Anyone can catch a racoon when setting a DP in center of heavy used trail. Im talking about the less than ideal locations and what to do to increase the odds of catching a nest raiders attention.
#1 I always cover DP with something to keep mice from stealing bait. Iv seen the mice lick oil residue completely out leaving no scent.
#2 If I set high bank I will throw or squirt trail of food or trailing scent down into creek.
#3 if working wide draws with many parallel trails i will set a central one. Then leave a trail of fish oil to all the other trails. Don't want to know how many racoons cut my trailing scent and keep walking straight.
#4 If trapping property line will give a squirt of trailing scent across fence onto neighboring property.
#5 This has worked couple time but no guaranty. Had places where racoons had no set trails and kinda wide open. Hung a piece of white trash bag 24" off ground and set trap under. Worked just like bobcat sets.
#6 Osage fence rows I have better luck setting trails going from trunk to trunk in center rather than outside edges even if corn is planted up to trees.
Would love to hear your tricks to more efficient trapping.

When I’m looking to catch whatever comes along I generally add more traps. Try to cover all options.

We had a dry season this year in Arkansas so the coons were not running creeks as they were dry. I put DP's in locations i would not normally set trying to thin out the coons for the turkeys. Dog food in the trap and welch's grape jelly about 4 feet high smeared on a nearby tree. The older the jelly got (i kept in non refrigerated) the better it worked. I set them randomly along my k9 route on the deer club by the house. Caught more coons this year than i have in the last five years.

I only have so many DP traps so I find im moving every 3 days. Dp have made me lazy and only been using foot hold in spots I can dig a flashy hole on steep banks fast.

Dry creeks make tuffer to find good sets locations. You setting field edges and ridge tops?

Terrain changes was what I set. Fence lines between pine plantations and oak trees. Four wheeler trails. Near any deer feeders I could find.

Back when I was running and training hounds I kept a few locations baited up for coon. A bucket or drum dug into a bank at an angle so that it would hold water then filled with corn and allowed to sour. A packet of grape koolaid and some sugar to sweeten the deal. Always good for starting pups or a first night catch if I needed a live one for a drop.
Soured keeps out the deer but not hogs.

Doing NWCO work I rely on baiting heavy to get these dumpster diving coons attention.

Check your legalities on open bait though.

I have found that where ever the food is you will find animals that are trying to eat it.....find the food and more often then not you find the animal

I heard adding a beer helps start the sour. When I looked into trying I could not find the recipe again. Thanks

Certain times of the year can be head scratcher knowing what prefered food source. Now most crop fields are clean and not sure what eating.

What crops were they eating? Whatever it was, put that in the DP. Generally can’t go wrong with corn or peanuts.

Corn fields clean by now along with fall fruits.

Most coon have an annual cycle in my experience. However, evironmental changes can affect that cycle at times.

They all are drawn to the water as their base food forageing area, then depending upon the habitat, they forage hard on the crops to fatten up, then in the areas that have such the wild grapes get hit hard in the woods, then as the mast crops peter out they head back to the water, old farms, sheds, hay storage areas etc.

DP traps are a good tool but I have seen far too many coon pass them up late in the season. I prefer coil spring and longspring traps for much of my serious coon work. Early on in a season the DP's have success, but most will find out as time marches on you will miss many coon that would have been caught with a 1.5 coil trap set for effect.

This time of year wonder if food sources like mice are big when in hay and old buildings. Creeks are absent of frogs unless able to find them hibernating this time of year. Not much ice in MO right now.

Unless I put DP at base of den tree Im sure many are doing walk by. I need to start doing dirt hole sets instead of relying on the DP and using gland lure. Difficult doing trail sets this time of year as they can go just about anywhere.

talk to your local farmers they will tell you which fields get hit harder why trap a field edge if the field only has 4-5 coon when another field close by has 20-30 in it

I've done contract nest raider work for the last 5 years. A few things I have learned are. Nest raider control and fur trapping are two completely different things. My clients expect me to eliminate as many raccoons, possums and skunks as possible. I've found that DP 's alone don't get this done. Anytime I see a DP refusel or a trap on it's side and bait gone I put in a dirt hole with a foothold, vast majority of the time next check or two the culprit is waiting for me. I also make some water sets with foothold traps to pick up the raccoons that don't seem to want to work a dryland set. I also place a golf ball or small flat rock on top of each DP, keeps the mice out and enables me to check them at from ATV with no stop. Hope this helps you out, just a few things, among many that really upped my catch ratio.

Bucket sets on field edges, groves, building sites for coons. I'm in NW Iowa so major ag country. 220s in culverts, holes under foundations, concrete piles and also bucket sets for skunk and opossum. Seems a skunk finds a dry culvert with one end plugged hard to resist. Bucket sets I found bait determines the catch more than a specific location. That being said you won't catch where they aren't.

Capping your DP, are you using any kind of sent or just 100% visual?

This year talking legalize 220 in MO. Will need to try some bucket sets to up skunk and possum catch not interested in my dog food. Thinking good for spots with less than ideal trails and good visual. What baits you using for buckets.

I use the cheapest dry cat food I can find, I then mix in a small amount of fish oil and shellfish oil. I use that in most of my sets.

BC I don’t think 220’s are legal in MO yet. It was up for discussion but not sure it passed.

Will check into and was not sure. Thanks

We will see.

AI Overview
Based on proposed regulations from the Missouri Department of Conservation (MDC), the use of Conibear (body-gripping) traps up to 7 inches—which includes 220 traps—in dryland sets on private property is expected to be legalized for the 2026-2027 season.
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Here are the key details regarding this change:
Approval Status: The Missouri Conservation Commission gave initial approval to this change in May 2025, with final implementation expected to take effect on April 1, 2026.
Conditions: The new rule allows these traps to be used on private land, but they cannot be set in paths commonly used by people or domestic animals, and they cannot be set along public roadways.
Context: This change is part of a broader expansion of furbearer trapping and hunting opportunities, which also includes allowing the use of snares on dry land on private property.
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Honestly hard to believe but for me this year, marshmallows dipped in bacon or beef grease from a frying pan has out produced most for skunk l. Opossum and coon have been hammering anything from sardines to dry cat food soaked in tuna juice then I mix in cherry Kool aid powder. Ridiculous but works. I tend to lean more towards meat and strong fish smells later on. Fruity smells early. Don't be afraid to use a 160 if legal. They really work good on coon and opossum and skunk. Neck catches almost 100%

I posted this several pages ago. Coon like a mystery regardless of the bait. If the DP has a cover that’s movable, they’ll work it. My partner had some DPs he hadn’t cleaned out for a couple years. They contained dry cat food. We use white Z-caps to keep the mice out.

Anyway, we think those traps caught the bigger coon because there were movable covers to explore rather than the odor of the bait.

DP’s have their place but in my opinion they are slightly over rated. Will they catch raccoons? Absolutely. But I know from experience that when the coon walked past the DP and got nailed in my 160 on his trail right by the DP, that is a good feeling. Coilsprings in sets also will get raccoons set by DP’s when the coons just don’t feel like fully engaging with the DP trap. Or when maybe you think the coons are onto your DP’s and conibears and they aren’t engaging your dirt holes or flat sets, you start blindsetting coils and longsprings on there natural trails and you start catching them again. I know nobody is all that serious about catching coon now unless you’re getting paid for them, but when they were at $20-25 a piece you really tried whatever to catch them.

Spot on. They are a great tool, but there is often better options.

I wonder if a % of DP walk by are a late season learned experience. When you see a racoon with hand in two different DPs it makes me wonder.

I think it's just the nature of the trap. It takes time and commitment for them to get caught. Sometimes they are interested enough to stop and work the trap, sometimes not. And unlike most other types of sets, they aren't going to get caught unless they fully commit.

BC-Buck… that maybe has something to do with it but I think trapdog1 is onto it imo. Have you ever sat on a river bank or in the woods and seen just how fast a coon can cover 100 yards when it really wants too? They really move, and that night they might not be interested in spending time digging in a DP trap. Buy my conibears in a natural trail or a blindset foothold has the potential to grab him without him working any set.

I do a fair bit of nest raider work. I use an equal number of DPs and snares. Lots of of them.
I can set a ton of them out in a much shorter period of time compared to footholds.
I catch the ones that are coming from their living room heading to the dining room in the DPs and the full ones in the snares.
I have had great results doing it this way.
I still say that the most carefully prepared coyote set is the best for catching raccoons, but the time that it takes to make those sets is not conducive with the catch numbers that I am currently experiencing.
Keep in mind, nest raider trapping ins't the same as setting a goal of X number of raccoons for a decent fur check. I have to catch as close to all of them as possible.

Thanks for using Welches grape jelly Ive been a concord grape farmer my whole life and the majority of our concord grapes get sold to Welches. If you can keep jelly from washing away it makes and excellent bait and call lure. Once dried well it doesn't wash of easy and sticks like glue. Also sends off a strong calling card as long as any of it remains.