Why two

Can't catch doubles if you only set one trap, driven home again to me this morning.

Great job!! Doubles are awesome!! I have done it a few times with bobcats but still waiting on the double with coyotes!! Keep up the good work!!

But why not 3? can't get a triple unless you set 3 Just messing with ya, great catch!

True, I had a mafia set 15 yrds up the two track. I guess they came to these two first lol

Outstanding work !!!! Love that sandy road ! Wish my ground had some sand like that /-:

Seriously though. In my opinion, if a location is good enough for one set, it’s good enough for two, and if it’s good enough for two it’s good for three, or four.

I once made 6 sets in a straight line down a very subtle wash in the middle of a wheat field, no more than 10 yards between each set. In three weeks each set had connected at least once, for a total of 9 coyotes and two badgers.

Catch rates have me making less sets per location and spreading them out more in most situations. For instance say u have a quarter section of field bordering a pasture, I use to go to the back corner of that field which is usually the square of the section and make three sets. Last year I went to spreading the sets out along the travel ways(which would be a fence row or tree row) maybe like 3 sets in that half mile and my catch rates went up a good amount. Some places like a dead pile or dead cow I'll gang set but I just don't double or triple enough to just say 3 or 4 sets at every location. For me it's playing the odds and paying attention to your catch rate. Every situation is different. I've seen some places were 10 or 12+ coyotes have been caught in one night but I ain't setting 10+ sets at every location because of it. Multiple catch close together are sweet though!

That's how to get it done. Good deal.

Reminds me of some ground I trapped in Georgia.

Yeah I was pretty happy to find some sand on the ranch lol. Some nice views on it tho,

Looks like good cat country.

From my narrow mind, its all connected to a person's familiarity with the target species and how good they are at reading/interpreting animal sign. Things like scat, tracks, rain/snow frequency, audio sounds etc. The saying "see more sign, set more traps" ASSUMES a person knows what and how to read animals presence. The better interpreter your are, the better judge of what kind of/how many/where tools are needed to capture the quarry. When fur trapping for profit it will probably be more traps - fewer nights - lots of spots. If your are after a specific animal or two to reduce damage maybe 1/2 a handful is enough at only one spot. My failures go both direction by tying up too many traps for too few of animals,,,, to not enough and spending extra time to empty full traps. Muskrats and beaver will teach you a lot about the # of traps and the checking frequency you need to incorporate into a trapline. Rats will be taken in very short order with the most traps and the most frequent trap-check of just about all common furbearers. Beavers leave a lot of sign but it may be only 2 or three residing in the colony. You can parlay that info into the type of canine trapping you do but for this thick skulled old guy, the experience factor, FOR THE AREAS you trap is a better answer than me throwing out a # of or distance to a site. If you trap where animals are cyclic or where the opposite occurs, and the habitat excellent, then you will learn what "system", numbers, and/or spacing fits your trapline. For me (like a new cell phone) I didn't pick up on this real quick, but failure was a better teacher for me than success as the tools and info from the 60's did not help like today .Good knowledge of animal behavior is less common than the the knowledge of tools / techniques (Youtube). Experience is still the better teacher from this side of the fence when trying to evaluate a site..................... my take............................... the mike

Now that was quite an informative statement Wife. Lots of truth in your words.

I like to spend time on the edges, leaving the core alone, because they all have leave the core and come to the edges eventually.
And beside the place or ranch your on you are trapping the neighbors on all four sides as well.
And by doing so not spooking coyotes out of country for periods of time.
By doing so I set less traps with a greater catch rate enabling me to move quicker to new ground.
While fur trapping I only trap for one month in peak fur primeness.
While adc trapping I probably set fewer traps in all realality. And use high percentage type sets.

I agree with Bob...Great post! the wife.
Red, here in my area we have so many possum coon and other animals besides coyote, that heavy gang setting just pays off.

For fur trapping you want to set fur pockets or on a travelway between pockets.
That said,shorter trapcheck times-less traps per location-longer check times-more traps(multiples) per location.
Also-short check times-restraining traps-longer trapcheck times-lethal sets.

Oh I can see that,,, trash would put damper on things pretty darn quick.
Coon or possum what are they ??? Lol

My rule of thumb for coyotes has always been if a location is good for one set, it's good for two or three sets. I used to "carpet bomb" areas with more traps. But, I don't really do that any more and can catch just as many as I used to with only hauling a fraction of the traps around that i used to. Two or Three sets at a good location for a target species and then I'm off to another location. The possum or coon in one set at least left the other set or two still ready for a canine. I never seem to pick any more up by adding 4 or 5 or even more sets. Must just be my line but that's what has worked best for me. I also make different sets at those locations. One is always a dirthole with bait, the second is always a post set with urine only. If I have a third set then its something completely different like a flat set, or couple of stacked rocks, or transplanted clump of dug up plug of earth with weedy top, those sets are loaded up with a gland lure or even a loud call-type lure.

I don't get many doubles, but there is certainly a fun factor when you do walk up to see two coyotes bouncing, or have two barking at you when you get out of the truck.

In the areas we trap we have a ton of coon, possum, skunk, and if the weather is mild...I can count on picking up few badger also. The extra sets, and catches, really make the location interesting the rest of the season. I pick up a lot of coyotes in remakes after coyote catches but also after catches of those other species. Nothing makes a big old eye appeal set better like a stinky old badger remake with a huge amount of dirt moved by the badger. My remakes usually always turn into bait sets. Seems like I can never put any amount of urine or gland lure down at a remake that isn't easily lost in that big catch area that's already full of pee, poo, slobber, you name it. I've just plain had best luck with bait at remakes. So, that said, even my post sets tend to turn into bait sets eventually. The exception to that is a dirthole bait set that has gone untouched while the other set or two are on at least one or more remakes and still going strong. I leave the bait set go for about 3 weeks. If there are still tracks but no interest in the bait...then it becomes a post set. An old trick I learned from Carol Black, he wrote me back on how to deal with these when I was a much younger man. Jam a stick down into the hole to turn the dirthole into a post set, and give it a good shot of urine. Can't tell you how many of those turned into coyotes for me over the years. Thank you Mr. Black. I'm sure he'd be OK with me passing this along on his behalf.

Another thing I have done is noticed how many of my typical locations have consistently produced year, after year, after year. Those will always get set again...barring some huge unforseen change in the terrain or lay of the area. Some scouting will show me the new spots to try, but certain spots are just plain good year after year. You know the usuals...long running fencerows, weedy draws through fields, the old implement road that cuts through a brushy draw to get to the next field. I also like old pond dams, edges of two different crops, and I always set "just over the hill" and out of site from any nearby road or traveled area. If I can't get access to the good looking land, I work to get the crappy flat featureless piece of ground next to it. Any fencerow to the good spot is a good location.

Great catches. Thanks for sharing

Most really good locations are going to see just a lot of general wildlife traffic.

All your typical “trash” species, plus deer, elk, antelope, and livestock if they’re present.

And if you have a high coyote population a really good location may see a lot of coyote traffic every night.

It pays to load those places up.

If the trash and stuff ain’t there, and the coyote numbers don’t support it, you’re wasting time and steel loading those places up.

Simple eh?

I don’t put much stock in boundaries and such, not as much as I once did. Coyote territorial boundaries are more of a loose suggestion, sure in may and June they have a little more meaning, but by fur season those lines in the sand have broken down and are like our southern border, open for business.

Take inventory of what the population is in an area, set the obvious locations and secondary locations that you can easily access based on that, and roll. Once you’ve knocked the local population down in that area, maybe pull those secondary type spots, leave the premium location and move on to more coyotes and do it again.

Not uncommon for a premium location for me to have 6-8 sets. Most secondary spots 1-2.

But, in vast western coyote habitat a general “location” might encompass 40 acres or sometimes more. So those 6-8 sets may be spread out over 500-600 yards. I can sometimes see them all from one spot, but they’re spread out, still covering the same “location”.

That’s the biggest thing that changes for me trapping rangeland type country and farmland. Farmland is easy, and when it comes to fur trapping give me the farm country any day of the week. Easier vehicle access, high volume locations that concentrate coyote travel are easier to find and exist in greater number, and usually the farm country has really good coyote populations. We all know a coyote will strike out occasionally across a section of barren wheat stubble with seemingly no rhyme or reason. But if there’s a grass coulee, old fence line, or just a little swale running across it, we know the majority will use those features to cross. If ten coyotes are going to cross that field, and those type features exist, we know where the lions share are likely to cross.

Take a section of sage brush, now a coyote can cross that just about anywhere he wants, and be comfortable doing it. There may be 20 cow trails crossing it that he can use. So those same ten coyotes have a lot more options when they want to cross that piece of ground.

The scope with which I look at country changes, and thus dictates how many traps I’m gonna set. How many long running terrain features are present. How far does this divide ridge go? Where does it terminate and what kind of feature does it terminate with. How long does this draw run? What does it hook up with? I’m very often looking at these features 6-10 miles out. The further these features go, and the more of them that congregate in one spot will mean more coyotes (and other critters) will end up at that spot. Which means I’ll probably need more traps there.

Always glad when u share ur thoughts on coyotes Boone. Thanks

Lots of good info here guys, thanks for posting your thoughts.