I catch a Coyote Academy post fairly often on Facebook and am blown away by the numbers of coyotes he often has in one location. I've had 2 and 3 numerous times and even had once had 6 within sight of each other in trail snares on a big bait on the cusp of a huge winter storm front. Many times he'll have 6-10 or more often with in 5-10 feet of each other. I'm a proponent of gang setting but rarely set that close together. Sometimes at a gate opening or if I have a couple fresh badger holes close together. He must have staggering numbers of coyotes to make gang catches like he does.

In his videos it seems he is using dirt holes almost exclusively. It tempts me to carpet bomb some of those good travelway intersections on my line. Interested in your thoughts.

Someone will correct me if Im wrong, but I think he traps a lot of dead piles and travel ways near dead piles.

Tejas has posted pics of several caught withing a small area and I am sure others have done it as well

But the majority of large number catches in a small area that I have seen posted are near feedlots

I have one picture somewhere with a caught coyote and 7 more standing around looking at it.
On a game camera so you know they were bunched up.

Wish I had 10 more sets in that area that night.

Never a bad idea to have 2 or 3 in a location

I rarely ever set just one. It’s always two and sometimes six or eight if it’s a new carcass or a really hot travel way intersection.

Historical dump stations, carcass pits or bulled dozed over pits and such will certainly allow you to stack up the catches around those areas.

Those draw areas that have several years of age on them have developed a network of different family groups. Locals and down wind animals have become familiar with that location and others like it.

You can see how it can become the best bar in town so to speak. Lots of interest developed from the big odor, lots of marking scent locatons and multiple feces from different animals.

When you know how to read such locations you set accordingly. 7 is the most I have caught with 10 sets in a good draw area. You learn that when you have caught 3-4 each night for 4 days in a row you should have spent more time setting a few more traps on day one.

I think Dr. Bob had 12 coyotes caught at a dead pile. I don't know if that was a daily check or maybe a 2- or 3-day check.

Friend sent me a pic of 13 caught in one pic

Don’t try to compare KS feedlot country to anywhere else.

The coyote densities there are insane.

There was a thermal video 10-12 years ago when thermals really started to be a thing of something like 30-40 coyotes in a very short pan of the scope on the edge of a feedlot.

SW Kansas, Western OK, SE Colorado, NE New Mexico, the panhandle, something about that region.

It’s coyote central.

I thought that probably had to be the case. We have fair numbers of coyotes bug not like that.

Marty, I would go out on a limb and say most trappers gang set just to increase their chance at snagging multiple coyotes on the same night.
Hedging against incidentals would be another popular reason.

I believe the gang set really shines when you have tough coyotes to deal with.
My goal is to have as few contestants walk away from an encounter as possible.
The increased odds gang setting provides insures way fewer coyotes walk off when compared to a single presentation.
It also greatly increases the odds of a catch on their first visit which many believe is your best chance at Wile E.
Quick catches mean less education and fewer problem coyotes on down the line.
From what I have experienced a gang set line will easily out preform a single set line simply because fewer coyotes walk away.
I set super tight groups just far enough apart where caught coyote can' get to another.
A gang set of seven traps in a line might span thirty yards give or take.

Good post...had a newbie trapper ask about catching doubles, triples etc.. guy was setting MAYBE a handful of traps a season and still wondering. Crazy!

As it's been said if you don't set the steel you can't make the catches whether you use traps or shares or a combination of both if you are using a dead pile for a main draw set every good location out and away from it to the outer edge of where you permission goes , it's as easy to check a few traps or snares in a area as it is to check one .

So set it heavy and sharpen you're skinning knife !

Do you have a high population density?

With that, do you have locations that will regularly see 2, 3, 4, 10 coyotes a night or per check period?

Are you running 24 hour check? 48? Etc etc

Lots of non-targets? Skunks and coon can easily plug up 3-4 sets at a location if it’s the right spot.

Time of year? Some times of the year (like now) coyotes are more singular in their travels. Other times they’re attached at the hip with another coyote(s).

These are things you have to answer for your area. Even more so if you have a limited amount of equipment.


I’m a huge proponent of “gang setting” when it’s applicable.

There’s other times though, where setting 2, 3, 4+ traps at a spot is just making more work and eating up iron needlessly.

I do not subscribe to the “if it’s good enough for one it’s good enough for two” mantra as a blanket SOP.

We have a fair number of coyotes but not what I’d call high densities. Not like the Midwest from what it seems. Doubles and triples at a gang set location like a dead cow are not uncommon but in my area you don’t see the density of tracks or scat that I would expect with high numbers. I’ve trapped some high density areas in eastern Washington back in the 90s and would see a lot more tracks and scat than I see in my area.

Idaho requires 72 hour checks. My checks are usually Monday-Thursday-Saturday and then Tuesday-Friday the following week. If I run two lines it is MWF and TTS.

There are not a lot of kill piles on my line. I set the few I have fairly heavy but not like the coyote academy guy. Might change that up a bit.

Very little in the way of non target catches. I’m surprised at the absence of skunk in my area. My neighbor said a decade or so ago they were overrun with them.

There are a lot of locations where I only set 2-3 traps. Like you, it depends on the site and activity in the area how heavy I set but I may start setting the kill piles considerably heavier.