This has probably been discussed before but let’s hear you thoughts on this question.I have heard and read about testing from a lot of guys on here . Why does a coyote react different when you bed a trap in front of a bait hole vs a Test hole. Second question especially year round trapping on same property . How long generally in your area do you have to change up set styles and bait because of avoiding sets.

Ask yourself what the difference could be with the scents being the same?? Visuals, visuals, visuals and maybe the trapper spent too much time dickin around at the set. Remember, there are two kinds of coyotes, one is neophobic and the other aggressive and that number is divided by population/competion! My test holes were simple 1” diameter and no coyotes were spooked by it as far as I could ascertain by video. I see these coyote trapping videos where they make sets that most do NOT look like any coyote digging I’ve ever seen let alone look like a simple 1” hole in the dirt!!! Remember, I said there are two kinds of coyotes, some are neophobic and others are aggressive! Which coyote do you think cares less about visuals??

The same answer applies to your 2nd question.

I decided I needed to carry this discussion a little further with a 2nd reply. For many years I’ve advised trappers wanting to test their lures never to test the lure at a set, never!! If a trappers wants to find out the quality of the scent he’s testing, WHY bring in the addition of the visual of a set, any set?? As soon as the trapper makes addition to a scent test, they loose all objectivity toward the original purpose! Never made sense to me!

I think alot of it has to do with how much scent you leave. I actually did a fair amount of testing on this exact subject using non functioning traps. If memory is correct I made 16 test sets. 2 one inch holes about a foot and a half apart. Same bait down each hole. Both holes I made a trap bed but only one had a non functioning trap in front of it. Traps had been dyed and waxed a couple years before and put in storage. Learned some things and also created some more questions. A guy who makes his living killing coyotes year around and I trust when it comes to coyotes as much as anyone I know once told me while discussing this topic than if a coyote is looking for a trap hes going to be able to find it with his nose no matter what you do. After seeing a lot of coyotes reaction id agree with him. Ive seen coyotes on video that I cant get to work test sets even using the best formulations I've tested. One of the most intresting thing I saw while doing this test was at one set about about a mile from my house. Highly probably these coyotes had encountered numerous of my test sets and my real sets. The hole without a trap got dug at least 4 times over about 3 weeks(very likely more just couldn't tell for sure by reading the sign), once even after I pulled the non functioning trap. They never dug the dirt hole with the trap even after I removed it.

To your second question. Id say as soon as you have a coyote avoid that set. Thats speaking in general. Unless you have a camera or snow it can be hard to know if a coyote avoided your set. Luckily for us novice trappers theres generally new pups each year and there is usually more coyotes out there than we realize and theres likely another coyote or three that will move though that area again. One thing I can say after doing alot of testing is the first time a coyote encounters a set is when it will have the most attraction to him. If a coyote encounters a set in the first few days the human scent can be too strong and cause him to not work the set and he might work it a few days later when the scent has lessened or if hes real cautious he might avoid it the rest of the season because of the human scent. Also if hes really hungry he might eventually work up enough courage to work a set that he avoided earlier but in my country coyote usually dont get real hungry.

Thanks for the input on this I was hoping to hear your thoughts on this.

I read a story/ study a guy had a snow machine and the coyote followed it but any where he stopped the coyote got off the trail and went around it was very interesting and I don't remember all the specifics but the longer he was there the longer they avoided it .

I have to admit I have been slow to changing my tactics on coyotes mostly because im a hobby trapper and we have lots of coyotes so one can put up pretty good numbers just catching the easy ones but in a market where they aren't really worth much putting up numbers hasn't been a big goal so the last several years I've focused a bit on catching the harder ones for the challenge. If you want to catch most all of them in an area you trap every year your really going to have to change things up. Ive caught some that im pretty sure would have never fell to a set with any scent. Those ones are where snares and blind sets come into play.

Yes Sir I agree that the camera tells a story.i set my first camera up on a set last weekend actually 2 sets about 10 ft apart. I check the camera about 2:15 in the morning and had a coyote. The next morning I went in to box the coyote and it had mange so I had to dispatch him. With other obligations I had to attend I did not reset the trap so I did not bother with removing any blood. Well when I checked the cam the next morning a coyote had visited that previous catch circle . Came in urinated on the site and walked off. There was a fair amount of blood and it didn’t seem to bother him. Without a camera I would not have learned this.

And I will agree with Seldom that if you make a set that's ots obvious where your trap is at because its the only place with bare dirt or you have blocked it down to the point its obvious where your trap is your hurting your catch rate. Spending too much time making the set or tinkering with it will have negative impacts also. Those are the things I've learned to get better at if I want to improve.

The guys that think all coyotes are easy just dont realize everything that's going on or are just ignoring it to make themselves feel better. Ive been there too. But the more you observe and listen the more you realize theres more to it than just catching the easy ones. Now if your in an area with lots of coyotes and have lots of access and your going for numbers its probably not worth messing with the tougher ones. Roll though the easy ones and move on.

The blood is often an attractor, I dispatch with a 22 usually, and I often toss the dispatched animal on the backing while I remake the set. This way the next animal through must walk across the trap to investigate the blood. Sure it spooks some animals, but so do catch circles, and I've caught a lot in remakes done this way.

Have any of you read Kirk DeKalb's book on the real reason animals are detecting your sets? If any of you have, do you feel that's a reason animals are reacting differently to the tested attractant when a trap is bedded in front of it?

He was on here a few years ago talking about magnetic fields being detectable by some critters. Alot of people blow him off. I down loaded an app on my phone (not sure how a smart phone can detect it but it does)that can measure the magnetic fields but I couldn't come up with a viable way to test his theory. I will say that different traps have stronger and weaker magnetic fields and different areas of each traps has stronger areas. Usually the jaw pivot points having the strongest field. And that's were I get uncovered the most when I have adigger.

Another thing I'll add is being around cattle my whole life I suspicion cattle that are trained to hot wire can tell when an electric fence is hot or not without touching it so maybe he is on to something.... ???

Its called a gauss meter if anyone wants to play with it. Tried to find a simple way to block or adequately reduce the field for testing but couldn't come up with a way.

I always thought cattle could smell electricity, anyways breachy cows would put their nose close to a fence and if it was hot they would go on, if it wasn't they would walk right through. I don't know if they actually smell it or not, but they can definitely detect it somehow.

As far as DeKalb, he made a pest of himself on here a few years ago, getting on every thread that had anything to do with any critters avoiding sets, trap placement, lures or anything else and went on about magnetic fields and how everyone needed to buy and read his book in order to catch stuff. Is he on to something? Maybe. But a lot of people blew him off because of his attitude.

This might shed a little light on the “Metal Detecting Coyote Theory”.
The photos below were from about six years ago when I had a wave of digs in one area and was trying to solve the problem.
Back then, the thinking was that perhaps a coyote could smell the oxidizing metal of the rusting trap buried just below their feet.
The problem digging I encountered back in 2020 prompted me to dig for answers to put an end to the mayhem.

One simple test revealed that the excessive digging was not related to the trap in any way.
It took a good while to nail down the real answer, and even longer to find the solution.

LIE DETECTOR

I made the same countermove shown in the photos countless times.
Not one coyote dug where the trap actually was after it had been moved from its original location just inches away.

Thanks TEJAS, great topic!

Dang Tejas, looking at that I'd swear he stepped right on the pan in the last pic. Did he miss it or was there something under it or some other reason it didnt go off?

Tejas I do a lot of testing in the same areas I trap.. and i have had my share of diggers. In actuality probably more than my share. I can make all the test sets I want on a location and never get a coyote digging for a trap but have set a trap in the same location and have got dug. I have made over a thousand test sets and to my memory have never had a coyote digging around looking for a trap. Ive even made a trap bed at a fair number of test sets to see if it was the loose dirt and no digging. I do agree coyotes definitely can get smart to where the trap normally gets placed and have caught what I believe was diggers by placing a second trap out of the normal position but I dont think from my experience that is the soul reason or I should be getting dug at test sets also. Ive never had a coyote dig looking for a trap at a test set if there wasn't a trap there. So im thinking theres more to the story. What's your thoughts to what I've seen.

I have read Kirk's book. I believe he has some very valid points. It has to do with EMF, Electromagnetic fields put off by metal. There are a lot of variables to consider though. The further north you go and the dryer the soil it's not going to transmit as much. Also, he found that better qualities of metal didn't put off a high field reading. So many may have not experienced many problems depending on where they live, soil conditions and the brand of trap, they used. He even stated it's a learned behavior not something they are born with. So, it's the older adult animals that would more than likely be the culprits.

I do believe animals can detect it and that may be the case as why some digging occurs with a trap bedded in front of a bait/lure test.

I have had very little issues with my sets being dug up. Most of the time it was a Grey fox or coon.I have had some uncovered slightly and reset and made a catch. Some of this I lay to my style of trapping in pre baited holes.I have had them work from a different angle after setting. If I have time I can adjust to him and catch him.

She missed it BC2.
The trap pan is right on the X.
It might look like a track by the X but there is not.
When she excavated the empty trap bed she piled about three inched of dirt right on top of the trap !
So, the tracks you see are on top of three inches of lose dirt.
Her main approach on the first dig was at the 4:30 hour.
It is evident she hit from the same angle on the second nigh,t but I missed her fronts.
Then she just stood there and dug until the trap was completely buried.

testing in the summer compared to fall or winter will give you different results and reactions from coyotes even mild food based lures will work better different times of the year what i have found is test while trapping for example i have one farm that i have trapped for nearly 20 years and always catch yotes off this one mound in the first couple of days so if im trying new lures thats the spot i try because i know what works there and a new lure should still produce because the coyotes are there

Have u tested year around to confirm this? I for the most part haven't seen any preference difference based off the time of year.

limited testing as most of my coyote trapping is done in the winter but i have trapped problem coyotes in the summer and noticed the difference some of my top producing loud lures dont seem to work as great in the summer or early fall and if you read up on some lure makers posts they will sometimes say when a lure will shine

Ive seen stuff lure makers have said that dont pan out when you ask the coyotes. And I've talked with more than a few lure makers and wonder how much "testing " some of them do? Lot of stuff kind of seems a little logical then gets said enough that it's taken for truth. And when you start testing it it doesn't quite hold water.

I agree with Yes sir’s comment. I tested starting in April and would test into August and saw do difference of attractiveness in November & December. As to the question of how much testing lure makers do? I don’t know and I never concerned myself wether the lure maker just passed out samples to buddies or tested themselves because whatever testing was or wasn't done where, maybe in a feedlot for all I know, was NOT done where I trap!!!!

When I started the coyote game I didn’t know about testing or what was good or not as far as bait goes. I stared with a couple items some worked some did not. Spent a lot of money like most did.After a few months of digging reading and learning by some here and the coyote mainly is that what works in other places does not always work as good here where I trap.I agree Mr. Fales I have not heard or seen anything being tested in my area.I use scraps that I pick up from a smoke house once a week.Those Scraps have doubled my catch. I hear folks say you catch alot of non targets on scraps.Not anymore that anything else I have used.My biggest issue here is Ants. I have reduced that some by adding used cooking oil to my scraps.Some of these coyotes will make you think that is for sure.I guess that’s what keeps me after them.

SPC, one of the things that makes the magnetic field theory hard to buy into for me is the extensive list of variables that can and do illicit the same exact response.
I don’t see how this theory could be singled out as the primary suspect amongst a lineup of known repeat offenders.

Then you have a host of conductive minerals called "Hot" rocks that will trip a metal detector just like a steel trap would.
If a coyote can indeed notice these magnetic fields, how could he isolate a handful of steel traps amongst thousands of acres of conductive mineral rocks ?

Now I understand there are places void of these conductive minerals as well. Maybe that is the caveat. It is certainly not the case here,
The area I trap is very rich in iron deposits. You cannot make a single sweep with the metal detector coil without it going off in most cases.
Maybe that along with dry conditions is why I don’t have any trouble.

Come to think of it I always thought the old theory that a coyote can detect the oxidation of the trap with his nose could be plausible.

Either way they are very interesting subjects that warrant more study.

Tejas I agree its usually a variety or combination of things but if a person or animal knows to look for an object or is looking for a particular object they are we more app to find it. I think maybe the difference between the "dumb" not knowing the trap is there and the wiser ones finding a trap is the one is looking for it. And if the have a particular spot to look for the can miss another one.

YS,, I believe most trappers gravely underestimate how good of a memory a coyote has..
The more repetition you show a coyote the more education he gains.
It is a s simple as that.

I've always thought the theory of them being able to smell oxidation could hold water. I mean I can smell rust and I don't have that good of nose. Of course it depends on where you are trapping. If you are trapping around old homesteads or old fences, there is old and rusty metal everywhere, so oxidesed metal wouldn't smell out of place.

They can absolutely smell rust.

Every spring it seems I will have a trap that probably should have been swapped out for a clean one get dug because it’s rusty. But I always seem to be rationing and trying to stretch out my trap supply so I do end up pushing my luck sometimes.

Doesn’t seem to happen to clean, or even dirty but non-rusty traps.

Light rust doesn’t concern me, but when it starts getting real crusty it’s a problem.

But I firmly believe in many situations they already know “somethings there”. Even a clean trap at a fresh set. They just don’t know what it is or care what it is, why would they? There’s rusty metal buried all over out there.

Iron, trap coatings, rust, fresh dirt smell, loose dirt, etc, coupled with human smell, are all potential red flags for certain animals.

Most dug trap problems I have are the result of skunks, fox, and other critters (swift fox are the WORST). And I believe most issues relating to dug or scratched at traps are a result of severe scent contamination, really poor bedding, or loose soil over the trap. I’ll have a lot more problems if I don’t firm up my trap bed, especially in warmer weather with real tentative coyotes.

A truly educated, smart coyote just leaves it all alone and most trappers likely never even know that animal exists.




I bury my traps pretty deep. Usually 1.5-2”.

That helps hide any wiggle there might be. Once I firm up 2” it may end up just being one depending on soil type. The wind may take 1/2”. And, should an animal scratch at it, I’d rather they not find something with an easy swipe or two. If they find something fast and easy, they’re going to continue to work at it. If they don’t, they may satisfy their curiosity, move on and get caught.

Years ago I had a coyote barking at me from some isolated buttes as I was setting a fur line in early November.

The first check back every set in the vicinity of those buttes had been uncovered and the trap drug out of the bed.

I believed the coyote threat barking me watched me make those sets. Investigated those sets “on point”, and was looking for something to be wrong.

Several checks (and more issues) later lo and behold a coyote was threat barking me from those buttes again.

So I snuck back in with a rifle and sniped a young gyp.

All the issues stopped.

If they’re looking for something to be “wrong”, they will most likely find something wrong.

Well said Boone

Good discussions and good input from an all of you. I have learned some things that i can apply next time I am able to get out.I have been diagnosed with prostate cancer and will most likely be down for a few months after I make a treatment decision. Keep me in your prayers please.

I’m truly sorry to hear about your prostate cancer Slipknot! I wish you a speedy & great recovery!

SK, I’m sorry to hear that sir.
We will keep you in our thoughts & prayers down South Texas way.
If you need anything just let us know.

Expect good news post op.We will do the same.
I hope you get back to killing coyotes sooner than you expect.

Great discussion you started Slipknot! The kind that the best K9 trappers can read and post……like some of them already have.
Were you diagnosed early? My wife’s uncle had trouble taking a leak for 4 friggin years. You know how us guts are though. Had he gone in a year ago, it would’ve been not too bad and treatable, but now it’s too late. He still running around and having fun, but the days are numbered. Good thing he retired at 55yrs old and spent some of his pension.
Good luck, God bless and hang in there SK!

Thank You Mr. Fales.
Thank You Tejas. I intend to get back after them as soon as I can.
Thank You Shakey. I believe I was caught early enough according to the Doctor and Test . I have another Test in a week and I am believing and Trusting God will Heal me. But if not he is Still God and I am gonna trust him.
I also thought this was a good topic and question to ask. We have a top notch group of Coyote Guys on here with a wealth of of knowledge.

Right on SK! That’s good news, you’re gonna be all fine.

I understand the variables could bring up questions. That's why for the most part I don't think it affects trappers to an extent be concerned with it. But I guess I'm not ready to discredit the fact that some animals can detect it. Maybe certain animals more than others.

I know a lot of Kirk's testing was probably geared more towards Beaver and he felt it really gave him the upper hand on those educated adult ones. Then when you're targeting animals with the use of cages, I would imagine it would generate a greater emf in that area.

Here's the forward to his book stating the testing that was done:

My findings based on infield testing, observation, real-time video, research periodicals, scientific studies, and reading trappers experiences with the devices mentioned. This work was done over 23 years trapping professionally. During this time, I experimented with body grip traps, round and standard, of various sizes. Snares and foothold traps were used of several sizes and snare lock types. Testing was done with experience from over 120 different cage trap designs, many having multiple sizes in length, width, and height, as well as trigger design. They were square, round, rectangle, triangle, and pyramid in shape. This included doors that locked with rings, powered and not. Traps with powered saloon-style doors on each end. Guillotine doors of various designs. Many had swing-down powered lock bar doors combined with some traps that had at least three different door designs on the same trap. Triggers on the cage traps used have been multiple numbers of pan designs to over six different wire trigger styles and type. Using trapping devices over 18,000 animals were caught, in the wild, and over 60,000 sets were made. During a 13 year period, of the 23 years, over 400 locations were set each year. More than one hundred thousand acres were accessed and over 14,000 animals were caught. In most of the 13 years, the bulk of trapping was done, in less than 120 days, with a 24hr check. 95% of the work that was done removing animals was Animal Damage Control. It wasn’t until a magnetometer was purchased that the way the animals were responding to set traps and hunting/ trapping devices made complete sense. For almost four years, I suspected, with very strong beliefs, but never could prove scientifically. I was always given doubt, from my findings, by respected professionals that I thought had the same experiences I had and the ability to interpret them. Concentrating on “the most effective traps”, the only thing they “all” had in common was a decrease in magnetic field intensity and a larger percentage of adult animals being caught in the traps with fewer refusals.

I’m guessing this book is called AN OUTDOORSMAN'S GREATEST DISCOVERY FOR THE 21ST CENTURY?
Sounds interesting. Figured it should be a good read and worth ordering.

That's it. It's interesting and makes you think about some things. I'm not sure it's going to be a game changer for you but if you want to understand it a little more in detail then it's ok. I loaned the book out a few years back and never have got it back or bothered to pick it up.

Kirks idea could be right on but like human scent to a degree, in that we cant eliminate it so we just have to work around it and it could definitely have more bearing on cage traps or maybe to a lesser degree snares where the target animal has to enter the magnetic field with its whole body other that just place its foot on it....??? Just food for thought.

I will add that in my testing the more dirt we put over a foothold trap the less detectable on a guasse meter the magnetic field is

I used to think if you just backed off a screwed up coyote for a few weeks, give them room to breath, time to wind down, that they’d “forget”.



Now I feel an experienced coyote never truly forgets.

They may let their guard down (briefly), or take a calculated risk at some point that doesn’t work out for them, but they don’t “forget”.

My naive approach to catching them is to let them dig out every set i make for a year or two to the point they get so confident and conditioned to digging just one trap out that I can back door them with a second trap..... im a slow but determined learner... lol

So what makes an "effective" trap have less magnetic field intensity?

Type of steel?, certain models"?, heck, they're all steel...

I have sung the “Digging Coyote Blues” more than I would like to admit as well YS.
Without seeing your standard routine, it would be very tough to come up with a credible answer of any kind.
And even then it would most likely be tough to nail down.

If you made thousands of mock sets and were not dug up on a single one then you would think there would be a good explanation behind the anomaly.
Perhaps there is a part of your real set routine the coyotes have picked up on somehow.

After many rounds with a long list of primarily adult female diggers,
I found one blanket solution for the whole lot of them.

If you remove, all potential reasons for digging the mayhem will usually stop.

Those reasons include but may not be limited to:

certain attractants
set looks & construction
how attractants are applied
fresh dirt smell in trap bed

When I made this adjustment, the digs came to an abrupt halt for good.
I cannot recall the last time I walked up on a dig at ground zero, much less an exposed trap.

How are you removing the fresh dirt smell in the trap bed? I know in the right conditions you can pound in a bed rather than dig it, but you still need to cover the trap.

Bone dry dirt brought in from home and blended in .

This method is for conditions where your surface dirt is dry maybe down an inch or so,
but below that the dirt contains a good bit of moisture and the smell that comes with it.

The fresh excavated dirt from the bed is left on my tarp.
Dry surface dirt gathered from the immediate area replaces the fresh earth from the newly dug trap bed
Keep in mind the bottom of the bed still holds that telltale smell of fresh dug soil.
Filling it with dry dirt will help pull out moisture from the lining of the bed so the smell will better blend with the neutral smell of surface dirt on top.
When the set is done the tarp is gathered up with the fresh dirt and slung in the air to disperse it over a wide area.

Keep in mind in some cases replacing the bed with dry is not enough to negate the fresh dirt smell of the lining of the bed.
This usually happens when there is an abundant amount of moisture below a dry surface, usually after a recent rain.
That type of soil condition will get you dug up quick.
There is a way to fix that problem, but I will keep that particular one under my hat for now.

I have had some luck with using red ant bed dirt at sets.

I gather the dirt when I come across a big ant bed. I dry it on a cement slab next to my barn. Once dry, I put it back in buckets.

I use it when I’m making sets where there’s moisture in the dirt. Not very often here.

1. It is dry, loose and a little waxy so my trap fires fast.
2. I assume it smells like ants, which is common and not a place you’d want to dig.
3. If it is really wet after a rain, blending a set is near impossible. So I just use more ant dirt and make an ant bed circle with extra ant dirt. It looks more natural than my blending after a rain.
4. The ants may or may not charge/discharge the dirt when they are working it. Above my pay scale.

It is not a silver bullet, but I think it helps. Thanks for the discussion everyone!

I also use anthill dirt at times to blend sets. In my case, usually because I am using waxed sand to bed my traps. The ant hill dirt is dry and waxy like you said and takes a lot to soak up moisture and freeze, so it makes a good thin top covering to blend the waxed sand. And it blends well in my timbered terrain where the ground is covered in the dead needles that anthill dirt is full of. It would stand out like a sore thumb in Tejas's terrain, but then I assume ants down there make their hills out of different materials that may blend much better.

I once loaded 3000lbs of steel and
every scrap yard refused it.
They were rods from a limestone crushing
rod mill. Magnetic crane
would not pick them up.
If you can measure magnetics.
try a tumbler?

Got to admit, Kirks thing was a new twist.