, some canine pee, and a .22 Ruger revolver for dispatch. I believe the hope is that the mites will die soon enough after not having any fresh blood to eat from the carcass, and that whatever eggs are on the skin will eventually die because of exposure and a lack of body warmth. Don't know what else to say about this. Mange is a real problem here in PA, and it is a sign of overpopulated animals, particularly those that share a den together, like coyotes and foxes, and those that will feed together, like a mother bear and her cubs. That contact is how the mites are transmitted from one animal to the next.
I am interested to hear from other trappers about how they deal with mangy critters on their trapline in a practical way.

The only animals I have caught in cage traps and foothold traps that did not want to get away from me were sleeping possums and sleeping raccoons. Those are the easy dispatches. I would imagine that if you are a land trapper you encounter the exact same situation a lot. Water trappers rarely encounter this because Conibear-type traps and drowning sets are used.