I have not been able to catch coyotes. After the problems I had at the end of the year with having traps dug up and crapped on I have worked on scent control and bedding my traps. I have practiced making sets and can now make the quickly and easily. I made 5 sets yesterday and 4 were worked by coyotes with no catch. I have been making 1-2 day sets because I don't have time to run them all week. Am I educating the coyotes by doing these short sets?

Do you think you may have scent on your traps? Are you using the same gloves to put out scent that you're using to set the trap? I just happened to run across this today in a video I was watching is the reason I mention it. They were having the same issue.

I am very careful with scent control. I have dyed and waxed my traps again and keep them in a separate container with my gloves. I do everything with these gloves before I change gloves for my baits and lures.

What I am worried about is only leaving my traps out for 1-2 days and then pulling them and resetting the next week. Will the coyotes start avoiding my set? They weren't caught in the trap and no sign that they were digging at it just not stepping on the sweet spot.

Oh I understand what you're saying now. When I first read it, I thought you meant they had been dug up by saying they had been "worked".....You just meant that the yotes had visiting the setup. Gotcha.....

I'm no expert, but it doesn't appear to me the dirt around the trap pan has been bedded down/pressed down? Too soft and spongy maybe?

I may be doing it wrong, but I generally press the area around the pan and on top of the levers and jaws down well to make the ground hard.

The only area which isn't patted down is my pan.

God Bless,
David B.

David (Boff) is right on this one. The only spot that should be soft is your sweet spot. Pack the dirt firmly everywhere except on your pan. It's all part of bedding your trap.

The other thing I see is it appears from these pics that your set may be off centered or too far away from your backing. 9" back, 2" offset is where you want the center of your pan.

Also be careful when you are kneeling. I use a foam pad for sent control.