The land I am hunting is about 2 hours from the house. It has a healthy coyote population like most everywhere else. Typically I am up there for one or two nights at most, even this time of the year as I am getting some plots ready for next year. Anyways, would it be a waste of time to set a trap or two for coyotes? I realize I am not going to be able to put a huge dent in the population, but for every coyote removed, that's other critters being saved. I relate the traps have to be checked every day. I guess my question is, with a properly set trap do I stand a decent shot at having a catch in a night or two? I realize this depends on trap placement, scent control, etc. I have always had an interest in getting into trapping so this might be a good way to ease into it.

Try it and see! Most sets seem to catch better after they've had a night or two to settle but I've caught on the first night also and as you said everyone you catch helps.

Where you make your sets at will also help tremendously. Find the hottest sign and set right in their tracks if at all possible. Coyotes are creatures of habit.

I noticed this past fall where coyotes were walking one of our roads 3 separate places where it seemed every night they left the road and walked up on banks. I couldn't set traps in the road because of club traffic so I set a trap at each of these spots up on the banks. 6 coyotes out of those 3 sets in less than a week.

Find where they already want to be and it's just a matter of guiding his foot to the pan.

Great, thanks. I will see what I can do. Would I need written permission to trap in addition to the Alabama Hunter Courtesy Card I already have signed? The land owner is in TN so I can't just knock on the door with the warden.

Written permission is always a must for me! I'm not familiar with the courtesy cards but that doesn't mean it wouldn't be sufficient proof.

It is just something typed up by the state making it easy for both the hunter and land owner to have a record of permission to hunt. It does not say anything about trapping though.

Courtesy Card

When you find them gang set the area -use 2 traps at the dirt hole set , do a scent post set with more than one trap.

Try to get out often around early september -coyotes will have dispersed the young by then -that's a good good time to take a few young dumb future fawn eaters out of the picture.

It's not going to hurt anything if you do,and you may catch one or two. If you never trapped get on YouTube, look up dirt hole sets for coyotes, and ask the experienced guys on here for some pointers. Learning how to bed your trap is the most important thing you can do. Everything else can be prefect but if that trap moves, you're not going to catch a yote, not even a dumb one.