I was testing some late season lures last year and I had a hollow log that was 14-16 inch diameter I place the lure inside… red fox, grey fox, fisher and coyotes had no problem working the log even though they couldn’t see over it… i have tons of video showing this…. So does backing height really matter or that important?

Grey fox, it makes zero difference. For coyotes, the higher the backing, the farther from the backing your trap needs to be. Can't speak to the other varmints.

Yup, for coyotes is certainly does as Lazarus stated and I also have plenty of testing videos that substantiate that fact. If a softball-size clump of bunch grass is used the coyotes will step up close and then step over the clump and straddle it!

My most successful coyote sets have been up against backing at least 18 inches tall, sometimes more. I am not as experienced as many on here, but I haven't noticed tall backing being a problem. Short backings make it hard ( at least around here ) to predict where a coyote's going to step.

The wives tale that a coyote won't work a set with a large backing is a wives tale. Watch JC Conner's trapping videos.

I don't have a lot of experience I usually try to have as small as can get away with and not have them dig from the back side.it verys for me I've got away with rocks smaller than a baseball to a knot as big as a basketball.

Can you catch some coyotes with tall backing? Yes. Are there coyotes that tall backing makes them more nervous therefore harder to catch? Yes.

I've caught lots of coyotes on vertical field road cuts that were five to 20+ feet high and the set right tight to the base of the cut. I think, however, they are not as nervous at extremely tall backings like a vertical road cut as they are at a backing they can almost see over. Just my observation FWIW.

Agreed. When I set against a backing /Grass I try to trim any over hanging grass with scissors vertically ,.I don't trim it hard back but enough that if a coyote works the set the grass will not be hitting his face,.No issues so far.

Sure, the higher a given coyote population the higher the number of coyote with aggressive personalities that will work a tall backed-set vs the neophobic inclined ones, percentages stay the same, just more ! This means the trapper will have more chances of aggressive coyotes at a set. The higher the population the higher number chances an aggressive-personality coyote checks the set out.

It’s my experienced opinion that the higher the backing, the more novel the backing/object, divides the coyote’s attraction by personalities! If the coyote population was evenly divided aggressive/neophobic and you back your set with a tall backing, you, IMHO, are missing a large percentage of the neophobic coyotes vs a short backing. The short backing covers all the bases and includes the entire population regardless of personality!!

In my experience it doesn't matter until it does.

I've caught coyote tight to the base of big trees and had others tiptoe at a distance from a hat full of grass, go figure.

Generally, coyote minimal backing, grey fox big backing to keep them from working from the backside, red fox they're either going to dive right in regardless or not, coon/opossum don't matter.

Back in the early 2000’s I moved away from my Disco Dirthole set of the 70’s to try sets that at that time that had been made popular by those who were saying it to the greatest magnitude of the time! I can’t discuss things unless I have experience with equipment, lures, or sets! I found I really liked Miranda’s Double mouse hole fox set for coyote IN MY AREA so I used it in place og my Disco set. It was a set, at least made my way that caught all canines!!! Grey fox were mentioned previously, I would literally wipe an entire family of Greys out using that set in a few nights with the set made for coyotes . I always made that set with a low backing, a clump of bunch grass about 3” high. I didn’t give a rat’s butt if the canine came into the set over the backing or at a 45* angle or straight on, It was a set that didn’t miss with my guiding at the trap. I never saw how & why a low backing impacted the performance of the set until I began testing gland lures under a video camera.

Always use the video setting on your cameras people, still photos don’t not tell the story and leaves you either guessing or assuming but it all became perfectly clear under the video cameras!

Do you get an adverse reaction from your cameras? The coyotes around here don't seem to tolerate cameras too well. If I put one on a travel way I generally get fewer and fewer pictures after they notice the camera. Now I try to hang them high and out of sight if possible.

No, I’ve never had a neophobic reaction with my Brownings. During some testing sessions I’ve had coyote work a test set 6’ from a camera and 5’ above ground. Most of my testing distances were 15’-25’ from the camera.

That's why you gang set with different sets with different backings and different types of guiding.

I caught 2 coyotes and 3 fox this January against this 10' high boulder.

I set a lot of deep but narrow tiny creeks and waterways in late winter. Most of them had pocket sets in early fall then pulled when coon quit hitting them. But in late winter coyotes, cat, and fox continue to work the old pocket sets. Still some fish and lure odors coming from those old pocket holes. It’s been good enough I’ve kept setting them all these years and it’s been worth my effort. Straight up sheer banks.
Those little deep ditches, creeks, waterways become natural travel routes down and out of site around here.
And yes I sometimes use pretty big big backings up on flat ground sets too. A big mound of bean chaff in a bean field is a great visual attractor. The bigger the mound the better. In late winter ground is impossible to dig dirtholes so putting bait under one side of the chaff pile and hacking out a bed in front of it is a key set I use. The mound can be about a couple feet high if I can kick enough into a pile like that.
Old logs make great bait and or post sets.
So does the edge of a brush pile, somewhere they would naturally hunt for mice and rabbits anyway.
I wish I could speak coyote and they always seem to teach me something new every year.
Thank you for posting those pics. Very helpful.
Jim