Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Trapping Trapping help for a rookie.

Diclaimer: I have never trapped anything before so I know nothing. Ok, that said....I have some no. 2 steel traps that were my Grandpa's that he used for muskrats and similar sized animals back in WV. They are in good condition and are mostly single spring traps. Some are double spring. Situation is this:we have some coyotes on our lease in coastal NC. This is mostly pine blocks and has some open fifth rows and ditch networks there that are about 2ft. across. I've found two turkey carcasses within 200 yards or so of each other within the last two months and I saw a coyote in this area in Oct. of last year. Can a steel trap of this size catch a coyote? These yotes aren't as big as the northern ones are, so that may help. Obviously, one or more frequent the area. I also realize that there's more to it than just putting a trap in the woods so I'll need advise from you veteran trappers if you don't mind. Any information on trapping coyotes that anyone can/will offer is greatly appreciated. Thank you.

High Brass

A number 2 will work so long as the springs are in strong condition and everything else is in good working order.

for Coyote you will want to use a couple of different types of sets. The two I use most often when trapping them are the dirt hole set and the flat set.

for the dirst hole set, you will dig a hole, about 3-4 inches in diameter, about 7-8 inches deep, and at about a 45 degree angle. In front of this hole you will dig a depression just large enough to bury your trap so that when set the pan will be about 1/2 inch below the surrounding soil. You will want to set the trap so that the center of the pan is about 8 inches from the lip of the hole. after it is set in the depression, you will place either a wad of leaves, or a piece of foam rubber, or anything else compressable under the pan so that no dirt can get under the pan. you will then sift dirt over the trap, burying it with about 1/4 inch of soil. also, you will need to stake the chain with a good long rebar stake, preferably under the trap somewhere. down in the hole you will place something attractive to coyotes sense of smell. You can buy lures made specifically for this, or you can use something like a piece of tainted (not rotten) turkey meat or a piece of fish, or something else. the angle of the hole insures that the coyote will approach from only one side, which is the side where you will have your trap placed. while the coyote is milling around trying to figure out what is in the hole he is bound to finally step on that pan and set off the trap.

The flat set is basically the same except you do not dig a hole. rather, you just place the smell under the side of a rock, or a log or something and place the trap out from that smell.

in either case, you need to make the set close to the coyotes line of travel. they have good noses, but you won't catch them making these sets a hundred yards away from their line of travel. Look for tracks and droppings and make your sets there.

If you locate an exact line of travel, such as a trail that they are using heavily, you can then do one of two things. You can either bury a trap in the trail, just as you would when making a dirt hole set, making sure to stake it down, or another very effective method would be to hang a noose.

Good luck to you.

Thank you very much for the help, I do appreciate it.

Chad

High Brass, if you know of or can find a successful coyote trapper in your area to show you the basics, it will be very beneficial to you. Coyotes are one of the hardest(in comparison to other furbearers) animals to trap. A beginning trapper can easily educate a pile of coyotes before he ever traps one.

Not trying to discourage you at all, just so your aware that you can make a lot more work for yourself if coyotes start picking your sets out and avoiding them.

RO

I definitely agree with this. You cannot be sloppy and leave a lot of your scent at these sets, or make things look unnatural, and expect to catch coyotes. One thing that does help quite a bit is the use of coyote urine. You can buy it, or you can cut it out of the bladder of caught coyotes to use at sets. It seems to help coyotes to lose their fear of the set becasue they can smell their own kind has been there and urinated.

Another thing you don't want to do is leave smells on the traps. you will be burying them, but not that deep, and coyotes have wonderful noses. if there is any type of attractive smell on those traps you will get a digger, and you will educate that coyote if he successfuly digs your trap up.

another thing is to make sure and use a long enough stake for the soil conditions. if the soil is soft you need a long stake. if the soil is hard gumbo you can get by with shorter stake. If its really soft you might have to double stake.

All of this is why I like to trap them in the wintertime in deep snow. When the snow gets real deep coyotes are just like humans. they will take the easiest route, which will be their same trail they made before. And oftentimes if you wait long enough they will walk in these same trails, and even in their exact same tracks when the snow is very deep. What I like to do is find where a set of coyote tracks crosses a road. then, I will walk up to the track about 30-40 yards off the road on the side where they came from. Approach the track very carefully, and when you get up to it you take a wooden paddle and very very carefully dig a hole in the deep snow right next to one of their tracks until you get right underneath one of those tracks. you carefully shave the snow until there is just a hint of snow on the underside of the track. you then set a trap underneath that track. usually I will have a grapple on the chain, or sometimes I will staple the chain to a handy wood drag if I can find a suitable piece of wood. Then what you want to do is carefully fill in the hole that you dug next to the track and your own tracks for a few yards from the coyotes tracks. make sure you make some sort of mark to remember where your trap is because its easy to get confused if it snows and you need to locate that trap. I have one of those real soft dust removers that I use to very lightly brush the top of the tracks that I have filled in with snow, oftentimes making it look as though nobody had ever been there for at least a few yards from that coyote track.

If you are patient, sometimes up to two weeks, in deep snow, that coyote will be back. And if he walks in his same tracks, which they very often do, he will step in that track where you dug underneath and he will go right through that crust of snow and hit the pan of your trap. he will try to run, but the drag will soon tangle him up. and he will be there when you come back. If you use traps for this you will need to be prepared to kill them with a 22 shot in the head.

If it is legal to use snares where you are that is even bettter. You come up next to the coyote trail and look for a very narrow spot where they walked through. That is where you hang your noose, right over their tracks. make sure and measure the bottom of the loop about a foot from the bottom of the track in the snow. and make sure you still fill in and brush out your tracks. again, patience is the key. sometimes I have caught them after it had snowed two or three times and all that was left of their old trail were little dimples in the snow. they still came back and in their same tracks.

Try it.

I would bet it Hoot Owls killing your Turkeys...

Hoot owls killing turkeys?

Thanks for the replies fellas, I do appreciate it. The problem that I have is that nobody traps here and the only one that I did know that trapped (Grandfather) has passed on. So, I'm in the dark here. I do know for a fact that there is (are) coyote(s) there but cannot prove 100% that it was it(them) that killed the turkeys. Once again, I'll try and see what I can do. I greatly appreciate the advice here and everyone's input is a big help. Thanks again.

Chad

Great advice. makes me wanna go out and start trapping. i am very curious about trapping so far.

hunting regulations here in texas are very open for guns so sniper fun on yotes and beavers is the easy way.

Coyotes Are thr hardest to trap. I can't put enough emphasis on sent free. Boots, clothes, everything. Don't get your sent on anything near the set. I have had them do everything from circle the set to uncover it down to the pan and jaws.
Also if you don't use a drag you may want to put a spring on the end of your chain. It can help them from pulling out.
Now go out there and wack em and stack em

Get back to work . . . <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smirk.gif" alt="" />

stalker
You know trapping is part of my work. Getting pay to trap ,weather I catch anything or not. I did get a couple of beavers last week and I'm back at it this week.Oh and maybe even more to come. Found out some more are causeing trouble. Life is sweet <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif" alt="" />

Stalker
You know trapping is part of the job. I did catch a couple of beaver last week and I'm back at it this week. Also found out that more are making trouble. Getting pay weather I catch anything or not, Life is sweet <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif" alt="" />

Now only if you can locate us some beavers to trap this winter instead of at work. That would be sweet!

But that doesn't pay as well. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

You're gittin some good advice but you still need to find a good trapper to show you first hand. Startin out green you'll likely not fair so well on Coyotes.

I did a lot of fox and coyote trappin in my younger days. I was taught by an old timer that had been doing it all his life. If you can find someone like that it'll save you a lot of time and grief.

Also boiling your traps in logwood dye or soft maple bark will help a lot.