Good to hear you are making progress. I was able to put 3 in the box this morning.

Was gonna post a pic but just can’t figure it out.

I picked up probably a 3yo male on the 13th. Pipe set with Locklear's Coyote Claymore 2 on a cotton ball, along with a q tip of June's Fox frenzy.

I’ve had very good luck with Jamison’s mouse musk oil and quality urine

As a Predator control trapper in sheep and goat country, I’d love to take summer off. I did when I first started. But I have trouble turning down a rancher who is losing livestock. The same goes for the many high fence exotic ranches. I go where and when I’m needed. But there is a better way…

I spend a lot of time educating landowners. I try to get them to think ahead and hire me BEFORE the killing starts. An ounce of prevention…

The best ranchers have me come in a month or two before the babies hit the ground. I can slip in and set real sneaky sets. The coyotes are less on edge. They are acting natural. They are vulnerable.

I’m convinced that once they start killing livestock, they get more paranoid. They get focused on only the livestock. They are more likely to run straight in and kill, eat and be gone. Less likely to work a set on the way in or out. Hunting by more by sight. It all makes trapping them harder.


Plus… an overlooked part of starting early is the fact that I inevitably bounce some of the most paranoid coyotes out of the area. I have seen many dig outs leaving a high fence ranch when I start catching coyotes. The smart ones know to leave when they see/hear others get caught. I’d love to catch that coyote. It is probably a killer, but I’ll take the win every time.

I hope this helps.

Slim Pederson always said (many) coyotes know they're not supposed to be killing sheep, and they act accordingly when doing so!


I really promote prevention to my producers. I can kill the killer, but it wont bring back the stock its already killed. Give me free rein at least from February through May first (preferably just year round). I wont guarantee we wont have any problems, but I bet we have a lot less over the summer! Most of my sheep guys get that. Its some of the neighbors that dont. That can cause some real problems and can really make the task harder. Having neighbors that arent on board is a pretty big issue and frankly, the biggest hurdle I face in my area.

Late summer/early fall though is when I always start getting nervous. Those family groups start bouncing around, really covering ground. Places that havent seen a coyote in months will all of a sudden have a family group move in from miles away. Those pups are big, and they're learning how to hunt. Can be some big wrecks before you even know they're there. When the phone rings in August/September I always answer it apprehensively!

In fact, Im working on two groups right now that have popped up "out of nowhere". They havent killed yet, and hopefully we wont give them a chance too. Thats where knowing your country, knowing the places that just seem to attract coyotes comes into play. I keep pretty close tabs on some areas, waiting for the inevitable group that will move in there.

Missed one. I've double checked these sets for the last 4 days because I check them first about 4am before leaving for work.
Thankfully I've only found deer snaps and misses in the evening.
Back to later morning checks tomorrow.
Attractant is a group of 2 coyote droppings; one full of hog hair and the other full of mesquite beans. I dosed them first with coyote gland lure, then refreshed with smc urine.

I caught a young male a few days ago, then a coon dug out the remake (and sniffed over the second set downwind of the catch circle.)

Darn coon and possum can ruin the best made coyote set.
Love your sandy ground!

Those 2 spots depicted in these last posts only have a "covering' of sand. The gumbo underneath is like a brick 🤣
That sand does make bedding and blending a snap, though.

So I had a trap dug out by a coyote last night. It was snapped in the bed the night previous, so I just put it back in.
It may have been a coyote that snapped it (I don't check every trap for tension, just spot check), or it was something else and the coyote had seen the snapped trap and knew it was there.
I left it as is.



There is a second set nearby and there were scratches/back kicks next to it. I left it alone and about 8 feet up the trail I put in a Mafia set with #4 LS Sleepy Creeks with electrical box pans.
Coyote dropping with SMC urine between the traps.
(I also put out 6 DPs to hopefully get that coon!)


The traps are about 4 o'clock and 10 o'clock from the dropping, inline with the trail, of course.

Another young one this morning. A female this time.
Same trap and set that caught the last one.
And I put it back just like the last one.

Nice work! Keep hammerin' 'em!