Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Trapping Rookie Baiting Question

I am new to trapping. I have set a dozen dirt hole sets. Barring rain, how often should I rebait the sets?

1 week

Do you mean relure? If you are using bait, you would not need more bait unless the bait has been taken...in which case you should have a catch. On a remake I'm not rebaiting and usually not reluring.

As far as lure goes, I don't usually relure or freshen a set. If the set doesn't connect that I pull it and move on. bait/lure smells can linger for months. Overluring is a mistake and will adversely affect catch rates.

Thanks for the help. We have had abnormally amount of rain in last 2 months. Big heavy rains. I put all of my sets where they would not be flooded out. However most of the bait holes fill up with water. Should I just leave them alone and let them dry out or rebait?

If the hole is filled with water...first check and make sure the trap is still functional, probably needs to be rebedded. I have used a soda bottle with the top cut off to scoop out some of the water and speed up the draining. Maybe re-lure with a piece of sheeps wool with a smear of gland lure.

I have seen fresh foot prints working around old sets long after the trap is pulled. The scents linger.

I appreciate the advice.

Guy on TrapperMan site had a set where he had seen a coyote cross his field , didn't lure/bait/or go near the set -watched set with binos . Caught a coyote 2 months later .

Maybe if a coyote has a bad experience with the loud smell of lures baits - those strong smells might mean danger to them . Coyotes catch on to predator callers - I've started a coyote stand [idaho] and seen coyotes stand up when the caller starts and run off the opposite direction . They didn't view the distressed rabbit as an easy meal - but danger .

Caught my first coyote this week. Great sense of satisfaction.
But I have also had 2 pull outs.
Then yesterday I had a complete set pulled and gone. I had used an 18” rebar with a t-top and hammered it into solid clay.

You try to follow the drag marks?

Had that happen a couple times, but they didn't go far. But, then I checked traps every morning...

Rookie Baiting Question... Once you get this down, does it mean that you're a masterbater ?

I have not trapped in years. When I trapped, baiting was not allowed in some areas. So, lure's were used. Skunk scent seemed to work pretty good. I always dipped a tampon in the stuff then tied it up high in a sage brush bush or tree. They now make scent applicators that are designed for the same thing.

You could dig around in a dumpster for the pre-scented ones...

No drag marks that I could find. Also not much sign of any struggle on the ground. Figured ground would have been more torn up. In fact at first glance it didn’t even notice the trap had been tripped. Just the small tree limbs I had used as a backing were moved. Been down with the flu this week. Plan to go back tomorrow and look around again.

Using a short chain will allow a coyote to pull upwards - a bit of tugging and jumping and away they go . .
Use enough length so that jumping or being able to pull the stake directly up is impossible .
Hope you feel better soon .

That is what I have been doing. Staking the chain that came with the trap.
I also think my trigger/pad is too stiff. I loosened them up today and reset the traps today.
I also caught my third coyote yesterday.
Reset traps with more sensitive trigger and buried a bit more shallow. Got 4 days of good weather coming. Feeling positive this week.