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.