Last weekend was down to 10 degrees Fahrenheit and would have used that as excuse on poor catch. Caught one bore racoon and cut trail of maybe one other racoon checking den trees. What I could not believe is had skunk walk up to DP and turn around and leave. Thought to stupid to nock golf ball off and eat. Had skunk walk up to cat set, dance in circles lookin at cd disk and leave. Less than 12" from hole set and no interest. Had what looked to be maybe opossum (definitely not racoon tracks) walked up to den tree. Walked through spot snow cleared away and much dog food and call lurer, climbed tree and back down, keep moving. If was not for fresh snow I would have thought just slow night.

Snow is our friend in a lot of ways. It can teach a trapper a lot. The day after a fresh snow lisa and i will often go out and follow a track of a fox, fisher, etc. It tells you volumes about how/where an animal likes to hunt and do things

Wind direction certainly comes into play alot too. Skunks and possums rely alot on their nose. If the wind was at their back they may have never smelled your bait.

The last animal walked through dogfood. Wind at cat set maybe. Was wondering if looking for mate was more important than food. Hard to believe little food would not be appreciated while looking for love.

Snow is humbling.

And sometimes the critter just Isn't interested In any type of bait or lure.

Some animals are wary when they first encounter a bait site.
They often circle but not go in but rest assured once they know where the goodies are at some point they are going to commitThey cant help it.

Could it be breeding season and food isn’t what they are looking for?

Used to be the first big behavior shift started happening in late January as they began to pair up and become more interested in the opposite sex.

This was when you’d first really see some BS behavior, tracks blowing by perfectly good set without so much as a look, or real half hearted interest at a set.

Of course it didn’t help that by late January every coyote just spent the last 2-3 months getting run through the wringer pressure wise.

Anymore, and we’re starting to see that behavior kick off around Thanksgiving, and it’s directly related to the start of “calling season”.

No question there are some obvious animal behavioral changes and reactions to some odors and set presentations during this time of year. As stated, those changes are not limited to one element.

Biological instinctual urges and the last few months of collective exposure to other influences like trapping, hunting and calling all serve to cause these reactions. That is what keeps the reproduction going.

Just nature's way. Going to have to use other methods to continue to make catches and get their interest or move on to other areas and try again.

Check your mail box.

Thanks