Baiting

Originally Posted By: LodgepoleI have read that one bait hunter for wolves prefers to be about 200 yds out to keep from spooking them with small noises and scent . Has this been a issue for you baiters ?
That's key at times here in Maine. If I can set up and comfortably shoot 200-300yds while in the cold of winter my success doubles.
 
Originally Posted By: leatherneckIs there anyone in here from the New England area who baits?
I will be putting out 3 or 4 baits this year however I prefer calling.
There are so many dogs in my area this year that I figured baiting would be an easier way to thin them out quickly.

Yip I am from Down East Maine. I have been hunting over bait and calling for 7-8 years now.
 
Originally Posted By: dog drillerLeatherneck, Baiting can be a fun and productive tool for eliminating coyotes. I personally have had better success baiting than calling here in New England. My time is limited to weekend hunting so it cuts down a lot of my calling chances. Also there are others in my area that both call and run dogs so it does not take long for the coyotes to get trained.
Baiting if you can get the right set up can give you the chance
to maybe not hunt so much ....as it is checking for a shooting opportunity 24/7.

I have put bait in various locations over the years and of course the best one is the one closest to home...because that is where I spend the most time if not at work. Others bait sites have offered a place that I could drive by and check. I have tried sites that are more remote. These became more challenging because I was not able to visit as often as I would have liked.
Bait where you can keep an eye on it. the more you can be close to it the better the chance. As for bait itself it depends on a lot of things. I have tried various baits and eventually everything gets eaten ...sometimes not by a coyote. Deer and pig seem to work the best where I am. Downed dairy cows/calves sometimes you need to be careful with. If there is any chance it has been given some sort of injection for something coyotes seem to stay away from it. When I run low on bait in middle of winter I have made baitsicles from food scrap and dog food just to keep them around. The other issue has to do with your area and what other food sources is your bait competing with and how many other coyotes are competing for it. 2 years ago we had almost no deer around here with plenty of coyotes on game cameras. I shot a bunch that year on my bait pile and I know there where no other bait piles for many miles. Last year I shot ...NONE. and saw very few tracks around all winter. this past spring we had deer around and multiple young bucks. The coyotes have been moving back in ..as I have seen deer tracks that indicate it was running with a set of coyote tracks right behind it. I suspect I will get a few coyotes this year and be on the up swing again. I choked on my first shot of this year. daylight shot did not have my glasses on.

one more thing before I sign off. I have used pallets to hold down bait to keep crows off of the bait and to slow the coyotes down and make them work for it. I have also tied bait to a stake to keep them from dragging it off. What you need to keep in mind is coyotes smell steel. I learned this from a trapper, so pallets don't always work with the nails also if you use a small cable.... garage door type to fasten a bait to a stake they may not go for it. use a rugged strap for this.

Good Luck
DD
Some great info here as I have had the same experiences with downed dairy cows. I had a bait 3 years ago that was doing super. I killed 11-12 from it then put out a whole cow that had some health issues and that was it for that bait for 6 months.
IMO the best way to get numbers is hunting from home with a wireless alarm on the bait. It's all about putting in time hunting a active bait. And be very fluid with your set up practice with your gun a lot. Any misses will not only result in that coyote not coming back but others as well. Here in the North East it's the best way to control the coyote populations but putting out bait and not hunting is counter productive.
 
Finally been busy here at long last. Temps have dropped coyotes have been around along with bobcat, turkeys, and fisher cat..... and I have seen ALL of them myself no camera. The coyote I shot yesterday first one on the bait this year. The hole is the exit from 243 80gr psp 150 yards. I have buried bait in the snow prior to rain last week and it froze in perfectly. I had previously picked up some bait from a butcher and at it stored in open shed bob cat found it before I could get it out. It was around for a couple of days. Not in season at the time. One night came home late with fresh dusting of snow I followed a set of cat tracks for over a half mile right down the middle of the road ...did not think to much about it until the tracks turn into my driveway and walked up the middle of it and right to the shed were the bait was previously. Also had 20 turkeys around the house 3 were toms 1 jake. The fisher cat was on the bait for a while one day back and forth from the bait to the woods. Not sure how things will go the rest of the winter if the bobcats around. I am sure if turkeys are around the cats will be ...not sure what the competition with the coyotes will do.

Sorry picture did not attach.



 
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what bullet did you shoot the fox with cal. type and velocity?I shot a beautiful red today with 17 Rem 25 gr. hornady hp at 2850 fps 110 yards away and it blew a big hole on exit. I have had dime size exits with berger 25 gr.match target at 2850fps.im always looking for fur friendly bullets for fox so your experiences would be appreciated.
 
Things have been going real slow on the bait piles. I added all fresh bait on Sunday (deer and goose carcasses). Coons LOVE foul! 8:00 last night I doubled on these 2 boars. The boar on the left's head was bigger than a softball. I have never seen such big coons as I have taken this season. Fox appearances on camera have been sporadic. They are starting to pair up now here. Only a couple weeks left in the season. I sure hope they pick up real soon. Moon is in my favor.



 
Haven't been here in a while....any way this male yote I got 2 weeks ago, the same night I also hit another that gave me a blood trail but no recovery( come to find out gun was shooting 3" low)
Then I took these 2 last weekend 45 min apart
Big male and a female
 
Good going Deerslyr! It is nice of you to give them all a free ride too.

At 8:00 this morning, I shot a coon that showed up at my house. It was clearly sick with rabies or something. It had no fear of me and actually climbed the steps of my deck and came after me. Luckily, I had a deck chair close at hand to put between it and I. I got in the house and needless to say, the rifle came out with me to put the sickly animal down. That one got buried rather quickly.
The picture below is what I shot tonight.The new moon certainly helps things. The second fox down was called in at about 10:45pm.

 
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Got this female yote last night. I also had a red fox at the bait all night....I didn't shoot it as my main target in the area is yotes to help the local very low deer population.
I have a feeling next few weeks could be slow until some more move in....will see!
 
Great work deerslyr, thats a couple years worth from my bait pile. I had my first coyote visit last night, hope he comes back, they have a tendency to disappear, never seem to get a pattern on them.
 
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Originally Posted By: pmackGreat work deerslyr, thats a couple years worth from my bait pile. They have a tendency to disappear, never seem to get a pattern on them.

Same thing here. About 10 days or so ago a coyote visited my site three times within the week but I couldn't hunt at the time. Now it seems to have vanished.

I have had some fox activity lately from both red and gray.

Good job Gobbler.

 
Well we have had good conditions here 4" of solid almost ice snow so tough for them to get food, another thing I've done a Lil different this year is I have been baiting very heavy and let them feast all week rebaiting weds or Thurs then hunting it Friday and sat....seems to be pulling them from all over.....
 
I've been reading on here about baiting. I've never baited before I just sat and called them in. I started back yote hunting the middle of December like I do every year and hunt till spring turkey then I quit again. My luck has ran short real short this time with zero kills and only 1 called in that I seen. Anyway, leads me to THINKIN bout baiting. Been reading bout the baitsicle (what a brilliant idea) never thought about that till reading it here. My ? Is do any of you guys go to your local grocery and get meat scraps or will they even let you have them. This might have been brought up before but I didn't read every single page here. I know all it takes is to ask them but wanted to ask here first. Thanks for any replies.
 

Raspy,

The grocery stores here won't give it out, though I did have one guy quietly give me a little bit a couple of times, but he has since stopped, I'm sure to keep from getting in trouble. I think most stores have either laws or rules against giving it. The Walmart deli throws out lots of meat every night but they won't give it to anyone.

One thing I did find this season, however, is a local butcher in a not-to-distant town who processes deer in hunting season. I think I got probably 10-12 carcasses this year. They all had a lot of meat still left on them and I took two coyotes from them.

Baiting requires a lot of work keeping a site going, checking cameras and searching for bait, not to mention time in the cabin or blind. I have enjoyed the heck out of it though I admit that sometimes it gets frustrating when coyotes don't cooperate.

On another subject, I want to mention that I have been using a new sensor system at my bait site this winter. I have been using the Driveway Patrol units for years and have had good luck with them. But recently I purchased new sensors since I have found that the Driveway Patrols don't seem to operate on the same frequency now as they once did. I have ordered two different Driveway Patrol units and none work together, and they don't work with my older units either.

These new units are 1byOne brand and are similar to the Driveway Patrol but different in other ways. They are quicker to respond with movement than the Driveway Patrol which I found to be rather slow sometimes. They transmit just fine at my 60 yard site but not sure how they will work at greater distances.

The only thing I don't like is that each transmitter has to be paired with a receiver at the same time, and when you replace batteries you have to pair them all once again. I purchased 5 transmitters and two receivers and have 4 of them paired to both receivers and positioned at my bait site.

Other good features are that the receivers have a high and low volume, and the low setting is so low that I don't have to use an earbud now and the sound is much quieter than the Driveway Patrol on its low setting. Another feature I like is that the transmitters work on 3 AAA batteries rather than the 9-volt the Driveway Patrol requires. Not sure how long the batteries will last in the field, but so far they have held up good for about two months now.




 
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