If James is not making Night Train anymore I'm glad I have a couple bottles.

Pretty sure he quit making that a few years ago

Tejas,

Thank you for this thread. I have skipped by it because I am mostly water trapper. I haven't land trapped in 25 years. However recently I decided to throw my hat in the ring and try to reduce the coyote population on the property that I bow hunt on for the same reasons that you do. Reducing fawn mortality. Property has not been trapped in a while. Landowner wants the coyotes gone. I clicked on your thread just to see if I could gain some insight.. I'm not all the way through all 71 pages yet but I'm getting there. Anyway, Very informative. I'm already planning how I'm going to approach it. Besides the obvious trapping tips, The big thing that I've taken so far from it is that we as outdoorsmen and women can apply your tactics to other species. If something is not working, change it up. Think out of the box. Read what the sign is telling you. React accordingly. Sound cliche but it's the truth. Sometimes We get in a rut and apply the same tactics in the same ways. Myself included. I keep re-learning this all the time. LOL Anyway, Job well done sir! May I ask you some questions?

You’re Welcome 1Simplemann !

Your takeaway from this thread is right on the money!

It’s good that we bounce ideas and experiences off one another.

If we continue to learn we continue to improve.


Feel free to ask whatever questions come to mind.

There are a lot of top shelf coyote trappers on T-Man that chime in from time to time.

T, You say your coyotes avoid blocking. What about over time? Have you ever prepared a trap location where you intend to get Wile E in the future? The reason I ask is because Ilove playing chess w/ mature Bucks. the challenge of getting them to step within a 20 yd area is a passion of mine. I look for locations that they are vulnerable. Once I locate that spot, then I “trap” him. I make the ideal trails for me more ideal for him or the doe that he’s following. If I can, then I make the less ideal trails for me less ideal for them. The idea is to make their idea to go left instead of right. They don’t know it yet but Going right could lead to an arrow going through their vitals. Many times I just “block” or divert the trail that will lead them downwind of me or the trail that is just out of range is diverted to force them closer. I do this “blocking” months or even years in advance before I hunt there. Ilearned many years ago the 1st hunt is the most likely time you’ll kill him. If you have many locations then you up your odds. New hunt, new tree, keep moving till you kill. Sometimes I will find that rare location that will take pressure so it will get hunted more often. Those spots usually have been prepared and as much as I can do to put the odds in my favor has been done. Blocking is a big part of it.

They don’t necessarily avoid blocking or backing.
It just cuts way down on the amount of time a coyote will entertain a set.

When you limit where a coyote can step you also limit how many steps he will take.

Keep in mind that backing or guiding will not deter a savvy coyote.
If he wants to back door a set, a simple tuft of grass or other object won’t magically change his mind.
Sticks, rocks, or dirt clods used as guiding are easily manipulated. Those objects also detract from the primary focus of the set.

When it comes to limiting movement at a coyote set, soak time does not change that particular behavior pattern for the better.

Allow a coyote to work the set on his terms, not yours. You will catch a lot more if you do.

Interesting. You seem to be setting more on roads. Which allows you AND the coyotes to be more efficient. I can see your point in that situation. Blocking the trap might not help. I was thinking more on about blocking trails. (Understood that you can't block the road) It's probably more suited to my terrain but I'm sure it can be adapted to other terrain.. I'll give you an example. It's New property to me. No traps set yet. Setting today. Anyway, It is a large Butte w/ rim rock cliffs in various locations. There's always a game trail or trails below these cliffs. Eventually it'll come to a rock and they have the option to go around it on either side. If they go one way, it fairly open. You might miss them. If they go the other, (which the tracks indicate that they can and will do naturally) they will be in a pinch point between the rock and cliff. The Opening is usually 2-5' wide. I was thinking that a guy could pile some rocks on the wide open side to re-direct them through the pinch. Do it during the offseason to allow them to become accustomed to it. When it comes time to put out a trap next year, they won't see it coming. They will come through naturally because they have been there 50 times w/ no negative consequences. Right now I'm not going to change anything. My intention is to put 2 traps in some of the pinch's. One against the rock and the other against the cliff. Leave the middle open so deer won't trip it. Little bit of gland lure or urine on each side of the opening and call it good. AND a camera! Then see what happens. It's very similar to when I put a mock scrape in a funnel. They are very focused on the scrape and most times come in downwind. They don't realize that I've blocked the trail that would allow them to get downwind of me AND the scrape. Only the scrape. Most bucks will come right in, do their thing and move off none the wiser.

In the scenario above, do rocks not fall naturally out there? I’m not talking about a pile but a natural looking fall type pattern. I’ve heard the same ole argument about a coyote knowing his territory and I don’t disagree with that. But, they’d go absolutely insane and die from anxiety if every time a limb fell down here and they had to change trails or vacate an entire area.
Here’s one better, burn off 15ac of pine timber and what’s one of the first things to show up? Predators. Now first understand firebreaks were put in place weeks prior. On the day of the burn that entire block is ridden/walked multiple times throughout the day and I’ll place sets around it that evening and right before dark the entire place is checked again off an ATV just to make sure the main fire is out and looking for no burning trees that could fall across the breaks.
Now you wake up the next morning and go check and first set has a coyote. The second set nothing, but riding to the third set you see another coyote. Set 4 has nothing.
So 2 coyotes out of 4 sets is 50% next day catch in an area that had more human scent and other foreign odors in one day than it probably had all year. It’s also a COMPLETELY different landscape than what that coyote had seen all its life yet it still came around and got caught. In that same place day 2 produced another coyote in set #3 and day #4 produced a coyote in #4. Pulled on day 6 due to hunts going on.
So a ton of human scent and a completely different look to its territory and still caught on the first check. How and why?

The obvious answer is coyotes that don’t associate the sights sounds and smells of humans with a high degree of danger.

The flip side to that, limit where a coyote can step, and you eliminate the need for him to make a lot of steps.



I always tell people to guide/block your sets as much as you can get away with.

They only need to take one step to be caught.

If they will tolerate it, guide the snot out of them.




That being said, my coyotes typically don’t like to have their feet hemmed in much.

But I’ve been places where they’d step right where you tell them to, if you told them to.

There is no need to block down trails or use stepping sticks.
I have never felt that altering a trail increased my odds of a catch in any way.

Reading the trail and pan placement is what really ups your odds.
Look at what line they take on the trail and where they tend to step.
Use that recon to determine where you place the pan.

With blind trail sets I bed directly in the trail at a pinpoint location.
Nothing is altered along the trail, and no attractants are used.

Another effective look is to place a super-subtle flat set right at the edge of the trail on the upwind side.
A preferred location is at the intersection of two well-used trails if available.
Attractant use is very minimal as is set look.

Again, show them what they expect to see at that location.

That is not the same situation as a coyote encountering an attractant you expect him to work.

When he's traveling he is on the hunt.

When you grab his attention he is on point.

Those are two totally different levels of awareness and wariness.

Nice catch

Tejas, it looks like you’re mostly using 550s. Do you use regular jaw or offset?

Merriam, I use the two coiled MB 550-RC-OS with the chained super stakes exclusively

The pit pan, cast jaws, stainless steel dog, and night latch really make this trap one of the greats.

The OS has great lockup. I have also found it to be a very foot friendly trap.

They have performed flawlessly, and their durability is outstanding.

These traps are ready to rock right out of the box. Pan tension new was very consistent breaking at 3.5 to 4 pounds.

I buy them four coiled and pull the helper springs to use later if the mains happen to weaken over time.

Thanks for the reply. I have some 550 OS and am in the process of switching to 550s entirely. I was just torn on OS or closed jaw, as we have a lot of incidental coons.

I’ve held plenty of large boar coon in the 550 OS

Good insight Boone.

There is always a give and take. It is certain one approach does not work for every coyote or trapper.
If a look or method works without the coyotes catching on I beat them to death with it.

If a certain percentage of my coyotes have their lie detector turned up to 10 I tailor my set looks to their liking.
It doesn’t matter what I show the dead head coyotes because they will hit any look I feed them.

The main thing is I am able to cut way back on avoidance from any coyote by simply showing them a less restrictive set look.

What about other critters? Specifically deer. Seems to me they are going to snap your traps. Here the coyotes run right on the deer trails.

Deer can be an issue with any set at any location. Gang setting helps buffer that problem.
When it comes to blinds I only set the trails that have primarily coyotes working them at that time.
There is an easy way to determine that if you think about it for a second.
With flats you still want a majority of the trail traffic to be coyote, but it isn’t quite as critical since the set is not directly on the trail.
Blinds are extremely effective if you have a good eye for reading tracks and pan placement.