I have used hay sets before. And can’t say it’s my go to set. I have connected on them before, but mainly coon. I know ppl have a lot of different variations. But I have seen some videos to where the trap is not even bedded. Does anyone do it like that? Can’t imagine that would be very effective. I got a few places where digging a bed is very difficult right now. But how has everyone else’s luck been on them? Is there any tips on them?

I’ve been trying hay/straw sets this year because I really like the idea/versatility of them. I’ve done about 6 sets, each left for about 7-10 days, and like you, I’ve had minimal success - just 1 coon.

I’ve also seen the videos and articles saying you don’t need to bed your trap, which I don’t really understand. Seems lazy to me. At a minimum, even a very shallow bed that already exists on the ground to carve out a bit and the set the trap in seems valuable. I don’t see any downside to bedding the trap at least a little bit, with the exception of a bit of work. Just seems a bit lazy to me to not bed at all. I don’t think the bed has to be very deep since the trap will get covered in hay. Just enough to give the trap a concave surface to sit solidly in.

when i make hay sets its in Jan and Feb the hay i like to use is from are re-hab kennels clean out which is a mix of rabbits an coon
when im looking to place the set i try to find a brushy intersections and shy away from the wide open fields where i live if you set in the wide open you can have a couple feet of snow over your set in half a day
i like to use fresh rabbit and urine with straight gland i will try to dig somewhat of a hole or just pin the chopped up rabbit to the ground then cover with the hay(2ft high or less) i like to set 2 traps at each pile where
using a larger trap at these sets is a very good idea you should have at least one trap covering the down wind side
i chop out 2 beds just enough to keep the traps semi level with the ground and place dry hay in the beds to rest the traps on i use gutter spikes to pin the trap solid to the ground (this is refered to as power-bedding) once the trap is set i will use
one spike on each end of the base plate and tap in that in such away will pin the traps solid as they rest on the hay in the bed and for smaller traps you lift up the weak jaw and tap a spile down in flush so that the jaw rests on the
head of the nail making it rock solid as far as cover i like to use the smaller bits of hay chaff so when the traps fire the larger pieces wont get in the way the gland goes in near the rabbit and urine on top of the hay
if i have sometime i will try to take some pictures i hope this will help good luck the rest of the season

In my experience fox will hit a hay/straw set quick, sometimes the first night. Coyotes tend to hit them after they have been there a while at least in my area.

I agree that the traps should be bedded at least enough to stabilize it. Particularly for coyote.

I make mine close to how Bob described above but use fresh straw or Timothy hay. I may have to try the power bed method on the traps. The arm chair set works also but put a trap on the back side. I have had a lot of coyotes work the back side and never go into the front even with a perfect wind.

Funny this thread was made. I just made my first hay set and 3 days in had a coyote step less than an inch off my pan. I hit it with a little k9 urine to aggregate him and some lethal injection. I bedded my trap like I would any other set. Ground was frozen also, but the hay is more forgiving. Never use straw though as it is alot more stem and slick. Have seen pull outs before from it. Now, that pull out probably wasnt a great catch to begin with.

Great for fox, much better options for coyotes

I have caught coyote in hay sets when I use a big bait, like Bob does under the hay. I dig a trench in with a mattock and put a whole carcass in there, mink, muskrat, rabbit have worked for me. Then I cover with hardware cloth and pin that down, if you don't they will steal your bait and run off with it. I want them frustrated and feet moving.