Great series of questions Oreamnos !

No matter what number of traps I have in the presentation, I stick to one rule.

I show the Wile E. what he expects to see and smell in that specific situation and location.

I have mentioned this numerous times in this thread.
It is one of the most crucial aspects when it comes to quick catches and snagging older coyotes.
Countless illustrations throughout this thread show flat sets using poop and urine as the attractants.
Those are the attractant choices because that is what the coyotes left behind.
They expect to see answers to their marks, so that is what I give them.

You don’t have avoidance when you show them visuals and olfactory attractants that are common to that place and circumstance.
When you show them attractants foreign to that spot you are asking for trouble.
This will not only get you a lot of avoidance, it can also put all coyotes that encounter those sets on high alert.
Putting a host of strange smells in one location can get you twenty yard walk-around passes and/or avoidance of the entire area altogether.
The same applies to visual attractants. A stark or out of place visual can really kill a set.

Keep in mind the catch circle can be a huge deterrent, but it can also be the absolute best attractant you can have at your disposal..
Learning when, where, & what to add to that fresh catch circle if anything at all takes more than just a little bit of thought.
Think about what is left in the circle and what addition would best accompany that set in that specific situation.
In a gang setting, often times the fresh set next door is all you need.

Years ago catch circles meant the death of that specific set location.
It was to the point where I would pull the trap because it was a dead spot as far as a second catch was concerned.
Now a hot catch circle is certain death in most cases.
The devil is in the details. So is Wile E.

I hope all you trappers out there had a Merry Christmas.

Here is a young female.

She is the third remake catch at this set as well as the third female.

Usually the face matches the teeth.

Sharp Features - Young Age

Here is a pair of questions for the T-Man Coyote Crew.

How old do you think this coyote is?

What signs led you to your conclusion?




This little male is the third coyote caught in this set.
The previous two catches were adult females.
The female preceding this male was super old.
I believe she easily exceeded ten years of age.

Two portrait photos of this fella will follow.

I will play

2yr old maybe

He is not filled out, like a lanky teen.

Small waist, thin looking legs and thin face all lead me to that

He does have a scar or 2 that indicate he has been in it with something. Possibly like a teen, thinking he is ready to go to the top of the pecking order but getting a dose of reality

I will guess 1 year old. Hind end in first photo looks awkward like dogs do in the puppy growth stage. Face looks very pup like. Lean features, something about the eyes tells me pup.

I'll go with 4 - 6 years of age. It's a Texas coyote; you'll see that lean or lanky look in them in the warmer climates. Looks more like he's put a lot of miles on. He does look a little worn and drawn from his adventures, but I don't deal with Texas coyotes every day, so just guessing. The teeth will give us a better estimation.

Here is another profile.

He looks a bit older in this photo.

What was the teeth like?

Now I am wondering if he is more like 8

Got that post prime body like a 90yo cowboy

Like Chad, waiting on teeth pics

CD & BT, I was wanting folks to take a guess based on outward appearance before I told the rest of the story.
There are earlier posts talking about features that provide clues.

This particular coyote had a very small frame resembling a yearling, although I have never seen a youngster with that many battle scars.
His size alone led me to believe that he might not be that old.
He didn’t really look sick, but as you can see he looks somewhat frail with obvious muscle wasting on his frame and skull.

You are right, that last pic he definitely looks much older. Now I'm real curious.

7 year old , those scar's have been healed for years, and I'm betting his teeth are almost gone

....And you would have won that bet WD.


My apologies for not getting a dental shot of this particular coyote.
I try to get a few photos of any coyote with substantial wear.
Somehow this little fella got by me.

What I do have is a good written record.
This coyote in particular had extreme wear on both his K-9’s & incisors.

In this photo you see no white on the bottom jaw.
The incisors were all but gone, and the K-9’s are nothing more than yellow nubs.





This coyote has me puzzled.
You can’t ignore the teeth wear and scars, but the very small frame has me stumped.
It is almost like his body never reached a mature size.

Maybe he had a thing for bone marrow , or it's genetic
Some critters have a genetic flaw that makes them have a smaller body
Other times it will make them a giant by comparison to the rest of the species.

Maybe he survived Parvo like the Catahoula my dad had when I was a kid

Dad nursed him through it but he never got as big as he should have

Most likely a genetic issue or maybe he only got enough nutrition early to survive.

I bet he didn't eat any less deer fawns in his adulthood than others though

Long time thread reader, first time poster.

I’m slowly working my way through the 92 pages for the second time and I am realizing that I have got to step up my flat set game. This is my second year trapping seriously at all and I have caught 21 coyotes but they have all come out of dirt holes. I’ve got several flat sets out but I haven’t had one connect yet, with only one that I can remember being worked by a coyote. I’m to the point that I don’t even like making a flat set because the confidence is long gone.

Through my thought process with all of this I got to wondering, if you didn’t have the sand conditions that allowed you to read tracks so well, do you think you would still be using some dirt holes and not 100% flat sets?

Thanks to all of the experienced guys posting on this thread! It is a ton of help to someone just starting on the journey to hopefully become a Coyote Man!

I personally wouldn't worry about making flat sets right now if they are not working for you. Stick with what's working and try a flat set from time to time. You're correct, a lot of coyote trapping has to do with confidence. Stick with the dirt hole for now and stack them up.