I’m facing a similar situation so rather than start a new thread I thought I’d resurrect this one.
Never caught fox before but iv been told you can catch them by setting steel on a stump or bale of hay down wind from a bait pile they'll get up on something down wind to look/smell it out before going up to the pile dog will run straight in also a flat rock on your pan in a creek with lure or bait out a little further they'll step on the rock instead of running straight in the water
I am interested in the elevated trap offset from the bait as suggested by Sfranks above. Has anyone else tried this successfully? It seems plausible and thought I might be able to use a couple of concrete blocks set about 15-20 feet downwind from the bait and just enough dirt on top to bed a trap, I figure a #1 ½ long spring or #11 double long spring would be easier to bed in this situation. I'm even thinking a Hagz bracket supporting a coil spring trap might work with the rod driven almost flush with the blocks and just enough dirt to cover the trap.
I’ve ordered Mark’s book “Fox Trapping in and Around Suburbia” to gain whatever knowledge I can on this situation but am really curious if anyone else could offer more or different advice on this problem.
The back story to these ramblings is I’ve gained access to 10 acres in a semi-rural/suburban area. The landowner has bobcat and foxes on their security cameras and they’ve lost several ducks to one or the other. After discussing the situation (neighbors dogs running loose, yeah I know…) with the landowner I only put in three heavily guided and flagged sets for bobcat in the hopes that they would avoid most domestic dogs.