SE trappers

Mainly a question for trappers in the SE…are y’all seeing an explosion of Gray Fox this year? I’ve got a couple traps out on an entry road and can’t keep the Grays out of them. They were initially set because a bobcat was sighted, but after a couple cats and a coyote, the Grays just keep showing up. I’ve caught more these past several weeks than I’ve caught in all the years I’ve trapped this place. I had single trap at another entry road for a “problem” and ended up catching a couple there. We found out the “problem” was taken care of so I pulled that set due to it being in the quail woods.
I’m seeing Grays dead on the roadways like I’ve never seen before and my son said he’s averaging a couple a day in their cage traps. Just wondering if anyone else has noticed an uptick?

Yes even made it up here to northern Maine now.

No. I haven't caught one in several years.

Is your coyote population on the decline?

Here in Maine about every 4 years mange goes thru them.Between the hound men,trappers,and night hunters we are making a dent.

Last year and this year I noticed sign popping up in places I haven’t seen one in years. I wouldn’t call it an explosion, but I am definitely having more of them work sets than I’ve had in a while. I miss a lot of greys when they are here lol

No - not here

… less every year

No.....greys faded about 10 yrs ago. Very few anywhere within an hour's drive of me now.

Seeing more here in the NE too. I normally only catch 1 or 2 a year if I’m lucky. This year we’ve caught 6 and have seen sign of others.

We have a pile this year , not sure if Louisiana is considered southeast or not.

They get back up in numbers then over populated worthless coon's get distemper and it knocks them back down again. Seems to be a spike in them about ever 20 years then they vanish again.

Coyote's don't have an affect on them, if they did wouldn't be kit fox, grey fox or any kind of fox out in the western states. Coyotes do hammer the red fox though.

Oddly enough, I just said this one of my buddies because we both are catching more foxes than normal, especially grey. No notice on lower numbers of coyotes.

Yes coyotes are hard on red fox.

Greys WAY down around here. Used to be 8/10 Greys. To the trap and the call. It’s maybe 1/10 now. I’ve heard it’s due to coyotes, but couldn’t back it up scientifically.

WB my area is up a bit this year .i have had pockets of Greys that I have been avoiding in hopes they would rebound some.

Could not understand why I was seeing all these small fox tracks

They never went away here. Reds came back about 15 yrs ago and are thriving despite a large coyote population.

That bucks conventional scenarios, but it is what it is.

Nice looking gray fox

Thanks Bruce T....I like the looks of that gray your holding up in your pic.

Can’t remember if I posted it on here or not, but did catch a Red as well and as soon as I realized what it was on camera I went on out and released it. That was the first Red off that place in about 4 years. Think I’ve caught 4 total over the 7-8 years or so I’ve been trapping.
I put a big dent in our coyote population a couple of years ago and last year’s catch/kill reflected that. This year they are starting to filter back in. The next couple of months are prime calling time for coyotes. What I don’t take care of early I’ll hit late Spring and Summer to really knock back the numbers. July is when you’ll have the highest coyote numbers due to pups being born, so knock back those numbers as quick as possible and you won’t have to worry about them until the following year. Transients don’t seem to move in too quick, so by the time they filter in you just start the process all over again. Based on what I’ve seen, when you have a banner year with catch/kills, the next couple are relatively lower before you’ll have another banner year.

Thanks had him tanned with all its feet left on