Guys, I am really down right now.

Went out this morning to check my line and noticed the ground was a bit tore up where I had made the reset from my first ever coyote catch. So I walked out there to check it.
I clearly had caught something, but that something was gone. Not only was the critter gone, but my trap and anchor and everything was gone.

Best I can tell, it dug down the anchor chain far enough that it could pull it out. (Deep center hole in picture.)

I had reset the trap in a lower bed then original grade because the first coyote had dug a nice little hole so I thought I would try to make a step down. But I didn't pull up the anchor and restake it.

So it looks like I lost a Bridger #2 fully modified with an MB finned chained super stake earth anchor AND most likely my 2nd coyote.




After that debacle, I moved to my next set and it had been messed with but no catch either. The edge the trap jaw is just slightly exposed nearest the hole.



Frustrated and sad... I guess I'll be waiting for a call from the DNR if anyone ever finds that coyote with my trap on its foot.

Thanks for letting me vent.

Had a mt lion take one of our traps one year, found the 3/4 stake bent in half and the trap gone. Never found either the cat or trap.

A bad deal, but learn from it and move on. You'll catch more!
And if you haven't already, be sure to check the brush and whatever else the yote could get tangled up in in the area. You might get lucky.

The longer you trap the better chance you have for having days like this. It hurts more to loose the equipment more than the coyote now days.

Happens to all of us…..doesn’t hurt to give that trap a good pull after a catch to make sure it’s still solid. Even then, it may happen. Had it happen to me once last year as well. Hang in there and keep after them!

Bad deal but take it as a learning experience. I know it can happen to anyone.

In the second picture it looks like a coyote track right by the exposed jaw. Unless you made that. Was the trap bedded solid?

Definitely look around the brush for a hung-up coyote. I had an otter get hung up in a mink set that had a #1 long spring guarding it. The box was demolished, and surrounding area trashed. I knew an otter got hung up but assumed it got in the creek and gone forever. An hour later, as I was walking back to the truck, I looked the area over again and as I was standing there, I heard a rustling behind me. I turned to look and saw a clump of willows moving. There was "my" otter, and the trap chain and wire tightly wrapped around a clump of willows.
Don't give up, yet.

If you don't find the catch hung up in the brush make sure to call your local warden and let them know what happened so if someone finds the trap out of season, or set illegally you won't get a ticket

And a FINNED super stake too? Any sign of people tracks? Boots or blood?

Thanks everyone.

No I didn't make that coyote track. I've really been focused on bedding the traps solid.

It's possible the sand froze a bit over the pan since it was 17 F that night and I didn't have any means of preventing freezing in this set because we hadn't been having such cold temps.

Nope no boot tracks or blood that I could find.

It was pretty much set smack dab in the middle of mine and the neighbor's combined 160 acres. Their 80 is pretty much wide-open fallow field with a few large trees. Mine is more wooded but I would guess it took off into the neighbor's field

I looked around my swamp edge buy didn't find anything.

I have never seen a catch circle with only a quarter section worked.
I’ve yet to have a coyote dig at the center of a circle.
Any digging is always on the outer edge at the chain’s end.

If it was a coyote, he was not in there long or it would have been a full circle.
An earth anchor driven way too shallow would be the only explanation I can think of.
If it was a flat anchor, I could see that happening, but not a super stake.
It seems highly unlikely he would pinpoint that spot and not track up the rest of the ground
Perhaps a second coyote came in and dug out the hole after the pullout.

H82, how deep did you drive your anchors and did you set them?
In that soil, I would drive the anchor at least twelve inches. That way it would set at about ten
I would suggest you mark your driver to eliminate any guesswork.

Keep in mind you are trapping coyote.It is challenging even on the best days.
Don't get discouraged. Stick with it and more coyotes will come your way.

I wonder if you have other animals in your area that could have gotten caught, bear or wolf for example? It would take a lot more to anchor them than a coyote.

There is black bear in the area. No wolves that I know of. Bobcats and possibly (but not likely) a cougar as well.

TEJAS, I pound the stake driver all the way down into the ground because we have sand, it's pretty easy to drive. There have been times that I have forgotten to "set" the anchor.

I know I did give the trap a good tug after the initial catch, and it seemed secure.

But what I've noticed is that if you dig down and get close enough to the anchor, when you pull up, they just "pop" out of the sand.