Anyone start out without scent

I'm curious about this. Has anyone here started trapping without someone preaching scent control to them ? I see alot of new people on Facebook ask about trapping and the fist thing usually is how to keep their traps scent free or how to avoid human scent. I got curious and stared asking some of these guys what got them so hyped on scent control and it's usually their dad or uncle or something telling them how hard it was to catch a fox or what ever because they had to be 100% scent free. Curious if anyone just didn't care and set traps

I heard a lot of it but ignored it all. Only thing I worried about was food scent on traps.

I'd hate to see what some of the Facebook guys would end up smelling like if they read a Bill Nelson book

Im careful to not drip lure someplace I dont want it. new sets get a clean trap. i try not to splash my boots when i pee

I dont worry about scent per se.I actually use it to advantage.However I am very careful not to introduce scents where they dont belong.Doing that will cost you for sure.

Speaking of old timers--I wonder if their horrible BO or our flowery/spicy/musky/soapy bodies repels or attracts more animals.

Some perfumes are lure ingredients, but their "earthy" smell would have been putrid to us.

I’ve had more people that don’t trap tell me more about scent control than anyone else.

Would any effort to leave a smaller “print” be scent control? If so, everybody has probably done it.

I try not to be messy but I have made a trail by walking back and forth between two points so I could make a blind set where I could anchor the trap better. Took two days to make a catch. Go figure.

I am more worried about scent after set is made. I stay away until I make a catch or pull the set.

you will never fool a dog's nose -- just give him something else to think about. I have heard all sorts of theories about scent control (listened to some and not to others), and used to be overly concerned about it.

Caught lots of coon, skunk and possum when I was young and set rusty traps over a hole with fish or meat in it. Not like a dirt hole behind a trap but a 2inch hole with the trap pan as a cover of sorts. Didnt cover the trap and didn't use gloves or rubber boots just whatever I was wearing for the day. Caught one fox too!!! So yeah I didn't know about scent control but I also didn't know anything about trap prep or setting on sign other than on a trail in the woods or a field. Now I catch many more critters and know what animal I am trying to catch and usually catch that species but like others have said I view scent control as a way to catch animals faster. Like strike 2 said most importantly stay away till the catch is made.

Can't avoid leaving some human scent behind but it would be good if could be scent free

I'm not real worried about human scent when it comes to foxes. Big thing is using fresh urine.

Animals(canines) are not afraid of any scents like steel,plastic,human urine etc.Foxes wolves etc follow railroad tracks,scavenge in dumps etc.
They do get on high alert when those scents are in places they dont belong or when anything new is introduced.

I always find it amusing when these videos talk about that you must be careful to not leave any scent at or around the set, that instantly tells me that the person making the video has zero understanding of scent theory and how human scent is deposited. You can try to minimize it but there is no way to completely eliminate it. I think a lot of times people blame dug up traps on human scent when it is actually poor bedding of the trap or spilled lure that causes it. I also think that unnatural scent depositing patterns causes issues, some videos I have seen they put urine out like they are throwing out a pan on dish water and it goes everywhere, whereas a K9 depositing urine is very concentrated and when doing it for scent marking purposes they actually deposit very little.

After 100s of loged trappline records and as many miles after a week of not bathing my coyote catch drops by 15% when the winds out of the nth east, ya. Thats for sure.

Scent control is a situation thing. Trapping housing developments where foxes expect to smell people is much different than trapping fields in Elliott’s Island where people are there for planting and harvesting only.

Best scent control I am aware is clean aired trap, make the set and leave. Check it with binoculars. After a few days even most of the spooky ones will have a look. If its a really spooky the smell of the trap can cause avoidance. Those guys are tough. Have to shoot them. Getting a shot takes planning. Most of the time here in KS none of that is needed. I have one nighted a bunch of them using a scent that those western sheep pasture coyotes will run from.


Those truly college educated coyotes will avoid stuff like castor and fish oil where there aint beaver or fish. Even good pee collected from multiple animals. Much better if its a single animal collection.

Pelt and stretch a rubbed coyote. Cut it up the belly. Use fur down for a kneeling cloth. Helps cool the set faster.

i started without scent,,also only use scent on some sets now. I use the animals paths at times to get them caught.

I've trapped canines a long time and I've taught individuals and groups to trap canines a long time and I'll say no two trappers are alike.... but....
learn to make your sets fast.

Every year at our Predator Trapping Academy I smile as I watch all the trappers making sets, with all manner of equipment, and all sorts of smells, and on and on,
but the ones who come up to me and say "how does this look?" "faster," catch more coyotes.
Happens every year.

You can catch coyotes willy nilly but to slam them consistently (average coyote trapper catches less than 3 per year in almost every state stats) you gotta be fast, real fast = less human scent IMO.

Blessings,
Mark

^^^^^^ This^^^^^^^^

There was a guy on here that was pretty adamant that scent control was a non-factor. He made a set, used a cigarette that he had just smoked down the hole, and then pee'd on the set. The next day he had caught a coyote.

I'll use my "dirty" traps around farms and such that have a lot of human scent and buried metal. The coyotes and fox don't seem to care.

If I'm in the woods where human scent is less prevalent then I'll break out the cleaner traps.

Good to know I'm in the average level. I just figured it was because I only trap about 200 acres in two track and don't start tell January. I guess it could also be the 3 of us( my two boys picking watching and doing parts of making the set and taking much longer than needed. But they got 4 totes and two red fox last year so I guess they were actually above average on k 9.;)

When your in WY in a county with lots of predator control going on and houses are 20 miles apart its a lot different than cow pastures in KS. GENERAL rule is scent control is not really needed. Sometimes in some places for some coyotes its real important IMO

The first animals I successfully trapped were about eight red fox out of two old dukes I found on a garage sale in two weeks time. I didn't have a clue what I was doing. I didn't use any scent control and did not prepare the traps at all. I still don't pay any attention to the majority of it. My goal is to get in and out. Not mess around. Even now I use one bait and a squirt of urine. No digging in the bag thinking about what I'm doing. Faster sets =more traps out. I can't say that it's not the quantity over the leaving less scent because I'm there a shorter amount of time but I don't care. I'm not even 100% sure I covered those two traps. It's been about 17 years since I caught them. I still have the pictures of them all lined up. It was a game changer for me.

YES, in most good coyote habitat, around rural farm and ranch areas, coyotes are very familiar with human (and other) scent and do not shy away from it unless concentrated in one spot associated with something else like a baited dirt hole; pee post or whatever.
Essentially have confidence, keep it simple and just get in, set and get out as quickly as possible.

It is not only about scent - it is about sound also. tried calling several times by the creek on our place. about the third time when i went back there the neighbors (3/8 mile) dog started barking at me when i crossed the first fence behind the house. I then had to experiment a little on mom and dads place (accross the street). I found that if i called anytime during the day that they would check out that area that night. The coyotes in our area are very used to people and are not scared of them for the most part but i realized that when i set a trap or snare they typically won't check it out for 3-4 days. If i have one going under my fence typically all i have to do is pick up a foreign object - doesnt matter what it is - and place it in the dig under. that will either change their pattern or give me a few days to set up a snare.

If only a coyote could talk.

they are -- i just don't speak that language.

The guy your speaking of sound like a friend of mine ,hardly bathes, catches loooots of coyotes . Very private person.