There's a friend of mine that expressed interest a while back, so I wrote up a beginner's guide for him.

I've been learning about trapping for several years and started my first trapline a year ago. It took a while to accumulate all of the equipment that I'd need on a trapline. I have traps out on a neighbor's land and on Redstone. My buddy, who used to cut my grass said "take all of them you want" when I asked him on facebook if I could help with his coyote problems. There's 100 acres, but only about 20 are accessible by truck in the winter, 90% of the land is farming property and is too soft to drive on. I found out he owned land using the HuntStand app that shows parcel owner info.

When trapping, it's easiest to set traps nearby a dirt or gravel road so that you can quickly cruise through your line and see if anything has been caught.

Unintended targets are a part of the game. A skunk will clog up a set and you'll hafta try to get a syringe close enough for a lung shot full of acetone. A half-buried skunk set would arouse some curiosity in a coyote. If it’s a bobcat out of season (Mar-Oct), then you can put a large pan over them and release their leg. Coons can also clog up a coyote set. There are so many of them, it wouldn't hurt their population to dispatch them then toss them into the woods or skin and tan them. Possums and raccoons are nest predators, so you’re doing the turkey population a favor in eradicating them from an area. Coyotes love decimating deer herds and neighborhood pets, so eliminating them to the best of your ability is a civic duty for responsible land managers.

The best way to make sets is using knee pads or a gardeners kneeling pad . You'll be down working in the dirt for a while, about 30 minutes per trap at first, and anything that you can do to be more comfortable helps. You want to use shoes that you only wear into the woods, never out in town/at a gas station. Coyote’s sense of smell (220 olfactory senses) is nearly as good as a deer's (300 olfactory senses) and you have to work hard to leave as little human scent as possible at a set. Most trappers use different gloves for bedding and handling a trap than they do for baiting. Gloves can save you from painful situations when the trap closes on your fingers, too. Coyotes are known to dig up traps if there's any scent left on them.

The equipment required to trap coyotes is rugged stuff. The traps have to be bedded properly, flush with or below the grade of the ground. You'll need a cookie cutter or a sod buster mini sledge hammer to dig the footprint of the trap out of the ground. Then, you compact the soil under the trap. You don't want the trap to rock to one side or the other or to press into the dirt when you're done bedding it. The coyote needs to be committed to placing its foot down on the pad of the trap.

To attach the trap to the ground, you can use rebar stakes or cable stakes. I'm using Wolf Fang anchors attached to cable stakes. They are set into the ground using an anchor driver. The trap and chain are attached to the anchor using Minnesota Brand Crunch Proof Swivels, Barrel Swivels, and Quicklinks.

The coyotes are very strong and can wreck a cheap trap or pull out of a trap. Shock springs keep this from happening, they do just what it sounds like. Every time the coyote pulls, the shock springs absorb the energy. It reduces stress on your trap, the animal, and the staking device holding the trap to the ground.

Trap screens go over the trap pan or you can use some polyfill/pillow fluff to go under the trap pan. It's important to keep the area under the pan clear of clay, dirt, mud, or rocks. The pan should release the jaws of the trap with 3-4 lbs of pressure and anything in the way of the pan traveling downward will prevent the trap from firing. To cover the trap, you'll need a dirt sifter. It helps to carry a 2-gallon bucket of peat moss to cover the traps with, as it’s light, absorbs moisture well, and won't clog up the jaws of the trap when it shuts.

While checking traps, it's state law to carry a catch pole/choke stick.

It may be easier in your area to call coyotes in using electronic game calls and shoot them when they get within range, using a shotgun or rifle. Trapping equipment can get expensive and it's a daily responsibility to check and clear any traps. There are so many homes around me that it's not an option to predator hunt. If you have pets, they may get caught a few times before they learn a lesson about suspicious smells.

Once you have the trap bedded and anchored, you'll want to bait your hole, pipe, or tire. For dirt hole sets, you want to have backing to make the animal funnel into an area that the trap is hidden inside of. I use logs that I find in the woodline for backing, but sometimes you can use grass clumps. I try to place the trap 9" in front of the hole and 3" to the right, and left sometimes. It helps to have your trap off-center from the hole in order to have it aligned to attach to the leg of a coyote.

One bait and 2 lures is the standard for baiting sets. I use Elk River Lures, No BS Lures, Caven’s and Pro Line. The bait works best when it's applied to some sheep's wool. It causes the coyote to get curious and dig it out of the hole, pipe, or tire. Coyotes think that dirt holes are where mice are hidden or where a fox has buried a nice snack for later.

The limit for inside jaw spread on a leg-hold trap in Alabama is 6". The K.O. K9 Xtreme traps are more than 6" unless you order them with inside and outside laminations. The lamination is just a small gauge wire that is welded to the contact surface on the jaws of a trap. It spreads the pressure over a larger area of the coyote's leg. They call jaw type traps leg-hold traps. The more springs on a trap, the faster they shut but they also become harder to set. If you were in Kansas or the Midwest, where the coyotes are huge and powerful then 4-spring traps may be best. A 4-coil trap also breaks icy ground better than a 2-spring trap for those who live in icy climates. But, our coyotes in Alabama are smaller, our weather is warm and a 2-spring trap is usually plenty. The K.O. K9 Xtreme would need to be inside and outside laminated, 2-coil, with offset jaws, if you decide on those. The 550 traps are best with offset jaws, 2-coil. The offset jaw will let blood flow to the foot of the animal, they're easier to release non-target animals from without lasting effects. If you were on a ranch where there were no non-target animals, like housecats, then a closed jaw trap would hold the coyote better.

A good trap with laminations, swivels, and shock springs won't hurt animals that get hung up in them. Snares are illegal in Alabama for that reason. Snares are the best way to trap coyotes but they're indescriminatory and will kill anything that gets hung in them, like chihuahua's and housecats. Trapping coyotes in leghold traps is extremely difficult. You have to make sets (dirt hole, T-bone, pipe dream, tire, and urine post) to trick the yote into stepping on a 3" x 3" area (the trap pan), whereas if you set snares, you can place them where coyotes travel. They're cruising the woods and all of a sudden they're hung and choke to death.


Alabama Trappers and Predator Control Association

Trapper's Post

Elk River Lures Trapping & Customer Appreciation

Good info Pollwoll - the coins been lot easier THan the coyotes

Did you hav trouble catching at first on coyotes

One of my big disadvantages is I can only leave mine out 2-3 days and I hav heard u want to leave them several days but check daily - but I can’t check daily so I reset them when I can’t go out

I see why u said above - I hav not been using 2 lures - will try - I been using 1 and 1

and I hav also had trouble with them getting my bait and trap not going off and when I try to set off - think I might of got to much dirt up in trap - it don’t want to go off

I also had trouble with them getting set off and nothing in them - I am guessing they stepped on side of trap - I hav noticed you set out double traps sometime - do you do that often? Do you just set them side by side

I may hav educated some of mine - I gone try to lay off 3-4 weeks - Pretty sure the trap going off prob educated them a little - what do you think?

One other thing Pollwoll - how deep do you make your dirt hole For bait? I only been going around 3-4 inch - may need to be deeper - prob the harder they work the better chance they may step in trap just go guessing

Thanks for the measurement - I been setting it 2-3 inch to left and guessing 6-7 inch Away from hole - will try 9. Do you offset it to right more? Think I saw guy in

On internet always doing to left and that is why I did it. I hav failed a lot 😀

I spent a long time learning the fundamentals and stumbled my way along for a couple of weeks before my first catch. I take advice of Management Advantage trappers and leave a trap for 10 days before I pull it, now. The coyotes in my area had been running amuck forever, so when my traps went out, the fell every time. Once they get educated, you have to gang set an area, put them on the left and right in front of your bait, then 18" back, and sometimes, 18" before that. When a coyote works a set, they make their moves very calculated, if anything's off they'll skate on out. The traps have to be bedded well and scent free.

I'm trapping near work and started doing Mon-Fri sets. You can only do the work of 1 man, so be sure that you don't over extend yourself on a line. I brought my sets away from where I track deer this year. Last year, I didn't care about spooking them or pressuring them daily with trap checks. I use a spotting scope and only get close to the sets often enough to check for sprung traps. The rain springs my traps a lot of times. I've made it a point to check after heavy rains to be sure my trap will fire.

When you put the work into the line, it pays you back. My 1st lessons were cheap traps, too high of pan tension, dirt/mud caked under the pan/not firing, and quicklinks not tight enough. Everyone is unique in the methods that stick with us. The hardest lessons stick with you the most.

My coon trapping attempts haven't been as successful as my coyote trapping has. It's harder to check coon traps because they like being in the woods a bit and not out in the field or on the edges of hedgerows or roads. I have much to learn about my deer feed thieving bandits. I'm at 4 coons and 12 coyotes for the past year on 100 acres of ag land.

I don't let anything get inside the jaws on the trap except peat moss. I won't even let dirt or clay get over the levers or jaw because it slows them down a lot. Poly fill can work well to keep dirt and mud from clogging the area under a pan.

Coyotes have a long memory. I wouldn't count on them forgetting anything. You just have to keep throwing them a curve ball, use a variety of sets and place your traps where they have no way of inspecting your sets without stepping on your trap pan(s).

Be sure your pan tension is around 3-4 pounds. You can use a trap pan tester or get a 4 lb hammer and set on the pan with the loose jaw up to see whether it fires. Use trap wax to loosen the pan tension and a file to increase the pan tension.

I use a 3" auger and go 12-18" deep at a 45 degree angle on dirt holes. The deeper you go, the more the coyote has to work the set. And, the longer he's working the set, the more opportunities that you have for him to step on your trap pan.

Everyone has different methods that work, sometimes a 'V' shape formation has natural blockers on the right side and I'll set a trap on the left. I try to setup where the dog gets funneled into an area, spots that already have a natural 'V'. I've used a 'Y' shaped dead fall log over a dirt hole to funnel a coyote onto a trap and it worked well.

Either side is as good as the other on what side of the dirt hole. Roundabout 6-9" in front and 2-3" to the right or left is the target zone. I've welded Expand a pans on my K9 Xtreme's to get a bigger pan for the dog to step on. It's hard to say whether it helped or triggered a bunch of sprung traps because the heavy rains have been so frequent around here.

Don't give up. I worked off and on with the coyote traps for almost a year. I asked a state guy from our district to set some for me to see what was the correct way and to give any tips. Main thing is bedding the trap. Second, I don't obsess with scent control but I don't linger in the area either.

Thanks! They were all running the same road too. Haven't caught anymore black coyote, as of late.

Wow - thanks guys - that awesome stuff

I never would hav thought about checking from a distance to keep sent down - smart

Ztraps made the coon trapping lot easier for me - they hav to go in the trap to get the food - corn has been great for me with coons

I watch management advantage tips too - I use to Turkey hunt w Casey a few times years back - good guy - he makes Coyote trapping look easy

11/18 female


11/18 bobcat


11/18 male


11/21 female


11/21 male


11/21 female


11/21 caught 1st grinner of the season (haven't downloaded pic yet)

11/22 bobcat


11/23 female

11/28 female


12/01 female


12/01 fox


12/01 grinner


12/02 male

Dang - you getting it done - that’s awesome

Thanks for sharing

Is a cat harder To catch than a coyote? I heard coyote way smarter And harder to catch than cat but I hav no experience catching either

No, bobcat is not difficult to catch and can be caught with same lure for fox or coyote. Curiosity, ya know! It took me a bit to get that first yote and it’s been game on since then.

I finally have some time to put some steel in the ground. I got 5 leg holds and a few dp’s out, and will put out several more tomorrow. I snapped a couple pics of my sets and thought some of the newer guys might like to see some. I mostly use 2 sets, a dirthole and a compass set. Dirthole is pretty self explanatory and a compass set is a modified flat set where I blend the trap in and punch 4 holes with my driver around the set and use a different bait/lure/urine in each hole. My go to is the dirthole and I will put a compass set in locations where I set multiples or where there is no backing for a dirthole. Location is the most important part of trapping, but making sure your trap is bedded solid so that it doesn’t move is very important.

Congrats VT, you are wearing them out

Thanks for the info guys

Only 1 grinner last night. The 1/2” of rain they were calling for turned out to be 1 1/2” lol. So I will have to redo some sets.

thank you!

TDog,

I'm not as good as these guys but one trick I like is to pick up coyote droppings and put them in a ziplock bag. I use then put them around the edge of compass sets to get a coyote to stop and investigate. They seem to hate another "turd" in their area and I think it helps to get their attention. I usually try and make a set close to where you see different aged droppings in a location too.

Thanks Wade - good info

Caven’s Predator bait, Elk River Lures’ Blood Moon and Southern Snares’ red fox urine in a dirt hole set landed in his 25 lb male on 12/6/20