I trap coyotes every summer for my cousin. He raises about 6 acres of cantaloupes and watermelons and the coyotes a murder on his watermelons. This is the tenth year, and every year it seems to get harder. I use flat sets and punch holes with only gland lure, and no urine because of the deer. I use multiple brands of gland lure to mix it up, but this year they aren't responding to the set at all. I trap in the fields and around the fields where I find sign of the yotes entering and exiting. I also use blind sets where I can find funnels they regularly walk. So far the sets have been in 4 nights and nothing but they are still coming in a eating melons. Maybe I am just to impatient this time. Its really hard to get their attention with a set when they are fixated on a large field of melons. Anyone got any suggestions for something new to try? I am actually considering calling at dusk dark and shooting.

Try snareing them.

Get a squirt bottle of the most vile stuff you can find. I’ve been using various mixtures of sour milk, horse hoof tea, lump jaw puss, and the black sludge that oozes out of a summertime dead cow.


Make a couple really well blended flat sets with a dash or urine and/or gland (think subtle). Than, squirt that nasty sludge all over the immediate area of the set(s).

Travis Chilson taught me that and it works when the heat is on.


Summertime coyotes are a different beast. Anyone that says otherwise is full of it.

Do you think beaver tail oil will do it?

I’ve found where they have their established scent posts or brought a dog to find them for you and set those. No gland or urine (aside from what the dog marked).

Might.

Only one way to find out!


You're creating a rolling station, so the louder the better. You're appealing to that response and than with the urine and/or gland giving them a focal point within that response to maybe check out.

I've had tremendous response in front of cameras with beaver tail oil in the summer. But much less response in the winter when I am actually trapping. So for summertime coyotes it should work.

But I don't consider beaver tail oil really loud or obnoxious, kind of a pleasant odor to me. Certainly not like the stuff Boone is using (lump jaw puss is a new one, I had never heard of anyone using that for trapping before) but they will roll in it extensively in the summer. So maybe try it on some sets, and something more obnoxious on others. Let them tell you what they prefer.

At least the beaver tail oil will be something new to their noses.

Can't snare in NC

Owen, if you change smells, I would move the set(s) just a short distance from the original location.
They already know where the old smells are, so a different attractant in the same suspicious spot will likely be ignored as well.

I’ve used straight BTO and caught a few. I’ve done best with Sac Oil as far as beaver smells go.

Keep in mind there should be a horde of melon munchin’ rodents in that field at night.
A fresh rat, or just a rodent smell might just do the trick.

Good Luck!

Those coyotes can eat a lot of melons in a hurry!

How much BTO do you put out at the set? I wonder if sheep's wool soaked in BTO, lightly covered would work. We are so dry that the sheep's wool should help keep the BTO scent working longer by not drying out.

Owen I don’t know that I would saturate sheep’s wool with BTO.A little goes along way. Dip the end of a qtip in the lure. And place at your set.That would work.You need be set on location .All the guys above are Good and know coyotes. They offer up some good info.

Get a small green stick maybe three inches long and split it a little on one end.
Put the end of the strand of wool in the cut to hold it, then wrap it to make a small homemade Q-Tip.

Dip the stick the depth of a pencil eraser in the BTO. It won't take much.

Keep the lure off the dirt and it will last longer.

Place it so the coyote can't just walk up & haul off with it. (Because he will...)

Thanks for all the info. If I don't catch by Monday I will reset and try the BTO and sac oil. The heat is killing this old man.

Sounds like you’re about to change it up a bit. Coyotes aren’t the “sharpest knife in the drawer” but they’re still “playing with a full deck” including the jokers……lol. Eventually any new interesting smells will raise flags.
Are they using different paths that you’re setting your blinds in? Not sure of your ground conditions, maybe they’re skirting the edge of their trails or using completely new ones?
Towards the end of the winter last season, I had to really get down and think like a wolf to predict where they’d travel as they used a different route every time they came through. Makes things interesting if you don’t get the breeders first……lol. Free food was a flag, new smells were a no go, but they’re still creatures of habit. Sometimes, literally using a flag to “guide” them in a different direction works. Not sure if coyotes are like that, but I wouldn’t put it past them. Sometimes they’ll really get the gears turning in your head. If you can gather all the info you can on the 5 Ws it’ll greatly help.
Have you got a female that’s been nursing? Pups will be moving more and more now.

They come to the melons from 360 degrees, through meadow strips, and across soybean fields. I have two blind sets, one in a meadowstrip and the other in a hard curve where they are crossing, both funnel the yotes to a narrow trail suitable for blind setting. The yotes are really nervous because the farmer and his help is in the field for the first 3 hours of the day, so tons of human scent. Tomorrow I will move sets using BTO and sack oil and mid week when it cools down I'm gonna take my Jack Russel over there and walk a large perimeter looking for pee posts coming to the field, then set the pee posts. I trapped there in Feb but the yotes weren't there at that time as they follow the food source. Our yotes are heavily influenced by deer dog hunting pressure until Jan. I scouted in Jan and tons of good sign but couldn't get in there till Feb, and gone. I couldn't keep the bobcats out of the set. I have some bobcat paws that I may use for bait. I've had good luck burying the paw vertically, with the paw about 3" out of the dirt, then a drop of gland lure on the paw and a little urine about 3 feet away to keep down deer trips. These summer dogs are very frustrating.

Yea, they’re different in summer but sounds like you got a good plan. Bringing your dog along can be an awesome tool!
I like to hit ‘em hard and set heavy, but also try to be in and out ASAP, so it’s kinda tough to get the best of both worlds……lol.
Looks like you’ll have things under control shortly.

The VAST MAJORITY of my summer coyotes are caught on blind trail sets backing up lured/baited sets. Easily 75% or better.

One of the biggest "problems" with trapping summer coyotes too, is you're often trying to trap them at places they're at least somewhat familiar. Changing something drastically on a trail or path he travels daily, or every few days often doesnt work in our favor. At least not right away.

Trapping coyotes that are "at home" and transients that are new to an area is as different as trapping summer or winter coyotes.

This place has pasture with ponds and I would trap the pond dams....but, the cows are in there so I know as soon as I leave after setting a nosy black Angus is going to trip the trap. I know they are crossing the pasture and coming through a fenced hedgerow, I just have to find where they are coming through. Surely there is a pee post there, will let my dog show it to me then set it. I'm gonna reset everything tomorrow some with beaver tail oil and some with sac oil, then Thur will find the pee posts and set. Its an 75 mile round trip to the line which doesn't help. I know there is one Creek crossing the deer are using and I bet the dogs are using it also, will check that tomorrow.