Flat Sets will reel in a lot more old timers if you set as many flats as you do hole sets.

Flats can't catch old coyotes on their own. You need to bring "A" game blending to help sell the deal.

It can easily make or break a set even at the best location with the best attractants.

I would put it right up there with the top keys to making consistent catches on savvy coyotes.

This old fella made good use of his choppers.

Pretty well used up those teeth

Bet he had a time eating most common coyote foods (deer, rabbits, javelinas etc)

That one has killed a lot of fawns!!! good catch!!!

Attractant Application & Presentation

I did a little experiment I thought a few you folks might like to hear about.
The last five coyotes I posted up all have several things in common.
One is very general. They were all caught on flat sets.
This gang set consisted of seven traps. The same attractant(s) were used at all sets.
Each time I refreshed attractants I selected a single trap and applied the same attractant as the others, but in a different manner.
Keep in mind these sets are only feet apart.

Three times in a row, the single set with the different application held the caught coyote.
On the fourth refresh I used the same application on two sets next to each other.
Those two sets caught the double you see above. Five coyotes in a row is not a coincidence.

I’ve preached this time and time again. Little things can and will make a big difference on the line.
This is especially true when the grind is on an Wile E. brought his “A” game to work.
This is not something I would do for a long period of time, but it sure did seem to work well as a change-up from the usual pitches.

Can you give examples of different ways you are applying lure/scent?

Was there any one method that stood out?

Also, what are you applying the attractant to? Is it the same or different type of object at each flat set?

My apologies for being so vague fellas.
I wanted to see if folks could possibly figure out what triggered those five catches.
That includes both attractant & application..

Attractant(s) are applied with the forethought that they can be moved if needed.
A general example is a flat set using poop, urine, and/or lure.
If lure is used it is always put on a stick.

All sets are made identical except for the presentation of one attractant at one set.

There is no visual variance between the seven sets.


I hope this answers both of your questions.
I'm interested to see what you guys come up with.

Does anybody have an idea as to what change might have been made to spark those five consecutive catches?

Have you noticed such a jump on your line when you made a simple alteration?

I would guess you moved the attractant to the upwind side from where the prevailing wind comes from so the trap is downwind of the attractant... Except knowing your skill set I am kind of assuming you had already done that initially.

How did you change the presentation without causing visual variation between the sets? Not trying to be dense - this is super interesting stuff and I want the specifics so I can try to replicate it!

Since you said that all sets were visually the same, I'm assuming they were all set on scat? Just trying to see what variables we controlled for here

When you use lure on a stick, are you just planting that right in the ground?

My guesses so far

Is you applied less of the scent to the traps that caught

Or you applied the scent in a slightly different orientation to the trap
ie majority scent was at 12 to trap, odd one maybe 10
Trying to capitalize on some pattern of approach you have noticed by tracks left at the unproductive traps

To achieve or learn what you are doing takes many days of learning to see and notice what needs to be done in order to make the next move. It took me awhile to but I finally figured out what you were always say is to show ol Wiley what he wants to see when he is traveling in his environment.And that was when he walked down a road like they do here he is seeing poop and smelling urine. So with that putting another coyote in his path it is not as app to set him on alert especially if he she is an older coyote.I would say if you freshened up the scat on the sets you were referring with a fresh pile in a different location on the set I would think that would help.