coyote trapping advice

i could use a little coyote trapping advice .
i live in michigan . i am tapping coyotes right now for varmint control . im trapping field lines . im making pocket sets like you do for mink in the sod banks placing some old lunch meat "TURKEY " in the hole for bait placing the #2 double coil spring coyote trap in front of the hole . i have had coyotes visiting my trap site and i have had a few snap my traps . most i keep catching by the toe "LITRALLY" . so when they try to get free they rip their toes off and get out . what can i do ?

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Shane E. Schmaltz
 
It sounds to me like you are setting your pan tension too loose. That trap should not fire until the coyote sets his foot firmly on the pan. It won't fire as often, but when it fires, it will have a coyote firmly in place.

How old are your traps and their springs? Coyotes can be pretty rough on any traps, especially those with more than as couple of years on them.
 
Shane
Use a hole set instead of a pocket set get a trappers cap this is a cap that goes over the pan so you can pack the dirt around the jaws Get a three sided file and notch the dog and also notch the trap pan so when the trap is set you can push the pan down and the two notches click together to set pan tension
bg
 
coyotemaster,
Your problem sounds like "tippy" traps to me. Always bed your traps in such a way that you can press down on any edge of the jaw without the trap moving or "tipping". This takes practice but is probably #1 cause of snapped and empty traps. I also recommend setting trigger in such a way that the pan only moves a very short distance before it fires the trap. When trap is set, the pan should be level or slightly below the trap jaws. File the dog notch so that it is only about 1/8" deep or less, remove all excess play in loop of the dog where it attaches to trap frame. Most #2 traps are not really good coyote traps. The old #2 North woods was a good strong trap but I still four coiled mine. If your traps are good heavy duty models I think now that a #2 trap with #3 springs would do the job ok. I have rambled on and on here, sorry.
 
Coyotemaster,
There should be some trapping conventions coming up soon, and you could likely find some good used #3 Victor or maybe even some #3 Montgomery traps fairly cheap, and modify them to make a good coyote trap.

Here is another tip for you-- buy a bottle of good coyote gland lure. Now along an east-west field road, find where this road meets a ditch, creek, fence row or crop change corner. Near the intersection you will make one set on north side of the road and another on the south. Bed your trap so pan is about nine inches out from a lone rock, bush or other natural object that seems to "stand out" from the rest of the scenery. Now place three drops of your gland lure about nine inches up on the trap side of the bush. Your scent post set is almost done. Take a small broom and blend the area around your trap so that you can't even tell where the trap is.
 
Coyotemaster,
Along those clay banks you mentioned, try poking a small hole in the bank about nine inches high. Place a few drops of gland lure on a piece of sheep wool or unscented cotton, and push it way back in the hole with a stick. Bed your trap with pan about nine inches out from bank edge. (This is assuming that the bank is vertical and not slanted). Remember to bed your trap real solid and always double stake. Some coyotes (most) are non-stop fighters once the trap grabs em.
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Place no lure or urine on trap bed itself. You want the trap and trap bed to smell like nothing at all if possible.
 
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