Getting started, Re-evaluating everything...., Q's, see last post.

skunks will dig one up more than other times. You can use a post set, or dirthole, flatset, they all work anytime. I try not to have visible bait near the set, their caution is much higher at a bait.
 

Hi 2FunKids...........I would wait until after the rain to refresh the traps with bait and urine. you're just wasting your product and money if you don't. Yotes may move in a light rain, but I think they will lay up like other animals when it's pouring. Typically, with me anyway, I tend to catch what I call the "riff raff" like coons and grinners before I catch the yotes......I like to say I'm getting the rr out of the way to get to the real target animal. I had a one eyed boar coon get caught in one of my blind sets(no pun intended) the other day. I released him and the next day I found him in one of my other traps across the road caught by the other front foot.....they are bait stealers as far as I am concerned so I'll start eliminating the problem when I catch another. it takes a while with coyotes sometimes to catch em'. when I first started trapping back on April 1, it took me two weeks to catch my first...sometimes they will walk by a trap for 3 or 4 days until they get the nerve up to work it..just give it time...
 
Thanks, we will give it time, The kids (Who stay on the quad) are having an exciting time becuase we have caught three animals, but unfortunately all non target and we are feeling a little bad about that. It's time to step back and re-evaluate.. Also, the gut pile is causing unwanted guests, the latest from the air...and although unhurt (thanks to the offset jaws) still unwanted... So here is what I think I will try.


  • Pull the Trap by the GP bait and set it up with a trigger and night latch that will go off between 2.5 and 3# using the 2x4 method
  • Now that deer hunting is winding down, move that set to a new intersection of "x" crossing paths between fields in a small section of woods. I have seen a red fox using this drive between these two corn fields before. Up until now, I have been trapping one field near the house.
  • I havent been using Pee yet, and I am not totally sure what bait I should be using where...I could use some help on this one...along with everything else Ha ha. For Bait I will buy pee..Coyote or Red fox Pee???, I already have Cavens "gusto" skunk long distance lure, Cavens "Hiawatha Valley" long distance predator bait, and Lenon's animal lure "super all call"..so after I have a flat set made, what lure/bait should I put where?
  • Refresing bait...How often should I refresh? I read a post that sometimes it is 2-3 days after setting bait that they will come in. Should I wait 3 days or do it every 4th or more?
  • Night latch...Is it better to notch the dog or pan? how deep should the notch be? ..060? Also some say file a 45 or 30 degree angle but I dont understand that part? Where is the angle filed? Is is just after a small flat to hold the dog?
  • Buy a Trapping book to get additional advice. Any recommendatins on a good trapping book, there are so many I dont know what one to pick.

    Were lovin this...What a great way to get the kids away from the TV!!! Please feel free to correct me on any of this stuff, we are learning here..
 
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I have downloaded some pics of how I nightlatch my Bridger Coyote traps. I disassemble and put the pan into a vise, take a small flat file and file a notch, finish up with a small swiss file, not necessary but just what I do. the first pic is of the dog seated in the notch. ON THE DOG, FILE A 45* ANGLE from the underside top of the dog, back towards the pivot point. in other words, the top of the dog should be the longest point. doing so brings the end of the dog to a fine edge and allows to fire very quickly....I use the vise grips as a guide for the file. decide how big of a notch you want and lock the vise grips on very tight. make sure they are 90* to the pan and then file the notch down until you hit the vise grips..when you are done nightlatching, set the trap and make sure both jaws lay flat and the pan is level, if the pan is not level, take a big pair of vise grips or pliers and bend the part where the dog pivots in or out to adjust.
 
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set your traps so the prevailing winds will carry the scent across the intersection of the trails, a little coyote urine will attract foxes and yotes....Hiawatha Valley is a good bait, but don't use too much.....I refresh about every 3 or 4 days and immediately after a rain....
 
I totally understand now, man, pictures are worth a thousand words..Thanks Terminator!!! I did it without any problem and the trap is set upwind, what a difference the tension makes too.. I feel a lot more confident setting it now that it has a higher pan tention.
 

that's great, I was hoping you would be able to see the pics well enough to understand what you needed to do..the idea and goal is a quicker and crisper release like a rifle trigger...you adjust the pan tension with the small brass screw that fastens the pan to the trap. I set mine pretty light because I like to catch lots of animals...but if you just want yotes, you can tighten the screw slightly and prevent coons, grinners and foxes from tripping it....I wish you the best of luck and if I can be of any more help, I will!
 
Personally, as far as gut piles, I would lay steel on the trails coming to the guts or set over them with a rifle after dark and shoot em.....seems to me that they could come in from anywhere and the scent of the pile is going to mingle with the scent from your traps.....they may be so focused on the guts that they ignore the traps unless you set blind.........with no scent. find where ones' track is near the pile and bed a trap there and throw some grass over it without any scent. put the pan exactly where the paw print is........good luck
 
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2funkids, Sounds like your a smart guy and will figure it out. Just keep at it.

I too would stay back from the gut pile a ways. As you have found birds love a free meal. Set trails near it that have yote sign.

You can't use TOO much gusto, hehe although your wife will dissagree. I don't use a lot because a little stinks just as bad.

Also when making sets try kneeling on a sheet of plastic to keep sent off the ground.

Gang sets rule. A trap shy yote may dig one out on you or not commit but if there is a blind set trap or 2 near it your odds go way up!

My last peice of advice is to leave your sets alone. Drive by on the wheeler, if nothing is cought keep on trucking. Yotes don't play near human sent. If condions are bad you could freshen it up after 2 days but I would rather let it be for 4 or so if I can.

Good luck keep us posted!
 
Never let oppossum go, they kill a lot of gamebirds in Michigan. I've got 16 this year but I never saw any baby turkey on our land all summer. throw em in the ditch if you have to or make a bait pile out of him.
 
Thanks All...we are going through a lul in our action, but the yote urine will be here tomorrow. At least I am getting part of the affect by smellin this scent...Almost like being next to these animals..LOL Ha ha.. It's getting pretty frosty here in the mornings and pretty soon the ground is going to get hard. I am using the flake anti freeze but I am concerned that my trappin may be over before I get one of these yotes. I have to admit, I am not seeing sign and we have not been hearing them since Deer Hunting Started 2-1/2 weeks ago...I am going to keep on it...it gets me up and out at 5:30..but who doesn't appreciate nature and the perspective it brings..

Next change in plan...being more careful with my scent...
 
Well, we pulled the traps for the year. It has been very cold and despite the antifreeze we had traps frozen in with pretty hard surface crust. Caught another Grinner today and let em go. Our total catches were 4 animals, but no coons, coyotes, or fox. Had a great time, and we will be out again in the spring. with snow on the ground for almost a week and not seeing any Yote sign, I guess it's time to put it aside. Thanks again for all the help and we'll be talking again in the spring.
 
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